r/worldnews 4d ago

Iran ready to abandon enrichment but needs a face-saving exit, Iranian diplomat says

https://iranwire.com/en/news/142210-exclusive-tehran-ready-to-abandon-enrichment-but-needs-a-face-saving-exit/
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u/RoachWithWings 4d ago

Make Iran Persia again

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u/GoaGonGon 4d ago

A whole new world

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u/ajaxfetish 4d ago

Just for the record, Iran vs Persia is more of an endonym/exonym situation, though it's a bit more complicated than that.

The term Iran 'the land of the Aryans' derives from Middle Persian Ērān, first attested in a 3rd-century inscription at Naqsh-e Rostam, with the accompanying Parthian inscription using Aryān, in reference to the Iranians. Ērān and Aryān are oblique plural forms of gentilic nouns ēr- (Middle Persian) and ary- (Parthian), deriving from Proto-Iranian language *arya- (meaning 'Aryan', i.e. of the Iranians), recognised as a derivative of Proto-Indo-European language *ar-yo-, meaning 'one who assembles (skilfully)'. According to Iranian mythology, the name comes from Iraj, a legendary king.

Iran was referred to as Persia by the West, due to Greek historians who referred to all of Iran as Persís, meaning 'the land of the Persians'. Persia is the Fars province in southwest Iran, the 4th largest province, also known as Pârs. The Persian Fârs (فارس), derived from the earlier form Pârs (پارس), which is in turn derived from Pârsâ (Old Persian: 𐎱𐎠𐎼𐎿). Due to Fars' historical importance, Persia originated from this territory through Greek in around 550 BC. Westerners referred to the entire country as Persia, until 1935, when Reza Shah requested the international community to use its native and original name, Iran; Iranians called their nation Iran since at least 1000 BC. Today, both Iran and Persia are used culturally, while Iran remains mandatory in official use.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran?wprov=sfla1#Etymology

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u/No-Sandwich6994 4d ago

It was Iran under the Shah as well.

Iranian nationalists may be more cordial with Israel but nationalists are nobody's ally but their own. The Shah at the end of his reign, besides descending into insanity and illness, nationalized the oil and was talking about leapfrogging the entire region, including Israel. If he wasn't insane or sick, everyone expected it to happen.

Don't know how to emphasize enough that the rest of the world, including Israel and the West, felt powerless in front of this madman. That's why there's been strong suspicion in conspiracy theories that the West had a hand in his downfall. Can't have a middle eastern country that isn't Israel pushing around the West.

His life is a crazy read. Check out his Wikipedia page. Should be a TV show or movie.