A declaration by Pasargad Heritage Foundation On recent reckless attacks on national treasures of Iranian nation

A declaration by Pasargad Heritage Foundation On recent reckless attacks on national treasures of Iranian nation

Dear fellow compatriots, legal experts, noble lawyers and humanitarians!

Due to the incompetence and negligence of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s administrators and their illegitimate leaders, the Iranian national wealth and her treasures have been the subject of innumerable attacks on a regular basis. Regretfully, this pillage has been going on with respect to natural, cultural and historical material for the past 32 years. Driven by both the Islamic zeal as well as profit motive, the clerical regime poses an existential threat to the precious sites and relics of ancient Iran. It is against this terrible force that the Pasargad Heritage Foundation has served as the rallying point for many concerned citizens and organizations to protect Iran’s archaeological sites and its treasures.

For years now, a dozen or so created Arab countries around the Persian Gulf region, plus the seceded republics of the former Soviet Union, whose leaders are notorious for human rights abuses and violation of international laws, and in some instances, in cooperation with the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, have shown utmost greed toward our national heritage, and have waged a systematic campaign of annexing Iranian waters, soil, cultural, spiritual and material of Persian heritage. More than three decades of rule by the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) has not only failed to advance the security and well-being of the people, it has ensnared the nation in a stifling theocracy where the rights of the governed are routinely violated for the benefit of the governing.

Recently and regretfully, the United States Department of the Navy on their own website have ordered their administrators in conversation and correspondence with other entities, using the fraudulent name of “Arabian Gulf” in place of its historical and rightful name “the Persian Gulf.” We believe arbitrarily designating the Persian Gulf as the Arabian Gulf is an irresponsible violation of all historical and International standards and would undermine the integrity of the United States.
It is mind-boggling and irresponsible for a country like the United States that abides by international law and is a permanent member of the United Nations, arrogantly violating the universally upheld norms by arbitrarily taking it upon itself to name the Persian Gulf, the Arabian Gulf. With a few strokes of the keyboard, the U.S. Navy has obliterated from the face of the map a greatly cherished historical and cultural heritage of an ancient people dating back thousands of years.

One wonders what motivated this blatant action of the U.S. government: a simple arrogant exercise of power or capitulation to the financial rewards offered by those who aim to further their world standing at the expense of others.

Without disparaging the Arabs, Iranians wish to retain their non-Arab heritage and strongly resent any attempt at denigrating or changing any aspect of their Iranian identity. Even inside Iran, the Iranian people have been constantly fighting and opposing similar attempts by the brutal dictatorship of the ruling IRI regime. The Persian Gulf occupies a pivotal place in the Iranian history and culture.

The historical and geographical name of the Persian Gulf has been endorsed and codified by the United Nations on many occasions and is in use by the UN, its member states, and all other international agencies worldwide. The last UN Directive confirming the name of Persian Gulf was issued on August 18, 1994.

It is worth mentioning that the name of Persian Gulf has been admitted in all the live languages of the world, and all the countries throughout the world name this Iranian Sea, the Persian Gulf. Even our Arab neighbors do not need to alter a historical name to have a gulf of their own, because there has been a gulf in their own name previously mentioned in the historical and geographical works and drawings, which is presently called the Red Sea (Bahr Ahmar).

Pasargad Heritage Foundation and it's the International Committee to Save the Archaeological Sites of Pasargad have been on the forefront of safeguarding the irreplaceable historical heritage of Iran against the machinations of domestic as well as foreign enemies of the Iranian cultural heritage.

It is our hope that all enlightened and fair-minded people who value the preservation of humanity’s diverse heritage raise their voices and compel the U.S. administration to restore the rightful name of the Persian Gulf to the waterway and delete any other arbitrary name.

We strongly believe that only unity and cooperation of all Iranians, when they stand up to this type of aggression and reckless action would put an end to atrocities committed by irresponsible cartels and nations.

Pasargad Heritage Foundation