Back in 2007 I received a mysterious call at the New York Sun from a man who said he was referred to me from someone at the New York Times. He said he needed to meet with me on an issue too important to speak about on the phone.
The Times reporter had told him that her paper was not the one to cover the story.
Cloak and dagger are not my forte and seemingly against my better judgment, I met with the gentleman who turned out to be an Iranian dissident. He filled me in on what was happening in his native country.
I learned from my new Iranian friend that there was a Persian renaissance in force, which was actively seeking to overthrow the mullahs.
Many Persians, he said, do not consider themselves Muslims and under the tutelage of a Persian professor, they have secretly burned the Koran and returned to their ancient Zoroastrian faith.
My friend, a former Muslim, showed me his pendant with the ancient symbol of this faith which is prominently displayed every year at the annual Persian parade in New York City.
Imperial Coat of Arms of Iran.svg: Sodacan, via Wikipedia // CC BY-SA 3.0 Deed
At that event, the display of colorful floats and beautiful women in fashionable garb is a distinct reminder that this cheerful exuberance is sorely absent in today’s Iran.
The Persian Renaissance, he said, known as Anjomane Padeshahi Iran, was spearheaded by a charismatic leader, Dr. Froud Fouladvand.
He had offered Iranian the reason to fight by awakening their semi-dormant national identity, an identity that was overshadowed by radical Islam.
In fact, as my notes from the meeting with my friend said, “The API draws on centuries of experience handed down by those who have battled this enemy from its virtual inception. We slew the first three rulers of Islam as Persians — and many of their military governors. Few people — even our own — are taught that even Imam Ali, father of the Shiites, was sent to hell by a Persian.”
Dr. Fouladvand disappeared after venturing to meet with insurgents in Iran in 2007. There is a $1 million reward for information on his whereabouts, but it is doubtful he and two of his companion travelers are still alive.
According to my friend who wishes to be known only as Babak Iran, the Iranian mullahs keep the Iranians subdued with easily available illegal drugs.
But that may no longer be working.
I wrote about the startling upheaval and potential revolution that was occurring in Iran, and I knew that then-President Bush read my column which might explain why his administration took no overt military action against Iran’s nuclear program.
Instead that year we learned of a computer virus called Stuxnet that hit Iran’s nuclear program delaying its progress for some years. This brilliant tactic was allegedly a concoction of the CIA and Israeli scientists that was conceived with help from the Bush administration.
In January 2009, David Sanger wrote the following in the New York Times:
President Bush deflected a secret request by Israel last year for specialized bunker-busting bombs it wanted for an attack on Iran’s main nuclear complex and told the Israelis that he had authorized new covert action intended to sabotage Iran’s suspected effort to develop nuclear weapons, according to senior American and foreign officials.
So, what happened?
In 2008, still feeling effects from the 9/11 attack on my hometown, New York City, America elected Barack Hussein Obama, whose stepfather, Lolo Soetoro, was an Indonesian Muslim.
In 2009, Iranians did act, and we watched in horror as the beautiful Neda Agha-Soltan lay dying on the streets of Iran during what was known as the Green Revolution, shot by a government sniper. She was a Persian.
I had asked my friend how America could help, and he said that the best way would be to provide access to communication so that the Persians could contact one another in secrecy.
The Green Revolution failed because it did not receive any aid from the Obama administration to provide the necessary access to internet resources to ensure reliable communication with Persians dissidents.
In 2015, the Obama administration signed an international deal with Iran called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
Iran agreed to cut back on nuclear enrichment programs in exchange for the unfreezing of its own assets. Thus, Iran received the release of billions of funds but did not pause development of its nuclear programs.
Doesn’t anybody remember the Wall Street Journal reporting the news that the Obama administration also secretly airlifted $400 million in cash to Iran?
At the time, Donald Trump was a presidential candidate who said, “Four hundred million in cash. It’s being flown in an airplane to Iran. I wonder where that money really goes, by the way. Right? I wonder where it really goes. Well, it went to either in their pockets, which I actually think more so, or toward terrorism, probably a combination of both.”
Now Trump is the president and is totally in support of Israel wiping out the nuclear threat from a country that has promised to destroy America.
Will the Persian renaissance finally receive the help it needs to free the Iranian citizens from the yoke of its radical Islamic leaders?
I thought of my Iranian friend’s call for communication a few days ago when Elon Musk proudly announced that Iran now has Starlink satellite service impervious to interruption by the mullah regime.
One can only hope and pray.
Jesus Christ is King
