Iranians at Home and Abroad

Years ago, the distance between Iranians at home and those living abroad was so great, and it hurt. Those at home saw the people abroad as free and untouched by pain. Those abroad, short of breath with longing, missed Grandma’s bread and cheese and the smell of spring rain… For an Iranian abroad, the nightmare was an emergency trip to bury someone dear whose last moments they had been unable to share. But today… Today I see Iranians abroad united in pride in the people of their homeland, doing everything they can to give them a voice. And people inside Iran, full of spirit and strength, send messages of pride to those abroad in every way they can. Both live with the same pain. Like a surgical team passing forceps and dressings from hand to hand, they work together to tend a wound and bring one another relief… This is what it means to be Iranian… This is the ideal that has kept the names Iran and Iranian renowned for thousands of years. Today, saying “inside” or “outside” only describes the different form our national duty takes. Our national duty is the golden pattern woven into the carpet of history. How proud I am to be Iranian… proud of my people… proud of this land’s unity, whose reason is Iran, and Iran’s king, Reza Shah II… How proud I am of the cry that echoed from Iran’s alleys and streets across the world: Long live the Shah! Long live Iran.