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UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), where are you when needed?

Nearly seven years ago the Taliban blew up and destroyed the thousands year old Buddha statues carved into the mountains of the Bamiyan province in Afghanistan because

The top Taliban leader, Mullah Muhammad Omar, ordered the destruction of the statues on February 26, declaring that they had been worshipped as false gods in the past and, if left standing, might be so venerated again.

Justice Minister Mullah Turabi reportedly made the proposal to Omar, then discussed the issue on the Taliban's highest body, the Shuria council, which took the decision to destroy “all statues and idols” as they “idolise infidel gods”.

Now there are reports that another Moslem leader, Iran's Mohammed Ahmadinejad and his ayatollahs, are planning a similar religious/cultural purge by destroying all traces of non Moslem artifacts in the country.

Iran is planning on submerging the tomb of King Cyrus (Coresh), the Persian King known for authorizing the Jewish exiles to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Holy Temple.

(snip)

The Iranian ayatollahs are planning on destroying the tomb as part of a general campaign to sever the Persian people from their non-Islamic heritage; Cyrus was thought to be a Zoroastrian and was one of the first rulers to enforce a policy of religious tolerance on his huge kingdom. Journalist Ran Porat quoted a young Iranian who said that the measures being taken by the Islamic Republic’s regime include the destruction of archaeological sites significant to this heritage.

“The government is in the final stages of constructing a dam in southern Iran that will submerge the archaeological sites of Pasargad and Persopolis – the ancient capital of the Persian Empire,” the report states. “The site, which is considered exceptional in terms of its archaeological wealth and historical importance, houses the tomb of the Persian King Cyrus.”

Certainly Cyrus' status as "one of the first rulers to enforce a policy of religious tolerance," one that Iranians should be proud of, is not one the ayatollahs are encouraging today. Most of the Jews have fled the country as have many Zorastrians and Bahais; those remaining are barely tolerated and lead restrictive religious/cultural lives.

Perhaps those Columbia University academics who are planning to travel to Iran to personally bow and scrape to HRH Ahmadinejad to beg his forgiveness for the actions and words of their horrid president might consider asking him about the situation. After all, original sites are the bases of many of their professions and of course these academics all babble about their belief in diversity and tolerance.

Somehow I don't think they will do this.

Drowning Cyrus and tolerance in Iran