Royal Dutch Shell Group .com Rotating Header Image

Iran

Comment about Iran from a former employee of Shell Oil USA

John,

I suspect that Iran’s real game has two parts, one is the obvious elimination of the Jewish State. The other is, I believed rooted in Iranian history going back to the days of the ancient Greeks.

Having lived in Iran for about a year many years ago I can tell you that the Iranians are a proud people, a handsome people, and a very bright and talented people. They are warm, generous and kind, and are very well aware of their historical heritage. They are the heirs and descendants of Darius, Cyrus, and Xerxes.

Interestingly, the Iranians still hold a grudge for what Alexander the Great did over 2000 years ago. Ancient Persia once ruled the Middle East from the Indus to ancient Greece. That is their historical sphere of influence. They stopped the expansion of the Roman Empire, and were largely responsible for stopping its resurrection in the 5th century. That war exhausted both empires and they both eventually collapsed.

The Iranians view the Persian Gulf and the surrounding region as THEIR sandbox. Their historical ‘stomping grounds’. They remember the exploitation of their oil wealth by the British, and the machinations of the Americans in their politics in this century. And they hold a grudge for that.

Their desire for nuclear weapons is in large part driven by their desire to regain a ‘place in the sun’ as a ‘great people’, and a desire to exert a controlling influence in the Persian Gulf Region. With those weapons they believe that they can dictate oil exportation policy from the Gulf States and Saudi Arabia, and will be able to shut-off the flow of oil from the Gulf to the rest of the world if things don’t go the way they want.

This nuclear weapons program is really more about regional power politics and stuffing it to the West and Saudi Arabia than it is about the Jewish State, although if given the opportunity they will eliminate Israel in a heart beat if they think they can get away with it.

Few people know much if anything about the very long and interesting history of Iran. The following link will give a brief summary.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Persia#Pre-Islamic_history

This history is important because it has a very strong influence of the national identity of Iran, their view of who they are as a people, and their place in the world today. This history is a (background) driver in their national identity, policies and influences their international relationships and policies.

Iranians are proud of their history and who they are as a people. It is important not to forget that fact.

This is another link for short history of the Persians. It is worth reading.

http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/MESO/PERSIANS.HTM

And another link.

http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/forgottenempire/

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Comments are closed.