‘Anachronism’: Rubio’s civilisational rhetoric prompts pushback from Iran

Tehran, Iran – A code by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio invoking memories of past Persia has been met with coldness oregon disdain crossed the Iranian governmental spectrum amid Washington’s ongoing warfare connected Iran.

With the Acropolis successful Athens arsenic a backdrop, Rubio presented the United States, founded successful the 18th century, arsenic the inheritor of past Western civilisation moving from Greece to Rome.

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During the speech, helium argued that modern-day Western countries person mislaid their confidence, weakened their industries and militaries, and request renewed ambition and powerfulness successful the future.

Referencing the past Greco-Persian Wars, helium utilized the Persian demolition of Athens successful 480 BC nether King Xerxes I arsenic an illustration of Western civilisation surviving an outer enemy.

“The Persians plundered the temples, burned the shrines and razed the Acropolis to the ground,” Rubio said. He subsequently hailed the instrumentality of the Athenians and the operation of the Parthenon nether Pericles.

The apical US diplomat besides directed his rhetoric against Iran’s existent leaders, who person been successful powerfulness since a 1979 Islamic revolution, calling them “fanatics” who tally a “death cult” that wields martyrdom arsenic a instrumentality to execute their governmental objectives.

“The threats we look contiguous are each spot arsenic existent arsenic they were connected the melodramatic signifier of antiquity,” Rubio claimed. He boasted that the prime of President Donald Trump’s medication was the “unapologetic pursuit of nationalist power”.

The US and Iran person been astatine warfare since the US and Israel launched strikes connected Iran connected February 28. While warring betwixt the 2 sides has subsided, the US has continued a naval blockade connected Iran portion shipping done the captious Strait of Hormuz remains disrupted.

Iran’s information chief, Mohsen Rezaei, and parliament Speaker and main negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf some responded by invoking the Roman Emperor Valerian, who was captured live by Persian King Shapur I’s forces successful conflict successful 260 AD.

“Anyone who brings past into this indispensable beryllium prepared for its repetition,” Rezaei said.

Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused Rubio of flattening Greek, Roman, Christian and modern history.

It besides accused the caput of authorities of incorporating an “America First” communicative to legitimise a subject escalation against Iran aft a comparative alteration successful warring since June erstwhile a now-defunct memorandum of knowing was agreed.

“It appears that the US has concluded it is amended to warrant its argumentation of coercion and unit to the satellite nether the beauteous neon lights of ‘philosophy of history’, alternatively of bare bullying that uses the connection of cowboys,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said successful a statement. He added that Rubio was resorting to “anachronism”, rehashing agelong buried humanities events for modern-day legitimacy.

After the 2020 assassination of Qassem Soleimani, a commandant successful Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Trump threatened to deed 52 Iranian sites “very hard”, including places “important to Iran & the Iranian culture”.

Since February, the US has been criticised for damaging Iranian historical and taste sites during its bombing of Iran.

Culture Minister Reza Salehi-Amiri urged Western politicians to talk astir Iran with a “language of respect” since “it is not an force created successful a governmental code but a surviving civilisation, a large federation and a lasting world successful satellite history” that dates backmost millennia.

Iranian historiographer Touraj Daryaei told section media connected Friday that portion Rubio’s relationship of the sack of Athens was true, helium omitted an important information cited by Greek historiographer Herodotus and others – a large information for the Persian onslaught was retaliation.

In 498 BC, Athens’ forces burned Sardis, a provincial Persian superior successful occidental Anatolia. For Iranians who consciousness they were taxable to an unprovoked onslaught by the US and Israel, this lawsuit could person modern-day relevance.

Shima, a 26-year-old nonmigratory of Tehran, told Al Jazeera that she did not admit Rubio’s effort to usage conflicts 2,500 years agone to muster enactment for the ongoing warfare with Iran.

“They privation to proceed the war, and they volition accidental immoderate they deliberation volition enactment successful the moment,” she said.

During his January 2025 Senate confirmation hearing, Rubio had referred to Iranians arsenic “the radical of an past civilisation and civilization with tremendous pridefulness and advances who instrumentality large pridefulness successful their Persian practice and identity”.

“I don’t cognize of immoderate federation connected Earth successful which there’s a bigger quality betwixt the radical and those who govern them,” helium said astatine the time. “In nary mode are the clerics who tally the state typical of the radical and its past and contributions it’s made to humanity.”

But the US warfare connected Iran, its naval blockade of confederate Iranian ports and isolating sanctions person not had the worst interaction connected Iran’s authorities and leaders but on Iranians themselves and person failed to alteration the behaviour of the government.

Trump’s comments connected the imaginable “death of a civilisation” successful Iran successful lawsuit of a subject escalation person instilled much pessimism among Iranians astir the goals of the US war, which was initially cited arsenic an effort to escaped the radical from their government.

Rubio speaks during a ceremonial marking the renovation and opening of a caller helping of the US embassy successful Athens, Greece, connected October 7, 2026 [Alexandros Vlachos/EPA]

Most Iranians reacted negatively to Rubio’s latest code though immoderate members of the diaspora oregon others opposed to the Islamic Republic argued that the US caput of authorities is against Iranian authorities, not an full past civilisation.

Iranian authorities media were speedy to slam Rubio for his remarks with the hardline Vatan-e Emrouz paper connected Saturday publishing a beforehand leafage representation of Rubio successful past Roman subject attire and holding a shield and sword.

“Ancient war” work the headline. The paper claimed that Rubio was trying to “create historical-ideological backing for the US warfare against Iran”.

Vali Nasr, prof of planetary affairs and Middle East studies astatine the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies successful Washington, DC, told Al Jazeera helium believes Rubio’s purpose was to specify a communal force for the US and Europe to rebuild their relations around.

“He decided that Iran, alternatively than Islam, which was antecedently viewed arsenic the civilisational enemy, should play that relation to hindrance the West together,” helium said. “It besides reflects US vexation that Europe has not played a large relation successful the warfare and seeks to insubstantial implicit heavy divisions betwixt the US and Europe connected Russia and Ukraine.”

Rubio delivered his code arsenic Trump struck a woody with Russian President Vladimir Putin to merchantability diesel substance to the US and planetary markets contempt sanctions connected Russia. The US president said the statement would little diesel prices, which person risen to grounds levels owed to the Iran war. Nasr said Trump’s announcement and Rubio’s code unneurotic could beryllium a connection by the medication that Iran and not Russia is the force the West should beryllium focused on.

“I deliberation whether this rhetoric would alienate Iranians was nary much a interest than President [George W] Bush’s Islamophobia was a interest alienating Muslims,” Nasr told Al Jazeera. “However, it makes wide that Washington sees nary quality betwixt Iranians and Iran arsenic a civilisation and the Islamic Republic.”