About the Person

The long story

I was around 7-years-old when I had my first impression about Iran; I liked the Iranian kids at the mosque my family attended in Maryland, and I loved their fragrant saffron ice-cream. Superficial, I know. However, over the years, especially in my late teenage years, it seemed like my curiosity grew into a permanent interest of mine, yet I could never fully access it. And it grew into a consistent interest of mine over the next 20 years. In the Spring of 2023, after 10 months of setting the intention and preparing, I finally made it to Iran. As some people in my circle found out about my trip and received discouraging and disparaging comments, I continued on with my research and felt confident in my decision. I understood that “Iran” can be a trigger word for many people—Arabs, Americans, and diaspora Iranians—and has been a trigger word for as long as I can remember.

From a young age, I always had some level of awareness of Iran.
Enough that I understood the basics of Ithna’ Ashari Islam and Zoroastrianism that I knew when others’ had been talking nonsense and were spreading misinformation about their practises. Enough to know that Iran is not a barren desert or just Islamic history, but an enormous sub-continent with a rich variety of landscapes and climates (including beautiful deserts), civilisations, and home to many religions and sects. Iran is the gateway between Assyria, the Caucasus, Central Asia, South Asia, Arabia, Anatolia, and Europe! Enough to know that it’s not all kabob koobideh and Persian speakers, but also mirza ghasemi, gheimeh, khoresht fesenjan, and ash-e doogh, and a land of many contemporary and historic languages and dialects, that are all as equally Iranian as Modern Persian.

That bit of exposure and awareness, coupled with research that grew deeper with every passing year, played a role in pushing my curiosity into a consistent interest of mine. Additionally, the negative association of Iran and Iranians that comes from the mainstream media, and trying to challenge those judgements that came from both Arabs and Americans, made my interest a little more purposeful and urgent. My interests in West Asian civilisations, ethnic migration, assimilation versus resistance, small-scale communities, minority languages, Assyriology, Semitic linguistics, and the Arts, oftentimes leaked into the Iranian Plateau and the South Caucasus (and sometimes further).

In 2022, when I decided to get serious in becoming fluent in Persian one day, I realised the importance of learning the language to understand history and linguistics of my immediate neighbours better and for current affairs, travel, communicating, and diplomacy (even though Persian is not the only language of Iran; I want to start somewhere to reach the most people).
I still have a very long way to go, especially since I don’t live among Persian speakers and can only rely on the classroom, but I am enjoying the process of learning, and not even thinking about a deadline or attaining perfection.