September 16, 2026: What we now call Iran has had several names over the past five thousand years. The name Iran was first used in the fourth century BC as the Avestan word airyānąm. The Greeks first used the name Persia to describe the empire of Emperor Cyrus the Great. It stemmed from the word Parsa, the name of the group of people from which Cyrus the Great emerged to rule. Thus, the word Persia comes from ancient Greek legends that associated the name Persia with Perseus, but adding a fictional son, Perses, which evolved into Persia and Persian.

The term Iran was first used more than 3,000 years ago by Persian practitioners of Zoroastrianism until Christianity came along about two thousand years ago, only to be eclipsed by Islam 1,500 years ago. Later, Islam split into two major factions – Sunni and Shia. Iran became more than 90% Shiite, while almost all Muslims are Sunni. In the 21st century, Iranians began to abandon Islam for other alternatives like the Baha’i faith, Christianity, and agnosticism or atheism. Today, only about a third of mosques in Iran are in use, and the decline of Islam in Iran continues. Many Iranians believe that the main obstacle to peace and prosperity is Islam. About ten percent of Iranians remain devoutly Islamic Shia, mainly the families of senior clerics, Imams of still functioning mosques, and surviving members of the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) and Basij police auxiliary. The IRGC dispersed before the current war with America, with each faction trying to maintain control of their small portion of Iran. Most of the Basij now identify with their neighbors rather than take orders from some IRGC commander many kilometers away.

The current Islamic dictatorship knows they are in trouble, hated by most Iranians who blame the regime for the ramshackle and now rapidly declining economy. Most Iranians want peace and prosperity, but Islam is in the way. Members of the IRGC are increasingly aware of this and losing hope that Islam will continue to control Iran for long. Unlike their Arab neighbors, Iranians are rarely suicidal, as bombers are, about Islam. Iran has changed religions many times in the past, but invading Arab armies forced Iranians to accept Islam 1,500 years ago. The Arab armies are long gone, and the only defenders of Islam in Iran are the shrinking number of Iranians with an economic interest in it. More Muslims are abandoning their mosques and any allegiance to the religious dictatorships that are held responsible for the current economic, military, and political catastrophe.

Iran is technically wealthy, with oil exports that used to bring in $75 billion a year. That’s nearly 60 percent of all exports. That income has been stunted by worldwide economic sanctions against the militant Islamic government of Iran that sponsors Islamic terrorism throughout the regions and anywhere in the world where such attacks can be made. This is not something most Iranians or Islamic terrorism victims. Never forget that their goal is global domination, which is constantly being derailed by strong resistance and the ongoing feud between 80 percent of Muslims who are Sunni and about ten percent who are Shia. The world would be more peaceful and prosperous without Islam, and a growing number of people are realizing that.