Iranian patriotism resembles the American people’s love for their land and rich history. Iran is a country with a civilizational legacy that stretches back millennia, its identity etched in stone. Its culture is an indelible force felt by all who truly come to know it.
Like the United States, Iran possesses a powerful, resilient spirit that has too often been misrepresented and suppressed, whether by the Khomeinist regime’s perverse distortion of Shi’ite Islam or by the West’s careless caricatures in films like “300.”
Thomas Jefferson, a voracious reader steeped in classical literature, drew significant inspiration from Xenophon’s Cyropedia—the history of Cyrus the Great’s leadership—when crafting the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson admired the Enlightenment ideal of the philosopher-king and saw in King Cyrus a model of enlightened, benevolent rule grounded in justice, moderation and the consent of the governed.
Cyropedia’s emphasis on virtue, civic responsibility, and rational governance aligned with Jefferson’s vision for a new republic founded on natural rights and individual liberty. Although often overlooked in modern accounts, Xenophon’s portrayal of leadership through persuasion rather than tyranny had a profound influence on Jefferson’s thinking, shaping the ideological roots of the American experiment.
That spirit of federalism—rooted in resistance to centralized tyranny and a belief in decentralized governance—was not merely a political framework but a revolutionary ethic in the American founding. It reflected the Founding Fathers’ insistence that liberty could only thrive where power was divided, communities governed themselves, and rights were safeguarded from distant, unaccountable rule.
Today, that same ethic pulses through the children of Cyrus—the Iranian people—who courageously confront a brutal, Islamic, theocratic regime. Just as American colonists once stood up to their English oppressors in the British Parliament and on the throne, Iranians across the political and cultural spectrum are demanding a future that honors local autonomy, human dignity and the rejection of absolutism.
Their revolution is not born of foreign intervention but of deep-seated patriotism—of a people who know their land, their lineage, and the unshakable value of freedom.
This bond between the two peoples runs deeper, stretching back to the dawn of history. When Cyrus the Great entered Babylon in 539 BCE, he issued what is often called the world’s first declaration of human rights: the Cyrus Cylinder. In it, he proclaimed the freedom of all peoples to worship according to their beliefs and to live under their own laws.
For the Jewish people, Cyrus was no ordinary king—he was a liberator. In the Hebrew Bible, Cyrus is referred to as the “Anointed One,” chosen by God to free the Jews from Babylonian captivity and return them to Jerusalem to rebuild their Temple. God worked through Cyrus to fulfill his purposes. That moment forged a sacred bond between Iranians and Jews, one of mutual respect, trust and protection.
For millennia, Jewish communities have lived in Iran, woven into the nation’s cultural and intellectual fabric. Today, as the Islamic Republic attempts to sever these ancient ties, it becomes even more vital to remember that the spirit of Cyrus—the spirit of liberty, coexistence and human dignity—still lives in the hearts of the Iranian people.
But the Iranian people do not cry out for war or foreign boots on their soil. They are fighting for their freedom themselves and have done so repeatedly with astonishing bravery. What they ask of the free world is simple: your eyes, your ears, and your voices.
Not your soldiers, but your solidarity. In the international court of public opinion, Iranians are asking you to stand with them, to amplify their cause, and to recognize that the fight for liberty is universal. Just as Americans once rose to throw off tyranny, Iranians now rise—not to replicate the past, but to reclaim their future.
This is a moment not just of bearing witness, but of profound kinship. The stories of America and Iran—though shaped by different contexts—are bound by a shared yearning for justice and self-determination. One revolution echoes another, across time and oceans, reflecting courage, defiance, and hope. Today, the American people have both an opportunity and a moral obligation to offer more than passive sympathy.
We must extend moral support, vocal solidarity, and the enduring friendship of a free people standing beside those who seek to be free. Let this be a sisterhood and brotherhood of revolutions—where the torch once carried through Philadelphia finds its reflection in the streets of Tehran, where the cry of “Give me liberty, or give me death” is answered by the chant of “Woman, Life, Freedom.”
Let us walk alongside our Iranian brothers and sisters—not with weapons, but with unwavering resolve—so that together we may shape a world where tyranny has no refuge and freedom knows no borders. We do not merely share a history; we are bound by a shared moral vision. In that aspiration, the people of Iran and the people of America are not strangers but reflections of each other. Let us meet their courage with our solidarity. Let us ensure that when they rise, they do not rise alone.
