Iran’s Long Memory: The Hidden Force Shaping Today’s War

By Romana Rubeo

Iran’s wartime cohesion reflects deeper historical and civilizational dynamics that conventional political narratives about the country often overlook.

Beyond the Revolution

Much of the world’s discussion about Iran begins in 1979. The Islamic Revolution, which overthrew the Shah and established the Islamic Republic, is often treated as the starting point for understanding Iranian politics, society, and global behavior. Supporters of the revolution portray it as a popular uprising that ended decades of authoritarian rule backed by foreign powers. Critics frame the same event as the birth of another authoritarian system.

Both interpretations, however, share a common limitation: they confine Iran’s story to a relatively narrow historical frame.

The result is a distorted understanding of a country whose political culture and social cohesion have been shaped by centuries—indeed millennia—of collective experience. In the current war that began on February 28, 2026, this limitation has become particularly evident.

Observers who expected Iran to fracture under pressure now confront a different reality. Instead of mass collapse or widespread political fragmentation, the country appears to be experiencing a surge of unity. Large crowds gather in cities across the country. Religious rituals and cultural symbolism have become rallying points. Even segments of society that previously expressed dissatisfaction with the government now emphasize national solidarity in the face of external threats.

To many analysts operating within conventional geopolitical frameworks, this outcome is puzzling.

Limits of Conventional Narratives

Western political narratives tend to frame Iran through a binary lens. On one side stands the legacy of Western imperialism—most famously the 1953 coup that overthrew Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh after he nationalized Iran’s oil industry. On the other side stands the Islamic Republic, often portrayed either as a revolutionary resistance state or as a rigid authoritarian system.

This debate is important, but it remains incomplete.

Anti-imperialist analyses rightly emphasize the role of foreign intervention in shaping Iran’s modern history. The CIA- and MI6-backed coup against Mosaddegh remains one of the defining episodes in Iran’s relationship with the West. The coup reinstalled the Shah’s authority and reinforced Western influence over the country’s oil sector.

Yet even this narrative, morally and historically valid as it may be, often stops short of addressing deeper forces shaping Iranian society.

Political theories rooted exclusively in colonialism and anti-colonialism, capitalism and anti-capitalism, tend to overlook broader cultural and civilizational dynamics that influence collective behavior. Nations do not act solely according to political ideology or economic interests; they also respond to historical memory, cultural identity, and social cohesion formed over long periods of time.

This is where a deeper historical perspective becomes essential.

A People’s History Perspective

Palestinian scholar Ramzy Baroud has argued that understanding political movements requires attention to what some historians call the longue durée—the long historical processes that shape societies across centuries rather than years.

Within this framework, political events like revolutions, wars, or protests are not isolated phenomena. They are expressions of deeper historical patterns.

Applied to Iran, this perspective suggests that the country’s current resilience cannot be explained solely by ideological loyalty to the Islamic Republic or by opposition to Western intervention.

Instead, it reflects something older and more deeply embedded in Iranian society: a powerful sense of historical continuity.

Iran is not simply a modern state reacting to contemporary geopolitics. It is the inheritor of one of the world’s oldest continuous civilizations, a society that has repeatedly confronted foreign invasions, internal upheaval, and external pressure—yet has consistently reconstituted itself.

This long memory helps explain why moments of national crisis often produce cohesion rather than fragmentation.

Civilizational Foundations

To understand Iran’s political behavior today, one must recognize the depth of its historical experience.

Few nations possess a civilizational timeline as extensive and influential as Iran’s.

Ancient Persia (c. 550 BCE)

The rise of the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus the Great marked the emergence of one of the world’s first multinational empires. Persian governance developed sophisticated administrative systems and promoted cultural tolerance across vast territories stretching from the Mediterranean to Central Asia.

The empire’s legacy shaped Iranian identity as both imperial and cosmopolitan.

The Parthian and Sassanian Eras (247 BCE–651 CE)

Successive Persian dynasties preserved Iranian statehood while confronting major external powers, particularly Rome and later Byzantium.

These centuries reinforced the idea that Iranian civilization could withstand external pressure while maintaining its cultural continuity.

The Arab Conquest and Cultural Transformation (7th Century)

The Arab-Islamic conquest transformed Iran religiously and politically, yet Persian cultural identity survived and adapted. Rather than disappearing, the Persian language, literature, and administrative traditions became central to the broader Islamic world.

Iranian scholars, poets, and philosophers played a decisive role in shaping Islamic civilization.

The Safavid Era (1501–1736)

The Safavid dynasty established Shi’a Islam as Iran’s state religion, creating a distinctive religious and political identity that continues to influence Iranian society today.

The Safavid state consolidated Iran’s territorial identity and reinforced the link between political sovereignty and religious symbolism.

The Qajar Period and Foreign Pressure (19th Century)

During the Qajar era, Iran faced growing pressure from imperial powers, particularly Britain and Russia. Territorial concessions and economic dependence generated widespread resentment and fostered early nationalist movements.

These experiences deepened Iranian suspicion of foreign intervention.

The Constitutional Revolution (1905–1911)

Iran’s Constitutional Revolution introduced parliamentary governance and modern political institutions. It represented one of the earliest democratic movements in the Middle East.

Although the revolution faced setbacks, it demonstrated the ability of Iranian society to mobilize collectively for political change.

The 1953 Coup and Its Legacy

The overthrow of Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh by British and American intelligence agencies remains a defining moment in modern Iranian history.

The event reinforced the perception among many Iranians that foreign powers were willing to intervene directly in the country’s political affairs to protect strategic and economic interests.

The 1979 Revolution

The Islamic Revolution emerged from a broad coalition of social forces opposing the Shah’s rule. Religious institutions, nationalist movements, leftist groups, and ordinary citizens participated in the uprising that ultimately transformed the political system.

Regardless of one’s interpretation of the revolution, it represented one of the most significant mass political mobilizations of the twentieth century.

Crisis and Cohesion

Throughout its history, Iran has repeatedly confronted moments of existential pressure—from foreign invasions to internal revolutions.

Yet each crisis has tended to produce a similar response: the reassertion of national identity and collective resilience.

The current war appears to be triggering the same historical pattern.

Rather than fragmenting Iranian society, external pressure seems to be reinforcing a sense of national solidarity rooted not only in politics or ideology but also in shared historical experience.

Understanding Iran today requires moving beyond simplified narratives that begin and end with contemporary geopolitics.

Neither the Western imperial narrative nor the anti-imperialist counter-narrative fully captures the complexity of Iranian society.

Iran’s current resilience is better understood as the product of a long historical trajectory—a civilization shaped by centuries of adaptation, resistance, and renewal.

Only by acknowledging this deeper history can observers begin to understand why, in moments of crisis, Iran often behaves not as a fragile state but as a society drawing strength from its long memory.

– Romana Rubeo is an Italian writer and the managing editor of The Palestine Chronicle. Her articles appeared in many online newspapers and academic journals. She holds a Master’s Degree in Foreign Languages and Literature and specializes in audio-visual and journalism translation.