BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 12. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei has accused US Secretary of State Marco Rubio of waging a “cognitive war against Iran and the world” over his remarks about ancient Greek history.
“Distorting history to justify warmongering is dangerous and an injustice to Greek civilisation,” Baghaei told reporters, referring to recent comments by Rubio about the historical legacy of Greece.
Rubio cited the Greco-Persian Wars, referring to the Persian destruction of Athens in 480 BC under King Xerxes I, as an example of Western civilisation surviving an external enemy.
Responding to the remarks, Baghaei argued that Rubio had inadvertently acknowledged Iran’s historical endurance over thousands of years.
“Iran has endured for thousands of years,” the Iranian spokesperson said, adding that “the continuity of civilisation and culture is not achieved through military conquests”.
The exchange highlights competing interpretations of ancient history and its use in contemporary political rhetoric, as tensions between Tehran and Washington continue.
