Empire begins with stories, not bombs. Before missiles fly, narratives are carefully scripted—stories that justify destruction and render memory itself the target. This article explores how powerful narratives frame acts like the bombing of Iran as moral imperatives and how we can reclaim suppressed histories.
This in-depth article explores how imperial narratives justify bombing Iran by erasing its civilizational memory. Learn how storytelling precedes military action and how to resist knowledge erasure.
Before bombs fall, stories are told. Empires don’t begin with missiles; they begin with myths. The act of bombing Iran is not just a military operation—it is the violent erasure of a rich and ancient memory. This is a campaign not only against bodies and borders, but also against archives, books, universities, and imagination.
For centuries, Iran—formerly Persia—has been a cradle of science, literature, mathematics, and philosophy. Yet when media frames Iran today, it is rarely through the lens of its civilizational contributions. Instead, it is described as a threat: nuclear, ideological, irrational. This reframing is not accidental; it is political.
1. Empire Begins with Narratives
Empires justify violence through storytelling. Words like “surgical strike” or “defensive bombing” are strategic euphemisms. They desensitize the public and reduce complex societies to targets on a map.
Calling Iran a nuclear threat strips away centuries of its intellectual contributions—from Avicenna’s philosophy and medicine to Omar Khayyam’s poetry and astronomical calculations. It reduces a complex people to a cartoonish villain.
This process is called narrative violence—a term that reflects how language can prepare and justify military violence. Before bombs destroy cities, stories destroy context.
2. Ranajit Guha: Conquest as a Scripted Event
Indian historian Ranajit Guha demonstrated that colonial powers scripted their victories before they happened. In his work A Conquest Foretold, he explains how the British conquest of Bengal was portrayed as inevitable, moral, and even desirable. This script erased native resistance and autonomy.
The same logic applies to Iran. When war becomes “inevitable” in the media, it’s usually because the dominant narrative has closed off all other options. Diplomacy is ignored, history is erased, and memory is rewritten. It becomes acceptable to bomb when the target no longer seems human.
3. Edward Said and the Orientalist Imagination
In his groundbreaking book Orientalism, Edward Said argued that the West constructs the East as backward, irrational, and threatening. This ideology justifies intervention.
Iran is a classic victim of Orientalism. Its complexity is flattened. Its intellectual legacy is marginalized. Its people are reduced to soundbites about extremism and oil. Under this lens, bombing is not an act of war but a form of “civilizing mission”—a deadly form of epistemic arrogance.
Orientalism turns cultural memory into a liability. If a people remember too much—if their history contradicts the imperial script—they must be silenced.
4. Bombing Iran and Erasing Knowledge: From Gondeshapur to Gaza
Iran was once home to the Academy of Gondeshapur, one of the world’s first medical schools and research centers. Established in the Sassanid Empire during the 3rd century CE, it attracted scholars from Greece, India, and China. Here, knowledge was translated, preserved, and innovated. Gondeshapur inspired later institutions such as the House of Wisdom in Baghdad.
During the Islamic Golden Age, Persian scientists and thinkers shaped fields from algebra to medicine. Avicenna’s Canon of Medicine became a standard European text for centuries. The works of Al-Khwarizmi (from which we get the word “algorithm”) transformed global mathematics.
Yet modern narratives rarely mention these contributions. Western textbooks downplay or ignore Iran’s foundational role in human knowledge. This is historical amnesia—strategic and political.
Recent military conflicts have shown a direct attack on knowledge. In 2015, the Mosul library—containing thousands of manuscripts—was deliberately destroyed. In 2023, Israeli airstrikes on Gaza destroyed university archives and cultural centers. These are not collateral damages; they are targeted acts of cultural erasure.
To bomb Iran is to continue this tradition: to attack archives, silence scholars, and burn books—not just metaphorically, but literally.
5. Bombing Iran Is Bombing Memory
Bombing Iran Is Bombing Memory :When cultural institutions become targets, violence is not only physical but symbolic. Bombing a university is different from bombing a military base. The former aims to erase a people’s sense of identity, their contributions, and their future.
To reduce Iran to a “nuclear threat” is to remove Avicenna from history. It is to ignore that Persian was once the lingua franca of scholarship across the Muslim world. It is to forget that the algebra taught in Western schools has roots in the work of Persian and Arab scientists.
This is not just war—it is epistemicide: the killing of knowledge systems.
Here are some of the ways memory is bombed:
- Destruction of archives: Centuries of handwritten manuscripts and oral traditions are lost.
- Dismantling of educational systems: Sanctions and bombings make it nearly impossible to maintain universities.
- Vilification of intellectuals: Scholars are labeled as radicals or enemies.
- Digital erasure: Online Persian literature, research, and history are often underrepresented or misrepresented in Western search engines.
6. Resisting Memory Erasure: What Can Be Done?
Rebuilding memory is possible, but it requires intentional resistance. Here are several strategies:
a. Reclaim the Archive
Support efforts to digitize Persian manuscripts. Many Iranian scholars are creating online repositories of pre-modern texts. You can contribute by amplifying their work or donating to preservation initiatives.
b. Promote Alternative Narratives
Read and share books and articles that highlight Iran’s cultural and scientific history. Works like A History of Iran by Michael Axworthy or Lost Enlightenment by S. Frederick Starr provide more accurate context.
c. Decolonize the Curriculum
Educators must include Persian and Islamic contributions in their syllabi. Avicenna and Al-Khwarizmi should appear in math and science curricula, not just in cultural studies.
d. Support Cultural Diplomacy
Iranian filmmakers, artists, and poets continue to shape global culture. Asghar Farhadi’s films, for example, have won global acclaim. Promote and support such work to counter dominant narratives of violence.
e. Build Scholarly Solidarity
Collaborate with Iranian academics. Resist academic boycotts that isolate scholars. Intellectual exchange is one of the strongest forms of resistance.
f. Remember in Public
Hold public readings, exhibitions, and lectures about Persian heritage. Transform memory into an act of defiance.
7. Why It Matters
Iran is not just a state—it is a civilization. Bombing it isn’t just about geopolitics—it is about destroying the living memory of a people who have given the world poetry, science, and philosophy.
We must resist the erasure of this memory. We must refuse to accept bombing as routine. We must question the language that normalizes war and dehumanizes cultures.
As Edward Said wrote, “To have a history, to possess a story, is to be human.” To bomb Iran is to deny that humanity.
Relevant Resources and Suggested Reading:
- Wikipedia – Gondeshapur
- Encyclopaedia Iranica – Gondēšāpur
- Edward Said – Orientalism
- Ranajit Guha – A Conquest Foretold
- Avicenna’s Canon of Medicine
Related Articles You Might Like:
- “Iran’s Scientific Legacy: Beyond the Headlines”
- “Decolonizing Global Education: What the West Forgot”
- “Knowledge as Resistance: Cultural Survival in Conflict Zones”
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