Iran's Vice President for Cultural Heritage and Tourism, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, center, says Iran has much to tell the world, if they'd only listen. Dr. Hassan Fazeli is on the right and author is on the left. Photograph by Newsha Tavolakian.

I’m a listener. In the days before I left Tehran on a 2,500 mile road trip I got an earful from two individuals who made a deep impression on me. One was Dr. Taha Hashemi, deputy of Iran’s Cultural Heritage and Tourism organization (ICHTO) and the other was Iran’s Vice President for Cultural Heritage and Tourism, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie.

The background to these two meetings is that the National Geographic Society generated significant ire in Iran when it published an atlas including the name “Arabian Gulf” as a secondary name for the Persian Gulf. The name “Arabian Gulf” is favored by some Arab nations.

There is no way to over-estimate of strong feelings that the Iranians have about this body of water. Just Google “Arabian Gulf” and you will find a site that states boldly, “The Gulf You Are Looking For Does Not Exist. Try Persian Gulf. The gulf you are looking for is unavailable. No body of water by that name has ever existed. The correct name is Persian Gulf, which always has been, and will always remain, Persian.”

Needless to say, it took major efforts to assure the Iranians that there was no political agenda behind the name change. Once that situation had been addressed, National Geographic approached the Iranians about preparing the story that appears in the August issue. They were gracious enough to trust us and invited a team to Iran that included a photographer, a writer, and me.

The Cleric Who Runs Archaeology in Iran
Dr. Hashemi is the top cleric at ICHTO. From what I understand, it is common to have a cleric in a top role at government institutions. Hashemi is also, from what I was told, a formidable scholar and physician. He had the air of being a tough taskmaster and seemed to command the respect of his colleagues as he entered the meeting room. All rose as we do for judges in a courtroom.

Unfortunately, Dr. Hashemi’s remarks had to be translated. Apparently he was tougher on us than his translator let on. During the meeting I was handed a note by our own translator which said, “The translator forgot to say that Dr. Hashemi mentioned, ‘Your magazine made a mistake by being influenced by politics and used a wrong name for this body of water, the Persian Gulf.’” So, although we may not have heard it from the translator, Hashemi reminded us of the sore spot National Geographic had poked.

Dr. Hashemi was bullish on archaeology and was proud of the efforts of Iranian scientists, like Dr. Hassan Fazeli, to bring Iranian science onto the world stage. When asked about the relevance of Persia to Iranians living in an Islamic republic today, Hashemi used a metaphor that I was to hear many times during my short visit to Iran. He described how Iranian history is like a tree. At the tree’s roots are the earliest parts of Iranian experience, such as the prehistoric cultures that Fazeli studies. The trunk is made up of the glory of the Persian Empire and the branches and leaves represent the fullest expression of the Iranian experience, that of an Islamic Iran. For Hashemi, ancient Persia was not an alien thing, but part of the growing process.

Iran's Veep: We Have Something to Say
I was told that Vice President Mashaie is a right hand man of Iran’s controversial president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The two men's styles couldn't be more different. Where Ahmadinejad’s style is confrontational, Mashaie’s is pleasant, thoughtful, and intellectual. 

Mashaie didn’t scold us as Hashemi had, but brought the discussion to a different level. He acknowledged the role that organizations such as the National Geographic Society can play in improving understanding between peoples. Mashaie was hopeful that National Geographic magazine would tell the world that Iran is a country with a long history and that over the millennia its people have made innumerable contributions to science, art, literature, medicine, and many other fields. He was also hopeful that the magazine article would serve to cause people of the world to pause, especially in this era of tension and sabre-rattling, and open their minds. “We’ve been here for thousands of years,” he said. “We feel we have something to say to the world that is worth listening to.”

The Vice-President graciously gave us a pass that provided access to sites and cooperation from officials everywhere we went. “I wish you sweet dreams of Iran,” he said as we parted. I promised him that we would listen hard, and that we would tell the truth.

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