27 srp Persian!
This article refers to the ‘Persian’ language which is also called Farsi. The translator has understood from socializing with Iranians, in past decades in Europe, even when addressing those considering themselves to be dissidents, the use of ‘Persia’ as a name for Iran and ‘Persian’ as a name for its language was met with silence and a quiet end to the conversation. Several such encounters took place before a lesson on etiquette was learned. In this article, the fluidity with which Iran is referred to as Persia, and Persian is used to refer to Farsi and all things Iranian, does surprise. Prior to the Islamic Revolution of 1979, Iran was known as Persia, and what was surprising was that Iranians who were not sympathetic to the Islamic reforms and government came to strongly eschew the use of Persia – when what was expected was that they would insist on its use. This does suggest a kind of underlying support for Iran and its government among those that left it because of the 1979 revolution. It appears there may have been a recent cultural change in Iran and presumably within the international Iranian ex-pat community as well. This may be part of a similar change in Saudi Arabia which is now opening up its non-Islamic sites in an attempt to generate more money from tourism.
