“It’s all very well to show courtesy to visiting Muslim dignitaries, but the lengths we went to in Rome last week to please Hassan Rouhani were farcical. The Iranian president and his entourage must have been utterly bemused, when they went for a ceremonial event to the Capitoline Museums, to find big wooden boxes placed over all the classical Roman statues. Under the idiotic assumption that Rouhani wouldn’t be able to distinguish ancient nude sculptures from pornography, our officials had them covered up.
“Incredible: the European cultural cringe has reached a new low. Not long ago, the Italian government bent to the “whims” of Libya’s dictator Muammar Gaddafi by letting him pitch his tents here, but they didn’t cover up “the glories of Roman civilisation” just to please him. With Rouhani, it surely wasn’t even necessary – he’s not a fanatic and, besides, Persia has deep cultural roots in the ancient Greek and Latin worlds. So could our leaders in future please avoid these “senseless” displays of excessive sensitivity? Exposing Muslims to our artistic treasures helps them recognise the world’s cultural diversity – hiding them will only reinforce prejudices. (Vittorio Sgarbi,Il Tempo, Rome, edited by The Week, 6 Feb.2016)
I came to know a number of Iranian exiles in London years ago. What struck me was how very well-informed and educated they were, and how sophisticated. Of course, these were the Shah’s people, but the fact is that Iranians are smart and very well aware of what goes on in the West, including the art. There are extremists, but the majority are sane and anxious to forget the past and embrace the modern world. To treat them as described above is patronizing. Epicurus would have supported embracing modern Iran and welcoming it into the modern world – and that of the Renaissance, if it comes to that. How do we deal with the American extremists who want to renege on the recent agreement and even nuke the Iranian nuclear facilities?
I don’t think it’s possible for the Persian contribution to art, culture and civilised living to be overstated. It was Persia that preserved much of the classical knowledge and way of doing things while Europe regressed into the Dark Ages. The Iranian people today, including a very good friend of mine, are wonderful and intelligent people- far more progressive than the Saudis or the Iraqis.
Having said that, I’m very sceptical about the Iranian government, which commits horrific human rights abuses and sponsors terrorism, as Hillary Clinton quite rightly said on the debate the other night. I think we should trade with the Iranians, but we shouldn’t give them any military assistance in their attempts to increase their influence in territory currently controlled by ISIS. Normalising relations with them would be great in an ideal world, but for now we should proceed with extreme caution.
And as for going out of our way to please Iranian diplomats, this is just pathetic weakness. The Left and the Right should unite behind a defence of Western civilisation, and if the Iranians and their allies don’t like it, they are more than welcome to go home.