May 14, 2026 10:45 PM
61% speak Persian, regardless of whether they identify as that. Some sources contend that it's 65%.
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PETER ZEIHAN
https://youtu.be/m2bqe_RrptQ
VIDEO EXCERPT: Couple things to keep in mind. Number one, Iran is not a normal country. It's all mountainous and in each mountain valley you have a different ethnicity.
And so how the Persians came to control this territory is they expanded out of their original mountain home in Persepolis, and then went to the next valley over and conquered and intermingled with those people. And then to a third and a fourth and a fifth, and eventually did that [metaphorically] a thousand times.
So when people talk about the thousand nations of Persia, they're not exaggerating. This is a multi-ethnic society that has been trying to slowly grind its minorities into an amalgamation for several thousand years, and today they're only about half completed.
Only 51% of Iranians identify as Persians.
Now all the others still identify as Iranian. I'm not suggesting that there's like a really robust opportunity here for multiple fifth columns, but it does shape the decision-making. And it's pretty clear that it's the Persians who are in control of all the major decisions, especially the IRGC.
The IRGC plus the military is primary job is to make sure that 49% of the population who are not Persian never get persnickety and rise up. So in many cases, the Iranian military force is primarily designed to occupy its own country.
All right, that's the background you need for us to get into the real stuff...
How to break Iran ... https://youtu.be/m2bqe_RrptQ
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
PETER ZEIHAN
https://youtu.be/m2bqe_RrptQ
VIDEO EXCERPT: Couple things to keep in mind. Number one, Iran is not a normal country. It's all mountainous and in each mountain valley you have a different ethnicity.
And so how the Persians came to control this territory is they expanded out of their original mountain home in Persepolis, and then went to the next valley over and conquered and intermingled with those people. And then to a third and a fourth and a fifth, and eventually did that [metaphorically] a thousand times.
So when people talk about the thousand nations of Persia, they're not exaggerating. This is a multi-ethnic society that has been trying to slowly grind its minorities into an amalgamation for several thousand years, and today they're only about half completed.
Only 51% of Iranians identify as Persians.
Now all the others still identify as Iranian. I'm not suggesting that there's like a really robust opportunity here for multiple fifth columns, but it does shape the decision-making. And it's pretty clear that it's the Persians who are in control of all the major decisions, especially the IRGC.
The IRGC plus the military is primary job is to make sure that 49% of the population who are not Persian never get persnickety and rise up. So in many cases, the Iranian military force is primarily designed to occupy its own country.
All right, that's the background you need for us to get into the real stuff...
How to break Iran ... https://youtu.be/m2bqe_RrptQ