Even former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had welcomed Richard N. Frye's request to be buried in his beloved Isfahan, and had given Frye a home there. But the hardliners in Iran, whose opposition I noted a few day ago, have stepped up their attacks on the idea of burying Frye on Iranian soil. (Also see here.)
Probably no Weterner (and certainly no American) has done more to promote knowledge and understanding of Iranian culture and society in the West, yet now the mortal remains of the great Harvard expert who died recently at the age of 94, have become political football in Iran, a stand-in I suspect for the nuclear talks with the US and those who seek to scuttle them. (To their credit, serious scholars in Iran are supporting the burial).
I wish I knew more Persian. Surely Hafiz or Rumi must have a few appropriate lines for this travesty.
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