ISLAMABAD — Where exactly does Iran’s core problem lie? The country is facing what its leaders describe as “pharaonic” threats and bluster. The warning is that Iran will be destroyed if it does not come to terms with the United States. But the Iranian leadership is paying no heed to any of Donald Trump’s threats. Iranians, they say, fear neither death nor defeat. Iran’s position is clear: first lift the blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, then talk; otherwise, we are ready for war.
Pakistan has made considerable effort to soften this rigid stance between Iran and the United States. The aim was to bring the two sides face to face for a second round of talks. But Tehran has refused to sit down with the Americans while the naval blockade remains in place. As a result, the U.S. delegation’s visit to Pakistan has been postponed. The Americans are puzzled — why is Iran so desperate to fight a superpower?
Last night an American journalist asked an Iranian journalist, “What is your real problem?” The Iranian smiled and answered, “Our problem is Iqbal!” The reply went over the American journalist’s head. He asked in surprise, “And who is this Iqbal?” The answer came: “Iqbal is the national poet of Pakistan.” The American journalist’s astonishment did not fade. “Did Iqbal tell you not to talk to the U.S. delegation? Where was Iqbal two weeks ago when the Islamabad talks took place?”
The Iranian journalist said no more and turned to his phone. The curious American journalist asked around and learned that the man is known as Allama Iqbal in Pakistan and Iqbal Lahori in Iran. He then came to me, the columnist. I told him to search on Google. He opened his laptop and showed me that, however hard he looked, he could not make sense of it — why would Iranians, in 2026, want to fight America because of a man who died in 1938?
I told him I would explain when the U.S. delegation arrived. But he was insistent. He now wants to write a story on the relationship between Iran and Iqbal. I gave him five minutes. I told him that a large gathering had been held in Lahore a few days earlier to mark the anniversary of Iqbal’s death. The chief guest was the Iranian Consul General in Lahore, Mehran Movahed Far. In his speech, he said plainly, “The courage and inspiration Iqbal gave to Iranians is what enabled us to defeat America.”
The American journalist was taking notes. I told him further, “You may not know this, and even Trump may not know it, but Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, wrote an entire book on Allama Iqbal years ago. Iqbal’s poetry served as fuel for the Iranian revolution.”
The journalist asked, “If Iqbal is a shared hero of Pakistanis and Iranians, how can Pakistan be a neutral mediator?” I smiled and said, “Iqbal is the hero of ordinary Pakistanis, but not of those ruling elites who fear death.”
Who, really, will explain to Trump that Iqbal wrote in Persian:
“A Muslim is no slave to anyone but Allah,
His head does not bow before any pharaoh.”
Trump must drop the “pharaonic” posture and stop the threats. For true Muslims, whether Iranian or Pakistani, it is hard to submit to an arrogant ruler. Even Pope Leo, the spiritual leader of Catholic Christians, has begun to express support for Iran’s position. Perhaps he too has been touched by Iqbal’s philosophy.
The truth is that Iranians are inspired by Iqbal’s thought. And Iqbal’s thought means revolt against pharaohs and tyrants. It is hard for Trump to grasp that “in truth, the martyrdom of Hussain (RA) is the death of Yazid.” Yazid, even in victory, is forever defeated.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report