While I hate to resort to personal ridicule of a serious person, I have this theory that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is not a serious man. We've all read his ridiculous remarks, so I won't bore readers by regurgitating them. But the more I look at his pictures, the more ridiculous he appears.

Here's just a sampling:

A shame really, because Iranians are not ridiculous people.

They have a long, proud, and serious history. Rather than clutter up the blog with a list going of monarchs going back hundreds of years before Christ, here's a list of the "modern" shahs of Iran (since 1502):

Safavid dynasty, 1502–1736

* Ismail I, 1502–1524
* Tahmasp I, 1524–1576
* Ismail II, 1576–1578
* Mohammad I Khodabanda, 1578–1587 or 1588
* Abbas I the Great, 1587 or 1588 -1629
* Safi I, 1629–1642
* Abbas II, 1642–1666 or 1667
* Suleiman I (Safi II), 1666 or 1667–1694
* Husayn, 1694–1722
* Tahmasp II, 1723–1732
* Abbas III, 1732–1736

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Afsharid dynasty, 1736–1749

* Nadir Shah, 1736–1747
* Adil Shah, 1747–1748
* Ebrahim Afshar, 1748
* Shah Rukh, 1748–1797, he lost power in 1750 but nominally remained Shah.

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Zand dynasty, 1750–1794

* Karim Khan, 1750–1779
* Abol Fath Khan, 1779
* Ali Murad Khan, 1779
* Mohammad Ali Khan, 1779
* Sadiq Khan, 1779–1782
* Ali Murad Khan, 1782–1785
* Jafar Khan, 1785–1789
* Lotf Ali Khan, 1789–1794

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Qajar dynasty, 1796–1925

* Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar, 1796–1797
* Fath Ali Shah, 1797–1834
* Mohammad Shah Qajar, 1834–1848
* Nasser-al-Din Shah, 1848–1896
* Mozzafar-al-Din Shah, 1896–1907
* Mohammad Ali Shah, 1907–1909
* Ahmad Shah Qajar (1909–1925)

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Pahlavi dynasty, 1925–1979

* Reza Shah Pahlavi, 1925–1941
* Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, 1941–1979 and his wife Empress Farah Pahlavi, 1938-present

In 1979 a revolution led by Ayatollah Khomeini forced Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi into exile, and established an Islamic Republic.

Not only are they an aberration in Iranian history, they're also an aberration in Shia history. One of the big myths that's been promulgated since Khomeini is that Shia Islam is radical, while Wahhabist Islam (the Saudi variety) is moderate. Historically, this is not true. One of the splits between Shia and Sunni Islam is the belief by the former that the Koran can be interpreted.

In my view, the Shah of Iran was another post-Watergate casualty, and I think it's a shame. There's more and more talk about restoring the Peacock Throne (the Shah's son, Reza Pahlavi, lives near DC). Interesting discussion here. He's willing to return as a constitutional monarch, but not if he is installed by an American military coup, even though he warns time is running out because of nuclear developments. Although these reports should be accorded skepticism there's also an interesting discussion here, which reveals a deep historical distrust of the United States. It's a Catch-22.

Ironically, Iran's nuclear program is what strengthens the mullahs and stands squarely in the way of a resurgence in genuine Iranian nationalism. The West simply cannot sit by and tolerate a nuclear Iran, yet any military intervention will trigger reactive nationalism in the mullahs' favor.

I wish the proud Iranians could laugh them out of power.