Player Focus: Andranik Teymourian

In recent years, Iran’s government has not given the world much reason to view it as a bastion of tolerance. The refrain “Death to America” filled the Persian air in the wake of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and continues to be uttered to this day. Anti-Semitism is common in political discourse, with President Ahmadinejad in 2006 calling [T]he Zionists and their protectors “the most detested people in all of humanity” and organizing a Holocaust denial conference.

But under the radar there is a story of an Iranian player whose treatment shows the tolerance for which Iran has, in various periods of its history, been known. That player’s name is Andranik Teymourian and, in the Muslim theocracy, he stands out as a Christian.

Andranik Teymourian

Surprisingly, Teymourian insists his religion has never been an issue. “I am very happy that as a Christian I am playing for a Muslim team,” he told the AP during last summer’s World Cup. Teymourian insists that religious issues don’t affect the players in Iran’s dressing room. “In terms of being a religious minority, I’ve got no problem, and relations are really good at the heart of the team.”

And the Iranian people are happy with Teymourian too. When he made his debut for the Iranian national team in 2005, people in that country were initially surprised to see him cross himself. But he has quickly won them over. Despite Iran’s lack of success at last summer’s World Cup, the image of Teymourian collapsed on the field after giving his all has endeared him to many in the country.

Teymourian collapes after Iran’s game against Angola

Teymourian is part of the Armenian minority group in Iran. Their numbers are currently estimated at some 200,000, with the majority living in Tehran and around Isfahan. Armenia and Iran were historically very close, but when their populations converted to Christianity and Islam respectively, the connections grew weaker. Despite this religious split, Armenians began coming to Iran in the 16th century. In the 20th century, Mohammad Reza Shah saw the Armenian population as a trusted source of support, and allowed the community to prosper under his rule. The Islamic Revolution of 1979, however, brought Islamic fundamentalists to power, leading many fearful Armenians to flee the country. Around 100,000 left during the rule of Ayatollah Khomeini. Surprisingly, Iran’s rulers today take a less repressive approach toward their Armenian minority. According to historian George A. Bournoutian,

The current government is more accommodating and Armenians, unlike the Kurds and Iranian Azeris, have their own schools, clubs, and maintain most of their churches. The fall of the Soviet Union, the common border with Armenia, and the Armeno-Iranian diplomatic and economic agreements have opened a new era for the Iranian Armenians.

Andranik Teymourian has shown himself to be a model of tolerance, even toward people still oppressed by the government of Iran. He has two Israel teammates at his club team, Bolton, and has become close friends with one of them, Idan Tal. Tal told Ynetnews in January of their burgeoning friendship:

We’re good friends off pitch as well. We talk a lot, sometimes we go out together. He told me a lot about Iran’s World Cup games. He’s living here alone, with no family, but he has a few Iranian friends who have lived in the area many years, and they were also very nice to me when I met them.

When Tal embraced Teymourian after he scored Bolton’s fourth goal in an FA Cup match against Doncaster Rovers in January, the image was reproduced on both Israeli and Iranian websites and lauded as a symbol of friendship trumping politics.

From L to R: Idan Tal, Andranik Teymourian, Kevin Davies, and Quinton Fortune

According to Tal, “it was just another victory hug.” And what did the Israeli say to the Iranian as they embraced? “We were laughing. We call him ‘Jesus’ on the team, a nickname the manager gave him when he let his hair grow long and he looked like Jesus, so I said ‘congratulations on the goal, Jesus.’”

What does Mahmoud Ahmadinejad think about one of the most detested members of humanity calling one of his countrymen Jesus? We’ll likely never know. But in their embrace and in their friendship, a Jew from Israel and an Armenian Christian from Iran are showing that cooperation on the soccer field can trump odious government policies.

Perhaps their friendship can be the beginning of what is right now unthinkable: reconciliation between Iran and the Jewish people. Indeed, within the country there are currently around 40,000 Jews, down from the 100,000 there at the time of the Islamic Revolution. Historically, Iran has been a place of freedom for Jews, who revere the ancient Persian king Cyrus the Great for liberating them from captivity and allowing them to return to Jerusalem.

We can only hope that the current anti-Semitic policies of Iran’s government are a historical blip and that future governments might follow the lead of Cyrus the Great, and not that of Mr. Ahmadinejad. Iran has made some progress on increasing tolerance of its Armenian Christian population; how long will it be until we have a government there that is courageous enough to make peace with Jews around the world, and the Jewish community in Iran itself. If such reconciliation were to occur, what better symbol of cooperation could there be than a player from Iran’s Jewish community representing the national team?

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 18th, 2007 at 7:37 pm and is filed under Ethnicity/Race, History, Middle East, Nationalism/Identity, Player Focus, Politics, Religion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.