Cyrus the Great, Darius I, and Shapur I adorn posters, textbooks, and commemorative speeches today—not as Zoroastrians or ancient emperors, but as “soldiers of Iran,” as forerunners of an allegedly eternal Iranian-Islamic identity. Yet two of these rulers, Cyrus and Darius, are not only part of Persian history but also appear in the biblical narrative. In the Old Testament, they are described not as enemies of Israel but as divinely appointed instruments: kings who allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple after the Babylonian exile. What would Cyrus say if he saw the Islamic regime openly calling for Israel’s destruction today? And what would Darius think, witnessing a country that once stood for religious tolerance and imperial foresight now spreading antisemitic propaganda and oppressing Jewish citizens? They would hardly align themselves with the ayatollahs but rather with those who stand for religious freedom, human dignity, and respect. The irony is profound: two kings, immortalized in the pages of the Bible as saviors of Israel, are now co-opted by a regime that demonizes the Jewish state and...

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