"For hundreds of years, Iranians have been migrating to many parts of the world. They took Islamic culture to other parts of the world and established it there"
About this Quote
The second sentence does the real work. "They took Islamic culture" reframes diaspora not as flight, exile, or economic necessity but as civilizational delivery. It’s a soft-power boast dressed up as heritage, turning migrants into emissaries and making religion the export. That choice of emphasis matters coming from a statesman who governed under the banner of the Islamic Republic: it collapses Iranian national identity into an Islamic mission, implying that Iran’s reach is naturally religious, not merely geopolitical.
"Established it there" is an especially revealing phrase. It’s not about cultural exchange or mutual influence; it’s about implantation and permanence. The subtext is a rebuttal to narratives that cast Iranian transnational networks as suspicious or destabilizing. Instead, he offers a counter-myth: Iranians as founders, builders, carriers of legitimacy.
Contextually, it sits inside Ahmadinejad’s broader project of asserting Iran as more than a sanctioned state on the defensive. It’s an attempt to claim a civilizational mandate - one that flatters the diaspora, justifies influence abroad, and positions Iran as an origin point rather than an outlier.
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Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Ahmadinejad, Mahmoud. (2026, February 16). For hundreds of years, Iranians have been migrating to many parts of the world. They took Islamic culture to other parts of the world and established it there. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/for-hundreds-of-years-iranians-have-been-119231/
Chicago Style
Ahmadinejad, Mahmoud. "For hundreds of years, Iranians have been migrating to many parts of the world. They took Islamic culture to other parts of the world and established it there." FixQuotes. February 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/for-hundreds-of-years-iranians-have-been-119231/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"For hundreds of years, Iranians have been migrating to many parts of the world. They took Islamic culture to other parts of the world and established it there." FixQuotes, 16 Feb. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/for-hundreds-of-years-iranians-have-been-119231/. Accessed 22 Feb. 2026.

