This is part of a dabete going on in the Persian community, and most of the people share these ideas. In the wake of Globalization of economy which has its direct impacts on culture and nationalities, such discussions are a must to find a way from the deadlock we are facing now. Here is how an debator explains theories of Pan Iranism:
A) "Iran" - "Land of the nobles" - is not only the name of the modern "Islamic Republic", but also the name of the ENTIRE REGION also known as the "Iranian Plateau". "Iranians" are actually all former Iranian tribes (Bactrians, Sogdians, etc) who melted together after the GReek conquests, and who were totally united under Sassanid rule. Today, ALL Iranian tribes identify themselvs by their language: "Parsi". "Parsi" comes from "Persian", a Greek word. After the Greek conquest, all Iranian tribes adopted this word, because the Greks were caling all Iranians "Persians" (the same way we call everyone from India "Indian", although the country's real name is "Baharat")
B) The name of the official language of Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan is "Parsi". "Parsi" has many DIALECTS, such as Tehrani, Kabuli, Khorassani (Herat, Mashhad, etc), Mazari, Isfahani, Tajiki, etc etc etc. However, all of these DIALECTS have one common WRITTEN FORM OF EXPRESSIOn (=THE SAME SCRIPT): "Parsi-e Darbari", or short: "Dari". "Dari" is NOT A DIALECT. It is the WRITTEN form of the Persian language. It is the skeletton of the Persian language. Many Afghans call their dialect "Dari", but this is wrong. Afghanistan has many different Persian dialects. "Dari" is just the written langauge, like in news-papers or books.
C) "Tajik" is just another word for "Persian". In the past 1400 years, Persians had to face 2 important foreign invasions: Arabs and Turks. These two peoples (although Turks were divided into many different tribes) influenced Persian culture and identity. Although the Iranian people have always called themselvs and their lands "Iran", "Irani" or "Aryana", the foreign invaders never called them that way. The Greeks called them "Persians", the Arabs called them "Ajam", and Turks ... called them "Tajik". The word "Tajik" is a Turkish word and refers to ALL PERSIAN-speaking people of Central-Asia. Since the Seljuk-invasion 1000 years ago, the Persians of Central-Asia are being ruled by Turks. In those 1000 years, these Persians have adopted many Turkish expressions. And one of them is "Tajik". But still, the word "Tajik" was quite unknown until the Soviet rule. In the early 20th century, the Persians of Central-Asia (Samarqand and Bukhara) revolted against Stalin. For this, Stalin punished them by taking away their lands and giving them to Turks who cooperated with the new rulers in Moscow. That's how the "Uzbek SSR" was created. And at the same time, the Turkish word "Tajik" was forced on them, to alienate them from their people in Iran and Afghanistan, and to push Pan-Turkism on them. Today's Tajikistan is not even 1/5 of what used to be Persian lands in Central-Asia.
In Afghanistan, the word "Tajik" was forced on the Persians by the nationalist Pashtun kings who wanted to prevent a Pan-Iranism and Persian nationalism in Afghanistan. Afghanistan has always had good relation with Turkey, most of all because both countries are Non-Arab Sunni nations, while Iran is predominantly Shia. Turkey (after Attatürks revolutions) was training Afghanistan's army, and Afghanistan's kings were copying the Turkish militarism and the way to govern their nation. Both Pashtuns and Turks are traditional cultural enemies of Iran and Iranians. And that's why in both regions, in the Turkish dominated Central-Asia and in Pashtun-dominated Afghanistan, the word "Tajik" was forced on the Persians.
I am from Afghanistan. I was born in Kabul, and my ancestors are from Herat, Kabul, Balkh and Samarqand. I call myself "Persian" (="Parsi"), and I call my language "Parsi". I do not consider myself "Afghan", because "Afghan" is just another word for "Pashtun".
What I am trying to say is that the words "Persian", "Iran" or "Iranian" cannot be minimized to the present political borders of modern "Iran". The historical centers of IRAN and IRANIAN CULTURE are outside the borders of modern "Iran". Our modern, post-Islamic "Persian" was born at the courts of the Samanids in SAMARQAND and BUKHARA. The traditional Persian religion, Zoroastrism, was born in BACTRIA, modern Afghanistan and Tajikistan. The IRANIAN RESISTANCE against the Mongols started in Sabzavar near Herat, today's Afghanistan (today, the city is called "Shindand". In 1936, the Pashtun king Zahir Shah changed many Persian names into Pashto names). Some of the greatest Persian thinkers, including Rumi, Ibn Sina (Avicenna), Nasser Khosrow, Jami, Ansari, Behzad, Abu-Muslim Khorassani, Imam Abu-Hanifa, Rabiya Balkhi, Rudaki, Daqiqi, Anwari, etc etc etc were from cities and centers OUTSIDE the borders of present-day "Iran".
Although I was born in what is called "Afghanistan", I consider myself as much part of the Iranian heritage and culture as someone being from tehran or Isfahan. Tajiks from Afghanistan or Tajikistan are more "Iranian" than Azeris or Turks from Iran.
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