varnam

It was under Cyrus II (576 or 590 BC â?? July 529 BC), a contemporary of Buddha, that the Iranian Plateau was united for the first time under a single leader. Till then, for about two millennia, Mesopotamia was the lone superpower in the world.

Babylon, one of the civilizations in Mesopotamia, sacked Jerusalem at the start of the 6th century BCE. The last King of Babyblon was Nabonidus, who was more interested in history than politics. (He would have made a great guest blogger here on varnam). Nabonidus had relocated to Arabia and then Cyrus II decided to attack his empire. On hearing the news, Nabonidus came back to Babylon, but it was too late.

The Persians took the city in 539 BCE without any resistance and were greeted by the people are liberators, pretty much the way the neo-cons expected the people of present day Babylon to treat them. Cyrus was benevolent compared to other kings  and freed most of his captives, including Jews. He encouraged them to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple, and even offered to pay for it. In the Book of Ezra, a book of Bible in the Old Testament, Persia or Trans-Euphrates is portrayed as a tolerant place and Cyrus is mentioned about twenty five times, in glorified terms.

Fast forward 2500 years and you have the current ruler of Persia speaking at a conference titled The World Without Zionism calling Israel a "disgraceful blot" to be "wiped off the map "

Reference: Where God Was Born : A Journey by Land to the Roots of Religion by Bruce Feiler