Over the last decade, they have refocused their media production on depicting how the guards protected Iran from outside aggression, moving religious symbols to the background. One wing of the museum features a large map of the ancient Persian Empire, ruling stretches of Asia. Instead of celebrating martyrs — like the ubiquitous yet rarely visited martyrs museums that dot the country — this museum offers a narrative of nationalism, dignity and pride. the very people the martyrs museums pushed away for decades. They sing of defending the nation from foreign aggression as the Persian mythical heroes of “Shahnameh,” or “Book of Kings," did.

Source: International New York Times June 30, 2019 22:52 UTC