Iran is a hot commodity. Whether it is being sold as a misunderstood land of mystery, or eyed as a potential business or investment opportunity, it is difficult to find a narrative which does not reduce the country to a means to a particular end. Historically, this included the vilification of Iran as an anti-western wasteland, divorced from
The New Orientalism: Iran As A Political Commodity
“Orientalism can be discussed and analyzed as the corporate institution for dealing with the Orient.”
![“Entrance of a Caravanserai in Isfahan” (1840), by French Orientalist painter Eugène Flandin. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.](https://www.mintpressnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/A_caravanserai_in_Isfahan_by_Eugène_Flandin-1148x647.jpg)