Many Iranians pretend that they have nothing to do with Islam while Iran did not merely join Islamic civilization, it transformed + preserved it + carried it across continents. Iran broke free from direct Arab control within decades, a relatively short historical span in our 3000 years old history, yet remained Muslim by choice. It was Iranian intellect, statecraft, poetry, philosophy, and scientific brilliance that powered Islamic Golden Age, the greatest civilizational treasures of the Muslim world. Later, Persian culture and the Persianate model, learning, and refinement were transmitted through Irano-Turkic empires from Iran and Central Asia to India and Anatolia, shaping vast regions for centuries that lasts today. Iran was one of the chief architects of Islamic civilization as the world came to know it. The fun part is I am not even a religious person but this is what it is no matter what a Pahlavist tries to tell the world.