In Iran, history began with the warlord founder of Islam, Mohammed, and woe unto anyone who says otherwise

Iran's Islamic Republic has arrested the organizers of a march last week near the tomb of the ancient Persian king Cyrus the Great that attracted thousands of people celebrating the country's pre-Islamic glory.

Crowds of mostly young Iranians attended the march near the ancient city of Pasargadae in central province of Fars on Friday to celebrate the day unofficially marked in the Iranian calendar as Cyrus Day.

Videos released on social media show them chanting "Iran is our country, Cyrus is our father." Reuters could not independently verify the videos' authenticity.

"The main leaders and organizers of this gathering who chanted unconventional slogans against the (Islamic Republic's) values have been arrested," said prosecutor Ali Salehi in the provincial capital Shiraz on Monday, according to Fars news agency.

A senior Shi'ite cleric, Ayatollah Nouri Hamedani, denounced the gathering and its participants on Sunday.

"These people are against the Revolution. I wonder how they can gather around Cyrus's tomb and chant the same slogans (about Cyrus) that we chant about our supreme leader," Fars quoted him as saying. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has both the highest religious and political power in Iran...