Qalibaf Warns Rubio: ‘You Will Kneel’ as Iran-US Rhetoric Escalates

Iran’s parliament speaker invokes the fate of a captured Roman emperor in response to the US secretary of state’s call to revive the spirit of ancient Greece.

By Abdullahi Yusuf

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf has warned US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that powers seeking to erase ancient civilisations will ultimately face defeat and humiliation, invoking historical invasions of Persia in response to the American official’s remarks on Western civilisation.

In a post on X, Qalibaf said Iranians had repeatedly confronted powers that proclaimed themselves masters of the world and sought to destroy ancient civilisations.

“They came in fire and flame, only to depart in dust and shame,” he wrote, adding: “Those who chase Alexander’s legacy will share Valerian’s fate: you will kneel.”

The remarks followed a statement by Rubio, who called for the West to rediscover its historical roots during a visit to Greece.

“We believe that the West can awaken from its long slumber – and rekindle the fire that was first lit in ancient Greece millennia ago,” Rubio wrote in a social media post on October 7.

Qalibaf’s reference to Alexander the Great and Roman Emperor Valerian draws on the history of ancient Persia’s encounters with foreign powers.

Alexander conquered the Achaemenid Persian Empire in the fourth century BC. Centuries later, Valerian was captured by the Sasanian Persian king Shapur I following the Battle of Edessa in AD 260, marking a major Roman military humiliation.

By invoking those episodes, Qalibaf framed Iran’s long history as a warning to contemporary powers seeking to assert their dominance over the country.

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