Antonis Klapsis, Associate Professor of Modern History and International Politics at the University of the Peloponnese, spoke on Voice of Greece and the program “Our Global Voice” with Dimitris Kontogiannis about the long-standing relationship between Greece and Iran, from antiquity to the present day.
He began his narrative in ancient times, when the Persian Empire attempted to expand into Europe by conquering mainland Greece after the Ionian coast, highlighting key events such as the Battle of Marathon, the naval battle of Salamis, and Alexander the Great’s campaign and lasting influence on Persia and the wider region.
Klapsis then moved into the modern era and the founding of the modern Greek state. Referring to Greek-Iranian relations in the 20th and 21st centuries, he noted that they have largely mirrored those of the broader Western world. In 1979, as Iran transformed into an Islamic Republic and took an anti-Western path, Greece signed its accession agreement to join the European Economic Community, further deepening its alignment with the West.