Cyrus’ mother is a Tajik, and his father is originally from northern Afghanistan. They met in Iran as refugees and settled down in Yazd, where Cyrus was born. Although it is the country of his birth, Cyrus is not a citizen of Iran. The 19-year-old has been working at the hotel for several months now, but illegally: officially designated an Afghani refugee, he is only allowed to work as a manual laborer, far from mainstream Iranian society. “I cannot go to university, I cannot buy a house, and I cannot drive a car,” he explained, “because I am Afghani.”
