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Five days in Tehran
24-Aug-2008
Tehran is a very large and beautifully picturesque city with many hidden worlds within worlds to discover, which runs downhill from the foothills of the Alborz Mountains in the north all the way down to the edges of the Dasht Kavir desert in the south. Never far from the skyline is the immense Mount Damavand whose snow capped peak can often be seen rising above the clouds like the Mount Fuji of Iran. [Photos]
Since the revolution, 30,000 trees have been planted in Tehran and it is one of the greenest cities you will ever see anywhere on the planet.
The traffic is jammed like L.A. or NYC but there is a subway system which is clean and efficient and like NYC or Paris, the city never sleeps and one can always find a place to eat 24 hours a day, including ice cream and sweet shops and tea houses and water pipe cafes. To plan one’s visit most effectively one should stick to one neighborhood of town per day since it can take 1 ½ to 2 hours to get from the top of town to the bottom or across town in traffic.
Day 1
Your guide will get a permit to drive in the down town bazaar area. The first stop is the National Archeological Museum or the Iran Bastan Museum as it is known. This museum has a great collection of Achemaenian bronzes, statues, capitols and friezes from Persepolis as well as Lurestan bronzes and pottery, Sassanian and Parthian. The naturalism of the animal depictions is amazing. There is even the mummified head of a Parthian Lord preserved in salt with a gold ear ring in his ear along with his felt boots. There are mosaics which once lined the floors of palaces installed by Roman war slaves.
For lunch you will go to the Omar Khayyam Restaurant in the bazaar neighborhood at Khayam Street, where the proprietor will proudly show you their mention in the Lonely Planet series on Iran and you will sit cross legged on a carpeted low platform and eat dezee, which you will mash with a mortar and pestle and you will drink dukh (carbonated yoghurt) to go with it. The restaurant itself is quite architecturally picturesque as it is converted from a former mosque.
In the afternoon you will spend at least an hour and a half wandering the grand bazaar visiting carpet shops and seeing private collections of antique carpets with animal motifs from Nayeen and Qom.
Then you will go to Ghavam Soltaneh in Jomhoori neighborhood just a little north of the bazaar area. Ghavam Soltaneh was the first Tehran residence of the famous late Prime Minister Ebrahim Ghavam of Shiraz, which houses the national glass and ceramic museum.
There you will see many fine ceramics from Kashan 11th, 12th and 13th centuries among other things as well as glass vases beautifully displayed by contemporary cases and lighting designed by Italians.
That night you will dine on Azerbaijani style food like Benobi Kebabs at Shiraz Benobi Kebab Restaurant on Shiraz Street around Shiraz Circle.
Day 2
Again you will descend into the downtown bazaar area and visit Golestan Palace complex, originally the palaces of the Zand Kings, a dynasty of Kurdish origin from Esfahan and in fact the tomb of Karim Khan-e-Zand is to be found there. The Qajar then took over the palaces and the loggia with the throne and tomb of Mozzafaredin Shah Qajar can be seen there.
There is also a fine collection of oil paintings of various royalties of Europe and Russia and the first high rise in front of which is a palace with two ventilation towers which sucked the wind down them to blow over an indoor pool of water which cooled the rest of the rooms. The grounds and reflecting pools of the Golestan complex are beautiful and you will see horse and carriages which belonged to the Qajar.
You will have lunch in the Ferdowsi Grand Hotel Restaurant and smoke gheylioon and drink tea in their tea room afterwards.
Then you will proceed to the National Jewels Museum in the Jomhoori neighborhood at Istanbool intersection to see its collection of Qajar and Pahlavi Dynasty pieces such as the Darya-e-Noor diamond, the Peacock Throne and the Kiani Crown.
That night you will dine at the “Entrecote Restaurant” for fine French cuisine. Mr. Salehzadeh, the manager, says that it is a branch of the famous Paris restaurant. It is located at No. 1 South Shiraz Street, Khordestan Expressway.
Day 3
You will go to the National Carpet Museum in Fatemi neighborhood and have breakfast in the chic café there and see the oldest perfectly preserved carpet in the world over 700 years old which agents of Empress Farah bought at auction in London to return to Iran. You will see the finest carpets from every major carpet weaving center in Iran both past and present such as Tabriz, Mashad, Esfahan, Nayeen and Qom. Some are so large like the four in the main lobby that they cannot be fully unrolled although it is a very tall room. You will see many Amoghli family carpets. Amoghli is a famous carpet manufacturing family from Qom for over three hundred years. You will see styles no longer made such as Tehrani carpets. There are even carpets with portraits of famous statesmen of all nationalities woven into them as well as of Qajar royals. There is one with American Presidents featuring George Washington in the center.
For lunch you will go to Lux Talaee in Semiran for Baghali Polo and Maeeche, which is a boiled lamb shank under a pile of lima bean rice.
In the afternoon you will proceed to the Reza Abbasi Museum in nearby Seyed Khandan ( laughing descendant of the prophet) neighborhood, which has the finest collection of solid gold Achamaenian Rhytons as well as silver, bronze and ceramic ones, which you will find no where else in addition to 1 and 2nd century AD glassware and ceramics from Kashan, Kerman and other sites, Islamic armor and even glass water pipes. The museum is small with only three floors of exhibits however they are some of the finest collections of their kind in existence.
For dinner you will go to Gilac Restaurant at Park O Prince Avenue where you will dine on Kebab Torsh in the style of Gilan on the Caspian and eat Mirza Ghassemi mashed eggplant for an appetizer along with pickled garlic and also Grilled White Fish.
Day 4
You will go to the Niavaran Palaces and have breakfast at the café on the grounds.
There you will see the palace which served as the administrative offices of the Shah on the ground floor and to entertain guests in the basement level. You will also visit the adjacent little place once belonging to the last Qajar King Ahmed Shah, which was given to the Shahzadeh, the Shah’s oldest son and is filled with his memorabilia and childhood books.
For lunch you will go to SBU Restaurant in Evin and sit cross legged on carpeted platforms amidst the trees and running streams and dine on Shishlik Kebabs and fresh baked taftoon bread.
In the afternoon you will go to the Sa’ad Abad Palaces in Semiran neighborhood, which were originally built by the Qajars and taken over by the Pahlavis until Empress Farah grew tired of her in laws and had Niavaran built instead. At Sa’ad Abad you will see a palace where Reza Shah The Great lived and you will see a unique style of stucco designs on top of mirrored glass walls. You will see many antiques like a silver serving dish weighing several hundred pounds, a leather wall papered dining room with a table set with Limoge crystal glassware and also many memorabilia of Reza Shah including his Futan on the floor of his bedroom where he preferred to sleep. The grounds are incredibly verdant just as they were at Niavaran.
That night you will dine at Darband, up in the foothills at the top of the town at the Koohpaye Restaurant full of fountains and flora reminiscent of the hanging gardens of Babylon and there you will eat trout and or Bakhtiari Kebabs, which are chicken and steak on the same skewer with green bell pepper.
On Day 5
You will have continental breakfast in the lobby of the Esteglal Hotel in Elahiyeh neighborhood and then proceed to Darabad to the Museum of Natural History of Iran with a great collection both of live and stuffed fauna including birds and ibex on display along with fossils and minerals and a nice garden for strolling in.
For lunch you will go to Chiminey Restaurant for its quiet elegant atmosphere up in a hillside forest overlooking Tehran for fine continental and Iranian dining including duck with wild mushrooms. Alternately you can go to the restaurant in Jamshidieh Park shaped like Turkmen Yerts in Niavaran neighborhood at the foot of Tochal Mountain and dine on giant meatballs, Kuft-e-Tabrizi or Kooko Sabzi, six inch high spinach soufflé. The park is full of beautiful wild tulips in the spring.
In the afternoon your will go to the family owned private cemetery Zahir Ol Dowleh to see where many of the most famous contemporary Iranian national poets, writers, musicians and sufi philanthropists are burried such as Forough Farrokhzad, Iradj Mirza, Bahar, Rohani, Rahi Mo’ayeri, Darvish Khan and others.
Then you will proceed to the teahouse and gardens of the late General Amirahmadi and his wife in Elahiyeh neighborhood and take tea and pastries while enjoying the scale models of some of the most famous architecture in Iran such as the Ali Gapu of Esfahan, Soltanieh Mosque, which was the tallest dome in the world in the 14th century, the mausoleum of Ibn Sina, the Golestan Palace and many others.
For dinner you will go to “Touch Restaurant” on the corner of Kamranieh and Farmanieh Streets on the first floor of Kooh-e-noor Shopping Center where you will find charm and exquisite décor and comfort along with an attentive, polite and friendly staff and great world class nouvelle cusine such as tomato and basil soup, rice paper wrapped vegetables, fish grilled in tamarind and ginger or marinated steak and for desert baby water melon cuts, cherries and apricots with chocolate sauce.
That concludes your five days in Tehran tour. There are many other restaurants and cafes and museums such as the “Time Museum,” which has a collection of clocks, the “Contemporary Art museum,” the “Ancient Coin Museum” and there is even a museum about SAVAK as well as a small museum in Elahiyeh neighborhood with a collection of photos from the revolution. While you are there, you may want to go to “Classic Café” which is a very trendy and chic place to grab a cappuccino or a latte and to see and be seen among Tehran’s younger jet set or if you happen to have a local friend with “parti bazi” (influence) you could get in to the Bashga-he-Engelob or “Revolution Club” which was the former Imperial Country Club then known as Bashga-he-Shahanshahi and play a round of golf.
You might catch a show of folkloric dance at Rudaki Hall or depending on the time of year, a film festival such as the “Tehran International Short Film Festival” or the “Tehran International Animation Festival” and there is also contemporary theatre around town which you can learn about on TehranAvenue.com.
It is important to understand that Tehran is a world class city with no lack of things to do for a tourist and in fact three weeks would better serve a visitor than one week in order to see it all. There are many beautiful parks with water features and some of the most beautiful public sculpture worldwide and many side trips worth considering like one to the national cemetery Behesht e Zahra to see Imam Khomeini’s mausoleum and the acres of graves of the young martyrs of the Iran Iraq war, which is on the way to or from the luxurious and convenient new Imam Khomeini International Airport.
[Photos]
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Though the US
by IranMilitaryForum.net on Thu Apr 01, 2010 09:12 PM PDTconstitution does not prohibit non Christian presidents, however, can anyone point to a US president who was not a Christian?
Also, the richest nation on earth, the USA, does not consider university education, healthcare and having a roof over one's head (among other necessities of life) a right but rather a "privillage"! One can fantisize about the US constitution but in the end, it is the green buck that counts here. Anything else is simply rhetoric!
واقعا تو ايراني هستي؟
skymanThu Apr 01, 2010 08:09 PM PDT
سلام فرهاد جان.
من واقعا متاسفم كه يك خارجي اينقدر از ايرانيها خوب نوشته ، اما در عوض تو خيلي چيزارو انكار كردي.
به نظر من همون بهتر كه برگردي آمريكا....
ايران طالب ايرانيه
منو باشچه قدر براي فقط پيدا كردن يك كانال ارتباطي با فرهاد كاشاني چه قدر وقت صرف كردم و چه قدر شبهاي زيادي رو بدر سپري كردم.
فرهاد عزيز من واقعا دوست دارم ، اما من نمي دونم شما چرا اينقدر فمينيست بازي در مياري.
به هرحال تو هميشه براي من عزيزي
Briana, thanks.
by Farhad Kashani on Thu Sep 04, 2008 07:17 PM PDTBriana, thanks.
Brian, no I wasn’t trying to ridicule your argument. That’s just my analogy style. However, I’m a realist. The examples I mentioned about women CEOs and others, are reality. Their not fictional nor opinions. Furthermore, since the dawn of history, even including today’s Iran, the pressure on women to “look good” and the self confidence issues they had to deal with and the advantages taken from women to look like sex objects, were present in every culture, of course, with different degrees of clarity and openness to discuss those issues. Since the U.S is an open society, things like that are discussed more in the media, so it seems like there is more pressure on women here. Did you know that Iran leads the world in the number of nose jobs? That statistic is easily obtainable. In lot of other cultures, there are social norms and restriction that prohibits talking about those issues.
U.S is actually a very tolerant society. Not too long ago, I read a survey that was made stating that more and more Americans are “accepting” of overweight individuals.
Exposing as the flipside of hejab; one last comment
by Brian H. Appleton (not verified) on Wed Sep 03, 2008 09:33 PM PDTI think that Farhad is taking my argument to its logical conclusion that all female CEO's would be "hotties" in an attempt to ridicule my position but it is disingenuous because you cannot deny the enormous social pressure women are under to be sexy in this culture and the hundreds of millions of dollars they spend on augmenting their breasts at plastic surgeons or dying their hair blonde or on revealing clothing...to conform to the cultural archetype, icon, ideal determined by who?...it is begging the question to say that if it is not legally mandated that it is OK because social pressure creates the reality of our existence as much if not more so than law. Besides sex appeal does allow certain women to rise to the top in certain careers like modeling, rock stars, actresses...they become the role models with their unnatural "tits on a stick" physiques which cause teenage girls to become anarexic trying to emulate them. Also look at how many stars resort to making porno films here to advance their careers or soft porn in the case of teenage idols... Paris Hilton, Britney Speers,Kardashian,felan felan...sex is used to sell merchandise also...so it's great to have all these freedoms of choice under the law but the reality is dictated by other pressures besides law...ethnic discrimination is illegal but we all feel it and know the laws can't stop it... only our hearts can stop it, what I don't see as a cultural value day to day here is compassion...look at France making hejab illegal...go figure...
one last comment
by briana (not verified) on Tue Sep 02, 2008 01:11 PM PDTI forgot to mention that most of the middle and lower class in the USA are in debt up to their eyeballs ...
thanks
by briana (not verified) on Tue Sep 02, 2008 12:23 PM PDTI sincerely wish to thank Farhad Kashani and "Khailey Khoob" for their comments. When I meant Jews and Christians were not being persecuted, I meant to my knowledge they were not being imprisoned, tortured and executed like Darvish and Bahai but I was not aware they were being excluded from holding public office.
I often run into Moslem Iranian Americans whose own fathers and mothers have been waiting literally 13 years for visas and then I meet Assyrian Iranian immigrants right off the airplane who claimed Political Asylum and got visas in no time.
As far as leftist idealogy Farhad, I am not technically a socialist however I lean that direction admittedly because I do see a lot of Americans being left out of the system and not getting their peice of the pie. Iranian Americans just as Khailey Khoob mentioned about Cuban Americans are the most entrepreunerial and well educated class of immigrants America has ever seen so they sre not really representative in that sense of the immigrant experience. In the waves of immigrants who came over in the 1890's what the history books don't tell you is large numbers of them returned to Norway and Italy to retire. My feelings are bitter I admit because I have two severely handicapped children for whom the State does nothing. If you are single, well educated between the age of 20 anf 40 this is a great place to work butI do not think it is a great place for children and the elderly. The laws and social freedoms must be measured against the alienation and loneliness and break down of family and community. Unlike Iran nothing here is personal. Failing institutions are supposed to take care of all our personal needs instead of family and friends. I am not exaggerating. We can put a man on the moon but the simplist thing like children getting home from school at 2 pm while parents work until 6 or 7 pm is a problem that in the old world doesn't exist. There a grandmother istead of a 1000 dollar a month daycare handles the problem. I think you must agree that we have paid a high price socially and psychologically here for all this technological advancement which is why we all feel nostalgia for the old days.
Even young men working in cafes in Tehran were asking me wistfully if I cccould help them get a visa. Friends told me not to use hotel phones and not to talk politics over the phone. One even told me to erase photos of him and me together lest they confiscate my camera on the way out at the airport. I know that for the right price there is always a way which Americans tend to look upon as corruption which here takes place mainly at the highest levels of society. I realize that there is a large proportion of the middle vlass who are overeducated for thei jobs they hold. I know there is plenty wrong with Iran under the mullahs but there is also plenty wrong with the USA. When I gave a speech at MIT in conjunction with the screening of the film Bam 6.6 in May of this year, I asked Ali Faranchi, the president of the MIT Persian Student Association how much it cost to go to MIT and he said 80K per year. I talked to students at Stanford too and they left me with the opinion that nobody gets in without partibazi these days...I think you are being disingenuous to deny that quality education here has gone private from pre-school to post grad.
Anyway Saudi Arabia is closer to the reality the Western media paints of Iran and Saudi is US ally. Politicians are all hypocrites and there is no morality in international politics. You must admit that the IRI government as bad as it is serves as a convenient excuse to paint Iran as black as possible at every opportunity to turn the US public against Iran in order to make another invasion acceptable. The Bush/American Century agenda is to recolonize Iran plain and simple and it wouldn't matter what government was in charge of Iran as long as it wasn't a puppet, it would be demonized. I believe that the reason that the IRI has remained in power for 30 years now is because of allt he vested interests that UK, Italy, Swiss, Germans, Russians and Chinese have ther and the USA is angry that they were ousted and not getting their share.
I agree with Khailey Khoob and have siad the same thing myself many times that an impression of a country based on a two week visit does not make soemone an expert and depending upon whether they have a good experience or a bad one in that limited time thewy form an entire impression without sufficient knowledge. Having said that I just want to say finally that in Iran in the 1970's and based on my visit last month, I still found that there was always the human factor by which things are measured, call it corruption if you like, but I could always rely upon the Iranian humanity to help me out of any difficulty I was in.
kaily koob, great points,
by Farhad Kashani on Mon Sep 01, 2008 06:43 AM PDTkaily koob, great points, and thanks aziz.
Reponses: “Jews and
by Farhad Kashani on Mon Sep 01, 2008 06:41 AM PDTReponses:
“Jews and Christians not being prosecuted”? Absolutely not true. Let me add this, did you know that according to IRI’s own constitution, or as I like to call it, oppression document, only a Muslim can become a leader in Iran? That’s not open clear discrimination against others? Name me one elected official, not that phony “selected” one sit for Jews or others in the so called “parliament”, but one elected or appointed non-Muslim official in Iran in the last 30 years.
What do you mean by objective? Why do we always think that its others who try to make us look bad and its now our own actions? What do you expect the world media to say about the regime after it has done and doing so many atrocities (according to your own argument)? Do you want CNN or FOX or BBC to have a special about regime’s great achievements? Of course not! And I never ever heard any of these media say a single bad world about Iranian people. I never heard them “dehumanizing the Iranian people” in any way, shape or form. So like you said, lets look “objectively” and see if thing that we do contribute to our image or not.
Your view of the U.S is ideologically driven and untrue. Education is not only available for most of Americans. But millions of the best in the world come to this country to pursue higher education. Are you saying that no average American can enter Harvard? Or Yale? There are statistics out there that contradicts this view. America has one of the best, if not the best, higher education systems in the world. And your view about Hijab and “sex appeal” in America is unfortunately absolutely wrong. So are you saying all women CEOS, mayors, governors, federal officials, judges, University professors,are all “hot” and “sexy”??? How can freedom of wearing whatever you feel like, including Hijab, is the “flipside”, of forced Hijab? I don’t know, but that does not make any sense to me!
I agree with most of your other points.
This is really
by kaily koob on Sun Aug 31, 2008 10:13 PM PDTThis is really interesting, reading an American's view of Iran, vs. Iranians' view of Iran, both of whom so knowledgeable of Iran of yester-years and of today's!
I must say that I find myself somewhere in between the two views. Farhad, I really agree with you in terms of Cuba and I happen to know a few Cuban Americans who have first hand information about life in Cuba. I think that the Cuban immigrants in the years of settling in America have not only managed to succeed in this vast ocean of competition, but also have changed the face of America in the process. Miami has been completely transformed into a bi-cultural city. The Latino flavor and influence that runs deeply in the heart of (well most of) America today is mainly due to Cuban immigrants' efforts. No matter what we hear about Cuba, you certainly never see anyone defecting to Cuba! LOL Not even Michael Moore, who defends that country's wonderful healthcare system, blah blah. As somebody said I think here, why did Castro go to Europe for treatment, if they had such great health care in place right there at home!
I believe that in order to really understand a country's mentality, social, cultural, and economic situation, one must live among them for a significant period of time. Also, exposure to multiple classes of the society is necessary in order to arrive at an informed opinion about the life conditions of a given country. Everything always looks different from a distance. There is no doubt that the Media taints, colors and doctors information according to the wishes of the administration of the day, in the country where we hear the news. You know there are so many biased assessments of or judgments about America and American way of life, in Europe that we never hear about, until you live over there. Similarly on the flip side of the coin, the Iranians inside Iran whose majority (certainly not all), still believe that America is heaven on earth. Certainly they have every reason to think that life anywhere in the West (the land of freedom?) has got to be better than what they experience in Iran. And I happen to agree with that. No matter how many improvements have been made in Iran in the last 30 years, it is still the land of the oppressed!
There's no argument that when you talk to the Iranians inside Iran, you get a a whole different picture than you do from the one painted by the Media here in the West. Both the pretty pictures and the ugly ones are exaggerated! There's no doubt that the fear factor left in the wake of 911 in the West is hell bent on portraying Iran as an evil empire and its people being tortured on the streets or some such horrific stories. The truth is that if you go about your business in Iran and stay clear of politics, you can pretty much carry on a life (mediocre at best, and poverty-stricken at worst) – no need to even touch on the lives of the super wealthy - just like it was during the Shah. Except for that the poor are poorer, the rich are richer and the middle class poorer! The main problem that's driving the Iranians out of the country today is the economic pressures, where educated people have to resort to menial jobs in order to make ends meet. And we can only blame the sanctions so much, when we all know what's really happening to the wealth of that oil producing country!
And yes of course the oppression & harassment of women & the banning of music in the parties and the social pressures exerted, seem to be just another venue to generate additional revenue for the country. I'd say that's pretty clever; they arrest women for showing 2 strands of hair, then set them free on bail. The same treatment applies to those who throw parties, having to either pay a hush money to the local authorities, or risk being arrested, which again ends up with having to pay an exorbitant bail! They ban Satellites in the same way, while they're sold in black market by millions, and there's no black market that can exist anywhere without the knowledge or even the consent of the authorities. So, yes you can find anything under the sun in Iran of today, but for a price... The fact that only a few can afford the price tag, is exactly the reason that is making the Iranians fed up and forced to leave. If the economy was thriving, I think people would've been a little more tolerant of the restrictions on the dress code...
Please hear me, I'd be the last person on earth defending the restrictions and oppressions and the pressures exerted in Iran, there's no excuse for that. But, it is obvious that the Iranians' spirit is indomitable; look at how women are forced to wear 'uniforms' or chador (literally meaning tents) or even a water down version: head scarf - in the name of Islam - yet they keep showing up in public in bright colored jackets, with designer jeans and shoes and their head covers pulled back as far as they can get away with, just to protest.
However, Iran remains to be one of the most beautiful cities in the Middle East, and it looks even more beautiful today than it did 30 years ago. They have made an effort to enhance the looks of the streets and they're more environmentally conscious today - if it wasn't for the over population of cars & people and the dangerous levels of smog, all of which can be seen in any big city across the globe...
The routine black outs and the sky rocketing prices of goods and unemployment & drugs on the streets on the other hand, are all by-products of an anemic economy that's hooked to life-support machines now. A once thriving country is now ranking among the 3rd world nations, all due to its leadership as well as the economic sanctions imposed by the West.
So, although I agree with much of what Mr. Brian says in his observations of life in Iran today, I think one should really live there among the locals for an extended period of time and try to work and earn a living and have family to feed and be truly immersed in the society before one can draw a realistic conclusion about life in Iran. However, Mr. Brian I do respect your views and it's truly heart warming to see an American who loves Iran almost as much as an Iranian would and thank you for all the great photos from my homeland. And I do not believe that you need to visit every desert and every village in Iran to "Know" Iran. You sound like you know enough.
Thanks for a wonderful thread.
response
by Brian H. Appleton (not verified) on Sun Aug 31, 2008 06:08 PM PDTThe USA is not benign and is not promoting democracy and those of you who think a US invasion of Iran would make things better look at Iraq today. I am not an apologist for the IRI and I am aware of their 4000 executions in 1988, their restrictions on women, their assassinations including the assassinations of some of my friend's fathers. I know many people especially Bahai personally whose fathers were executed after the revolution. Of course it would have been better if Khomeini had been a Nelson Mandela with a general amnesty and won the nobel peace prize but the hatred and vengeance of the revolutionaries was inherited from the excesses of the Shah's regime and SAVAK and the poverty and great disperity between the rich and the poor which of course continues. Also the revolutionaries were afraid that if Shah's officials were left alive they would make a come back. The rounds of execution and revenge when a government falls need to stop and the wounds between different factions need to heal. The fact is that the majority of Iranians are Moslem and Islam is there to stay. The hardliners are not any more representative of Islam than the Christian fundamentalist right are of Christianity. There is a lot of Islam bashing going on of the entire Moslem world along with demonization of Iran for motives not consistent with the "exporting of democracy." The fact is that Christians and Jews in Iran are not being persecuted and they are patriots.
The point of my writing is an attempt at objectivity in the face of complete demonization of Iran. When an "enemy" is dehumanized then the public in the agressor nation does not object to their government starting a war. The average American has a very negative image of Iran and Iranians which most of you encounter daily.
I met many Iranians while there who love Iran but are desperate to leave and come here or to Canada for more of an economic future as well as escaping restrictions. That said I want to say that America is no longer made of streets paved with gold and the American Dream may have been achievable in the 1840's during the gold rush when our government was giving land away for $1.25 an acre for anyone who wanted to farm it but those days are long gone. USA today we face major competition in every field from millions of people better qualified than you are. Quality education, health care and justice have become something available only to the elite. It has become an oligarchy where the top 2% live well and the rest of us are wage slaves in serious debt workaholics. A few people whom the media play up big rise to stellar achievement by being complete ass holes to their fellow man and employees and this is in general admired. And to you women readers, you may not have to wear hejab here but if you don't bare yourself and have "sex appeal" and get boob job, nose job, etc you don't rise, you don't get promotion or good job or good husband, etc...you are forced not by law but by social pressure to be sex object...this is the flip side of hejab and another manifestation of male domination.
I don't care whether you call me leftist or dreamer but the pain and alienation and loneliness I see here and have experienced here myself over 30 years is real...you come for economic and social freedom, you give up country, tradition, community, family, clan, friendships...if it is so great why is everyone homesick and why do even Americans born and raised here their whole life miss the good old days when you could leave your front door unlocked, your kids could play in the front yard and bike around the neighborhood and you knew you always had friends you could count on when you got into trouble of any kind. There are more people undergoing therapy here per capita here than anywhere else on earth and not because they can afford it because they can't. I am not saying that America is the Great Satan but we have become mindless consumers and it is a disinformation age. I do not feel that Iran constitutes a grave threat to world peace however the current US administration does. Look how they are purposely antagonizing the Russian Federation rather than making peace with them.
What I saw in Iran like one of you mentioned is a spirit which no government can break. There are streets where boys and girls take advantage of the traffic jams to exchange phone numbers and e-mail addresses and everywhere I went in people's homes they offered me alcohol even though I am not a drinker. I think a few terms with another moderate President like Khatemi but more forceful, who is good at economics and the entire landscape could change without a US bombardment. Do you want to see Iran bombarded because they make you wear a headscarf even if it can be silk Christian Dior and bright red or gold?...yes the IRI has been in power for 30 years but the IRI right after the revolution and the IRI of today are not the same. I think too many diaspora writers take the worst moment in time of the IRI and freeze it in order to make profits from their writing by pandering to what the West wants to hear and believe in order to feel good and justified about their way of life.
As one reader said, do you go to another country as a tourist to look at prisons and report on poor neighborhoods and prostitution?
Why after an absense of 30 years did I have an endless stream of old friends waiting to see me which would never happen here?
Mr. Appleton, we do
by Farhad Kashani on Sun Aug 31, 2008 05:20 AM PDTMr. Appleton, we do appreciate your kind comments about the Iranian people, but it is very apparent that due to your leftist beliefs, you are unable or unwilling to see the reality.
Just this one comment you made says it all about you not looking at the big picture. You said “If Cuba were only miserable why would so many Eastern and Western Europeans and Canadians go there on vacation?”
First off, the influx of tourists to Cuba is very recent. Castro has been in power for decades now. So the ratio of the time he’s been in power and destroying Cuba, doesn’t match the flourish of tourist industry there. Second, if the number of tourists visiting a country reflects the well being of native people living there, then the United States, which its system you so much bash, is the best country in the world, since the U.S has ranked the top 3 tourists destinations in the world for close to 20 years. So, according to your logic, if Cubans want to improve themselves and if improvement is reflected in number of tourists that go there, they need to adopt U.S system, right? Third, the Cuban government has, after being in power for decades, took some restrictions out of tourism industry to allow foreigners to go out there to spend hard currency that the regime needs to strengthen itself. How’s that reflective of how Cubans live? Fourth, does the fact that millions of Cuban swimming in shark infected waters and face death to leave Cuba and make it to the United States for better life and more freedom, does that show that people in Cuba are “well off”? Sixth, does the lack of freedom of speech, opposition rights, individual rights, political freedom, self determination, mean anything at all to the left, or are those just some “Imperialist concepts”?
Thanks.
Roshanbean, your analysis
by Farhad Kashani on Sun Aug 31, 2008 05:05 AM PDTRoshanbean, your analysis is false and naïve. First of all, for example, if as an Iranian woman, you go to the streets and gets harassed and arrested by some iliteral basidji because your “Hijab” is not appropriate and you’re “happy” about that, then, something is wrong with you! But that’s not the case. People are extremely “unhappy” with the conditions the regime has created for them. Don’t blame it on “Western Media”. The conditions are an undeniable reality. I travel to Iran too as so thousands of other Iranians. If they’re so happy, how come they all wanna leave Iran and asking for the removal of the regime? Just because “shomal” (which is a tiny part of Iran) is beautiful and Shiraz has nice landscapes and great food, doesn’t mean things are OK with Iran. Just because you meet Iranians who want to “live”, doesn’t mean things are OK in Iran.
What you’re not realizing that Iranians make the best out of every situation. Iranians love “life” and “happiness. So with the very minimum they have, they make the best out of it, and “live”, versus and despite the culture of “death” promoted by the regime. We don’t want the “minimum”, we don’t wanna get arrested in parties, we don’t want to get arrested for listening to music, or having a satellite, or for wearing the t-shirt we want.
Iranians travel, love music and arts, watch satellite, enjoy family gatherings, enjoy friendship and going out, but all of that are despite the regime’s relentless efforts to take all those away. We promote for an Iran that the regime, like almost all governments in the world, stops harassing and oppressing our people, and let them “live” and stops promoting for the culture of “death” in Iran and abroad.
response to comments
by Brian H. Appleton (not verified) on Sat Aug 30, 2008 12:06 PM PDTI wanted time to reflect upon MRX1 comments about Cuba. Any country that is economically sanctioned by the USA is destined for poverty because of the global grip the USA has.
I am not a consiracy theorist. The far reaching control over the global economy exerted by the USA cannot be exaggerated. Over 50,000 children died under former sanctions against Iraq from lack of antibiotics. Anytime the US govt wants to get UN blessing they stop paying their share of bills for one month. If any country invests more than one million dollars in Iran the USA will sanction them too.
In places where socialism has taken over, it is fair to say that they are poor countries where more equitable distribution of wealth and education was the only way to combat hereditary monarchies like the Czar or Chinese Emperor or even Mohammad Zahir Shah of Afghanistan. Why is it under Saddam there was no illiteracy in Iraq while under the Shah, Iran was mostly illiterate?
If Cuba were only miserable why would so many Eastern and Western Europeans and Canadians go there on vacation? We are so brain washed that we see and hear only what we want to believe. Who of you even remembers Batista, former dictator of Cuba before Castro? Cuba was an American mafia playground. You think there was no poverty and misery under Batista? How does MRX1 know about the reality in Cuba? Has he been there or is he relying on media propaganda? The whole point of my tehran travelogue was to demo that media portrayal and reality are not the same. Media is not liberal; it is owned by major corporations who control US govt and as such the media is a propaganda arm of the state not the watch dog of society.
To Dr. Pouran's comments I would like to respond by saying that I would love to go to kerman and Kashan and Yazd on my next trip and Abiyaneh. I have only been to Bandar Abbas and Bushehr in the south 30 years ago. I made new friends this trip who have invited me to stay in their ancestral family home in Kerman any time. I have also become friends with Persian Language and Literature professor Ricardo Zipoli who has been photographing rural Iran for 30 years and is a good friend and collaborator with abbas Kiarostami who I was supposed to interview while in Tehran but he was in France and didn't get back in time. Also I have actively been helping promote the film Bam 6.6 so I am well aware of the desert towns and rural side of Iran. I have been also to Mashad, Esfahan and Shiraz in the past but since my time was limited on this trip I stayed in Tehran mostly to see my old friends. one thing i want to do next time is go to see the graves of the poets in Tus and to go to Nishabur too.
all the best,
Brian
Israel
by Brian H. Appleton (not verified) on Sat Aug 30, 2008 12:38 AM PDTI must admit that I find MRX1's sarcasm confusing. Does he think that Zionism doesn't exist? Wolfowitz and Perle and all the other advisors that Bush has used from the American Enterprise Institute are adherants of the American Century vision of the new world order.
Mr. Ledeen is convinced that Ahmadinejad and the IRI are on a Jihad and willing to sacrifice Iran for the greater good of Islam. This is inflamatory figment of Ledeen's imagination but he has a PhD and so the ignorant listen...I am still working on mine so there is hope that people will stop accusing me of drinking coolaide when I describe what is going down. Is it a figment of my imagination that half the US Navy is camped in the Persian Gulf? Is it a figment of my imagination that Hillary Clinton offered to obliterate Iran if elected President? The US has the biggest nuclear arsenal in the wolrd and Israel has at least 300 nuclear war heads. The NIE joint intelligence agency report revealed that IRI had abandoned plans to develop nuclear weapons in 2003. So Iran is being threatened with nuclear destruction for even thinking about it. The fact is they are within their rights as members of the NPT to develop nuclear power to generate electricity which they need, Their are blackouts daily in all the towns. If Iran under the IRI or any other government acquiesses to Bush and his coalition and desist from developing nuclear energy then Iran will have lost its ssoveriegnty again. This is exactly what the West wants to make Iran a vassal client state again and either they will eat shit and say how good it tastes voluntarily or they will be bombed. What moral authority does the USA have? Is it doing God's work when the CIA puts in puppets like Saddam and the Shah and the Taliban and then takes them out when they no longer serve US interests?
The real situation here is that by destroying Iraq, Bush removed the buffer between Israel and Iran and they are now vying for hegemony in the region. I find it a shame that Iran and Israel cannot make peace as they still do business together covertly as they have all along for the past 30 years. Also how many Jews are in Iran and not persecuted and descendants of Cyrus The Great liberating them from Babylonian captivity? How many Israelis were born in Iran? Their former prime minister for one and their current foreign minister. The truth is that there is a peace lobby in Israel also and "Peacenow" has been there for the last 25 years. Not all the Israelis approve of policies of the conservatives and their persecution of the Palestinians and their bombing of other countries whenever they think "it is a matter oif survival." Another example of the oppressed becoming the oppressor. Israel once offered employment to many Palestianians. There is no reason that there can't be peace there and in the region but without an enemy who would the weapons merchants sell their wares to? What armies would the generals be able to command? It is the revenge of the defence contractors who almost went bankrupt under Clinton. Think carefully before you accuse me of being a bleeding heart liberal. Why else would Bush be trying to ressurect the Cold War antagonizing the Russian Federation instead of embracing them in peace now that the USSR is over.Why is he expanding NATO and building missile bases in Poland and Czech Republic...without an enemy the weapon's merchants are out of business.
And for the record, I am Jewish. My father changed his name in the 1930's to escape persecution not in Russia but in the USA.
Thank You Mr Brian
by Roshanbeen (not verified) on Fri Aug 29, 2008 08:36 AM PDTThank You for being a true American. Like you I visited Iran this summer and had best time of my life. I traveled to Shiraz and of course Shomal. I have done alot of traveling in my life time, despite all the restrictions that IRI have placed on Iranians. Life is more enjoyable and tastier so to say.
People are much happier, live a richer life, despite 24/7 disinformation, misinformation, propeganda by VOA, Radio Farda, LA based satelite TV stations and countless other propaganda machine financed by world powers to tell Iranians that they live in the worst country in the world. These so called news organization fake statistic about quality of life, happiness, education, female opportunities to show how bad life is in Iran. Despite Iran having one of the best education system in M.E even in the world, highest female enrollment in colleges , highest acheivment in science and math olympiads, quality cinema, sport(in Asia) somehow and mysteriously their stats show Iran last well behind somalia, myanmar, and of course Jordan, Egypt, and Iraq (which west helped to destroy) in those so called surveys and stats compiled by various world organizations.
I think alot of Iranians justify their decision to live abroad by keep telling themeselves and others how bad Iran is, but deep in their heart they know truth is otherwise.
Obviously Mr Brian you do not work for CNN,FOX, NY times , CBS , BBC, PBS and .....
Five days in Tehran
by Dr Pouran Rostamian (not verified) on Thu Aug 28, 2008 11:33 PM PDTIran is a great place. The living standard is still much higher than many a country in the world. And above all Iranians are very smart people. All those great Mansions in North of Tehran are world class with a two bedroom flat fetching more than usd 3,500 in monthly rent. Most of the owners of these apartments are living here in Canada and the USA whizzing off to Iran once a year to renew rental agreements and come back. Of course none of the rental income or any other income earned in Iran is reported in the annual tax declaration submitted in Canada and the USA. And many of these wonderful Iranians also collect welfare payments here in Canada in spite of their Iranian monthly rental income of USD 3,500 and more.
Yes Iran and in particular Tehran is a very wonderful place. Next time Brian you should visit the desert cities of Yazd and Kerman in Iran which are in sharp contrast to Tehran and other Northern cities.
Regards
Dr Pouran Rostamian
N Van BC Canada
ah I wish
by MRX1 (not verified) on Thu Aug 28, 2008 06:38 PM PDTI was drinking the same cool aid the liberals like Mr. Appletopn drink! just the statment below blows your mind! back to zionist again? I don't know why this imaginery enemy zionists have nothing else to do than plot 7/24 against the regime in Iran! could they be jelous? well after all IRI is paradise! and why should they have a responsibility of saying nice things about Iran?
Castro's cuba? is a dump! that's why every one is fleeing from there. let me see if I get this: In liberal point of view it's ok if cuba is dictatorship, every one is poor, government controling everything. all of this is fine because cuba alledgedly has good health care system, which is why when castro got sick he went to spain for treatment! I can go on and on. in conclusion IRI is good too because they planted 30000 trees! 30000 trees in 30 years now that's 1000 tree a year now that's a big achievemnt folks!
"what has pissed everyone off about Iran is not the mullahs per say but the favt that it is no longer a USA colony. And not only Zionists but former monarchist expatriates living in America have nothing good to say about Iran today, naturally, they lost everything. It is like asking a Cuban American what he thinks about Castro's Cuba. Is he going to talk about their medical care?"
5 days in Tehran
by Brian H. Appleton (not verified) on Wed Aug 27, 2008 11:02 PM PDTThanks for all your thought provoking comments. Fact is that I have written the first objective "5 days in..."article ever written about Tehran since the revolution... Try asking a Cuban American what he thinks about Castro's Cuba for example. Whether you like the IRI or not like any regime it has done some good things just as can be said of the Shah's regime and to deny that is just plain lying and wishful thinking. I wrote this and I went back there after 30 years to experience it myself because the demonization of Iran has been so complete by the Western Media. Most Westerners think Iran is Saudi Arabia and Saudi Arabia is Iran not because they do not have a good sense of geography but because Iranians for better or for worse are in charge of Iran now instead of it being a US colony and America finds that unacceptable...how dare they want their own sovereignty? That is the truth..."exporting democracy" is a euphamism for colonialism and Americans are sore losers when they get kicked out of a country they never get over it. Why else would they still be talking about the hostage crisis 30 years later when no one was killed or tortured? Every former hostage I have met personally so far including myself still loves Iran...so let's think for ourselves and stop being pawns of the top 2%, the corrupt owners of the world...
my mission
by Brian H. Appleton (not verified) on Wed Aug 27, 2008 10:20 PM PDTDear readers, thanks for your comments even the critical ones as they stimulate thought. I am not a naive little boy dreamer, I know that the torture and execution and spying continues like it did with Savak, I knoiw the mullahs are not good at economics and are looting the country and many people are overeducated but like some of you have pointed out, you can focus on all the negative things about a country and paint it any way you like which is exactly what the Western media has done for womne very nasty motives...what has pissed everyone off about Iran is not the mullahs per say but the favt that it is no longer a USA colony. And not only Zionists but former monarchist expatriates living in America have nothing good to say about Iran today, naturally, they lost everything. It is like asking a Cuban American what he thinks about Castro's Cuba. Is he going to talk about their medical care?
you can look at a slice of America and paint it black like the population of prisoners per capita second only to China, like a rape every three minutes, like prostitution, child pornography, drug and alcohol addiction, etc etc or you can talk about free enterprise...the point is that I have not seen any objective reporting on Iran or Tehran and there are many good things there including somer of what the IRI has done. I did get the feeling even knowing that mullahs are looting the wealth that it is a more egalitarian society than it was before the revolution, I did get the feeling that like the regime or not at least Iranians are in charge of Iran and not foreigners now. It was a more polite society now. I did not haggle once over the price of anything including cab fare. There were signs with quotes from the Qoran on walls and bridges telling people to love thy neighbor and give to the poor which is nicer than grafiti. Everywhere I went their were alms boxes to give money to the poor. 50% of the teaschers are women, 70% of the university students are women, they have planted 30,000 trees, they do have a huge easy to use modern new airport and subway system...I question the motives of anyone who only sees bad things there...it is dishonest...I did not expect things to stay the same after 30 years in tehran or anywhere on earth...every major city has traffic congestion and is overbuilt...but to tell you the truth I liked the public sculpture, the modern architecture, the broad boulevards and freeways and the parks and I still found the old mansions and baghs and hidden worlds like Zahir Ol Dowleh cemetery. I am a bid city guy, I lived in Manhattan and loved it...Tehran is a great city so what if it isd crowded, is that any different than Mexico City or Taipei or Manilla or Rio or Sao Paolo?
I never see a 5 days in tehran what to see and do in any airlines magazines, I was the only American on the plane in the height of summer, it was half empty and there were only about five Europeans...the prices on everything were great by the way and I would recommend the Homa Hotel (former Sheraton)
for service, free internet cable in room, no time cards, they don't keep your passport and they offer 120 as well as 220 volt in the room. I sent my article to Air France and if they don't publish it, I will send it to Lufthansa. I am sick and tired of the demonizing of Iran. Yes I was actually in Evin the day the 28 convicted drug dealers were executed. At least justice was swift, in the USA everytime they try to execute a criminal, it ends up taking 18 years and millions of taxpayers dollars to exhaust the appeals process...how come Americans are so squeemish about death when it comes to themselves, even abortion of unborn or execution of convicted murderers and yet when you remind them that 665,000 Iraqis have died in the US invasion and occupation of Iraq they tell you the world is a better place without their former CIA appointee Saddam Hossein? The end does not justify the means and pre-emptive strikes is vigilantiism and a break down of civilization and lawlessness. When you corner a conservative and get him to admit that exporting democracy is a euphamism for imperialism, he has no shame because he believes in the end that what benefits America at anyone elses expense is justified and patriotic. The third world was created and is maintained by super powers.
About your Five Days in Tehran
by Ardeshir Ommani on Mon Aug 25, 2008 08:23 PM PDTIndependence and Sovereignty!
We're glad to see that you enjoyed your trip to a country where people are receptive and hospitable to Americans and long time absentees. Your description of Tehran reflects also your good nature and intention, wanting to create peace and cooperation between the peoples of both countries.
Like many countries around the world, Iran has many beautiful places; still not to forget that it's a class society with big gaps in the wealth distribution. It is your and our hope that the Iranian people, by their own ingenuity and hard work, will one day overcome this challenge. With friends like you, we know that the better future will come to be. The same we wish for the people of America - that one day no one out of 50 million will be denied homes and health insurance.
Is it really?
by Anonymous25 (not verified) on Mon Aug 25, 2008 08:15 PM PDTHi Brian, I'm glad you enjoyed your trip and had a good time.
But was everything really as good as you make it to sound to be?
The way you decribe places and things It sound like heaven on earth!
Is it really?
I hope it is.... but I have herd other other things too...
Thanks Brian
by Bahar (not verified) on Mon Aug 25, 2008 07:53 PM PDTThanks Mr Appleton, thanks for the info, I will certainly use it when I visit Tehran again.
I'd love to see all those lovely places which remind me of my youth and the good old days!
Some of these which existed back then i never visited and would like to see all the old places and new ones.
Your love for Iran and it's people shows!
I think you miss Iran like most of us do...you must have some Iranian in you!
Thanks very much for the pix too.
Some of them reminded me of those days...
well said Soufi!
by Anonym7 (not verified) on Mon Aug 25, 2008 07:02 PM PDTSoufi says: "By saying that "Tehran is a world class city", you are pissing off a lot of anti-Iranian parasites on this site"
Well said Soufi, any good news about Iran is like salt on their wounds (which are the result of their disastrous failures in the region).
Iran has a wold class
by Farhad Kashani on Mon Aug 25, 2008 04:30 PM PDTIran has a wold class civilization, Iranians are wold class people (except the Islamic leftists of them), but the IRI regime is a world-famous savage regime which has nearly destroyed this world class country.
Dear Brian
by Mehrnaz (not verified) on Mon Aug 25, 2008 03:02 PM PDTThank you for the good will and the good tips! I am glad you had an enjoyable time in Tehran. Come again.
Thanks for good introduction to a good place!
by Miny (not verified) on Mon Aug 25, 2008 01:49 PM PDTSir Appleton.....it was lovely to be transported to Tehran with your travelogue...description which is live, lucid and vivid ...and what i say it is important to understand that your style of writing is also world class...
Just a Question!
by NM (not verified) on Mon Aug 25, 2008 01:09 PM PDTAs for all you guys are saying ....still it does not mean that those who have the means do NOT "live" in Tehran, and very nicely too!
There ARE still nice restaurants to go to and interesting museums to visit and a lot of "very Nice" people to hang out with. ...SO!
You have what you have, and you make the best of what you have.
If any of you visited Tehran and had the money -which you probably do- wouldn't you visit those "nice" places? or would you rather just visit the slums and the prisons and the nasty parts of the city?
Do you do that when you go to any other country when you visit???
How many prisons and slums did you visit on your last trip to the US, Europe, Asia....
You can not change Iranians(most). they are a fun loving people and they have remained so throughout the ages!(still, most)
So thanks for the info Brian, glad you had a good time , by the way what were the prices like at these places?
Best,
NM
it's all in the definition
by MRX1 (not verified) on Mon Aug 25, 2008 01:00 PM PDTof what does a "world class city" mean? Tehran actualy has been runied by the migration of millions from villages. For lack of better world, this has brought dehati sub culture right smack in a heart of tehran.....
Furthermore All the nice neighborhoods from Salatant abad, to farmanieh, vanak and even shemiran have all been ruined, with a destruction of all the orchards and green areas and building of high rises next to streets that are 10 meter in width!
Unfortunatley not much else can make Tehran a better place to live except may be a massive earth quake which I am convinced will happen at not a distant future.
A world class Pity!
by samsam1111 on Mon Aug 25, 2008 11:49 AM PDTCapital of ignorance !
Who cares about ....
by nitemustfall on Mon Aug 25, 2008 10:43 AM PDTTo Soufi,
We really don't care how people of Tel Aviv, or for the most part, the Jews think of our beloved city. Remember, these bastards are activiley threatening to destroy it to ashes.
BeninTx