...can you share an anecdote or three about the Iranian people themselves?
As was mentioned a few pages back, they are stellar individuals, but i think with all the propoganda, (the West's and Iran's) things get distorted and some posters (probably reading but not posting here) still carry this uneasiness of danger and consider Iranians to be harbingers of some type of revenge against crackers, specifically Americans, of course.
Any cases in point to contradict that you can offer??
ta.
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IMO Iranian women are some of the most beautiful in the world. Was boning one in the UK and she was great. Would love to have a go on a few more but not willing to risk a stoning.
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...can you share an anecdote or three about the Iranian people themselves?
As was mentioned a few pages back, they are stellar individuals, but i think with all the propoganda, (the West's and Iran's) things get distorted and some posters (probably reading but not posting here) still carry this uneasiness of danger and consider Iranians to be harbingers of some type of revenge against crackers, specifically Americans, of course.
Any cases in point to contradict that you can offer??
OK, it's kind of difficult to answer this question without context, so I'll try to put it in some.
First of all, I think it's quite important to realise that Iranians are a big mixture of different ethnicities. Ethnic Persians only make up about 40% of the population; the rest are a mixture of Azeris (Turks, basically), Armenians, Arabs, Loris...etc.
On top of that, although the vast majority of the population is Twelver Shi'ite, the largest minority are Baha'is (who have no legal status), then there are Sunnis, Sufis, Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians.
I just tell you that as I think it clarifies that there is no single Iranian mindset.
Right, so now on-the-ground stuff. Basically, whereas in UK (and possibly USA?) the upper classes tend to be the most conservative and the lower classes the most reformist, the exact opposite is true of Iran. So, your village women all go around in Chadors (that big black sheet they wrap around themselves) whilst your more wealthy Iranian woman will try to get away with little more than a ribbon covering her hair. The poorer, more conservative, ones are those you see in my photos of the anniversary of the Revolution. But even at that rally, they all talk to you and ask you why you're there. They tell you not to be offended when they say "Death to USA", "Down with UK", explaining that it's aimed at your government, not your country or people.
In Tehran, there's a big divide between North and South. North Tehran is the wealthy area; virtually all the inhabitants speak good English, live in ostentatious apartment blocks, etc. The South of the city is poor and uneducated.
However, almost all the Iranians who I came across were incredibly friendly, and pleased to se foreigners in their country. Your heart really goes out to them, as they know the pariah status which their country has internationally, and they go out of their way to impress on you that they are not really like that.
75% of the population is aged under 25; so that means 3/4 of the country has been born since the Revolution. These are people who never experienced the anti-royalist sentiments of the previous generation, and to be honest, a lot of them cannot understand what their parents were thinking at the time. I was born in the year of the Revolution, so these guys are my generation, basically. I went to quite a few parties with North Tehranis of this age, and they all drink, smoke pot, and when the girls arrive, their headscarves and manteaux come off, to reveal clothes that wouldn't be out of place in nightclubs in UK. These guys hate Islam; some of them want a return to Zoroastrianism, others are completely secular. They form rock bands, and some are rap artists. There are painters, writers and photographers amongst them, too.
Iranians (of all colours) especially love to meet Americans. The stuff their government says about USA only serves to make the people more interested in the place.
The US Government loves to implicate Iran in sponsoring terrorism, but did you know that a couple of years ago, some of the conservative hard-liners set up suicide bomber lists around Tehran (which would be used in defence against an American attack), for people to come forward and add their names to? In a city of 12 million people, just 2 000 came forward to add their names.
OK, this response is getting quite long...There's a lot more to say, but I fear I may be boring you by now...
The first group is exemplified by Ahmadinejad; they're real power-happy, religious, dickheads (I believe that's the correct scientific term).
The second group is exemplified by Ali Larijani, who was the nuclear envoy to the UN, until Ahmadinejad fired him. They basically want a dialogue with the US, but with minimal political change in Iran. Larijani could well become the president in next year's election.
The third group is exemplified by Ayatollah Mohammad Khatami. He wants real political change in Iran, and a dialogue with the West. He was the president from 1997 until Ahmadinejad was elected in 2005. He initiated the Dialogue of Civilisations, and was ready to talk to the US. The US was not interested. A very missed opportunity. Many of Khatami's attempted reforms were also blocked by the conservative hardliners. It was popular disillusion with Khatami (due to the inability of the reform movement to change anything) which led to people (particularly the younger generation) deciding not to vote in the 2005 election. Ahmadinejad got in on an anti-corruption ticket, and also more or less because it was mainly the conservative types who had voted.
Also: there is a cleric called Ayatollah Montazeri, who was originally billed as Khomeini's successor. But Montazeri doesn't believe that any mullah has the right to serve as God's representative on earth (which is what Khomeini claimed to be, and Khamenei claims to be today). He has been under house arrest in the holy city of Qom for at least the past decade. Quite incredible, as he is such a high-ranking cleric (technically senior to the Supreme Leader, who was only promoted to the rank of Ayatollah so tha he could take up the position).
What I'm trying to say is: the picture you get from the US & British governments is so grossly oversimplified that it is worrying.
Do Iranians want to live under their current regime? Frankly, I think that most of them do. But the minority who do not, really, really, hate their government. Do Iranians want to come in from the political cold? Yes, they do. They would love to have more Westerners visiting their country, and for Iran to be more open and friendly with the US. After all, Iran and US used to be best buddies.
Put it this way: any military attack on Iran would be not only misguided, but very sad indeed. It is a beautiful country, and its people are the most friendly and polite I have ever come across.
Go, Jon! Go! Can be a bit of an arse getting the visa - I got a student visa, which is a bit more straightforward than a tourist one. It's pretty cheap once you're there, though - about the same as Thailand, overall - and it is a beautiful place.
This is one of the countries I'm supposed to declare to my employer before visiting, along with the likes of Thailand and Belgium, for some strange reason
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Now, to pry into roots, to finger slime,
To stare, big-eyed Narcissus, into some spring
Is beneath all adult dignity. I rhyme
To see myself, to set the darkness echoing.
i think they should bomb those pesky canadians first. they've got plenty of oil and are already americans
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Now, to pry into roots, to finger slime,
To stare, big-eyed Narcissus, into some spring
Is beneath all adult dignity. I rhyme
To see myself, to set the darkness echoing.
