Iran Singapore American • August 2014
Preconceptions Shattered W
hen our son, a high school senior, said he wanted our family spring break trip to be to Iran, our first thought was “What a cool idea!”; everyone else thought “Are you mental?” I will admit that “Axis of Evil,” “Argo” and “300,” the Ayatollah, hostages, nukes and a bunch of crazy holocaustdenying fanatical anti-American leaders did cross our minds. But for us, the Tao of travel is to expand our minds, gain insight, achieve perspective and inform our opinions. In fact, all the negative reaction we heard fueled our desire to test these preconceptions even more. We were on a quest to understand a modern people of ancient heritage and to learn just who the Iranian people were. Was such a trip doable? Turns out, it was easy, but only about 1,000 Americans a year visit. We trolled blogs, found some from The New York Times who raved about their guide, sent him an e-mail and his Iranian travel company organized the trip. Our visa was approved in a week, we agreed upon an 11-day itinerary. They booked all hotels, internal flights and transport. We booked our international flights and we were off. It is worth noting upfront that sanctions have crushed the currency, making our trip an amazing value. The dates of our trip lined up with the ancient Persian holiday, Nowruz, the world’s oldest festival, which has been celebrated for over 3,000 years. The 13-day celebration occurs in the spring equinox and is a time for family gatherings and lots of family picnics. Norwuz is known worldwide: UNESCO has recognized Norwuz as part of the World Culture of Humanity and, in 2010, in a remarkable sign of USA Congressional unity, The Norwuz Resolution was passed, “Recognizing the cultural and historical significance of Nowruz, expressing appreciation to IranianAmericans for their contributions to society, and wishing IranianAmericans and the people of Iran a prosperous New Year.” We visited Tehran, Shiraz and Persepolis, Yazd, Isfahan and several small towns. The hotels were good to excellent, with the Abassi Hotel in Isfahan really over the top! Every day, one facet or another of the Iranian experience was seen in a different light, creating a more complete holistic picture of the Iranian people themselves. Myth Number 1: Iran is a third world country: Since Iran has been under trade and financial sanctions since 1979, we expected to find a country facing shortages of even the most basic goods. We saw no signs of this; we noticed Coke cans with labels in Farsi, iPhones, US candy, and all kinds of kids’ Spongebob toys. Starbucks coffee beans were for sale and smartphones were prevalent and current. Our favorite was a teenager with the US flag iPhone case cover whose playlist was filled with Western songs. Many Iranian families were traveling over the holidays in private cars, powered by highly subsidized petrol, driving on highways that were new and efficient. Even in the small
villages you can drink water from the tap and eat raw fruit and vegetables, which are abundant, and the streets are super-clean. That’s not to say that sanctions haven’t touched the Iranians in the last five years, tighter sanctions have been behind a 60 percent fall in the currency, causing the prices of all imports to explode and creating high inflation. Myth Number 2: Iran is full of American-hating Muslim radicals The images seen in Western media of the Iranian people bear no resemblance to reality. Yes, the American Embassy in Tehran is plastered with anti-American propaganda, home to the Museum of American Deception and Lies and headquarters of the Revolutionary Guards. We did take a photo of the occasional anti-American billboard; however, the Iranian people know propaganda when they see it and are highly sophisticated in their world view. In fact, far more prevalent are the many billboards honoring fallen soldiers from the eight-year war with Iraq. All over the country, the Iranian people constantly came up to talk with us, leading to large groups forming and many photos taken. They were always polite, interesting, open, friendly and very
by Michael & Shelly Dee
religion to us, which led to some pointed discussions regarding interpretation of the Koran. In one instance, a mullah calmly told us “they hate the American government” but he qualified it with “we do not hate the American people.” We had read about a dozen books on Iran, so we were well prepared for our discussions. Not once did we feel uneasy or at risk – there is basically no terrorism in Iran. We were often invited to people’s homes to share a meal, which we did, and we had a wonderful time with a warmth which we wished all world leaders could enjoy. Myth Number 3: Women are treated badly. Women are treated better in Iran than most Middle Eastern countries and yet are well aware of greater women’s rights and opportunities in the west. Iran’s young adults have a 97% literacy rate with no gender discrepancy. There are more girls than boys attending university; about 60 percent of the university population is female. Women can vote, drive, and many work outside the home, even in professional positions. However, unemployment is higher for women than men and the sanctions have hit women’s work in the textile industry (carpets) particularly hard. It is mandatory to wear the hijab (scarf ) and to cover arms and legs, and many younger women achieve this with great style and fashionable flair. As women only show their face, they do their best to highlight their features with makeup and hairdos slipping out from the scarf. Indeed, Iran is number one in nose jobs in the world, and many proudly wear the postoperation bandage, even men. Iranian women do not have equal rights with men in terms of inheritance, divorce, child custody, employment and travel but, compared to Arabic nations, women feel their rights are far more advanced. Women in Iran have had the vote since 1963 and the President is elected by popular vote every four years. The Supreme Leader is unelected yet is constitutionally more powerful than the President. Clearly women’s issues will prove a stark dividing line in the future of Iran. There clearly is an ongoing, robust debate in Iran as to the role and stature of women in the Koran and within Iran which is shaping up to be quite a battle between President Rouhani and the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. Myth Number 4: All Iranians are devout Muslims.
interested in the USA. Our teenage son, David, had a blast talking with his teenage counterparts and sharing their respective lives. On our second day in Tehran, we were interviewed on Iranian National Television by their equivalent of Barbara Walters and were on the national news that night. At our first stop the next day, people on the street excitedly recognized our son from the interview! The Iranian people speak very good English, with an American accent. We were surprised to learn English is taught in high schools. All highway signs are in Farsi and English. We would catch up with The New York Times every day unfiltered. The Internet worked everywhere we went and, while Facebook was blocked, there were no shortage of people with ways to get around it. We sat and spoke with a number of mullahs (Muslim holy men) at mosques around the country. Those with white turbans were the elite, being descendants of the Prophet Mohammad. They were not fanatics and, in fact, just wanted to explain their
Many Muslims are fed up with the government being run by religious leaders. One is hard pressed to conclude the Iranian form of clerical government will have a long and illustrious future. The youth born well after the Islamic Revolution of 1979 are put off by religion because it is all-encompassing under the current political situation. According to Zohreh Soleimani of the BBC, Iran has the lowest mosque attendance of any Muslim country with only 2 percent of adults attending Friday services. Three years ago, one cleric said that 73 percent of Iranians did not even say their daily prayers (at home or mosque). The moniker Iran is a recent invention and presents a stark contrast with the history of ancient Persia, one of the world’s great ancient cultures. Islamic and Persian histories present a stark contrast in terms of national identity. Visiting the Shah’s palace, filled with European artifacts and Western influence, clearly shows how out of touch he was with the dual identities of the Iranian people. The pendulum of national culture never swings out of balance for too long before returning to symmetry, in something other than a peaceful transition.