Iran, then

#1

Heating up.

Saw this “war script” elsewhere:

“peaceful protests”

“things turned violent once night fell”

“…clashes with police”

“no reform, only regime change”

“reports of escalating violence”

“rebels”

“coup, ousted, x found dead”

“military disbanded”

“rival groups”

“open warfare, why won’t the west do something”

“moderate rebels”

“secular”

“air support ONLY”

“no boots on ground”

“military guidance”

“no boots on ground”

“humanitarian aid”

“no boots on ground”

“small arms and body armor”

“no boots on ground”

“why isn’t the west doing more”

“critical support”

“some boots on ground”

“why does ISIS have our tanks”

…

“misson accomplished”

“fields reopened”

“proven reserves”

“preferred partners”

#2

Previously on “Iran, then”:

1960s

1970s (best one)

1980s

100 Years of Iranian Women’s Hair (!)

#3

That last headline’s properly done me.

#4

It’s peak Vox

#5

and you call those photos of Iran in the 1970s despite the fact they are obviously from the 1960s

#6

I was lucky enough to travel round Iran last year and these sporadic examples of civil unrest don’t surprise me. It has a very young, educated, westernised population that want opportunities to succeed. A lot of graduates simply aren’t finding work. It’s becoming increasingly expensive to live - the price of fuel really surprised us considering they’re one of the world’s biggest oil producers. And all the proxy wars they’re financing - Yeman, Syria, against Israel through Hezbollah - is to the detriment of domestic spending. I don’t think these instances of civil unrest will amount to much though. It’s a very oppressed society - moral police everywhere - and I just don’t think anything of any great substance will happen. Rouhani, who is relatively liberal and has opened up Iranian society - Café culture especially, will I think grant more social relaxations to appease the young, restless population.

#7

laughed at this from the ceo of telegram

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#8

This article seems good

#9

I saw he banned them arresting unveiled women the other week. Apparently much of this unrest is being instigated by his political rivals, IDK much about that though.

I’ve noticed you post a couple of times about ME stuff, are you from the region? You seem pretty clued up. :+1:

#10

Yeah, I was lucky enough to be able to visit in late 2015. It’s a beautiful, interesting and surprising country and I’d love to visit again, but it’s also a country in transition.
As you say, the population is young, well educated and, despite years of sanctions and relative isolation, very clued-up. It felt in many ways (and in some places), like a properly modern country but they’re also bombarded with images and ideas from the past, particularly the Revolution and the Iran-Iraq war, with propaganda posters, images of martyrs and slogans everywhere.
Some elements in society do seem to be seeing benefits (financial and social) from the relative opening up of the country, lifting of sanctions etc, but I think that many people feel that they aren’t seeing enough of the benefits quickly enough.

#11

Definitely. Martyrdom plays a huge role in Iranian culture. The Iran/Iraq war was their equivalent of the first world war on British and French society. It affected every family. Still, it’s a bit strange driving down the highways seeing picture after picture of martyrs. And yeah, those murals…we were in a town on the way to Gorgan and there was a mural that covered the entire side of a 10 storey apartment block of the Ayatollah Khomeini’s face with thousands of his followers marching beside him, waving flags etc. It was strangely awe inspiring. Propaganda is everywhere.

#12

No, I’m not. I’m part jewish and have lived in Israel and have travelled round the middle east - Turkey, Jordan, Iran, Egypt, West Bank etc You get to know a lot about people and their lives by living in and visiting places.

#13

have loads of Iranian family friends (my godfather is Iranian too) and they’re the biggest international GBOLs around.

hope you enjoyed my analysis of the situation.

#14

Yeah, Iranians are probably the nicest people I’ve ever met. The amount of times random people were literally dragging us off to their homes for dinner and to stay the night was ridiculous.

#15

the food is just insanely good too.

#16

I took quite a few photos of the murals and wrote a little blog post about some of the more propagandistic ones here https://mooseandhobbes.wordpress.com/2016/03/19/a-persian-odyssey-down-with-the-usa/

I also happened to spot the process of creation from the bus. It’s a pretty crap photo but it was caught very much on the hoof.

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I really liked Iran. There’s an interesting mix of Islamic culture, Persian culture, Zoroastrianism, different ethnic and tribal identities and even a dash of paganism, all jumbled up with a properly revolutionary background and an ancient history that is still, even now, very present. I found it very different from the Arabic countries to its west (the ones that I’ve visited anyway). I hope that they can resist the provocations of the US and the KSA and modernise in their own way.

#17

Oh, and Tehran is a terrifically exciting city. I would just love to go back there.

#18

I see.

#19

Recommend Honeymoon in Purdah by Alison Wearing to anyone to get a sense of what an incredibly friendly and generous culture they are.

#20

The US president, Donald Trump tweeted that “people are finally getting wise as to how their money and wealth is being stolen and squandered on terrorism”

lol the irony, it burns