Aimed at nuclear program, sanctions hit Iran’s nuclear families

PMov · 23 days

How is it anecdotal? There were riots by Iranian Azeris in several cities in 2007, a month or two before I visited Azerbaijan...and the status of the Azeri language was apparently one of their primary concerns. The fact that you or I don't feel oppressed personally doesn't change that. They were the ones rioting, and apparently the fact that Khamenei is part Azeri or that there is an Azeri literature program in a university were not very comforting to them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_Azerbaijanis

PMov · 25 days

I'm half Azeri as well, and when I visited Azerbaijan for the first time, my relatives warned me not to speak Persian because there had been demonstrations/riots recently and a lot of people were very angry at the Iranian state (and by extension, Persian speakers). They weren't afraid for their lives or anything...they said they just didn't want any kids throwing rocks at their car window. My cousins are fully Azeri and when people would hear them speak Persian, they would politely criticize my aunt and uncle for not insisting that their children speak Azeri. So I agree with you in terms of the necessity of Persian as a national language, and can't comment on the degree to which Azeri is suppressed in Iranian schools, but I think the picture that you paint is a little too rosy. Iranian Azeris may not be taking up arms against the state (or their neighbors), but many of them are definitely not happy about the status afforded to their language and the opportunities available to them.

let_them_eat_baqlava · 1 month

I don't think I have the same standard or definition of "truth" that you do. Maybe if I had never been to Iran, and didn't experience all the things that he speaks of within my first week of being there (including "the difficulties that normal Iranians face"), I would not feel that his observations are so out of place and insignificant in "the big picture" of understanding a highly complex society. That having been said, I am very glad that you found something of value in his documentary, and feel enlightened by his work in general. I am not passionately against him...I just don't attach very much value to his observations.

let_them_eat_baqlava · 1 month

Truths such as? ...

let_them_eat_baqlava · 1 month

I guess my biggest issue with the man and his work are all the assumptions he makes, based on the most superficial and unimaginative kinds of observation. Are there aspects of truth in what he says? Of course. Iran is a very oppressive society, and that oppression permeates all spaces, including its universities. But why does a liberal space have to look like UC Berkeley, and why does a "highly educated and liberal" woman have to look like a female student on an American campus?

I think the best journalists are able to see beyond all of the superficial signs of the other and reveal a common humanity, and not in cheap "here is a smiling child" kind of way, but in a surprising manner that jars people out of their comfort zone and forces them to reevaluate their assumptions. I experienced this myself when I went to my aunt's art class and met a young woman in chador who worked in a Genetics lab and was an incredible miniature painter. She might have still been oppressed in many ways, but I realized how demeaning it is to people in Iran and other Muslim countries to reduce them to mindless zombies just because they don't match a Western conception of modernity.

To Steves, the University of Tehran looks like a place of "complaceny" because it doesn't look and feel like an American University. But that University has played a role in almost every major Iranian protest since the Islamic Revolution. There has literally been blood on the pavement at times and swarms of Basij thugs outside its gates. The blood may have been washed away, but it is a far more valid and honest proof of "non-complacency" than a political poster (and that is coming from a person who has made several political posters).

BTW: If you want to see another example of really good journalism regarding Iran, watch the PBS Wide Angle film "Pilgrimage to Karbala"...it is emphatically not about liberal and highly-educated Iranians, but still manages to make its subjects appear incredibly human.
http://video.pbs.org/program/wide-angle/

freak1nawes0me · 1 month

It seems like your dad had two separate issues: mandatory military service for males, and danger in general. The first is accurate, if you are an Iranian citizen (which it seems like you are, if you have a passport). You need a special stamp in your Iranian passport that certifies that you are temporarily exempt from the mandatory military service for a period of a few years (2-3? 5? can't remember). In order to get the stamp, you fill out a special form available on the website of the Iranian interest section in the Embassy of Pakistan website (the closest thing Iran has to its own diplomatic mission in the US). You will need to have proof of current enrollment in a college/university...most schools write basic letters confirming enrollment for students, usually for insurance purposes, and one of those would suffice.

As far as danger is concerned, its a bit more subjective. I guess it depends on what your dad's biggest fear is: a war starting while you're there, or the police/authorities giving you trouble because you're American. I don't think either is especially likely. I went to Iran a few years ago, in 2007, and at the time, I was really nervous, but when I got there, everything was fine...nobody cared that I was a foreigner. Things will always seem more unstable and dangerous from outside Iran (especially if you watch a lot of cable news channels!). But that having been said, the prospect of war against Iran seems even more likely now than when GW Bush was president. From what I read online, it seems like most "experts" say that war is not likely before this summer, so maybe now is the best time to go. One thing you can always count on (unfortunately) is a constant escalation of tension between Iran and the US/Israel...so really there is never a better time to go than the present.

Isfahan · 2 months

"My contempt for the Arab culture ..." That seems pretty ethnocentric to me.

By the way, you should really do some research about the history of pre-Islamic Iran. Our people's pride in the Cyrus Cylinder aside, there was religious intolerance and corrupt clergy in Iran even before the Arab invasion. Religious minorities like the Nestorian Christians, Manicheans, Buddhists and Jews were periodically tolerated and then persecuted. The royal court and the Zoroastrian high priest, much like the Supreme Leader today, bent the state religion to meet their political ambitions. Iran's problems are much older than Islam...we should really educate ourselves and seek to understand our culture better before blaming foreigners for those problems.

draacken · 2 months

thank you.

i_like_jam · 2 months

I've never met any Iranians or Iranian-Americans who think Bahrain should be part of Iran (even though the two countries were unified up until relatively recently in both nations' histories). On the contrary, I have met Iranians/Iranian-Americans who have a certain degree of prejudice against Arabs in general, and others (Iranian-Americans) who are for the most part unaware that Iran has a significant Arab ethnic minority of its own...so I think it is safe to say: no, I don't think Iranians think of Bahrain as being part of Iran.

Based on my (secular Iranian-American) perspective, it seems that most Iranians living in the Western diaspora are for the most part non-religious, or else practice Shia Islam very "freely", while Iranians in Iran tend to be somewhat more religious and more traditional in how they practice their faith. I think it is also important to keep in mind that the Shia Islam of Iran may be somewhat different from the religion of Bahrain, in that it is probably much more closely intertwined with pre-Islamic and Zoroastrian influences...like lighting candles at shrines, putting locks on and tying ribbons to shrines in order to fulfill wishes, etc. (even if most Iranians are not aware of it) EDIT: But really, its probably impossible to make generalizations about Iranian society, or most societies for that matter. If you visit Tehran during Ashura, you will see just as many members of the "liberal" classes out in the streets as more "traditional" people, and probably lots of fashionable young people flirting with each other on the sidelines of the religious processions.

I think the majority of Iranians are simultaneously very patriotic and very aware of their country's historical achievements and current shortcomings. Iran today has many problems, and when I spoke to my grandparents, they would say it almost seemed like their country had lost what progress it had made earlier in their lives. (For my grandfather in particular, the loss of value of the Rial was especially distressing, which is why I'm glad he didn't live long enough to see the crash caused by Western sanctions) But despite this, Iran has a long collective cultural memory, and most Iranians are very proud of their country's contributions to art and the sciences...maybe because it gives them hope in overcoming their contemporary problems.

SonsOfLiberty86 · 2 months

"Four Lewis-McChord soldiers were convicted in the deliberate thrill killings of three Afghan civilians in 2010."

But just to be clear, WE are not the "terrorists".

draacken · 2 months

wow!...was this a free tutorial you found online, or a DVD/online service that you paid for? I am trying to learn Maya and have found some tutorials online but nothing as extensive as this.

let_them_eat_baqlava

TROPHY CASE

you'll need to login or register to do that

create a new account

login