If you typed in "Iran" on YouTube in 2007 coming up No. 1 was a tribute to the country.
The music was by Faramarz Aslani "age ye rooz" - however the video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Pars video. So instead here is a video by Anthony Bourdain as he samples the delights of Persian cuisine in such dishes as Dizi, Fesenjan, Biryani, and Tahdig.
© IranVisitor.com
Iran scored once in each half to set up a match with South Korea in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday.
Javad Nekounam scored from the penalty spot after 29 minutes and Andranik Teymourian added a fine individual goal ten minutes from time.
Kashan is known for its beautiful, restored mansions. They seem to rise out of the earth.
The still incomplete Milad Tower looks out over one of Tehran's busy public transport junctions.
Finally completed in October 2008, the Milad Tower (Borj-e Milād) is Tehran's iconic, 435-meter-tall multi-purpose tower, serving as a major telecommunications hub, cultural center, and tourist attraction, featuring observation decks, restaurants (including a revolving one), museums, and various entertainment facilities, making it the tallest tower in Iran and a symbol of modern Tehran.
This is an excuse I hear a lot when things are not the way they should be. It's usually employed once a solution to a problem is identified and thoughts turn to putting it into practice.
"But this is Iran!" It's not as easy as that! Sure, that's the problem and this is the best way to get around it but this is Iran. Don't expect things to go so well....
[ followed by any/all of Iran's 3 great national excuses.]
1. First of all people 'don't have culture' here [the Farsi word for this is 'bifarhang' which has no direct translation] they don't know how to behave. You tell them one thing and they do another. They're uneducated and they don't know how to follow rules....
2. And the government doesn't let people get on with their lives. One day one politician launches a policy, the next day he's gone and his replacement wants something else. He gives government jobs to all his cronies and they start filling their pockets and before they've had enough so they can really start work their boss gets the sack and another politician/set of cronies starts all over again!
3. Do you expect the West would let us improve? We were developing a perfectly good democracy until the US stepped in and took away the only decent leader we'd had since Abbas the Great [meaning Mohammad Mossadegh]. And the British are twice as cunning.... Everyone knows George Bush is in Tony Blair's pocket. The mullahs all take their orders from England. It's been like that for centuries and don't think it's going to change soon!
Kermanshah, in central west Iran, is known for its large flocks of sheep.
The sheep have a dual purpose: meat from the animals is consumed locally and much of the surplus is sent to the capital Tehran, sheep wool is also used in the production of the famous geometric-designed carpets of the area.
Kermanshah carpet design is significantly influenced by the culture of the local Kurds and Loris who live in the area.
Sheep and goats number around 81 million in Iran, according to 2005 figures, and outnumber the 71 million humans in the country.
Sheep have been a prominent part of the culture of Iran for centuries. A clay image of a sheep that was found at Sarab in Iran dates back to 5000 BCE.
Iran cloned its first sheep in 2006 at Tehran's Royan Institute, though the animal lived only a few minutes before it could be named.
Iran's mission to the UN has issued a statement criticising the movie "300", calling it "a thinly-veiled attack on Iranian history." The full text was published on Irna news.
The statement expresses what many Iranians feel about a film that most haven't even seen yet - that misrepresentations of Iran in Western media are something close to a deliberate campaign to present Iran as "a dangerous, bestial force fatally threatening the civilized 'free' world." Government Spokesman, Gholam Hossein Elham, described it as a "cultural intrusion" and said the government interpreted it as "hostile".
I was at a talk held at the Khaneye Honarmandan artists centre where a mercifully edited version of "300" was shown to an audience mainly of university students. Listening to the talk that followed, I was struck with just how intensely felt, yet deeply vulnerable, the Iranian sense of national identity was.
During the screening the mood was light. When King Khashayarshah (Xerxes), a three-metre-tall drag queen, stepped-off his medieval hovercraft, the audience laughed along with Leonidas' raised eyebrow. The anticlimactic end of the Persian attack rhinoceros was another amusing highlight. I noticed a number of other representations that could be interpreted as more serious insults. For me, the ape-like masks of the "eternal warriors" sent a potentially racist message. Furthermore, referring to the Persian army as "slaves" belies the historical truth that the Persian Empire was, unlike Greece, Rome and Egypt, not dependent on slavery.
Iranians live under a persistent irony. Their country's glorious past casts a long shadow over the Iran of modern times. Every Iranian will relate with pride and confidence in the historical facts that the Iranian empire was the first and largest of ancient times and, at its height, stretched from Greece to China. They cite great leaders whose names were suffixed with "the Great" as rulers with enlightened ways who led their people with intelligence and fairness. What's more, every time foreign powers invaded Iran, either the invaders themselves effectively became Iranians (Mongols, Turks) or Iranian culture simply resurfaced in new forms to absorb the invading culture (Arabs).
But far from blaming westerners for not accurately representing an ancient civilization to which they owe such a huge debt, the Iranians in the audience expressed a deeply self-critical attitude. One woman asked why so few of her countrymen and women attended a protest against a dam-building project which was set to submerge an important archaeological site. Another hit on another very deep vein of dissatisfaction citing many examples of how Iran's pre-Islamic history was being downplayed. Why, for instance, were there no roads named after Kouroush (Cyrus the Great) while so many were named after clerics made famous by the Islamic revolution or Iran-Iraq war. When the current of discussion threatened to break out into open criticism of the government, the chairman had to reign it in. He mentioned that, if the attendees appreciated the facilities provided by the Khane Honarmandan, it would be advisable not to turn it into a base for political debate.
A more lighthearted response to the film comes from Iran's best known satirical cartoonist, Touka Neyestani. Thanks to Zeynab's sister for the following translation:
I simply don't understand why my Iranian friends were upset by this film. After all, it's not the first time that Hollywood has done this. It has been doing it to Native Americans, blacks, Arabs, Germans, Japanese,... etc for years. Just last year we all saw "Borat" and we all laughed.
The build up to Eid. Darakeh's walnut and almond seller is branching out into the New Year goldfish market.
Goldfish are not one of the haft sin but still an indispensable part of the festive spread that every Iranian family displays at this time of year. They are said to represent the unexpected favours to be received in the coming year. Traditionally, they are set free in rivers when the holiday period ends. Some people take theirs to the ponds at mosques and shrines. My aunt’s goldfish from Nowruz 2006 is still going strong and will be making a comeback appearance this year.
The scars of a war as devastating as the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988) do not easily heal. Some counts put the number of Iranian casualties 300,000 with another 500,000 wounded. The number of Iraqi dead numbered around 375,000.
The Iranian establishment refers to the war as the “Iraq-imposed war” and Iran’s part in it is known as the “Sacred Defense”. Hence, Iran's war dead are shahid (martyrs). Shiite Islam, so steeped in the culture of mourning, gives them a place alongside the paradigmatic holy victims; Imam Ali and Hossein.
Tehran is dotted with large painted murals commemorating the most famous of the Iraq war martyrs. Their fixed gazes tell nothing of the conflict that robbed them of their lives. The colours have faded with time but their complexions remain unaging.
The seven main centers for the production of Persian carpets in Iran are Tabriz, Mashhad, Qom, Kashan, Nain, Esfahan, and Kerman.
In Iranian culture carpets signify much, much more than just a floor covering.
Carpets in Iran symbolize wealth, investment and religious devotion. The earliest surviving Persian rugs date back to the Safavid Period.
Persian carpets are traditionally woven from wool or silk and have a long history of production and international trade on the ancient Silk Road, which passed through Persia between China and the West. Persian carpets have long been treasured by the rich in both the Far East and Europe.
Carpet motifs are classically symmetrical and often floral, symbolizing the design of classical Persian gardens.
Persian carpets are produced in three main sizes:
- mian farsh: 3m x 2.5m
- kellegi: 3.5m x 2m
- kenareh: 3m x 1m
Terms:
Gabbeh rugs - a colorful carpet often produced by nomadic tribes
Kilim - flat, geometrically patterned and woven rugs
Most Persian carpets are hand-woven on vertical looms by mainly female artisans from sheep or goat wool and occasionally from camel wool.
Persian carpets contain on average up to 30 knots per square centimeter.
Persian carpets are available for sale in their centers of production in Iran and from the bazaars of Tehran, Esfahan and Shiraz.
The Carpet Museum in Tehran provides the visitor with an excellent insight into the history of Persian carpet production, styles and techiniques.
The world's largest Persian carpet is the Ardebil Carpet.
Further information see Kimiya International
Though Masuleh is one of Iran’s most valued architectural treasures it is also one of its humblest. Here it is not the sweeping vision of a master architect or the glory of a great king that tourists flock to appreciate, but the simplicity of a traditional village in a spectacular location untouched by the modern age.
Masuleh is located about a one and a half hour drive away from the city of Rasht, less than an hour away from Fumn, in the foothills of Mount Talesh. In fact, the village literally grips the mountainside, hanging on as if it were in danger of plunging into the river at its foot.
The architectural style that makes Masuleh special can be seen elsewhere in Iran but not so perfectly preserved. In order to accommodate houses, a bazaar, 18 mosques and all the facilities of a village of just under 2,000 inhabitants, the roofs of many buildings double up as the streets of the level above.
The height difference between the lowest and the highest points of this stepped village is about 100 metres. The car park at river level is as far up as motor vehicles can go – this being the only village in Iran in which automobiles are completely banned.
Much is being done in Masuleh to maintain buildings in the old ways. Every year walls get a fresh coating of mud, giving the whole village an organic feel - as if the buildings have grown out of the earth of the streets.
At the heart of the town is the bazaar which is a lively nest of alleys and stairways with cubby-hole shops selling a wide variety of handicrafts, freshly-baked sweets, a worrying preponderance of knives and all weaves and colours of silk scarves. One level above the bazaar are a number of restaurants and teahouses where you can lunch on kabab followed by tea and gheliyoon.
Stray up further and your chances increase of having a grumpy local chide you for not sticking to the "tourist areas". Not everybody here is glad of the attention that their picturesque little town brings. However, most of Masuleh’s inhabitants welcome the interest in their village and some even open their homes to guests for meals or overnight stays.
Books on Iran - Fiction, Politics, History, Islam
© Iranvisitor.com
