Rageh Omaar of the BBC takes a trip to Tehran to discover what the lives of ordinary Iranians is like.
It is a timely reminder that Iran is the home of an old and proud civilization, that just happens now, like the People’s Republic of China, to be caught up in a form of government that is behind the people’s capacity and taste for modernity and sophistication. Take the time to watch this, and to learn more about a remarkable people.
[Cross-posted at Between Worlds]
My Iranian friends tell me that many women in Iran wear Versace and $100 hairdo’s under their shawls and robes.
I’m coincidently watching this video right now.
It really sucks their govt is what it is. What a waste of a great people.
Errm, that’s Rageh Omar, the last reporter to agree to mouth Saddam’s propaganda at the beginning of the war? I thought he had gone to Al-Jazeera or did that turn out to be a little too objective for him? Seriously, though, does he speak Farsi?
He did not speak Farsi.. he had help with him. I didn’t know the background of this reporter, so what you said was interesting.
Would that be the “great people” that get their jollys stoning their women to death for infidelity, or just the crowds “good people” that gather around and cheer on public hangings from a crane?
Would you want these “great people” to possess nuclear weapons?
Persian nationalists with nukes scares me just as much as Mullahs with nukes does.
RT: I guess I buy into the “Not all Iranian are blood thirsty shias”.
I’m not under any illusions though.. Iran is our enemy.
Its nothing personal James. I am just sick of the way our government / media always portrays our enemy’s populaces as being “good people”, that would be our friends if only their evil leaders were removed.
Kinda like the way Iraqi society was supposed to be such a perfect candidate for planting the seeds of freedom and democracy in, if only their oppressor Saddam were removed.
I realize the guardian council vetted the candidates, but I honestly believe Ahmadinejad has far more popular support among the twelvers on the street than we are led to believe, and the reform movement has been drastically overstated for American consumption, thanks in part to a massive global media campaign financed by Reza Pahlavi.
I just wish we could publicly come to grips with the fact that its the people of Islamic society, due to a lifetime of Islamic brainwashing, that are our real enemy. And that in most cases their “Evil Leader” is just a fairly accurate representation of their collective mindsets.
I have run across quite few Persians in the blogosphere, both those basking in the safety and riches of America and those still in Iran. Shiite and Zoroastrian. And while many of them hate the Mullahs with a passion, I have yet to run across one that doesn’t want to wipe Israel off the map or see Persia rise again to dominate the region. Hatred was institutionalized in Persian society long before the Shah was removed, and no amount of western intervention can exorcise it from their minds.
And thats also why I love Ahmadinejad. He’s an honest Persian. He has too much Persian pride to even pretend he can he compromised with. If the so-called reformists had won, we would have a much harder time justifying the aerial destruction of their nuclear and military infrastructure before they crossed the thermo-nuclear Rubicon. They would have been much better at diplomatic stalling tactics than Ahmadinejad’s in your face style.
In my opinion the worst thing that could possibly happen right now is for him and the theocracy to be removed now….before the nuclear program is destroyed. Because then we would never be able to justify an attack. And if the new leaders pretended to be our friends we might even assist them with Westinghouse reactors…..like we did for our “good friend” the Shah after intense industry lobbying of our leaders in the 70s.
No matter when or under whatever form of government, if the Persians finally get their hands on a devise it will always be at risk of falling into the hands of religious of nationalistic extremists. Too many Persians dream of reclaiming past empirical glory and dominating the region. They are going to have to be denied membership into the nuclear club for perpetuity….no small task eh?
RT: No problem. I took your comemnt in the way you intended.
I too am in contact with a few Iranians and yes, they have that whole Janis two-face thing going on as is so common with Muslims.
I have been telling my family and friends for two years now that any-time-now the US will be attacking Iran because we have to stop them, yet we keep waiting.. It wont surprise me that we wait so long that it’s too late.
I hadn’t known that about Mr. Omaar, but I’ve always stood by the idea that Persians are a great people with great potential, but with a government that has chosen a really backward way of governance. Not unlike China. And, being ethnic Chinese, I think I know a little bit about what I speak of.
These peoples will not likely be friends of the U.S. government. How can they be, when they’re bombarded by messages that indulge in conspiracy theories? Moreover, such peoples with proud histories tend to be even more nationalistic should they feel that their nation is under attack, even though the enemy may really be after only the regime that claims sovereignty. Is that really any different than how we Westerners perceive things?
That those who rule Iran now are self-sworn enemies of the West does not take away from the essence of their dynamic people, many of whom do take the advantage to come West, to societies where they could actually grow.
Ahmanadinejad is from the same batch as the Ayotolahs in Iran and he will be discarded by the Mullahs once he is no longer required.
The regime change in Iran can only be achieved by peaceful means.
Had attacking Iraq been thought through properly, selling democracy to the rest of the Middle East would have been much easier.