In the North

I have been to the North for a couple of days recently. Our northern provinces are three (Guilan, Mazandaran, Golestan) and consist a rim adjacent to Caspian Sea. When the whole country is classified as 'semi-arid', they are humid, with a high rate of rain fall, totally green and different from rest of the country. The North is squeezed between Caspian Sea on northern side and Alborz mountains in the south. That's the reason the vapors are trapped over there and give a special climate to it. For many Iranians who are deeply in love with greenery, the North has always been a favorite recreational destination. Sandy seashores, nice weather, amazing green-covered mountains, forests and villages here and there are of the places the people take refuge to escape from messy urban life.

Beside some factories in center of the provinces, the economy of the region is mostly based on farming, husbandry and fishery. Iranians are rice-eaters and most of the rice in the country is produced in this region. When you move from east toward the west of the rim, you will see rice fields stretched toward the mountains. On the slopes there are tea farms. Fishery dates back to hundreds of years ago. Iranian caviar which the country is famous for is fished in Caspian Sea.

The pictures are taken from a cable car in Lahijan. These pictures are for those viewers who think that our country is just deserts and the only vehicle we drive is camel. :)
Geological map of Iran: the green line in the north is the three provinces.

The 'historical' event I experienced

Last Thursday a friend of mine called in the morning and said:" Today there will be a female football match. Will you come?". Just a bit dizzy of a long sleep, I said in a big surprise:" What?!? A female football match? Joking?" Well, after speaking for a few minutes she could help me up to comprehend that it was not a joke and definitely there would be a football match between Iranian national team and Germans. Heh, I didn't even know that we had a female football team at all.
In the afternoon, we joined tens of women sitting on their seats in Ararat football stadium to watch the competition between Iranians and Germans. The weather was nice, the atmosphere was happy ,and everything went on just joyful and pleasant BUT I couldn't overcome my sadness squeezing my heart (too emotional?). The reason? Well, we have a population of 70 millions and we are famous to be crazy for football. Wherever you go, you can see kids and teens playing football in whatsoever place they can find to install their goals playing with a rubber ball. The so-called goal is usually a pair of slippers set with a distance of one meter from each other or a pair of stones playing the role of a 'goal'. Number of dailies and magazines on football is numerous.
The fever for football has been in this country as far as I remember, but a couple of years ago, when our national team succeeded to ascend to world championship for the first time, it just heated up. We beat Australia in a fiery match and stepped forward to the world championship. The triumph was celebrated by millions of people who jubilated in the streets in big groups.
I don't know what goes on in other countries, but in Iran, the football fans are not just males. You can see many women and girls who die for it. They follow the news very carefully, know the players and have the same fever as men. So, isn't it sad to see that the match we watched on Thursday was the first ever after the Revolution? Speaking to the women sitting around, they told me that female football matches began about 5-6 years ago inside enclosed places- footsall. Surprising to say, our team could win the 2nd rank in recent competition of the Western Asian countries.
Another bothering discrimination is that Iranian women can not enter the stadiums to watch the games and encourage their favorite teams. Just recently a group of vanguard females has been trying to break this taboo. Just once, a few of them were let in. The second time, they faced riot police. Some even were beaten. Nobody knows why women are banned of watching football matches in the stadiums and when you investigate on the issue you just hear odd. The officials say :" Stadiums are not good places for women to go. They are hooligans there. They insult each other and that's not proper for women to witness it." That's nonsense of course. When the same women have to deal with these very men on the streets, at work, on buses, in taxis, in shops, etc , then how on earth this kind of justifications can ever be true?
The funny thing about Thursday match was banning the men entering the stadium. Nobody could understand the reason because all of us and both teams had scarves on heads. That showed that the organizers had to act so cautiously and conservatively to let the event go on as smoothely as possible. They didn't want troubles becasue they wanted these events could be repeated.

The very surprising news we are hearing these days is that Ahmadi-nejad, our hardliner president has ordered the football federation to help the women to enter the stadiums. The same conservative clergies who supported him to come up to power, are opposing him very firmly on the issue. They repeat the same things we have been hearing for years and have demanded the president to revise his decision.
Well, this issue which to many westerners has no meaning at all, is so important for us- Iranians. To me, it is quite a step forward to a better situation for us- women. Although we have a very very long way to go on, that's really happy if we could ever go to stadiums. That's not just a football match we will watch, that's breaking a very tough taboo shadowing for years over us. More pictures.

Cliches

You probably have noticed of the pictorial clichés seen on the news and in the media of this part of the world. They are that repeated you never can believe that life can have other faces in those places. Iranians are always shown like this: a woman in black chador passing by a big billboard with a huge picture of Khomeini and a slogan against the States, mostly "Death to America!", Palestinians are always some men with covered faces having Kalashnikovs in hands. Egyptians are always men , sitting in a bench smoking glass pipes. Iraqis have joined to this group just newly after the invasion; they are usually men carrying corpses all covered with blood and women wearing Arabic black chadors- Abaya- mourning and screaming when their dead ones are buried in the cemetery.

Suicide bombings in Israel have a pictorial cliché either. You can always see the place right after the explosion. Sirens are heard in the background, polices wearing jackets having talkie walkies in hands are rushing and trying to help people, paramedics running hither and thither and a couple of stretchers with wounded people on them.

Tonight I saw a very strange scene on EuroNews. For the first time (may be it is the first time for me) they showed a Jewish cemetery in Israel where they were burying those killed in the recent suicide bombing. Women were screaming and one of them was just about to faint. Other women around spilled water on her face to keep her on her feet. It was shockingly like the scenes filmed in Palestine when in a morgue or cemetery the people gather around, cry their chest off and groan in anger and sadness.

Spring in Tehran- Part II

About the casualties, Iran Body Count states:" Military deaths in this first wave of attacks against Iran would be expected to be in the thousands, especially with attacks on air bases and Revolutionary Guard facilities. Civilian deaths would be in the many hundreds at least…". That's clear that Iran is not going to sit soundly if such attacks happen. In a speech in a conference on Qods held recently in Tehran, Khamenei, explicitly stated that in that case, the battle field would be much bigger than the country itself. Iran Body Count mentions one by one, the probable responds Iran may take to pick. To me, that's totally understandable. Just one way is left for Americans to choose to stop the possible retaliations: nuking Iran that strongly that the regime is toppled just instantly. It means, the bombing should be terribly heavy. Can it be ever imagined of such an air strike less than a total human catastrophe? Using nuclear bombs against the targets would end to killing thousands of civilians, that's for sure. So, how they really want to take their actions?

It's a habit of me to speak to the people randomly just to see what they say. In the Park I did the same. I spoke to some old men. These kinds of old men are very familiar to me. I used to walk the same park a few years ago every day in the morning to my work. I could see them sitting here and there, exchanging news and chatting. Their source of news is usually BBC, VOA and satellite channels based in LA by Iranian exiled opponents. They usually are against the policies of the system, because being retired, they face the hardships of life stronger than other people. They usually survive on a few hundred dollars they receive after long years of work as the pension. Exchanging a smile with them, I could have them speak their views. I said:" Ha, what you feel? You think is it good we are promised to have nukes soon?" (The hardliner president had given us tiding to give 'good news' within a few days and everybody could guess what the news was going to be). They said in harmony:" Yes, yes, why not?". I smiled again and continued:" Wow, you don't feel scared of a war or air strikes by Americans?" One of them answered furiously (as if I was Condi) :" We don’t give them a damn shit! Let them first fix the mess they have made already in Iraq ….". I could read in the faces of others the same feelings.
In another chat with two old women the same afternoon, one of them said:" Yes, it's our absolute right to have the nuclear energy and it's just our business. Who has given any right to the West to comment on this issue?". Mockingly she continued:" A small country like Israel has it, but we with this big population, ancient history and culture shouldn't have it?"
The same words I have heard over and over again these days. The words are the same, the mouths are different. You can't believe how strongly the people back the regime on this issue. Well, my country fellows are unpredictable but as far as I can see, they are ready to withstand any invasion or attack apart from whatever the price it might have. This means that the plans Americans have can not be just targeting the regime, it is going to kill civilians in thousands.

On the news I read horrible news about Iraq. In Iraqi blogs I read words of horror and despair. Just a few years ago, they faced a domestic tyranny. But now, hundreds of thousands of people face hundreds of dangers on their way. Just to imagine how close can we be to the same condition, freezes my blood. I hope it never would happen to us, because this country is too beautiful, this people are too humble and nice. That would be a pity if….

I look around and try to live the moments fully and thoroughly. I feel like a fanatic superstitious old woman to think:" Why this spring is this beautiful? Is it because it might be ….?"

Spring in Tehran - Part I

This year we have a real spring here in Tehran. Some years it is just like winter, with snow and blizzard and sometimes it's better to call it summer; hot and intolerable. But now, the weather is nice and cool. Although sometimes the Sun even burns the skins, just in a few minutes it is substituted with nice cuddling breeze. Just imagine today we had a crazy rain shower for a couple of minutes. The wind has been blowing and buzzing tirelessly since last night and has wiped the dark clouds of pollution off the city sky. The greenery is not at its full yet. The grass is a young green and the trees wear a yellowish happy green.

It's the reason I felt a desire to go to Laleh park – Laleh means Tulip in Persian- in the central part of the city to sit a bit and to read a few pages if possible. This park was constructed by the French about ten years before the Revolution and is a regional park. I mean, the people coming to the park to refresh are beyond the locals. I even can say as the Tehran Contemporary Art Museum is just adjacent to this park, it's known to everybody in the city.

The park has different entrances at 5 or 6 sides. The western entrance is the one I love most. There is a small patch of flowers touching your eyes as soon as you step in. There are plants, flower beds, strange looking shrubs jammed in this small patch welcoming you to the Park. This patch is also a cross road of different ways stretching to different locations in the park. I pick the one which goes straightly to the east and I know that it will take me to the big fountain in the center of the Park.
I walk and look around. How everything is differently beautiful of what I see usually in this ugly over polluted city of Tehran. It is always surprising to see how jam of flowers and trees can freshen the air and can be that soothing.

The big fountain in the center is the most attractive place for the people who love to rest a bit and refresh. Just looking around I could see them in every imaginable age; white headed old men chatting and sitting on a bench, young couples sitting in a corner, whispering (probably love words) to each other, some kids with their parents having colorful balloons in hands. At the right side, there was a long wooden table with the middle aged women sitting all around. I could see that they knew each other, speaking to each other from one corner to another, laughing loudly, making noise. So, I guessed they were retired ex-colleagues.

Watching around, the first word which came to my mind was 'Peace'. Yes, the scene was really peaceful and I could say it was like hundreds of similar places all around the world. This word is strongly contradicting the dangers threatening our country and our people these days. Well, we don't hear good news and I am afraid to think about the future. Many of you might have read the report- Iran Body Count. It is hair raising and I feel terrible to see this 'body count' is speaking about this very people I meet everyday at work, in our neighborhood, on taxis and buses, just trying to fight the hardships of life and doing a big effort to keep their decent lives. This report is about the people whom to me have names and have faces. They are not just numbers. They are not nameless. Each of them has a history. Each has his or her own dreams for the future. And I just imagine that it is possible that at this very moment I am writing this post, there are some people thousands of miles away, plotting to kill them, to demolish them. To them, these people are nameless and faceless. They can be like the ones who are killed everyday in Iraq of a bomb blast, of a suicide bombing, of a wrong snipe shot from an unknown corner, at a checkpoint or for some other reason.

To be continued …

Pictures from Tehran

Picture 1

In a suburb of Tehran:

I am surrounded by some men telling me what they think of nuclear row. They are excited to tell their ideas. They are not patient and interrupt each other so each one's words is cut off with the words of the other one running into it. The people of this suburb are all farmers. Beside farming, they have livestock. I have been speaking to them for only a few minutes but still I can guess for whom they all have voted in recent presidential election. They tell me that they support Ahmadi-nejad the Iranian newly elected president who sounds more and more extreme with his stance against Israel and the West. Ahmadi-nejad started with wishing Israel to be wiped off the map and then later went on to say that the Holocaust has been a made up myth. Then after, he threatened the West by saying that if the West continues against the right of Iran for having nuclear energy, the Islamic Rep of Iran may take more serious measures. Everybody knows he is referring to the possibility of getting out of NPT.

One of the men begins excitedly: "You see, we want to have the nuclear power. As our dear president has stated. Why shouldn't we have it when others have it? Why we who have invited inspectors from all over the world, from the West, from the Soviet Union (he means Russia) can't have nuclear energy?"

An old man, wearing white beard, is more emotional when he begins to speak. He almost shouts "You see, this is discrimination. What's the reason that we who have signed the treaty can't have it and the world doesn't bother questioning others who have not signed it?".

The third man continues: "The oil is going to finish some day. Everybody knows that it is not infinite. The West wants to have nuclear power just for itself because it wants to rule the world."

When asked about sanctions or a probable invasion or war, they answer in harmony: "We are not afraid, neither from a war nor sanctions." The old man continues:" Haven't we been under sanctions during the last 27 years? We also have fought against Iraq for eight years. We are experienced. All of us have been in war fronts. We know what's war. We don't want it. But if it happens, we are ready for it".

Picture 2

In the northern mountains of Tehran:

The area called Darband, is a place the people usually come to spend their vacation time mostly during summer. It's a place to flee the heat and the noise of urban life, for resting in one of the many restaurants, drinking a cup of tea or having food with friends or family. I can see people walking, coming and going, sitting, eating or drinking. I come across four MTV style young men. They are in their early 20s. They are millions of young ones at this age all around the world, chewing gum, stubby hairs standing on their heads by the help of a handful of hair gel, having stripped sweaters on, their hands in their pockets. When asked about the future and their dreams, they all say they demand change. Although other people around are listening to us (people tend to be cautious when speaking in public), two of them are even that bold to comment: "Regime change, we want the regime change!"

They don't speak enthusiastically; I can feel very well the despair and the frustration in their voices. They say their utmost need in life is money. They say they would love to have lots of money because "If one has money, then he can have everything!" I ask them about the nuclear row. With their stands against the system to demand a deep change in it, they shock me by saying "We need nuclear energy, yes, we want it!" One begins and three others nod their heads and repeat the same.

Picture 3

An old roofed small bazaar in south of Tehran, the poor area of the city:

It's holiday but still the place is crowded. I can imagine that during the normal days, it can be a hellish place with lots of noise, quite messy. There are fruit shops around. The people come and go and some do shopping. Most of women have chadors on. I come across two young girls who happened to be sisters. They don't have chadors but tight manteaus-a new fashion for Iranian girls who demand to look more beautiful. Both of them are wearing make up. Well, they don't follow the official code for clothing to be loose long manteaus under a thick black chador but still they both defend the official stand because the poor quarters of the city have always been a stronghold of Islamic rulers in Iran.

The elder one begins and the other one repeats "Yes, we need the nuclear power. Why not?" Again the elder one continues "If there is going to be any trial for having the nuclear bomb, then the priority should be given to those countries which actually have used it against other nations." She doesn't mention any names, but both she and I know which country she means. I ask them about sanction. The younger one answers "We want it!" I thought she didn't hear me, so I repeated my question. "I said 'sanctions.' What you think of a sanction?" She repeats the same answer. Now I can see that the poor girl doesn't know the meaning of the word- "sanctions."

Usually there is a big gap between the ideas of the majority of Iranian population and the official stance. What the system thinks, the people think the contrary. When the officials say something, the people try to do the contrary. Iranians are deeply political. The politics is in the air they breathe in; it's a part of their daily lives. It doesn't need them to read or to do research. The news, the analysis goes mouth to mouth, through direct contacts, face to face or through telephone and recently on the cell phones. The speed of travel for rumor and gossip is quite high. You hear something and then you can see tens of others repeating it within a very short time. It is astonishing. BUT, the reaction to the nuclear row, to the stance of the West and whatever exchanged between EU and Iranian negotiators has turned out to be an exception here. Strangely enough, the people are supporting the government. While only two years ago, at the beginning of the Iraq invasion, many wished that it could also happen to Iran, now the people have changed their collective minds and say they are not afraid of a war. If it breaks, they are going to resist. Nuclear energy has turned to be a national pride for a vast majority of Iranians. Call it ignorance or whatsoever else you wish, it's a fact. The arrogant tone of Ms. Rice, the reality that some countries have nuclear bomb - especially Israel- and nobody bothers to question them, has deepened this belief in Iranians that they should have the nuclear energy too. When most of independent and reformist dailies are shut down and there is no other voice to enlighten the people on the realities regarding the nuclear row, the mere things heard these days in the official stand. Iranian government has succeeded in zigzagging and manipulating the deepest sentiments of the people, and their dearest memories. Turn on the radio or switch on your TV in Tehran these days and you hear that they compare the nuclear energy with the oil industry nationalizing movement led by the late Dr Mohammad Mosaddeq. The Iranian government is emphasizing that the only path they are following is peaceful and they are merely doing it for economic reasons. Being honest or not, it gives them a stronger support among those citizens who are wise enough to hate war and direct confrontation with the West.

The other fact should be taken into consideration is that the people do not know about sanctions and the real impacts of it on their lives. They don't know exactly which measures are going to be taken against Iran. They do not know about the realities of life under sanctions. When many of them are not like the young girl who didn't know even the meaning of the word, but still their knowledge on the consequences of such measures against the country doesn't go much farther.

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