{"id":49612,"date":"2014-11-10T12:00:10","date_gmt":"2014-11-10T12:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=49612"},"modified":"2015-05-05T21:29:33","modified_gmt":"2015-05-05T20:29:33","slug":"discovering-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2014\/11\/discovering-iran\/","title":{"rendered":"Discovering Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"

Iran Trip:\u00a0 September – October 2014<\/em><\/p>\n

Marcel Proust said: \u201cThe voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.<\/em>\u201d \u00a0During the past two decades, I visited Iran on numerous occasions staying 10-14 days at a time.\u00a0 This time around, I stayed for 2 months and heeding Proust, I carried with me a fresh pair of eyes.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I discarded both my Western lenses as well as my Iranian lenses and observed with objective eyes. \u00a0It was a formidable journey that left me breathless.<\/p>\n

Part I – Women of the Islamic Republic of Iran<\/em><\/p>\n

It is hard to know where to start a travel log and how to describe a newfound world in a few pages.\u00a0 However, given the obsession with the status of women, it is perhaps appropriate to start with the women in Iran as I perceived them.<\/p>\n

Western media with help from feminists and Iranians living outside of Iran portray Iranian women as being \u201coppressed\u201d — foremost because women in Iran have to abide by an Islamic dress code – hijab. \u00a0\u00a0Yes, hijab is mandatory and women choose to either wear either a chador or to wear a scarf.\u00a0\u00a0 But what is crucial to understand is the role chador played in pre 1979 versus the post Revolution era.<\/p>\n

Prior to the 1979 Revolution, the chador was indicative of a thinly veiled caste system. While a few distinguished women of high socio-economical background chose to wear the chador, the rest, the majority of Iranian women, were simply born into the habit.\u00a0 In short, the socio-economically disadvantaged wore the pre 1979 chador. \u00a0In those days, the chador was a hindrance to a woman\u2019s progress; she was looked down at and frowned upon.\u00a0\u00a0 She could not move forward or up.\u00a0\u00a0 She was oppressed.\u00a0\u00a0 But Western feminists were blind to this oppression.\u00a0 After all, the Shah was modern and America\u2019s friendly dictator.<\/p>\n

The Revolution changed the status quo and chipped away at the caste system.\u00a0\u00a0 A revolution, by definition, is a complete change in the way people live and work.\u00a0 And so it is with the Iranian Revolution.\u00a0 The post 1979 chador is no longer an impediment to a woman\u2019s future. \u00a0Today\u2019s Iranian woman, the same (formerly) less privileged class, has found freedom in her chador.\u00a0 She has been unshackled and she marches on alongside her (formerly) more privileged colleague. This emancipation is what the Western\/Westernized feminists see as oppression.<\/p>\n

I myself come from yesterday\u2019s tiny minority of\u00a0\u201cprivileged\u201d women, far too comfortable in my \u201cWestern\u201d skin to want to promote hijab, but I will not allow my personal preferences to diminish the value of the progress made because<\/em> of hijab. The bleeding hearts from without should simply change their tainted lenses instead of trying to change the lives of others for Iranian women do not need to be rescued, they do not follow \u2013 they lead.<\/p>\n

On two separate occasions I had the opportunity to sit and talk with a group of PhD students at Tehran University\u2019s Global Studies Department.\u00a0\u00a0 Frankly, these young women charmed me.\u00a0\u00a0 Their inquisitive and sharp minds, their keen intellect, their vast knowledge, their fluent English, and their utter confidence dazzled me.\u00a0 Western feminists would consider them \u201coppressed\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0 Seems to me that feminism needs rescuing, not Iranian women.<\/p>\n

The inordinate success of women goes vastly beyond education; they participate in every aspect of society: motherhood, arts and sciences, high tech, film and cinema, research, business, administration, politics, sports, armed forces, bus and taxi drivers, fire-fighters, etc.\u00a0 Women\u2019s active role in society is undeniable.\u00a0 What I found tantalizing was their role as cultural gatekeepers.<\/p>\n

Women – The Cultural Warriors<\/em><\/p>\n

Cultural imperialism is part and parcel of neocolonialism.\u00a0\u00a0 The eradication of an indigenous culture and replacing it with a hegemonic one enables the hegemon to exert influence on the subject nation \u2013 to own it.\u00a0\u00a0 And women are the nuclei.\u00a0 They hold the family together and pass on traditions.\u00a0 To this end, in every colonial adventure, regardless of geography, women have been the primary targets (i.e. victims of rescue).\u00a0 Iran has been no different.\u00a0 While some have indeed abandoned their culture in order to embrace that of another, the vast majority have resisted and fought back with authentic Iranian tradition.<\/p>\n

One group of these cultural warriors left a deep impact on me.\u00a0 I attended a dance ensemble at the famous Roudaki Hall (Talar Roudaki).\u00a0 Girls aged 6 to 18 sent the packed hall into a thunderous applause when they danced to various traditional songs from around the country.\u00a0\u00a0 Their dance was not MTV stuff.\u00a0 It reflected the beauty and purity of an ancient culture. Their movements and gestures were not intended to be seductive; they were graceful and poetic ushering in the ancient past and bonding it with the present, strengthening it.\u00a0\u00a0 These were the women of Iran who would guard Iran\u2019s precious culture and traditions against modern, Western culture deemed central to \u2018civilization\u2019 and \u2018freedom\u2019 by Western feminists.<\/p>\n

It is not my intention to give the false impression that every woman in Iran is happy, successful, and valued.\u00a0 Like any other society, Iran has its share of unhappy, depressed girls and women.\u00a0 It has its share of women who have been abused and betrayed.\u00a0\u00a0 It has its share of girls and women who turn to drugs, prostitution, or both.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I came across these as well.\u00a0 I also noted that laws in Iran do not favor women, be it divorce, child custody, or inheritance.\u00a0 Yet women have leapt forward.<\/p>\n

Part II<\/em> \u2013 Esprit de Corps<\/em><\/p>\n

Washington Just Doesn\u2019t Get It<\/em><\/p>\n

Numerous visitors have travelled to Iran and brought back reports describing the landscape, the food, the friendliness of the people, the impact of the sanctions, and so forth.\u00a0\u00a0 For the most part, these reports have been accurate — albeit incomplete.\u00a0 I do not want to tire the reader with my observations on these same topics; rather, I invite the reader to share my journey into the soul of the country \u2013 the spirit of the Iranian nation.<\/p>\n

Washington\u2019s missteps are, in part, due to the simple fact that Washington receives flawed intelligence on Iran and Iranians.\u00a0 This has been a long-standing pattern with Washington. Prior to the 1979 Revolution, a plethora of US personnel lived in Iran. Thousands of CIA agents were stationed there.\u00a0 Their task went beyond teaching torture techniques to the Shah\u2019s secret police; they were, after all, spies.\u00a0 In addition to the military personnel that came in tow with the military equipment sold to the Shah by the U.S., there were official US personnel who worked at the American Embassy in Tehran.\u00a0 \u00a0None got it.<\/p>\n

They all failed miserably in their assessment of Iranians.\u00a0 These personnel were simply too busy enjoying a lavish lifestyle in Iran. As the aforementioned travelers have all repeated, Iran is beautiful, the food scrumptious, the people hospitable.\u00a0\u00a0 These personnel attended parties thrown by those close to the Shah (or other affluent Iranians) and lived the kind of life they could not have dreamt of elsewhere.\u00a0\u00a0 American ambassadors doled out visas to the lazy kids of these same families who would not have otherwise been able to make it to the US under normal student visa requirements.<\/p>\n

These same Iranians, the privileged elite, provided Americans in Iran with intelligence \u2013 inaccurate, flawed information that was passed onto Washington.<\/p>\n

Washington was content.\u00a0\u00a0 After all, why doubt your friends, and how could possibly the secret police trained by CIA not get the facts right? To this end, Washington believed Iran would remain a client state for the unforeseen future.\u00a0\u00a0 The success of the revolution was a slap in the face, but Washington did not alter course.<\/p>\n

For the past several decades, Washington has continued to act on flawed intelligence.\u00a0 Today, it relies on the \u201cexpertise\u201d of some in the Iranian Diaspora who have not visited Iran once since the revolution. \u00a0In addition to the \u201cIran experts\u201d, Washington has found itself other sources of \u2018intelligence\u2019, foremost; the Mojahedeen Khalg (MEK) terrorist cult.\u00a0 This group feeds Washington information provided them by Israel.\u00a0 \u00a0Previous to this assignment, the cult was busy fighting alongside Saddam Hossein killing Iranians and Kurds.\u00a0 Is it any surprise that Washington is clueless on\u00a0Iran.<\/p>\n

What Washington can\u2019t fathom is the source of Iran\u2019s strength, its formidable resilience.\u00a0 Thanks to its \u2018experts\u2019, and the personal experience of some visitors, Washington continues to believe that the Iranian people love America and that they are waiting for Washington to \u2018rescue\u2019 them from their government.\u00a0\u00a0 No doubt Iranians are generous, hospitable, and charming.\u00a0 They welcome visitors as guest regardless of their country of origin.\u00a0\u00a0 This is part and parcel of their culture.\u00a0 They also believe a guest is a \u2018blessing from God\u2019 —\u00a0 mehmoon barekate khodast<\/em>.\u00a0 Karime khodast<\/em>.\u00a0 But this is where it ends.<\/p>\n

While the Iranian people love people of all nationalities, including Americans, they see Washington for what it is.\u00a0 Over the past decades, Washington and its policies have adversely affected virtually every single family in Iran. These include those whose dreams and hopes were shattered by the CIA orchestrated coup against their nascent democracy and its popular leader, Mossadegh.\u00a0 Later, lives were turned upside down the Shah\u2019s CIA\/Mossad trained secret police arrested, brutally tortured, killed or simply made disappear anyone who dared venture into politics. Thanks to America\u2019s staunch support, these stories never found their way to the papers.\u00a0 And then there are the millions of war widows and orphans, the maimed soldiers, the victims of chemical weapons supplied to Saddam Hossein by America to use against Iranians while the UN closed its eyes in an 8-year war.\u00a0 Not to forget the victims of American sponsored terrorism, and sanctions.\u00a0 Millions of Iranians have first hand experience of all that has been plagued upon them by Washington.<\/p>\n

It is these victims, their families and acquaintances that fight for Iran\u2019s sovereignty, that are the guardians of this proud nation.\u00a0 They are the source of Iran\u2019s strength. Victor Hugo once said: \u201cNo army can withstand the strength of an idea whose time has come.\u201d\u00a0 There simply is no army on earth which can occupy, by proxy or otherwise, the land the people have come to believe belongs to them not by virtue of birth, but because they have fought for it, died for it, kept it from harm.<\/p>\n

I met many such families; one in particular was more memorable.\u00a0 During the Shah\u2019s regime, this family worked on my father\u2019s farm.\u00a0\u00a0 The father and his sons worked the farm and the mother helped around the house.\u00a0\u00a0 In those days, this family and future generations would have simply continued to work on the farm, remain \u2018peasants\u2019 with no prospects for the future. \u00a0But the revolution rescued them.<\/p>\n

Shortly after the revolution, the war started. The boys in the family all went to war.\u00a0\u00a0 One uncle lost his life to chemical warfare.\u00a0\u00a0 The rest survived \u2013 and thrived.\u00a0\u00a0 They got themselves free education provided by the same government America wants to dislodge. \u00a0\u00a0One of these boys, the man I met after some 35 years, Kazem, once condemned to be a \u2018peasant\u2019, had become a successful businessman.\u00a0\u00a0 I spent hours talking to the family and to Kazem in particular.\u00a0\u00a0 What impressed me was not just his affluence and his success in business, but the wisdom that only comes with age, and yet he had acquired it in youth.\u00a0\u00a0 He had intellect and dignity. \u00a0A gentleman, I found his knowledge of global affairs to be superior to most one would meet at a college in the US.\u00a0 He had experienced war and witnessed death. Iran belonged to him.\u00a0 He would fight for it over and over without hesitating to die for it.<\/p>\n

This is the Iran the Diaspora has left behind, the Iran that is unknown to them.\u00a0 This is a far superior country than the one I left behind as a child and visited throughout the years.\u00a0 Iran\u2019s guardians, its keepers, are all Kazems. It has been said that the strength of an army is the support of the people behind it.\u00a0\u00a0 The whole country is that army. \u00a0As Khalil Gibran rightly observed: \u201cOut of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 With every wrong policy, America adds to the scars, strengthens the character and spirit of this unbreakable nation. \u00a0\u00a0This is what Washington is not able to grasp.<\/p>\n

_________________________________<\/em><\/p>\n

Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich is an independent researcher and writer with a focus on U.S. foreign policy and the role of lobby groups in influencing US foreign policy.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As Khalil Gibran rightly observed: \u201cOut of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.\u201d With every wrong policy, America adds to the scars, strengthens the character and spirit of this unbreakable nation. This is what Washington is not able to grasp.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-middle-east-north-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49612\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}