Iran has been in the news quite often due to the Iran Nuclear Deal and more countries are thinking about opening up or restarting diplomatic ties to Iran. What are your thoughts of Iran? My two cents: Now, Iran is often associated with things like theocracy, terrorism, executing gay people, forced veiling, etc. However, I think our views of Iran have been changing into more informed opinions. Thanks to Humans of New York (Brandon visited various cities in Iran last month), more people have begun to see Iran in a different light. Also, I've found some YouTube videos of the Iranian youth who lead very different lives than what the media shows us. Yes, some things can be staged, but do you think that Iranians would stage potentially illegal pictures and videos? [YOUTUBE]G2EKc1wfgDE[/YOUTUBE] [YOUTUBE]gWB8iiQ08SE[/YOUTUBE]
They have a outstanding and influential history, culture, and people. Before the Shah came to power, they were fairly liberal and westernized. There was a moderate candidate running a few years back, and when he lost, large parts of the population were pretty upset and blamed corruption. Their LGBT track record could be better, but then... so could many other countries. I think they're better off than say, Uganda. The real reason they're put in a bad light is their opposition to the US, Israel, and allies policies. Similar to Cuba, a lot of potential, if they could open up. It also snows there! That's yet another reason I'd love to visit, but like so many other countries in the area, not exactly advised for American tourists.
We always put the Iranian government on blast for hating the West. However, most are ignorant to what we have done to Iran in the past. UK and USSR invaded Iran during WW2, even though it was a neutral country. When they wanted to partner up with US and UK for oil, we didn't like how they want most of the profits from oil sales. You know what our response was? Having a coup d'etat on their prime minister to overthrow him in 1953. He was democratically elected in a similar fashion to West and North European elections. What we did was despicable so in order to stabilize Iran, CIA trained SAVAK, Iran's brutal secret police, and replaced the prime minister with a vicious dictator. We pretty much put Iran under North Korean style rule. The people responded with the Iranian Revolution in 1979, we put crippling sanctions on Iran. Some were enacted in the 1980s, but the major ones that EU and US put in place were just a few years ago. We (the West) have always treated Iran as our bitch. And a lot of people wonder why their government is so hostile.
It's very hard to judge because we only hear about the negative things on the news. I'm guessing that there are also a lot of good things that happen that we don't hear about
Hm it's certainly not a country I admire but it's not the barbaric theocratic state that the media often portrays. It's true their economy is excessively state-controlled, their government is a mix of dictatorship with a few democratic institutions and there are several restrictions to free speech and human rights. Still, their investment in education, including for the female public, is outstanding when compared to their neighbors. Moreover, many archaic laws are barely respected there by their own people (such as the huge restriction on alcohol and drugs in general) and if their government is often a critic of the West powers, their people are often kind to westerners, although quite racist to arabs and blacks.
I am very close friends with an Iranian couple who have lived in exile in the UK because of their religion. It has now reached a point where they can no longer safely return to the country. Some of their relatives have already been banned from returning, under pain of death or imprisonment. They have property and money which they have been unable to access due to sanctions, and has now been effectively seized by the authorities. When they have been out their they have only escaped problems due to being able to bribe local officials. Members of their religion have been imprisoned without trial, been accused of being Israeli spies, and have limited access to healthcare. Some of the clerics at the top of the Iranian government are the Islamic equivalent of some of the nutjob Christians in the US that want to bring about the end of the world leading to God's judgement. Women, though able to hold government positions, are not allowed to travel outside of the country without permission from their closest male relative (including ones with said government positions). On the other hand, they have a culture going back thousands of years, before Islam and extensive contact with the Arab speaking peoples to their southwest. In its own right, and later as part of the wider Islamic world, it has been a centre of philosophy, science, arts, and literature. They have a rich culture, the influence of which has spread throughout central and south Asia. They have generally good infrastructure, modern cities, universities and so on. It is probably has the best standard of living, economically speaking, in the region. We should not forget though, that given their way they would wipe the state of Israel from existence, oppress their own people's freedom, and meddle extensively in the affairs of other countries in the region (it's not just us westerners!). In the 20th century Iran probably suffered because of what gave it its wealth - oil, and strategic location. European colonial powers, the Eastern bloc and the USSR, and the western powers of the Cold War, all messed around there without understanding the consequences. The average Iranian person though - fine. For a Brit they have some cultural norms that are difficult to deal with (and vice versa I am sure), but the ones I know count among the most kind and generous and loving people I have ever met.
Iran is a brutal state, but its people have a rich culture, literary tradition, the middle class is very well educated and its society is relatively equal and stable compared to neighbouring countries. Youth are rejecting the tired conservatism of the elite and even the semi-democratic parliament is pushing for reform. Iran is not descending into barbarity as much as it is gently trying to liberate itself from dictatorship. As imnotreallysure mentioned, I'd prefer Iran to Saudi Arabia or Pakistan. It's something of an accident of history that Iran is a pariah state when a violent, oppressive nuclear state like Pakistan is considered part of a global partnership. Neither deserves to be excluded; shutting entire peoples off from the process of diplomacy and engagement is a harsh step. It's sometimes necessary but it will never endear that nation to the world.
Everything I've heard about Iran its a decent nation. Not perhaps to our liking from a western perspective but 3rd parties typically say that the people are relatively okay with their government. They don't exactly have great LGB rights but as I understand are quite liberal with the T. They also dont like my country very much. Something to do with us saving American diplomats or something....
I find it hard to take our leaders seriously when they harp on about democracy, freedom of speech and equality but continue to actively involve themselves with brutal regimes like Saudi Arabia - even though Saudi Arabia continues to execute people for trivial 'crimes' and arms Daesh. I mean, nations like the UK continue to send billions worth of military exports to these countries. Saudi Arabia is pretty much the antithesis to 'Western values' and I wouldn't care much at all if it was excluded from global partnerships. I only feel sorry for the people who have to live there. Meanwhile, Iran is demonised for no good reason. Money speaks volumes though. As for Iran beyond politics - it really is a country steeped in history and culture. Truly a fascinating place - and a lot of attractive guys by all accounts.
Ikr? The guys are so hot! Something about Persian guys just makes them look hot I feel really bad for their people because even though they are more educated than the pre-revolutionary Iranians, jobs are hard to come by due to the terrible sanctions. That's primarily the reason why Iranians celebrated in the streets when the Iran Nuclear Deal was finalized.
