In the shadow of the mullahs

By GLENYS BEAN

As I was flying from Dubai to Iran, passengers returning home were quick to tell me how generous and hospitable Iranian people were. But in the same breath they explained, "Our Government is not good; it is evil and corrupt because of the mullahs".

I didn't take too much notice of their comments because I was busy getting ready to disembark - it was time to fix my headscarf and put on my rapoush.

Iranian women have a choice under the dress code introduced when the Islamic Republic was created in 1979: they can wear either a rapoush, which is like a long-sleeved coat, or the even more constricting chador.

As my three-week visit progressed, I thought more about the significance of those passengers' words.

At first I found the security of the dress code a relief as it protected me from the stares of the local men. But it didn't take long before my resentment started to grow.

Being forced to put on my rapoush and headscarf, day in, day out, for the duration of my stay in Iran, made me realise how lucky I was to live in a country where I could say, do and dress as I wanted, how I took my freedom for granted and how many people in the world live such restricted lives.

As well as being psychologically oppressive, the dress code was also physically challenging. With temperatures in the 30s (and May still isn't summer) having to wear a long-sleeved coat on top of normal clothes was not comfortable.

I wore a selection of scarves to relieve my sartorial boredom but, no matter how I tied them, I still looked as if I were a member of a religious sect from the deep south of the United States.

Iranian women often wear scarves buttoned tightly under their chins - if I was boiling in my unbuttoned scarf they must have been sweltering inside theirs.

On the other hand, their option did offer some advantages. My scarf tied under the chin constantly came between me and the mouth-watering food I was trying to eat. Delicious lamb kebab and silk scarf flavoured rice, followed by pistachio icecream with silk scarf and a little toffee added ... mmmm.

The dress code extends all the way down to the feet - women who wear sandals must also wear socks. Their other option is closed shoes.

I had prepared for my trip to Iran by reading as many books about the country as I could find. Reading Lolita In Tehran, written by Azar Nafisi, who now lives in New York, is essential reading for anyone planning to go there. It's the story of Azar's life as a professor of English at Tehran University and why she left her country.

I also saw every Iranian film I could - some wonderful evocative films are now available on video.

This year's box office hit in Iran is Lizard, which ridicules the mullahs, and while I was there people queued for hours at every cinema in every town and city.

The movie is about a gangster who breaks out of jail and dons the garb of a mullah (a brown linen cloak and black headdress) to outwit the police and finds himself hailed as a holy man. ...

I don't want to spoil your viewing so the story will end there. But such a film would never have been produced under Khomeini's rule, and Iranians are cynical about how it got past today's censors without much editing. "Oh, it's the mullahs letting off the steam," they say.

It was a phrase I heard a lot, and it seemed to mean this was the Government's way of responding to pressure for reform.

One man told me, "It's better to allow a little freedom rather than have pressure build up and for the pot to boil over. They think it's better that we laugh a little with the mullahs."

Nothing in Iran is viewed or written without the mullah's approval. The internet is censored; you can see only certain parts of yahoo and google.

Satellite dishes receive only what the Government wants people to see of the BBC and CNN, and according to the international writer's organisation Pen and Amnesty International, the jails of Tehran practically flow over with writers.

But while people acknowledge the Government is repressive, nobody wants another bloody revolution. Instead, people hope there will be evolutionary change.


It seems likely enough. Walking around any Iranian town or city it becomes obvious how young the population is. Nearly 35 per cent of the 67 million Iranians are under 15, and they want change, mobile phones, fast cars and more liberal attitudes.

I saw one sign that the "letting off the steam" policy may not be working: several mullahs standing on the streets of Tehran waiting forlornly for a taxi. It was explained to me that taxi drivers don't like the mullahs and won't pick them up.

But, for all of that,, seeing Iran as a tourist is pretty straightforward and enjoyable.

The Government subsidises air travel, making this the best way to see the country. Just an hour's flight south of Tehran is Persepolis, whose magnificent ruins give an indication of Persia's - as Iran used to be known - glorious past. (If you want to compliment Iranians, call them Persian. Iranians of today seem mostly to love their past and dislike their present.)

At Persepolis is a taste of what life was like in 512BC when Darius the Great ruled the Achaemenian empire, which stretched to the Aegean coast near Turkey in the west and to the Indian subcontinent in the east.

Darius practised the Zoroastrian faith and I had the impression that many of today's Iranians feel they are Zoroastrians rather than Muslims. It is common to hear, "Our people practised the Zoroastrian faith more than 2500 years ago and we have been Muslim for only 1000 years".

The next port of call was Esfahan, a beautiful city on the tourist route that has twice been Iran's capital. The city is built on the banks of the Zayandeh River and feels like the Florence of the Middle East.

Its architecture is spectacular, with huge squares and promenades, where families picnic and take rides in horse-drawn carriages, and palaces and mosques brightly decorated with mosaics, tiles and mirrors.

The Khaju Bridge was built by Shah Abbas II but today you will find teahouses under it, serving fresh pistachio nougat and delicate honey cakes. You can also smoke an apple-flavoured tobacco in a hubble-bubble pipe if you have time.

Esfahan is proud of its intellectuals and artists. It is also proud of that fact that only 10 per cent of the population voted in the recent elections; all candidates are sanctioned by the mullahs, so there is no real opposition.

If you can afford it, stay a night at the Abassi Hotel. It was once a caravanserai, a resting place for travellers, but now it has rooms for US$141 ($210) a night, which is extremely expensive by Iranian standards. If you are a passing dignitary you can pay US$300 ($450) for a grand suite.

The gardens are like something out of Kubla Khan, with fountains, pools and manicured gardens. And the hotel's opulent dining rooms, with elaborately decorated gold columns and mirrored walls, serve good food.

This is also a city of carpet shops. In New Zealand they told me buying carpets in Iran was a fool's game - it was too easy to pay tourist prices and I should shop at home.

But in Iran they told me when you buy a carpet, you're not really buying a floor covering, you're buying a story, similar to a fisherman's tale of the one that got away.

So perhaps you would you like to hear the one about the donkey and the carpet dealer. Hamin, my Esfahan carpet dealer, made his annual pilgrimage to buy carpets from the nomads who set up summer camp in the cool mountains.

He parked his car in a small village at the foot of the mountains and then, equipped with a team of donkeys, food, blankets and a gun, headed off on his buying trip.

After a few days and with as many tribal rugs as the donkeys could carry, Hamin started the journey back to his car, but sadly one of the donkeys tripped and fell down a crevasse.

"Donkey finished, donkey gone," said Hamin with a concerned look.

"I already paid for those carpets and now I have to pay for dead donkey. But I give you a good deal, you can buy special nomadic rug from me!"

I left Esfahan with three carpets and a lot of stories. I was a happy shopper and I didn't care if I'd been conned.

Next stop on the tourist route is usually the Caspian, but I'd heard disappointing tales about it. The beaches are segregated, with women - wearing their chadors - on one beach and children and men in their bathing suits on another.

Instead, we headed east to Yadz, smack in the middle of Iran close to the Dasht e Kavir desert, and famous for its population of Zoroastrians.

The Zoroastrian faith is powerful, kindly and persuasive. It has three simple commands to follow: good deeds, good words and good thoughts.

Zoroastrians in the past took their dead to the Towers of Silence, leaving the bodies for the crows. Needless to say, the practice has been banned for hygiene reasons.

But Yadz is still the best place to see good working examples of Iran's ingenious wind towers. In the hot summers the towers suck air into an area below the roof where it is cooled by a pool of water. Around the pool is a lounge area where the family relax and entertain.

Sadly, Iranian homes no longer use the towers, which have been replaced with air conditioning units. Ironically, Western eco-architects marvel at the towers and make special trips to Yadz to how they work.

Visitors to Iran start or end their trips with a visit to Tehran, a modern city of 15 million people.

I was lucky enough to stay in the hills north of the city where the air is clean and cool. Travelling in any large city can be exhausting but it is made worse in Tehran by the locally manufactured Paykan cars, similar to a 1960s Hillman Hunter, which consume a lot of petrol and continue being used even when they are 30 or 40 years old.

Apparently, the Paykan production plants are equally as ancient and it is common for cars hot off the assembly line not to work, so the new owners have to take their pride and joy to a mechanic to get the engine running.

A nerve-racking taxi trip downtown to visit the shops, markets and museums took about an hour, with the driver navigating the three-lane highway with four and sometime five cars alongside.

The driver - who I thought didn't understand English - overheard my comments about the lack of fresh air and the absence of handles with which to open the windows and passed me a handle that was stashed in his glove box.

After winding down the window, I passed the handle back to the driver with a smile.

But I also wondered why I bothered - the air coming into the car was so polluted I contemplated reversing the process. I also wondered why this particular taxi didn't have window handles for back-seat passengers in the first place, but I left Iran without the mystery being solved.

The other mystery I was never able to unravel is why people living under such a repressive regime are so friendly.

As long as you respect the local customs and are prepared to accept differences you will be astounded at the warmth and kindliness you find in Iran.

After I had finished writing my story I emailed it to my Iranian friends to check. They replied that my information was already out of date.

There has been another crackdown on what's commonly called "social corruption". Only last month it was announced that hubble bubble pipes have been banned. Lizard, the popular film, has met the same fate.



Information: Iran is a safe place to visit. The crime rate is low, which is not surprising because punishments for wrongdoing are harsh.

It's advisable to use a guide when travelling away from the tourist routes, as most street signs are in the Iranian language, Farsi, and not many people speak English.

Accommodation: In smaller towns it is difficult to find a hotel up to western standards but in the tourist cities such as Shiraz (the stopping-off point for Persepolis) and Esfahan, hotels are plentiful. In Yadz there are caravanserai that have been converted into interesting hotels. Tehran is a little short on top hotels but that must be because not many tourists stay in the city for long.

How to get there: If you are planning an Iranian holiday, use a Teheran-based travel agent. Local agencies know local pitfalls so generally they can organise a better trip more cheaply. Two of the big agencies are:

Chaharbagh Tour and Travel Agency

Email: chaharbagh@yahoo.com

Darwan Tour and Travel

Email: info@darwantour.co

Tours Direct of Auckland is planning a tour of Iran for October 2005. You can book by phoning Richard Page at 0800 868 748.

All Iran Air flights are subsidised by the Government and the airline has an excellent website.

From New Zealand you can fly direct to Dubai on most of the major airlines except Air New Zealand.