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Trapped in Iran: My Summer as a Guest of the Revolutionary Guards

1843magazine.com

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Re: Trapped in Iran: My Summer as a Guest of the Revolutionary Guards

#31

Post by Centigonal »

maverick2007 wrote: post #9

All these politics and political games are such a shame. The Tehran that the author describes seems like a really vibrant city that I'd really like to visit and experience. But I never will for fear or something like this happening, becoming some tiny pawn in a much bigger game. And I wish that Iranians could come to the US and visit NYC or SF and see our culture. Then we might realize that the other side is somethin…

Tehran is a beautiful city with a wide range of smart, compassionate, cool people.

My cousin in Tehran introduced me to games like Counterstrike, Grim Fandango, and Battlefield, which got me into PC gaming, which got me into open source game scripting. We spent a few summers in Tehran, and there was this electronics bazaar called Paytakht[1] that I'd always beg my mom to take me to. They had everything from motherboards and CPUs to cracked versions of Photoshop to iPhone screen repairs.

Cosmopolitan Iranians are stuck in a strange situation: a majority resent the current regime for a litany of reasons (repressing religious minorities in Iran, regressive attitudes toward women, corruption, economic stagnation and inflation, the list goes on) - but they also resent the US and UK governments for denying them a chance at being a secular democracy[2]. They don't want to be the next Iraq, or the next Libya, or the next Afghanistan, either.

OTOH, because of this conflict between the people and their government, many Iranians see a country's actions as not representative of the sentiments of its people. This (plus Iran's hospitality culture) is why, despite the political tensions, Americans generally get treated very well in Iran. It's also likely why most people the author of this article interacted with treat him with an air of "I'm sorry, it's not personal." When it comes to Islamic fundamentalism in Tehran, only a vocal minority's hearts are really in it.

[1] Still exists! https://fastly.4sqi.net/img/general/width960/38765094_bQrfJd...

[2] If you want to understand US/Iran relations at all, you need to know about the 1953 coup and its after-effects: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Iranian_coup_d%27%C3%A9ta...

Re: Trapped in Iran: My Summer as a Guest of the Revolutionary Guards

#32

Post by mrtksn »

yodsanklai wrote: post #23
grecy wrote: post #19

I've driven from Alaska to Argentina[0] and right around Africa[1], and I've met a bunch of people that have explored a lot more of the planet than I have. Without fail, every single person that has been to Iran rates it their number one country, and the one they most want to go back to. The people are so friendly, the culture so rich, the landscape and architecture so stunning. I absolutely can not wait to go. [0] t…

> I absolutely can not wait to go. I would like to go too. Unfortunately, I also travel frequently to the US and visiting Iran would make further trip to the US potentially problematic.

Just get a fresh passport after the trip, with no Iranian stamps. You should be fine unless you are person of interest to intelligence agencies.

Re: Trapped in Iran: My Summer as a Guest of the Revolutionary Guards

#34

Post by derp_dee_derp »

knodi123 wrote: post #24
derp_dee_derp wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

very clever propaganda indeed. our politicians do the same thing. Madam Secretary [0] was propaganda for Hillary Clinton Diary of a Future President [1] is propaganda for Michelle Obama [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madam_Secretary_(TV_series) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diary_of_a_Future_President

Wow. Without some additional arguments backing that up, this looks really disgusting and misogynistic. I look forward to seeing some evidence that Diary of a Future President is a cynical piece of propaganda designed to aid the fortunes of Michelle Obama, in order to restore a bit of my faith in humanity.

funny how you didn't call out the OP and ask them for "some additional arguments backing" up their claim that the Iranian TV show was propaganda, but here you do when its American politicians.

Isn't that a bit hypocritical?

as for context, a good book on the subject is "manufacturing consent" by Noam Chomsky. In it he details how american media of all forms is used as a propaganda vehicle in order to shape and create the american public's politics.

The TV shows linked are just applications of that strategy.

Re: Trapped in Iran: My Summer as a Guest of the Revolutionary Guards

#35

Post by grecy »

yodsanklai wrote: post #23
grecy wrote: post #19

I've driven from Alaska to Argentina[0] and right around Africa[1], and I've met a bunch of people that have explored a lot more of the planet than I have. Without fail, every single person that has been to Iran rates it their number one country, and the one they most want to go back to. The people are so friendly, the culture so rich, the landscape and architecture so stunning. I absolutely can not wait to go. [0] t…

> I absolutely can not wait to go. I would like to go too. Unfortunately, I also travel frequently to the US and visiting Iran would make further trip to the US potentially problematic.

I have a full page visa and entrance stamps from Sudan in my passport, and I've crossed into the US three times now with that in my passport and they've never said a word.

Re: Trapped in Iran: My Summer as a Guest of the Revolutionary Guards

#36

Post by arethuza »

yodsanklai wrote: post #23
grecy wrote: post #19

I've driven from Alaska to Argentina[0] and right around Africa[1], and I've met a bunch of people that have explored a lot more of the planet than I have. Without fail, every single person that has been to Iran rates it their number one country, and the one they most want to go back to. The people are so friendly, the culture so rich, the landscape and architecture so stunning. I absolutely can not wait to go. [0] t…

> I absolutely can not wait to go. I would like to go too. Unfortunately, I also travel frequently to the US and visiting Iran would make further trip to the US potentially problematic.

I sometimes used to get an alarming amount of grief entering the US because I had quite a few Turkish stamps in my passport as we used to go there a lot on holiday. I hate to think what would happen with an Iranian stamp!

Re: Trapped in Iran: My Summer as a Guest of the Revolutionary Guards

#37

Post by thorin »

grecy wrote: post #19

I've driven from Alaska to Argentina[0] and right around Africa[1], and I've met a bunch of people that have explored a lot more of the planet than I have. Without fail, every single person that has been to Iran rates it their number one country, and the one they most want to go back to. The people are so friendly, the culture so rich, the landscape and architecture so stunning. I absolutely can not wait to go. [0] t…

I have heard very good things about Iran and had a friend who was a software developer from Iran. He hated the government/establishment though and had left for good in the 80s.

Friends that have been on expeditions there kayaking and trekking have been shot at and robbed, but but the pictures do look pretty. I did a self supported kayaking trip to the far east of turkey near Erzurum which is pretty near the border and I assume it would be pretty similar. Very friendly people, great food and scenery.

Re: Trapped in Iran: My Summer as a Guest of the Revolutionary Guards

#39

Post by blululu »

adrianN wrote: post #25
wnscooke wrote: post #21

Serious question: is it only the political or military leaders who wish to see Israel wiped off the face of the earth?

Given that even in "civilized" western countries there are a few percent of the population who really don't like Jews, I doubt that only Iran's leaders want to get rid of Israel. The data also seems to suggest that antisemitism is more prevalent in Iran than in a lot of other countries: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/90093/1/MPRA_paper_90093.pdf A final analysis then shows the extent of Antisemitism in different cou…

Thank you for providing a solid citation on public opinion. As someone who grew up in a heavily Persian neighborhood (mostly Jewish and Baha’i) I was rather surprised to see the number of Iranians who would not want a Jewish neighbor (guess that’s why my neighbors lived in America instead). One thing to note is that the official policy of Iran is anti-Zionism - not anti-semetism. Jews have a long history in Iran and are afforded special minority rights. (The Baha’i not so much)

Re: Trapped in Iran: My Summer as a Guest of the Revolutionary Guards

#40

Post by dmurray »

adrianN wrote: post #25
wnscooke wrote: post #21

Serious question: is it only the political or military leaders who wish to see Israel wiped off the face of the earth?

Given that even in "civilized" western countries there are a few percent of the population who really don't like Jews, I doubt that only Iran's leaders want to get rid of Israel. The data also seems to suggest that antisemitism is more prevalent in Iran than in a lot of other countries: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/90093/1/MPRA_paper_90093.pdf A final analysis then shows the extent of Antisemitism in different cou…

I downvoted for equating anti-Israel sentiment with anti-semitism. There are lots of other reasons to dislike Israel.
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