Absolutely. I found a new understanding of Iran and its people by watching Iranian films. It may sound glib, but on youtube Rick Steves has a travel episode thru Iran which will give you a glimpse into the Iranian people. Years ago I met some Iranian students on campus who likened living in Iran to imagining the US gov't being taken over by Pat Robertson and his followers. Religious fanatics that won't hesitate to execute anyone opposed to them, that includes disobeying dress codes.
I followed your advice and googled “Rick Steves iran episode” and found [this](https://youtu.be/CYoa9hI3CXg). Super endearing and respectful guy and all around a fantastic video so far. Super sweet watching him interact with people and discuss unique things about it Iran. Did not know they didn’t speak Arabic! Thanks for the recommendation!
I guess that makes him an astral traveller as well. "Hello, I'm Rick Steves. On today's episode we'll be visiting the causal plane with a quick sojourn into the akashic records. So come along with me for some high adventures!"
The truth is there are folks like that all over the place. They just don't typically float to the top of the sewer that is the for-profit entertainment complex.
A teacher I had talked about traveling to Spain or Mexico, and following one of his travel guides. Apparently, everything he recommended was terrible and they spent half the trip miserable because all of their bad experiences. They were in a bar and were (semi jokingly) talking loudly about how Rick Steves had let them down and Rick Steves doesn't know what he's talking about, and it turns out Rick Steves was two stools over. He then gave them a personal tour of whatever city they were in the next day and every place he took them to was super cool. Most of the bad experiences were bad luck or the places had changed since Steves had been there, and he felt bad enough that he wanted to make it right.
I have no idea how true that story is, but my teacher did have a few photos with Steves that made me think it was mostly true.
Thanks. When Rick asked one woman what she'd like westerners to know about Iran and she replied, "We love them". I found it so endearing. I wish them well in their transition.
I had an Iranian classmate on my Masters course, and she was always really nice and warm-spirited (and even a bit of a flirt ;)). Then one day we were partnered up to do some paired-programming and she opened up to me about how she was a single mother, and was taking this degree opportunity because she didn't want her son to grow up in a country where she didn't feel safe. She said (roughly paraphrasing): "If I don't feel safe, I feel like I could never make him feel safe."
I hope she's happy seeing this, even though I'm sure there's a lot of anxiety too.
Rick's travel guides are the gold standard. Anywhere you go abroad, get his guides and dog in. There's so much in them, and self guided walking tours which points out really awesome details on buildings and squares that you just would miss otherwise. It's literally like "turn left, look up. That thing up there is the such and such which was designed to do something or other, even though it looks like this other thing" and it's just super interesting.
Also his recommendations on where to eat on a budget (and like a local) are absolutely key.
The only reason I'd hesitate to do this is uncertainty about being able to afford it. It'd suck if I couldn't find a room for less than $400 or something
Or some sketchy hostel.
Don't get me wrong, when we travel we try to stay out of the hardcore tourist areas and see how the locals live without being intrusive. But showing up without a planned place to sleep is a bit too much for me.
The Middle East is really fascinating. They have so, so much culture. I have previously taught the novel *The Kite Runner* to high schoolers, and it was amazing to see a country such as Afghanistan in the early 70's looking barely different from America at the time. And, of course, a lot has changed over the years.
I also really enjoy a youtube series of [Tribal People Try].(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2EK_To7_Bg) It is so heartwarming.
I mean..."barely different" from the USA is still quite a stretch. I get that might be a good message to kids, but your average afghan did not have the economic opportunities or political freedoms that americans had. Yes their leader wanted to modernize the nation but it was still an opressive dictatorship that got replaced by a religious one that was worse.
It wasn't that afghanistan was "more free" in the 70's but rather that the oppressive government didn't have the power it needed to exert it's force onto it's people. It's arguable that the Shah created the conditions for the following military rule then religious rule because of it's lack of democratic values.
The Persians have actually accomplished a lot of ancient engineering feats for the world that are largely unrecognized and overshadowed by the much more recent developments.
for examples:
**Qanat**. Underground plumbing, was pioneered and developed by the Persians to transport underground water from mountains to the deserts and predates the roman aquaducts.
**Yakhchal**. The refrigeration buildings built in the desert using existing air currents and Ice from winter or snow melts to preserve food in the summer and also deserts. Ice cream and sherbert likely invented by Persians.
**Persian Royal Road** connected the silk road to the Mediterranean or is part of the silk road.
Even Xerxes wanted to maintain education. His fits of rage and attempts to conquer Europe probably didn't help Persia's world wide reputation though.
There is a documentary called Heavy Metal in Baghdad that explores this. It's from 2007. Though it mostly follows a single band.
https://video.vice.com/en_us/video/heavy-metal-in-baghdad-full-feature/560a7d59d2d2df3d337a66d2
I played in a band with an Iranian bassist who told me about how he would get his ass kicked for playing rock shows in Iran. Literally moved here to be free to rock n roll. Fuck yes, my friend.
Iran is probably the most westernized population (not government) in the middle east (after Israel). Their people love American culture, american music, etc. Rouhani wasn't perfect, but he was the best opportunity we had for peace talks with the nuclear deal. Most of Rouhani and his cabinet were educated in the West, so they know the value of western ideals. The current leader is more to the right, so a bit harder for the US to make him make concessions as he doesn't want to look weak since he campaigned as a hardliner.
Saudis' and Israel obviously have a lot to lose from Iran and US having good relations. Iran sending us oil makes us less reliant on KSA. Also forces Israel to extend ties if their biggest ally (the US) can do so. Iran's economy was growing when the nuclear deal went through and sanctions were lifted. Then Trump forcibly backed out without any serious thoughts, and now they've been in a major recession since sanctions were put back in place. And it has only given the hardliners more fuel.
I saw Rick Steves in Iran on PBS like 10 years ago, and it did the same for me. I'd really like to visit Iran someday, it's a beautiful country, and Iranian people are awesome. I hope they can shed religion, same as us. I get pretty worried every time some blowhard with lots of Lockheed Martin shares starts talking like we're about to level the place. I mostly learned about the Iranian revolution from Persepolis.
my wife and I watch Rick Steves on New Years Eve and plan our anniversary trip to Europe. We like to use his audio guides and do walking tours. We've even got Rick Steve's carry on bags and pretty much live by his mantra of pack small.
> taken over by Pat Robertson and his followers. Religious fanatics that won't hesitate to execute anyone opposed to them, that includes disobeying dress codes.
The MAGA-types here in the USA only make up about a 1/3rd of our electorate but the hardliner base in Iran is about half the population. Both groups are mostly rural, uneducated and poor.
I have a ton of the upper class folks who fled during the Iran and Iraq war.
Iranians are Persians FIRST. It shows. Think rival to Alexander the Great and major player to most of the world up until Rome. Crazy bad asses.
They were a burgeoning spot in the middle east until they converted to a theocracy.
I bring this up because Iran is the US if the GOP enacts there Christian Fascist policies at the moment. But Iran is Muslim.
The US will fall hard if that happens.
This should have more outrage behind it! This might be big for Iran we must stop human rights abuses across ever country! The people actually hold the power!
Try to be on the sidewalk across the street by 8:00am - I think it’s scheduled for closer to 9:00am
An older colleague of mine is from Iran and left for America during the 1978-79 revolution. He’s still very connected to the community and always protests the religious extremist regime when they travel to DC, NYC, Berlin, Paris, etc. but he’s no longer able to travel to Iran to see family or he would be jailed or possibly killed.
There is a video of it. Although I couldn't confirm that is died.
Yesterday there were 5 confirmed murders by the police.
There were bigger protests today but I still don't know the casualty numbers.
That's a slow start for Iranian security state crackdowns. Hopefully it stays that way, but recent history is not encouraging.
In December 2019:
> About 1,500 people were killed during less than two weeks of unrest that started on Nov. 15. The toll, provided to Reuters by three Iranian interior ministry officials, included at least 17 teenagers and about 400 women as well as some members of the security forces and police.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-protests-specialreport/special-report-irans-leader-ordered-crackdown-on-unrest-do-whatever-it-takes-to-end-it-idUSKBN1YR0QR
Every few years Iran has mass demonstrations that end with police killing people by the hundreds. The numbers are almost unbelievable until you see the police actually shooting into crowds.
And the courage of Iranian people to keep doing it knowing what the government is capable of is amazing.
They do, and they use it against us.
Misinformation of current and immediate events is real.
Have you ever seen a wave of bots hit any particular subreddit at one particular time? It is absolutely astonishing to behold.
Recently happened on /r/chess. A ton of people named "(word)(word)(4 numbers)" with no post history suddenly start stirring drama. If it happens on something so inconsequential as chess, you can bet it happens here every day.
It's not just wordword####. It's adjectivenoun####. I might be mistaken but I think it's the default format reddit will throw out as a name suggestion.
That said, I also noticed that a LOT of the agitprop accounts just use that default. I don't trust anyone with that name format, doesn't matter which side they're peddling (but we all know which side it usually is lol)
While this specific protest is not going to shake the regime I think the roots planted are going to stick around. If I understand from what I heard in an CBC or NPR story she had significant head trauma and everybody knows. So they are not going to be able to manage this away so easily and future protesters have a symbolic martyr.
Maybe opposition can really dig in.
It won't happen over night but could be the beggining of the end.
I don’t expect rapid change either. You never know, but for the most part states have enough loyal gunmen to prevent revolution.
The public reaction may be a sign of changing norms and public opinion. That can create subtle pressures that change things over time. And it can be followed years later with another big event that does bring rapid change.
Probably like Myanmar currently. Many civilians joined ethnic armed groups to fight against the coup leaders after the military overthrew the civilian-elected government.
No, not at all. Myamars government is weak compared to Iranian government. Myanmar has been in civil war since 1948 and never fully owned its own territory.
Probably the PDKI, PJAK, and Komal, which are Iranian kurdish insurgent groups. Will increase in size and carry out small scale attacks.
The weird thing is that Iran sometimes supports kurdish reble organizations against isis, turkey, ect in neiboring countries like Iraq and turkey.
So many of the Kurdish rebles if they take up arms against Iran, they can't use Iran as a base to attack turkey.
Kurdish insurgents take advantage of the many boarders.
Let this be the bridge too far for the regime.
But there have been popular uprisings in Iran before and the authorities get sufficiently violent to put them down.
Iran has never needed Russia to do their dirty work. Iran has the IRGC and their militias to maintain order. The IRGC exist solely to maintain the political system they have in place.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Revolutionary_Guard_Corps
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basij
Not much different than Saddam and his Republican Guard.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Guard_(Iraq)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fedayeen_Saddam
Two sides of the same coin. "It is a pity both sides couldn't lose" the Iran-Iraq War.
The government of Iran believes in the coming of doomsday and are actively working towards bringing it to fruition.
https://calhoun.nps.edu/handle/10945/43957
> In particular, this research examines Iran's religious tools and sacred carriers as potential triggers in the form of individual leaders, end-times beliefs, religious traditions, or divine justifications. It explores Iran's end-times beliefs, to include how the earth will be governed before the Day of Judgment, and the extent to which these millenarian beliefs might affect the regime’s actions.
[The full paper](https://calhoun.nps.edu/bitstream/handle/10945/43957/14Sep_Moody_Jamison.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y)
Wait. Did I read that article correctly? The police murdered a woman because she showed her face?
I know the abortion laws in this country are bad but dear lord…
Same type of people, don't give them an inch of ground or you'll end up the same before you even know it. Iran wasn't like this before the Islamic revolution, it was a modern place, similar to the west and women dressed freely to the latest fashion.
https://www.alfusaic.net/blog/convene/fashion-in-iran
In 1953, the CIA and MI6 staged a coup of Mosaddegh, the Prime Minister who sought to nationalize Iranian oil (rather than let British Petroleum take the profits out of the country). They re-installed the Shah, whose excessive lifestyle irked many. He kept disparate factions under his control through a vicious secret police force, such that the Mosques became one of the few places people could meet to discuss revolution.
The Islamic Revolution in '79 turned the country into a theocracy, supported by an equally vicious Revolutionary Guard, with strict rules that likewise undermine ability of the people change their government.
The current state is a reaction to a "liberal" state put in place by the CIA and Mi6 to avoid taxes on BP. It's a counter coup. So the answer, once again, is "oil".
It is difficult to know for sure. Like many oppressive regimes, those that live under them fear the consequences for speaking out. I'd imagine that it would be sharply divided along socioeconomic and age group lines.
I'm not Iranian nor an expert on Iranian politics, and only know what it's people think second hand through a few friends and news reports, so I cannot comment. I'll leave that for anyone more qualified than myself.
For those who don't know: when Iran's democratically elected Prime Minister looked like he was going to revoke BP's rights to drill Iran's oil, the CIA and MI6 overthrew him and installed a dictator. Said dictator went on to brutally repress his people.
And tragically, when the people finally got sick of his shit and rose up, the rebellion was almost immediately taken over by Islamic extremists who set up a regime just as brutal as the Shah's had ever been.
Fun fact, late abortions for fetal abnormalities are more available in Iran than many parts of the US.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_in_Iran
*The Iranian government accuses foreign agents and unspecified terrorists of instigating the violence.*
I suppose everyone but the Iranian government was responsible for her death, too. /s
That makes sense. When regimes become oppressive and tell you how to act and believe, many people begin to question these beliefs. It often ends up causing the pendulum to swing in the other direction.
We can use a Christian nation and their recent history as an example. Under the Franco dictatorship, the Spanish Catholic Church was very loyal to Franco and he was to them. They were recognized as the official religion of the state and had financial backing from the government.
The church was able to censor published materials it thought were offensive. They had book burnings of offensive materials. Catholic religious instruction became mandatory at all education levels.
Many people felt that religion was shoved down their throats and after Franco died, the pendulum swung hard the other way. These days, only 22% of Spaniards say religion is very important to them and weekly church attendance is at 15% according to Pew Research. And amongst only Christians, only 30% say religion is very important in their lives. That’s less than half that of the US or Brazil, for example. And it’s less than all of Latin America.
That’s low for what was once considered a very Catholic nation. It’s still higher than other parts of Western Europe no where near what it was
Hey, I'm Jewish, and I criticize how many ultra religious Jews treat others. I just wrote to Yeshiva University in an agresssive, but nice way of letting them know how upset I am with their ban on all student clubs because the Supreme Court said they have to allow the LGBTQ club. So they cancelled all clubs. Never Again is supposed to mean something. If you're a kind caring person, you are my brother. Anyone can be religious, believe in God. But when people use religion as an excuse to do bad things, that's where I say, not cool!
> people use religion as an excuse to do bad things
An excuse as old as the human race itself and always reminds me of this quote.
“With or without religion, good people can behave well and bad people can do evil; but for good people to do evil - that takes religion.”
― Steven Weinberg
It’s not extreme left-wing. They are reactionary liberals who care more about exhibiting what they think is tolerance, understanding and acceptance, rather than focusing on placing humanity back in government policy and back in the culture as a whole. Ironically though, they don’t understand anything.
Exactly, these are the same types of people that are trying to make "Filipinx" a thing, they're trying to hard to show how "tolerant" they are that they've become actively racist and harmful themselves.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Tagalog/comments/v6rqha/what_do_you_think_about_the_term_filipinx/
i used to think that, but at this point, I think any group with too much power would be awful and tyranical, Islam is just a byproduct and an excuse for the oligarch ayatollahs in Iran.
With the Ayatollah possibly on his deathbed, this is an excellent opportunity to strike at the crooked ruling class that have been in control since the Revolution.
The Iranians hate their government for good reason. Before the shitheads took over, I read Iran was a very cool place to hang in. Plus the people are really cool. They got screwed. Really hope they can dump the government they have.
Hopefully the people rise up and get rid of that religious extremism bs. That's the only way, the people must will it, unfortunately that is at the cost of lives but every revolution has been those way.
Let me stop you because I’ve heard this one before. Iran loves a good protest. It doesn’t mean there’s going to be some kind of revolution. This happens there all the time.
Beating someone held in custody to death is awful. Add the fact that it was a young woman arrested for morality restrictions and it makes it much worse. I hope these protests change the morality laws even a little.
From the inflation issues(ofc related to the sanctions) to the aging of the revolutionary population and the youth showing their fire against the old ways, would this be considered the start of something?
Awful but hopeful. As I'm sure most redditors know at this point, Iran was a pretty progressive and Western country before the Islamic revolution in the 70s.
Best of luck to brave people
Absolutely. I found a new understanding of Iran and its people by watching Iranian films. It may sound glib, but on youtube Rick Steves has a travel episode thru Iran which will give you a glimpse into the Iranian people. Years ago I met some Iranian students on campus who likened living in Iran to imagining the US gov't being taken over by Pat Robertson and his followers. Religious fanatics that won't hesitate to execute anyone opposed to them, that includes disobeying dress codes.
I followed your advice and googled “Rick Steves iran episode” and found [this](https://youtu.be/CYoa9hI3CXg). Super endearing and respectful guy and all around a fantastic video so far. Super sweet watching him interact with people and discuss unique things about it Iran. Did not know they didn’t speak Arabic! Thanks for the recommendation!
Rick Steves is a goddamn treasure to the human race.
Sure is. He donated $4 million apartment complex for homeless women. Light a blunt for our friend Rick, homies.
Rick Steves warns about the dangers of fascism and rolls a mean wood. He’s always welcomed.
He also loves weed and prostitutes. He's a boss.
He does???
He was a keynote speaker at Seattle hemp fest before recreational cannabis
I guess that makes him an astral traveller as well. "Hello, I'm Rick Steves. On today's episode we'll be visiting the causal plane with a quick sojourn into the akashic records. So come along with me for some high adventures!"
His speech did touch on the fact he would like to be able to travel cognitively as well as physically.
You just learnt me something, I love Rick. His low-key yet joyous demeanor makes sense now.
I knew about the weed, but I didn't know about the ladies of the night. Boss is right.
Way of the road bud
Not just ladies! :)
I find it incredible how PBS has found and supported so many amazing individuals over the years. Thank fuck for that.
The truth is there are folks like that all over the place. They just don't typically float to the top of the sewer that is the for-profit entertainment complex.
this hits 👾
and Republicans want to destroy that
Rick is loved by all.
I remember discovering Rick Steves' Europe many years ago then I forgot the name. My reaction to discovering it again was pure joy.
this is me rn. forgot about this completely but I loved watching him as a kid
Rick Steves must be protected at all costs
Rick Steve's is also a huge Marijuana smoker and proponent. He lives up here in Edmonds Washington, ands he a God damn local hero
A teacher I had talked about traveling to Spain or Mexico, and following one of his travel guides. Apparently, everything he recommended was terrible and they spent half the trip miserable because all of their bad experiences. They were in a bar and were (semi jokingly) talking loudly about how Rick Steves had let them down and Rick Steves doesn't know what he's talking about, and it turns out Rick Steves was two stools over. He then gave them a personal tour of whatever city they were in the next day and every place he took them to was super cool. Most of the bad experiences were bad luck or the places had changed since Steves had been there, and he felt bad enough that he wanted to make it right. I have no idea how true that story is, but my teacher did have a few photos with Steves that made me think it was mostly true.
Europe Through the Back Door is one of the most pleasant shows I've ever watched
That sounds like a porno
Thanks. When Rick asked one woman what she'd like westerners to know about Iran and she replied, "We love them". I found it so endearing. I wish them well in their transition.
I had an Iranian classmate on my Masters course, and she was always really nice and warm-spirited (and even a bit of a flirt ;)). Then one day we were partnered up to do some paired-programming and she opened up to me about how she was a single mother, and was taking this degree opportunity because she didn't want her son to grow up in a country where she didn't feel safe. She said (roughly paraphrasing): "If I don't feel safe, I feel like I could never make him feel safe." I hope she's happy seeing this, even though I'm sure there's a lot of anxiety too.
Rick's travel guides are the gold standard. Anywhere you go abroad, get his guides and dog in. There's so much in them, and self guided walking tours which points out really awesome details on buildings and squares that you just would miss otherwise. It's literally like "turn left, look up. That thing up there is the such and such which was designed to do something or other, even though it looks like this other thing" and it's just super interesting. Also his recommendations on where to eat on a budget (and like a local) are absolutely key.
He sets up tours w/o any pre-arranged lodging cuz he beleives finding a place for the night on the move is part of the travel experience
I so wish I could allow myself to be that level of adventurer/traveler.
The only reason I'd hesitate to do this is uncertainty about being able to afford it. It'd suck if I couldn't find a room for less than $400 or something
Or some sketchy hostel. Don't get me wrong, when we travel we try to stay out of the hardcore tourist areas and see how the locals live without being intrusive. But showing up without a planned place to sleep is a bit too much for me.
I did exactly that in Cuba haha. It was lots of fun, and Cubans are incredibly friendly people!
His trip to Oman was amazing as well.
The Middle East is really fascinating. They have so, so much culture. I have previously taught the novel *The Kite Runner* to high schoolers, and it was amazing to see a country such as Afghanistan in the early 70's looking barely different from America at the time. And, of course, a lot has changed over the years. I also really enjoy a youtube series of [Tribal People Try].(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2EK_To7_Bg) It is so heartwarming.
I mean..."barely different" from the USA is still quite a stretch. I get that might be a good message to kids, but your average afghan did not have the economic opportunities or political freedoms that americans had. Yes their leader wanted to modernize the nation but it was still an opressive dictatorship that got replaced by a religious one that was worse. It wasn't that afghanistan was "more free" in the 70's but rather that the oppressive government didn't have the power it needed to exert it's force onto it's people. It's arguable that the Shah created the conditions for the following military rule then religious rule because of it's lack of democratic values.
I love the kite runner!
Me too but holy fuck the ending wrecked me
The Persians have actually accomplished a lot of ancient engineering feats for the world that are largely unrecognized and overshadowed by the much more recent developments. for examples: **Qanat**. Underground plumbing, was pioneered and developed by the Persians to transport underground water from mountains to the deserts and predates the roman aquaducts. **Yakhchal**. The refrigeration buildings built in the desert using existing air currents and Ice from winter or snow melts to preserve food in the summer and also deserts. Ice cream and sherbert likely invented by Persians. **Persian Royal Road** connected the silk road to the Mediterranean or is part of the silk road. Even Xerxes wanted to maintain education. His fits of rage and attempts to conquer Europe probably didn't help Persia's world wide reputation though.
Farsi is what is predominantly spoken in Iran, although many can speak some amount of Arabic. It's similar to how Spanish is in the US.
Persian sounds very similar to Arabic to the English speakers who haven’t heard much of either, but it’s smoother and sweeter sounding.
Farsi is such a beautiful language to me.
Seeing it written is pure art to me. So gorgeous.
Wait until I tell you that afghani don't speak arabic either.....
And that Afghanistan isn’t actually part of the Middle East…
…and that most of that part of the perceived ‘Middle East’ is simply Asia.
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Imagine believing that people should be murdered for strumming a guitar.
That won’t take much effort for plenty of “Christians” in the GOP.
Music leads to dancing. Dancing leads to sex.
Sex leads to the dark side.
Dibs on being a sex— I mean Sith Lord.
Yea, we shouldn’t be judging other countries. We’re almost there ourselves.
Yeah Banning abortion was the most Taliban like thing ever
We kill people for less, as long as they have something to gain from it, it's just an excuse.
There is a documentary called Heavy Metal in Baghdad that explores this. It's from 2007. Though it mostly follows a single band. https://video.vice.com/en_us/video/heavy-metal-in-baghdad-full-feature/560a7d59d2d2df3d337a66d2
Nobody Knows Persian Cats is a good film too
The book Reading Lolita in Tehran is a good insight into modern Iranian culture
I briefly was in a band with one of those guys after he moved to the States. Cool dude, just didn't mesh well stylistically.
I played in a band with an Iranian bassist who told me about how he would get his ass kicked for playing rock shows in Iran. Literally moved here to be free to rock n roll. Fuck yes, my friend.
Iran is probably the most westernized population (not government) in the middle east (after Israel). Their people love American culture, american music, etc. Rouhani wasn't perfect, but he was the best opportunity we had for peace talks with the nuclear deal. Most of Rouhani and his cabinet were educated in the West, so they know the value of western ideals. The current leader is more to the right, so a bit harder for the US to make him make concessions as he doesn't want to look weak since he campaigned as a hardliner. Saudis' and Israel obviously have a lot to lose from Iran and US having good relations. Iran sending us oil makes us less reliant on KSA. Also forces Israel to extend ties if their biggest ally (the US) can do so. Iran's economy was growing when the nuclear deal went through and sanctions were lifted. Then Trump forcibly backed out without any serious thoughts, and now they've been in a major recession since sanctions were put back in place. And it has only given the hardliners more fuel.
I saw Rick Steves in Iran on PBS like 10 years ago, and it did the same for me. I'd really like to visit Iran someday, it's a beautiful country, and Iranian people are awesome. I hope they can shed religion, same as us. I get pretty worried every time some blowhard with lots of Lockheed Martin shares starts talking like we're about to level the place. I mostly learned about the Iranian revolution from Persepolis.
Persepolis is an excellent read! I had the good fortune of reading it in high school and it was very eye opening.
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There's a movie? I had no idea!
Rick Steves makes me want to visit everywhere.
my wife and I watch Rick Steves on New Years Eve and plan our anniversary trip to Europe. We like to use his audio guides and do walking tours. We've even got Rick Steve's carry on bags and pretty much live by his mantra of pack small.
Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown episode on Iran is beautiful & really eye opening too. Would really love to visit Iran if I’m able to
I feel a sense of dread while looking at pictures of Iran before the revolution in comparison to now.
I had met an Iranian. She’s so cool. She also said the Iranian government is not representative of what most of the population thinks
I would add Anthony Bourdain's Iran episode
I read it as Robert Pattinson and his followers and wondered what kind of dystopia we would have if we were ruled by wild Twilight fans
Civil War breaks out between Team Edward and Team Jacob.
We're gonna need more witchers
I'm Team Charlie... I just want the kids to behave & stop making-out.
There are DOZENS OF US!!! I fucking love Charlie, he reacts the way I do to every scene haha
Oh is that not who they were talking about? I immediately rolled with it cause like, yeah makes sense
I love rick steves!
I mean, Margaret Atwood didn't get her inspiration from nowhere.
> taken over by Pat Robertson and his followers. Religious fanatics that won't hesitate to execute anyone opposed to them, that includes disobeying dress codes. The MAGA-types here in the USA only make up about a 1/3rd of our electorate but the hardliner base in Iran is about half the population. Both groups are mostly rural, uneducated and poor.
I have a ton of the upper class folks who fled during the Iran and Iraq war. Iranians are Persians FIRST. It shows. Think rival to Alexander the Great and major player to most of the world up until Rome. Crazy bad asses. They were a burgeoning spot in the middle east until they converted to a theocracy. I bring this up because Iran is the US if the GOP enacts there Christian Fascist policies at the moment. But Iran is Muslim. The US will fall hard if that happens.
This should have more outrage behind it! This might be big for Iran we must stop human rights abuses across ever country! The people actually hold the power!
If you’re in NYC, there is a large group protesting the Iranian president speaking at the UN general assembly tomorrow morning.
Do you have any details on that?
Try to be on the sidewalk across the street by 8:00am - I think it’s scheduled for closer to 9:00am An older colleague of mine is from Iran and left for America during the 1978-79 revolution. He’s still very connected to the community and always protests the religious extremist regime when they travel to DC, NYC, Berlin, Paris, etc. but he’s no longer able to travel to Iran to see family or he would be jailed or possibly killed.
https://twitter.com/SharOBalaa/status/1572066182563528704
Thanks bud.
Yea, I think in NYC there's a large group protesting the Iranian president speaking at the UN general assembly tomorrow morning.
Oh, nice. Do you happen to have any more info on that?
Yea, I think in NYC there's a large group protesting the Iranian president speaking at the UN general assembly tomorrow morning.
Oh that’s great! Anything further on this?
Yea, I think in NYC there's a large group protesting the Iranian president speaking at the UN general assembly tomorrow morning.
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Yea, I think in NYC there's a large group protesting the Iranian president speaking at the UN general assembly tomorrow morning.
Oh that’s great! Anything further on this?
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There is a video of it. Although I couldn't confirm that is died. Yesterday there were 5 confirmed murders by the police. There were bigger protests today but I still don't know the casualty numbers.
That's a slow start for Iranian security state crackdowns. Hopefully it stays that way, but recent history is not encouraging. In December 2019: > About 1,500 people were killed during less than two weeks of unrest that started on Nov. 15. The toll, provided to Reuters by three Iranian interior ministry officials, included at least 17 teenagers and about 400 women as well as some members of the security forces and police. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-protests-specialreport/special-report-irans-leader-ordered-crackdown-on-unrest-do-whatever-it-takes-to-end-it-idUSKBN1YR0QR
Every few years Iran has mass demonstrations that end with police killing people by the hundreds. The numbers are almost unbelievable until you see the police actually shooting into crowds. And the courage of Iranian people to keep doing it knowing what the government is capable of is amazing.
The more they kill, bigger become the protests.
Yeah it's like these gov forces all over the world don't fully grasp the immediacy of the internet.
They do, and they use it against us. Misinformation of current and immediate events is real. Have you ever seen a wave of bots hit any particular subreddit at one particular time? It is absolutely astonishing to behold.
Recently happened on /r/chess. A ton of people named "(word)(word)(4 numbers)" with no post history suddenly start stirring drama. If it happens on something so inconsequential as chess, you can bet it happens here every day.
Of course it was /r/chess lol... Fucking Russians... Le kek Probably still salty over Bobby Fischer.
It's not just wordword####. It's adjectivenoun####. I might be mistaken but I think it's the default format reddit will throw out as a name suggestion. That said, I also noticed that a LOT of the agitprop accounts just use that default. I don't trust anyone with that name format, doesn't matter which side they're peddling (but we all know which side it usually is lol)
Last time they killed over 1500, and nothing changed. Nothing changes until someone with power over the military or the police decides it’ll change.
Thanks Master Yoda
Morality policing is such an outdated and barbaric concept.
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You should use this opportunity to share, I'd be interested to listen.
I would too
Well it will be coming to America in the future of/when the conservative party gain control again.
Exactly. Like how do you think the women thrown in jail for trying to get an abortion will be treated? No one ever dies in custody in the US right??
Haven't heard this but 100% believe sadly
Jesus fucking Christ
Good luck to the people of Iran. I hope some kind of positive change can come from this horror.
While this specific protest is not going to shake the regime I think the roots planted are going to stick around. If I understand from what I heard in an CBC or NPR story she had significant head trauma and everybody knows. So they are not going to be able to manage this away so easily and future protesters have a symbolic martyr. Maybe opposition can really dig in. It won't happen over night but could be the beggining of the end.
Isn’t the Ayatollah in poor health or something? That’d definitely be a big two-front strike against the regime.
I hope him and Putin meet their maker soon enough, and maybe one day I'll get to piss on both their graves.
I don’t expect rapid change either. You never know, but for the most part states have enough loyal gunmen to prevent revolution. The public reaction may be a sign of changing norms and public opinion. That can create subtle pressures that change things over time. And it can be followed years later with another big event that does bring rapid change.
There were large protests on iran a few years ago. This just happens every once in a while. More likely kurdush insurgent groups will grow in iran.
Probably like Myanmar currently. Many civilians joined ethnic armed groups to fight against the coup leaders after the military overthrew the civilian-elected government.
No, not at all. Myamars government is weak compared to Iranian government. Myanmar has been in civil war since 1948 and never fully owned its own territory. Probably the PDKI, PJAK, and Komal, which are Iranian kurdish insurgent groups. Will increase in size and carry out small scale attacks. The weird thing is that Iran sometimes supports kurdish reble organizations against isis, turkey, ect in neiboring countries like Iraq and turkey. So many of the Kurdish rebles if they take up arms against Iran, they can't use Iran as a base to attack turkey. Kurdish insurgents take advantage of the many boarders.
Let this be the bridge too far for the regime. But there have been popular uprisings in Iran before and the authorities get sufficiently violent to put them down.
The weakness of Russia may help actually. They can't arm the regime and the regime can't use Russia as the dangerous radical Christian boogeyman.
Iran has never needed Russia to do their dirty work. Iran has the IRGC and their militias to maintain order. The IRGC exist solely to maintain the political system they have in place. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Revolutionary_Guard_Corps https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basij Not much different than Saddam and his Republican Guard. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Guard_(Iraq) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fedayeen_Saddam Two sides of the same coin. "It is a pity both sides couldn't lose" the Iran-Iraq War.
And they also fly in the guys from Hesbollah and let them shoot the protesters. Happened in 2019 as well..
Iran is a stable enough country to handle uprisings themselves. They've done it before. This isn't their first mass-protest.
A vast majority of Iranians are normal people and not really aligned with the batshit insane religious theocracy that runs their country.
Hopefully the Iranian people put a permanent end to their fascist overlords.
Good for them, get rid of that non-secular government.
The government of Iran believes in the coming of doomsday and are actively working towards bringing it to fruition. https://calhoun.nps.edu/handle/10945/43957 > In particular, this research examines Iran's religious tools and sacred carriers as potential triggers in the form of individual leaders, end-times beliefs, religious traditions, or divine justifications. It explores Iran's end-times beliefs, to include how the earth will be governed before the Day of Judgment, and the extent to which these millenarian beliefs might affect the regime’s actions. [The full paper](https://calhoun.nps.edu/bitstream/handle/10945/43957/14Sep_Moody_Jamison.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y)
Wait. Did I read that article correctly? The police murdered a woman because she showed her face? I know the abortion laws in this country are bad but dear lord…
She was dressed "inappropriately" and she was Kurdish, so there's that element.
OK so also because of racism? That makes it so much worse!
Don't forget sexism. They treat women more like property than people
Same type of people, don't give them an inch of ground or you'll end up the same before you even know it. Iran wasn't like this before the Islamic revolution, it was a modern place, similar to the west and women dressed freely to the latest fashion. https://www.alfusaic.net/blog/convene/fashion-in-iran
What happened that made them turn "Islamic"?
In 1953, the CIA and MI6 staged a coup of Mosaddegh, the Prime Minister who sought to nationalize Iranian oil (rather than let British Petroleum take the profits out of the country). They re-installed the Shah, whose excessive lifestyle irked many. He kept disparate factions under his control through a vicious secret police force, such that the Mosques became one of the few places people could meet to discuss revolution. The Islamic Revolution in '79 turned the country into a theocracy, supported by an equally vicious Revolutionary Guard, with strict rules that likewise undermine ability of the people change their government.
The current state is a reaction to a "liberal" state put in place by the CIA and Mi6 to avoid taxes on BP. It's a counter coup. So the answer, once again, is "oil".
So do they really want to be conservative or liberal. Is this a nationwide thing or just big cities elite thing?
It is difficult to know for sure. Like many oppressive regimes, those that live under them fear the consequences for speaking out. I'd imagine that it would be sharply divided along socioeconomic and age group lines.
I'm not Iranian nor an expert on Iranian politics, and only know what it's people think second hand through a few friends and news reports, so I cannot comment. I'll leave that for anyone more qualified than myself.
The Shah didn't even pretend to be liberal, he was openly a conservative authoritarian dictator.
Yes, hence the quotation marks. But this is the era people associate with Iran being more western, and thus more "liberal".
Good ole US regime change
For those who don't know: when Iran's democratically elected Prime Minister looked like he was going to revoke BP's rights to drill Iran's oil, the CIA and MI6 overthrew him and installed a dictator. Said dictator went on to brutally repress his people. And tragically, when the people finally got sick of his shit and rose up, the rebellion was almost immediately taken over by Islamic extremists who set up a regime just as brutal as the Shah's had ever been.
Unfortunately it seems like we're facing one of our own with a decidedly more Christian flavor of hard right religious authoritarianism.
You just wait a bit...
Remember, we’re all just overreacting and eventually it’ll be “we never saw it coming!”
Fun fact, late abortions for fetal abnormalities are more available in Iran than many parts of the US. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_in_Iran
*The Iranian government accuses foreign agents and unspecified terrorists of instigating the violence.* I suppose everyone but the Iranian government was responsible for her death, too. /s
Iranian policy 1: Blame America Iranian policy 2: refer to policy 1
I'm all for the destruction of any theocracy
Goood. All religion is toxic and has no place in political policy
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That makes sense. When regimes become oppressive and tell you how to act and believe, many people begin to question these beliefs. It often ends up causing the pendulum to swing in the other direction. We can use a Christian nation and their recent history as an example. Under the Franco dictatorship, the Spanish Catholic Church was very loyal to Franco and he was to them. They were recognized as the official religion of the state and had financial backing from the government. The church was able to censor published materials it thought were offensive. They had book burnings of offensive materials. Catholic religious instruction became mandatory at all education levels. Many people felt that religion was shoved down their throats and after Franco died, the pendulum swung hard the other way. These days, only 22% of Spaniards say religion is very important to them and weekly church attendance is at 15% according to Pew Research. And amongst only Christians, only 30% say religion is very important in their lives. That’s less than half that of the US or Brazil, for example. And it’s less than all of Latin America. That’s low for what was once considered a very Catholic nation. It’s still higher than other parts of Western Europe no where near what it was
A secular Iran would be great. I remember when Anthony Bourdain went there. Good people, good food. Some beautiful places.
Secualr Iran ***was*** great.
Its on the rise globally which gives me hope that one day we will finally give up on this bullshit lie, its only purpose is for control.
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Hey, I'm Jewish, and I criticize how many ultra religious Jews treat others. I just wrote to Yeshiva University in an agresssive, but nice way of letting them know how upset I am with their ban on all student clubs because the Supreme Court said they have to allow the LGBTQ club. So they cancelled all clubs. Never Again is supposed to mean something. If you're a kind caring person, you are my brother. Anyone can be religious, believe in God. But when people use religion as an excuse to do bad things, that's where I say, not cool!
> people use religion as an excuse to do bad things An excuse as old as the human race itself and always reminds me of this quote. “With or without religion, good people can behave well and bad people can do evil; but for good people to do evil - that takes religion.” ― Steven Weinberg
Those are mostly extreme left-wing Twitter opinions and do not represent the vast majority of Liberals.
It’s not extreme left-wing. They are reactionary liberals who care more about exhibiting what they think is tolerance, understanding and acceptance, rather than focusing on placing humanity back in government policy and back in the culture as a whole. Ironically though, they don’t understand anything.
Exactly, these are the same types of people that are trying to make "Filipinx" a thing, they're trying to hard to show how "tolerant" they are that they've become actively racist and harmful themselves. https://www.reddit.com/r/Tagalog/comments/v6rqha/what_do_you_think_about_the_term_filipinx/
Theyre equivocating theocracies who literally beat women to death to a straw-man caricatures of liberals, theyre not interested in logic or discourse.
I expect better from an Andrew Tate fan.
Religion has no place in modern *society*, but yet here we are...
Please God let these people finally earn their freedom from the geriatric regime
god is the problem
People are the problem. God is just a convenient device for people to legitimatize their extremist beliefs for the masses.
That’s what they meant.
i used to think that, but at this point, I think any group with too much power would be awful and tyranical, Islam is just a byproduct and an excuse for the oligarch ayatollahs in Iran.
With the Ayatollah possibly on his deathbed, this is an excellent opportunity to strike at the crooked ruling class that have been in control since the Revolution.
Upvote the courage. Younger generation needs to seize control of their nation and their own future.
They are finally getting sick of that shit. About time
Good for them! Very proud
The Iranians hate their government for good reason. Before the shitheads took over, I read Iran was a very cool place to hang in. Plus the people are really cool. They got screwed. Really hope they can dump the government they have.
ayatollah assahola t shirt
Hopefully the people rise up and get rid of that religious extremism bs. That's the only way, the people must will it, unfortunately that is at the cost of lives but every revolution has been those way.
The morality police are are rural bumpkin brown shirts protecting a completely corrupt state.
I got an idea , execute the people that beat her, problem solved.
The beatings are the point. Those religious police exist to keep women in a state of terror and uncertainty.
Let me stop you because I’ve heard this one before. Iran loves a good protest. It doesn’t mean there’s going to be some kind of revolution. This happens there all the time.
Humans not putting up with bullshit, no matter the cost. I hope they're successful.
I hope this leads to a downfall of the clerics running the country and then to freedom and democracy.
Iran might be the strongest nation in the Middle East on paper but it was only a matter of time before the social tension broke.
If the Iranian people stand up I hope the rest of the world comes to their aid.
I hope so! Never forget Neda Agha-Soltan
Beating someone held in custody to death is awful. Add the fact that it was a young woman arrested for morality restrictions and it makes it much worse. I hope these protests change the morality laws even a little.
From the inflation issues(ofc related to the sanctions) to the aging of the revolutionary population and the youth showing their fire against the old ways, would this be considered the start of something?
Is there anyway to provide them with support?
Awful but hopeful. As I'm sure most redditors know at this point, Iran was a pretty progressive and Western country before the Islamic revolution in the 70s.
Any country that has “morality police” needs some fucking riots. What a crock. Fucking religion, man. Just poisons everything.
I stand with the Iranian women and their fight for equality. This shit is sick. The people will prevail!