Fear and Clothing in the Islamic Republic

As I was preparing for my trip to Iran, numerous people asked me if I was worried about my safety. It was difficult for them to say what they thought might put me in danger while I was away, but there was definitely a sense of fear when I mentioned my trip. Now that I am home all safe and sound, I want to respond to some of these questions about fear.

There were exactly two situations that scared me when I was in Iran. The first was crossing the heavily trafficked city streets. I'm not sure what the traffic laws are in Iran but, let me tell you, it doesn't seem like many are followed! There were many occasions when we were trying to cross at least five lanes of traffic, with no stop light or crosswalk. It wasn't that we were choosing to jay-walk, it was that at many intersections lights and crosswalks simply do not exist. What is amazing though (even for someone used to crossing busy streets) is that just when I thought that I was done for, the cars stopped. They would come speeding up and then, at the last split-second, hit the brakes. It took some getting used to but, by the end of the trip, I had become a pro at putting my hand out (I had observed someone do this and since they got a good response I thought I'd try it) and just going. It was absolutely terrifying, but I made it through unscathed! Another interesting thing about the traffic, is that there is virtually no road rage. Drivers don't get flustered when a motorbike cuts them off, or get angry when the front bumper of another car is mere inches away from the driver's side door. The lack of road rage allows the traffic to work the way it does, and although to an outsider it seems insane, somehow it all works.

The other terrifying situation was when we were at a small amusement area with carnival rides in one of the beautiful city parks in Tehran. (Side note: the Tehran metro area has over 800 parks and gardens - the few I was lucky to visit were all absolutely gorgeous and very well maintained. It is no surprise that the word paradise entered the English language via an old Persian word, pardis, meaning a beautiful garden enclosed by walls, specifically royal parks and menageries. Even now, many of Tehran's public parks have small zoos in them.)

Anyway, back to the carnival rides. Some of the people we were with (cousins, of course) convinced me and Nima to go on what I call "the pirate ship ride." It was one of those rides that is the shape of a ship that swings back and forth so that the riders sit facing one another and swing back and forth until they are somewhat horizontal, facing down when their side of the ship reaches the apex of the swing. This one wasn't actually in the shape of a pirate ship; it was a two-headed dragon. The reason that I call it the pirate ship ride is because, when I was a kid, I went on a pirate ship version. Once the ride began, I was screaming at the top of my lungs within seconds. As the ride picked up speed, I became so hysterical that my mother had to make the ride operator stop the ride and let me off. I swore I'd never go on such a ride again. However, when confronted with peer-pressuring Iranian cousins, I caved.

It was an absolute nightmare. I am proud to say that, this time, I didn't scream and beg to be let off, but I swear it was the longest ride I've ever been on and I spent most of it with my head buried in Nima's shoulder, grabbing his arm while he repeated, "Isn't this over yet?" It was unnecessarily long, but as with the traffic, I made it through unharmed and am all the braver for it.

Other than the situations mentioned above, I felt safer during my eighteen days in Iran than I sometimes do here in New York City. There does not seem to be the same fear of potential violence there that there is here. When walking around the cities we visited we saw some cops and some military personnel, but the only firearms I saw were on three security officers, each of whom was on guard duty outside police precincts. Service in the armed forces is required for all young men in Iran, but they were so unassuming and their lack of weapons made them totally nonthreatening especially when you compare them to the menacing soldiers carrying semi-automatic weapons in Manhattan's Grand Central Terminal or in all US airports. In fact, few of the military personnel we saw actually seemed to be on duty - they just happened to be stationed nearby. Even though Iran does have a large military, every single member is based within the borders of Iran, as Iran isn't currently occupying foreign countries and doesn't have any foreign military bases. In contrast, the US is currently occupying the two countries on either side of Iran, has over 700 military bases in more than 60 countries around the world, and its military budget is over 70 times larger than Iran's.

Incidentally, whereas I didn't notice any armed guards in Khomeini International Airport in Tehran, we saw plenty of guns in Heathrow in London, and all of our carry-on luggage was emptied and searched (they did this to everyone and it had nothing to do with where we happened to be coming from).

It seemed to me that the Iranian government, though perhaps wary (rightly so, given both the historical record and current events) about US and UK government meddling in internal Iranian affairs, doesn't constantly employ scare tactics to frighten its citizens and marginalize certain minority groups and foreign visitors. For instance, officials in the Iranian government often speak confidently about defending the country and its citizens against foreign attacks and its ability to fight back against any military invasion, while insisting it will never preemptively strike another country. This rhetoric may seem overconfident and unrealistic to some who worry about the potential military aggression and capability of certain Western states, but promotes self-defense over fear-mongering. As a result, Iranians appeared to be far less paranoid about domestic security issues than people in Europe and the United States, even though Iran is literally surrounded on all sides by US troops, nuclear weapons states, and has suffered many more successful terrorist attacks carried out by violent dissident groups (funded by the US government) in recent years than have Western countries, including the US.

This seems to me to be the exact opposite of what our government and media says and does. We're constantly warned that we might be attacked anywhere at any time and so Americans wind up being more paranoid and feeling threatened by things that don't actually exist.

Tehran is truly the city that never sleeps. There are always many people out and about, no matter what time of day or night. As we explored the city, we learned from people we spoke with (and also observed ourselves) that it is safe for women in Tehran to walk down the street, alone, at any hour, without being in danger. I wonder if this sense of security comes from Iran being an Islamic country. A man attacking a woman would be such a breach of the values upon which the country is based (not to say it never happens, of course.) But it goes beyond the criminal act of violating or hurting another person. It violates a set of deeply-held religious beliefs that truly seem to guide the actions of many of Iran's people.

I've mentioned this in an earlier post, but I feel it is worth revisiting. Many women in Iran don't seem to fear pushing the envelope when it comes to the hijab laws. Young women walk by police officers and soldiers with their scarves barely covering their hair and skintight jackets and no one bats an eyelash.

On a similar note, we've heard here in the US that couples who are not married get in serious trouble if they are seen touching each other or being affectionate in public. We saw many young couples walking down the street hand-in-hand, leaning on each other on the Metro, and even kissing on park benches. Granted, some of them may have been married, but I think it is safe to say that not all were, and they did not seem particularly worried about being noticed.

Another question I've received regarding fear, is whether or not Iranians were afraid to speak their minds, especially if their personal, religious, or political beliefs were drastically different than those of the current administration - or opposed to the entire system of government as a whole. Of all the people we spoke with, from close family members to urban college students to taxi drivers to bazaar merchants to complete strangers on the street, never once did I feel a sense of fear or censorship from anyone. As here in America, people have all sorts of political ideas. I met people who were frustrated by the government and many who were very pleased. What amazed me was that everyone who had a political opinion (which was literally everyone) had clear reasons why they felt a certain way and could apply their own feelings, frustrations, and preferences to their own lives with well thought-out rationale and real life examples. Very few people seemed swayed by talking points or propaganda and everyone seemed fairly well-versed on international law, world history (and especially Iranian history), and current events - both domestic and foreign. Throughout these conversations, we heard criticisms of elected officials, religious leaders, government policies and laws, as well as ringing endorsements of all of the above, and no one was shy about sharing them with us - even if they had just met us thirty seconds earlier.

One person we spoke with mentioned that he felt that if defeated presidential candidate and arguable leader of the reformist Green Movement, Mir-Hossein Mousavi, had been elected, he would have dismantled many of the religious laws such as hijab but couldn't say what he really believed during the campaign out of fear of what the Islamic government would do to him if he did speak out. However, we didn't hear that viewpoint from anyone else, including other people who said they voted for Mousavi last year.

Similarly, we heard a suggestion from someone who currently works with the Tehran-based English-language news outlet PressTV, that some of President Ahmadinejad's top advisors (and perhaps even Ahmadinejad himself) are opponents of certain strict Islamic laws, but have no power to address them since that authority unfortunately lies in the hands of the religious leadership, not the executive, legislative, or judicial. For instance, back in 2006, shortly after he was first elected, Ahmadinejad tried to lift the ban on women entering stadiums to watch football matches but was met with sharp opposition from the clerical leadership.

To us, people seemed anything but scared to tell us what they thought of their government, regardless of whether it was positive or negative. Everyone we met was not only well-informed, but eager to share their thoughts on the state of Iran and last year's election (only one person out of dozens that we spoke with believed the vote was fixed). Most people who were living in Iran during the time of the Shah's US-backed dictatorship said that people now are more free and less afraid to criticize the government than they ever were then.

As you can see, I didn't come across much fear, mine or other people's, while I was in Iran.