Surenas
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TEHRAN, Iran-- From the hotel room overlooking the Daneshjoo Park in Irans capital city, Tehran, one could see the beautiful park and the people spending their time there, and of course, also the rendezvous between young Iranian men and women.
But, there is also the repulsive scene of the moral police patrols in the area waiting to detain anyone who might veer off the path of morality. That, among other things, includes women who might have not fully covered their hair or are meeting with men who are not their immediate family members.
One can spot young men or women exchanging letters as they quickly pass by each other. They take the risk knowing full well that the moral police or plain-clothes might be watching them. But people seem intent not to give up on life.
If people turn their back on this little window of life, they will not be able to live, said Mohammed, a 24 year-old man in the park.
People who sit on the benches in the park seem to be there for different reasons. Some solve newspaper crossword puzzles; others just stare at things around them.
Its a recurring scene to see young men and women to open their fists carefully to hand over or receive a written message from a member of the opposite sex.
Yards away, there is a police vehicle with tinted windows waiting to detain those they find guilty. The sense of security that the police hope to achieve in Tehran seems to be defined by how well covered their women are.
In Tehran, the streets look nice and green but it does not take long to discover life is not normal here. The strict laws and rules imposed by the state leave little space for people to breathe.
The sight of a young man and woman caught by a policeman reminded one of a cartoon where a prince and princes are caught by a monster.
I had a chance to meet Nasim who had been detained by the moral police a few days earlier. Her family and her boyfriends parents had been informed by the police about their relationship.
Our family and relatives are all used to such things, she sneered. Nobody follows the line of the Mullahs here.
She has been detained by the police several times for hanging out with men but released when her parents have visited the police station.
The police regularly stop young men and women and ask them if they are married, family members or they are having an extramarital relationship. The latter could land them in trouble.
Those detained for the first time are released after a notice to their parents. If caught for the second time, the person might be detained for several days.
Some lovers, whose families object to their marriage, turn in to the police to let their parents know about their relationship and make them face a fait accompli, which they hope would lead to marriage.
Nearly 350 kilometers away in Isfahan, one of the cultural and historical centers of Iran, a young man and a young girl are sitting under the famous Siyo Sepol Bridge. They cant sit together for fear of the moral police. They use their cell-phones to communicate despite being less than a stones throw from each other. In the end, the man moves to where the woman is sitting and the lovers get to spend some time together.
Yards away, there are coffee shops where they serve non-alcoholic Islamic beers. The beer does not make the lovers drunk, but they appear to be drunk on the good time they have together.
It is a common scene in Iran to see people complain about the countrys conditions.
One taxi driver in Tehran who struggles to make ends meet could not help but compare the conditions in todays Iran to the pre-revolution era when the Shah was in power.
He says despite the rampant corruption at the time of the dethroned monarch, some of the wealth was trickling down to the people. But that is not the case under the Mullahs rule, he says.
What good is an atomic bomb if we are hungry and live in misery, he asks rhetorically.
Rudaw in English....The Happening: Latest News and Multimedia about Kurdistan, Iraq and the World - Iran Under the Veil
But, there is also the repulsive scene of the moral police patrols in the area waiting to detain anyone who might veer off the path of morality. That, among other things, includes women who might have not fully covered their hair or are meeting with men who are not their immediate family members.
One can spot young men or women exchanging letters as they quickly pass by each other. They take the risk knowing full well that the moral police or plain-clothes might be watching them. But people seem intent not to give up on life.
If people turn their back on this little window of life, they will not be able to live, said Mohammed, a 24 year-old man in the park.
People who sit on the benches in the park seem to be there for different reasons. Some solve newspaper crossword puzzles; others just stare at things around them.
Its a recurring scene to see young men and women to open their fists carefully to hand over or receive a written message from a member of the opposite sex.
Yards away, there is a police vehicle with tinted windows waiting to detain those they find guilty. The sense of security that the police hope to achieve in Tehran seems to be defined by how well covered their women are.
In Tehran, the streets look nice and green but it does not take long to discover life is not normal here. The strict laws and rules imposed by the state leave little space for people to breathe.
The sight of a young man and woman caught by a policeman reminded one of a cartoon where a prince and princes are caught by a monster.
I had a chance to meet Nasim who had been detained by the moral police a few days earlier. Her family and her boyfriends parents had been informed by the police about their relationship.
Our family and relatives are all used to such things, she sneered. Nobody follows the line of the Mullahs here.
She has been detained by the police several times for hanging out with men but released when her parents have visited the police station.
The police regularly stop young men and women and ask them if they are married, family members or they are having an extramarital relationship. The latter could land them in trouble.
Those detained for the first time are released after a notice to their parents. If caught for the second time, the person might be detained for several days.
Some lovers, whose families object to their marriage, turn in to the police to let their parents know about their relationship and make them face a fait accompli, which they hope would lead to marriage.
Nearly 350 kilometers away in Isfahan, one of the cultural and historical centers of Iran, a young man and a young girl are sitting under the famous Siyo Sepol Bridge. They cant sit together for fear of the moral police. They use their cell-phones to communicate despite being less than a stones throw from each other. In the end, the man moves to where the woman is sitting and the lovers get to spend some time together.
Yards away, there are coffee shops where they serve non-alcoholic Islamic beers. The beer does not make the lovers drunk, but they appear to be drunk on the good time they have together.
It is a common scene in Iran to see people complain about the countrys conditions.
One taxi driver in Tehran who struggles to make ends meet could not help but compare the conditions in todays Iran to the pre-revolution era when the Shah was in power.
He says despite the rampant corruption at the time of the dethroned monarch, some of the wealth was trickling down to the people. But that is not the case under the Mullahs rule, he says.
What good is an atomic bomb if we are hungry and live in misery, he asks rhetorically.
Rudaw in English....The Happening: Latest News and Multimedia about Kurdistan, Iraq and the World - Iran Under the Veil
