What are /r/iran's favorite Products & Services?

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Nope, you are incorrect. Iran hasn't been in the Fifa games for awhile. In fact the last Fifa game to feature Iran was Fifa 2000.

http://www.easports.com/fifa/news-updates-gameplay/article/fifa-14-leagues

An alternative is to get a beautiful ceramic, porcelain, or glass goldfish for your 7-seen.

I love the blown glass ones.

Example on Etsy

Example on Amazon

Check out Clozemaster. (Or should I say, Clozemaster ra check out kon. lol)

For anyone who has relatives who want to learn English, you can do English from Persian, too.

/r/farsi has other resources listed in the sidebar.

Not true. If you read the index to Donald Knuth's The Art of Computer Programming there are plenty of Arab (I couldn't tell them from Persian without looking them up, so I don't know) mathematicians from modern times that have made significant contributions, and this is only one field.

The Guardian has made a nice list of Places to visit in Iran.

Trip Advisor also has a good list of things to do / places to visit just in Tehran.

August 1941: The Anglo-Russian Occupation of Iran and Change of Shahs

Edit: Aside from WW2, this particular author also wrote a great deal about Reza Shah and early 20th century Iran. Here's a list of some of his other books.

>Most, if not all, Arab countries will prevent your entry if you have an Israeli stamp on your passport.

I'm gonna need to challenge this . I lived in UAE for a while and I had lots of western friends who visited Israel and came back to UAE, multiple times.

They don't care if you've visited. If they were to have such laws, they'd have to turn down a lot of western tourists and that's just not possible.

EDIT:

>The UAE Ministry of Foriegn Affairs (MOFA) says on their UAE embassy websites (www.uae-embassy.ae, checked Jan 2015): "The existance [sic] of Israel stamp on the passport is not a reason to reject your entry to UAE." http://www.dubaifaqs.com/israeli-stamp-passport-dubai.php

>Israeli stamps are not a problem for entry, but Israeli passport holders are not permitted into Oman. http://wikitravel.org/en/Oman

Not quite, they're considered to have originated from something called Proto-Indo-European. Your own link points that out in the "Evolution" category.

> The proposed Proto-Indo-European language (PIE) is the hypothetical common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans.

Right now the current most accepted theory (Kurgan Hypothesis) is that the speakers of this language originated in Eastern Europe (in and around modern day Ukraine), and that they made their way all the way down to the Indian Subcontinent.

Languages like Sanskrit, Ancient Greek and Latin, among others are some of the earlier examples with large bodies of work we use to observe.

You can read more here , or on your own wiki link you sent me.

"They" have been saying that Iran is one-two years away from getting a bomb SINCE 1990!!! It is a blatant lie. There is no evidence whatever that Iran has a nuclear weapons program, and Iran has an "inalienable right" to peaceful development of nuclear energy as signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The United States (but not Israel!) is also a signatory, and is required by the treaty to protect Iran's rights. North Korea does not have an arsenal of bombs. They have maybe one bomb. Maybe two. And their tests have failed. I think we can write off North Korean nuclear technology as deficient. Please see

https://www.academia.edu/6964782/Understanding_the_Iranian_Perspective_in_Nuclear_Negotiations

I kind of disagree with that first paragraph! As Iranian-Americans I do not think we're white. Here's an interesting article discussing this

You may have a point about speaking too quickly.

By your definition of clergy, then yes but the clergy in the Baha'i texts is referred to a leader(s) that is pretty much like a priest. It has a historical root in the early days of the religion where Mullahs and mosques had authoritative functions (which is still ongoing in many parts of the world and other religions as well). The point is that the elected bodies are intended for serving the community within the framework defined in the holybook or the Universal House of Justice and not preaching and defining their own laws, rules, etc. EDIT: here is reference with more detailed explanation.

To answer your question about who is in command: the Baha'i faith introduces a new community governing model that scales from a small neighborhood to the entire world. The local communities have an annual election process where they elect 9 members as the "Local Spiritual Assembly" (LSA). A similar thing exist at the the national level called the "Nationa Spiritual Assembly" (NSA) and the international governing body is called the "Universal House of Justice" (UHJ). Here is a chart of how they are connected.

Psiphon is an amazing app. I have used it successfully in Tajikistan to access any/all blocked services.

Psiphon uses remote SSH login to create a proxy service. You can actually set up a private service like this on your own, although for mobile phones you still need a VPN app, so you might as well just use Psiphon. There is another VPN program called Hotspot Shield that may work for you as well. I tried both that and Psiphon at the recommendation of Iranian friends on my Android device, and both worked hassle free. I think Psiphon is the better of the two.

Also, one thing that's actually easier than using a VPN is just using alternative services. For example, if a website/service is blocked in Iran, find one that does the same thing that isn't blocked. For example, if Facebook is blocked you can probably still easily post on Google+. Or, say, if WhatsApp gets blocked, you can use Kik or Telegram instead.

Can anyone on this sub confirm which alternative services work or don't work in Iran? Did they block G+ yet? You should be able to access Gmail, WhatsApp, and Viber without a VPN.

Yeah, definitely. I did a quick Google search and found an entomology book that was published 2 years prior, so maybe that's where the author got it from (and didn't cite it for whatever reason).

"The legend of the quote finds its roots in the court of a powerful eastern Persian ruler who called his sages (wise men) to him, including the Sufi poet Attar of Nishapur, and asked them for one quote that would be accurate at all times and in all situations. The wise men consulted with one another, and threw themselves into deep contemplation, and finally came up with the answer ...

"this too, shall pass".

The ruler was so impressed by the quote that he had it inscribed in a ring.

Sauce

https://www.academia.edu/6964438/A_Tale_of_Sound_and_Fury_Signifying_Nothing_Iran_s_Nukes._REVIEW_of_Manufactured_Crisis_The_Untold_Story_of_the_Iran_Nuclear_Scare_by_Gareth_Porter_New_York_Just_World_Books_2014_

Not only fear mongering from Iran's hawks but exploited by US ones too. Both of them fail to mention that Iran's navy isn't even comparable in strength to the American navy. Full fleet = 1 speedboat, 1 supply boat, and a nonstandard life-raft that was probably bought from Chinese surplus.

Here, this explains

That's good news, with the same caveats as before. 'If true' and so on.

It wasn't only Iranian "conservative" media that described the move as a cancellation, however. There was also this War Is Boring blog post. That Medium.com blog is usually accurate about Iran's defense. Often gives praise where praise is due--and pokes fun at the more amusing stuff.

It is... As kids, we would gather together with grand parents, aunts, uncles and cousins, eat dry nuts (called problem-solving nuts) and jump over fire. Nowadays Tehran turns into a war zone (for an example check out the last video here) with all the fire crackers and stuff kids bring out and it's quite an amazing scene.

For theater I recommend checking out the City Theater in Tehran. The building per se is a historical monument and is part of the Iranian cultural heritage. Here's their website.

The Bazaar Jomeh -- flea market http://www.lonelyplanet.com/iran/tehran/shopping/markets-streets-arcades/jomeh-bazar

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g293999-d2449554-Reviews-Jomeh_Bazaar-Tehran_Tehran_Province.html

I made no comparison to livestock. Someone else did. Your crystal ball needs better reading comprehension.

The amusing part here is that you assume anyone who places a price on commercialized human flesh is a conservative. That, my friend, is actually as radical as you can get :)

She's selling her body? Fine and dandy. Hers isn't mine to keep her from selling. I just said the price is steep for one like her. In a world of chosified flesh and "free" markets you need market savvy more than your romantic ideology. She really isn't worth a hundredth the price of a premium Russian escort in New York: Sex is Sex but <em>Money</em> is Money.

> in fact

Wasn't this just a rumor? And the Swiss friend wasn't "live in" he just visited the shah routinely.

Source

All three of those have Persian on them, as well as the contact address of the distributer near where it says "Made in Iran" - and by near I mean right next to it. Even the face that is in all English has Persian in the logo. The image I linked above has neither.

Also to note, this format of shipping is mandatory in Iran (to provide details like address and email right on the packaging) in order to curtail fraud.

Lastly, the type of cement in that picture is Portland cement (as evidenced by the tag ENV 197-1) and you can buy as much as you wish here. Not only do they not look like the ones found on the boat, but this should also show you that anyone can buy Iranian cement from anywhere.

Dude, check this tractor out. So beautiful. We would never been able to do this if Khomeini wouldn't have taken the power 1979. I want to thank my parents' generation for this. I am quite shocked that they didn't see a tractor on the moon instead of AGHA.

sign up to the email newsletter from (or send an email to ). They send a regular email about the latest stuff that works.

E.G latest email says for iOS try these from the app store:

HotspotShield

F-Secure Freedome, use code: "david" for free 6 months subscription

Also, app called Open Door, which is one of those proxy browsers, i.e only sites on the browser will bypass filter, not other apps. It's a decent back up if all else fails.

Quite a few more options for android though.

edit: I used to use a paid VPN service, but have to use L2TP and its hit and miss. works at one uncles house, doesnt work at another uncles house across the city. works in this city, not there. even on different connections from the same ISP. who knows what theyre up to.

I also tried setting up openVPN on my own personal server, same story hit and miss. worked 70% of the time on rightel 3G which was good.

VPN use used to be easier, now its a lot more patchy.

Also there is an app where you can find apartments for rent https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ir.divar https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/دیوار-خرید-و-فروش-بی-واسطه-در-ایران/id863029557?mt=8

Unfortunately it's only available in Farsi, so you may need to find a native Iranian friend to help you with these stuff.

Lots of vpn software you may use. I usually use Psiphon for Skype. You may want to check /r/vpn if you wanna consider a paid vpn (recommended if you'll be using the vpn a lot unlike me).

I don't understand why the list has been pulled !

Here try this place if your are going soon!

Noosha Jan

mst3k

http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&amp;prev=_t&amp;hl=en&amp;ie=UTF-8&amp;layout=2&amp;eotf=1&amp;sl=fa&amp;tl=en&amp;u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.chap.sch.ir%2FMaghtaList.asp&amp;act=url it will say it cant translate PDF obviously, so just paste the URL or click see original.

so after u do the install procedure, u can open these pdfs. i will find u phonetics, 1 sec.

http://www.omniglot.com/writing/persian.htm

&quot;Essential Histories - The Iran-Iraq War&quot; is a good read.

a quote from a redditor and a wiki link that says nothing about iran doesn't debunk this..I did find this link that says it's under review lol, I'm still not sure if these laws are real...

in the article it says 70% of Iran's pop is under 35, that doesn't mean we have a pop crisis also ugh..just search pics for iran population or this link our population has been growing every year, goes up a little from 80-90, a short baby boom and then not drastically decreasing for a long time means we won't have a problem in the future, if the government really is pushing baby making it's not cuz of pop decline >< these articles say khamenei said he wants to double iran's pop from 70 mil. to 150. this is bad for everyone...

edit: I don't care about all the extra biased stuff that's in these articles and I'm happy you don't too, IF Iran really is planning on encouraging reproduction in ANY way I'm against it, with all the poverty and problems in the world they should be spending the resources and time on fixing more important things before bringing WAY more people to the world, which will take away MORE time and resources from fixing those issues for raising the kids, it's twice as bad when a plan doesn't help anything and also makes things worse ><'

> Documents published last year by WikiLeaks obtained from the US intelligence contractor Stratfor, show that in 2011 Jared Cohen, then (as he is now) Director of Google Ideas, was off running secret missions to the edge of Iran in Azerbaijan. In these internal emails, Fred Burton, Stratfor’s Vice President for Intelligence and a former State Department official, describes Google as follows: > > > Google is getting WH [White House] and State Dept support and air cover. In reality they are doing things the CIA cannot do…[Cohen] is going to get himself kidnapped or killed. Might be the best thing to happen to expose Google’s covert role in foaming up-risings, to be blunt. The US Gov’t can then disavow knowledge and Google is left holding the shit-bag. > > In further internal communication, Burton subsequently clarifies his sources on Cohen’s activities as Marty Lev, Google’s director of security and safety and... Eric Schmidt.

From Op-ed: Google and the NSA: Who’s holding the ‘shit-bag’ now?.

> It was Cohen who, while he was still at the Department of State, was said to have emailed Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to delay scheduled maintenance in order to assist the aborted 2009 uprising in Iran.4 His documented love affair with Google began the same year, when he befriended Eric Schmidt as they together surveyed the post-occupation wreckage of Baghdad. Just months later, Schmidt re-created Cohen’s natural habitat within Google itself by engineering a “think/do tank” based in New York and appointing Cohen as its head. Google Ideas was born.

From Google Is Not What It Seems.

Oh I've gotten some from places before, I just don't live super close to any. But I figured the next step is to ask for their source if posting here doesn't work out. They did tell me they get it from sadaf, so I ordered the cheapest, darkest looking one sadaf had on amazon. Its funny, when I first asked them they brought out a small prepackaged container of red sadaf sumac, and I was like, no can I have whatever this is and pointed to the shaker on the table. So they broke me off some grams from the brown head stash.

It could just be a different type of sumac. It has a different taste. I posted here cuz I was hoping someone would be like, oh they actually use turkish sumac or some such.

Click on his other book called Great Britain and Reza Shah, The Great Plunder it takes you to amazon site selling the book and an outline of the book:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0813021111/ref=cm_cr_asin_lnk

Zenmate is also a free, closed source service. Who knows what they're doing with your computer, it'll take some intense packet tracking to find out and I doubt anyone's had the time.

Just buy PIA (private internet access).

I strongly suggest you read this book: http://www.amazon.ca/Arab-MiG-19-MiG-21-Units-Combat/dp/1841766550

if you want to know more about Arab aerial warfare.

TL;DR they were backstabbed by the soviets and had to survive based on Trial and error against a well armed and trained IAF.

And between 3 of the studied countries in the book (Egypt, Syria, Iraq), Egypt was the most capable to uphold a good fight against the Israelis.

I read the book last year and I was surprised how much know-how the Egyptians had during a volatile time in their history (purges and government change was a big liability for the Arabs in the 60s and 70s). The Syrians on the other hand, were the WORST! Seriously, I have no idea how they even have survived so far. Unorganized and fucking dumb! + the same ordeal with the Soviets = The worst Arab military I have ever seen.

Anyway, there is a semi-simulation if you are interested, on android and iOS, called Strike fighters and Strike Fighters Israel featuring jets from the Cold war and modern warfare. It's been improved a lot since I started playing and has a ton of jets. It can enable you to get a feeling of what the Arabs and Iranians went through. It comes from the same game with the same name on PC ~10 years ago (Wings over Vietnam, Wings over Europe and Strike fighters 2).

If you are that interested, give it a go.

Shiraz is a truly magical place, and I hope one day to go back. Anyone interested in an in depth exploration of Shiraz' history will find Ambassador John Limbert's book Shiraz in the Age of Hafez: The Glory of a Medieval Persian City to provide wonderful background.

Yes I realise the thing about Persepolis, however I was merely trying to avoid suggestions like this or books that solely focus on the war (I don't want my friend to read about victims of chemical warefare).

and in regards to anti-west/political, I do not want to recommend something that portrays the 'Fox News' Iran ie, on wings of eagles.

I pretty much wanted to give her a book that shows that Iran is 'normal' (for Western standards). Now, I've only been here for a short while, but I already know that I'm going to be bombarded with hate about how Iran is normal, or how the west destroyed us.

Look into a brand call PARS.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/PARS-Automatic-Persian-Rice-Cooker/dp/B00E7HUWOG/ref=asc_df_B00E7HUWOG/?tag=googshopuk-21&amp;linkCode=df0&amp;hvadid=570265120017&amp;hvpos=&amp;hvnetw=g&amp;hvrand=3829492579015364771&amp;hvpone=&amp;hvptwo=&amp;hvqmt=&a...

Didn't need to dissolve the organization. It could have been put in hibernation or a low-key mode. Its‌ technical people could keep working on theoretical aspects or basic research waiting for when the costlier stuff would become possible.

Even if Rouhani's people didn't like the management they could change that and bring in management of their own.‌ They could audit and restructure it‌ to be efficient.‌ No reasonable objective can be achieved by dissolving the organization altogether and breaking its tasks up.

This one says it like it is, except that "it's for propaganda" spin.

سالهای سال، از ۷۰ به اینور اون وزارت گندش رو درآورده بود. هر سال قصه ماهواره مصباح رو می گفت ولی در طول دو دهه یه تف هم به مدار شلیک نکرده بود. این سازمان جدید ظرف دو سال بیش از بیست سال اون وزارت کشکی کار انجام داد.

اینجوری فردا میگن هسته ای که حق ندارید داشته باشید، موشک هم بردش از خونه خاله تون بیشتر نره، ما امر می کنیم ترموباریک هم نسازید. اصلاً هگزوژن رو هم وارد کنید وگرنه ممه آیفون رو لولو می بره. در حد ترکمانچای.

tell them to buy a decent VPN, like PIA, or ExpressVPN, then they can just use whatsapp, like before. I talk to my uncle almost every day, even if they check my phone, they won't see anything but "calls"

You have to use their web app for now, or install an Iranian app store and purchase their subscription package and then download your apps from them, Sibche, Anardoni, and a few others I can think of.

For VPN, install and login to ProtonVPN before landing here, a free tier is also available.

Install ProtonVPN and login into your account before landing, it works here as long as you're logged in.

I believe you can have roaming and I doubt pricing is an issue since you have Euros but getting a native simcard is rather easy.

Uber is not available but you can use Tapsi or Snapp, available on Google Play store if you're Android and if on iOS, use their web app through safari.

I'm interested in meeting up, maybe sometime... Good luck!

I have been using NordVPN with minimal issues. I’ve tried different vpns in Iran, and that one is the one with the least amount of bugs. Get a one month plan. It tries to sell you the 1 year plan on the app, but you can pick the monthly one on the website. Have it pre-downloaded and buy the subscription in advance on the browser, because their website is blocked. Also, if you plan on staying for more than one month with an Iranian SIM card. You will be blocked off using Iranian SIM cards after 30 day. (These 30 days get renewed every year.). To prevent this from happening you will need to register your phones IMEI number directly at the airport when you land for a hefty price depending on your phone.

If you're using cellular data vpns can be tricky. Alot of them dont work woth cellular so if thats they case you safest bet would be private vps on OPENVPN and OUTLINE.

If you're using adsl probably anything would work.

I see alot of nord vpn recommendations but for me personally nord doesn't work, as its domain is blocked by alot of isps.

I would recommend windscribe, (even tho it doesn't work in anyway with mci hence the first paragraph) is working just fine as of now.

Tunnel bear used to be good but i have no idea how it is now

Also urban vpn is a solid choice aswell

This is what you’re looking for.

I was using ProtonVPN in Iran. Even their free plan works great. But you should set it up beforehand since it is blocked in Iran.

Everyone in Iran is using VPN, don't worry. Your internet speed might even be higher when using VPN.

Thank you for this link. I am looking at it right now. Here in Spain I use NordVPN and I was using it in the US as well. I was trying to talk to friends on Whatsapp in Tehran and man, that connection was so bad. I can imagine how hard it must be for you guys who rely on good connections.

Yes, you're fine. Here, I use Lantern, ProtonVPN, and Windscript which all have free plans.

Btw, there are many Telegram channels like this: which give you access to proxy address. So you don't even need a turn on your VPN for Telegram.

This might help you to find a good hotel there: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g293999-Tehran_Tehran_Province-Hotels.html We stayed at the Escan Hotel. A little vlog from the trip two years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39R8MMnwxHo

You may be confusing the places. The straight line distance is about 27 km:

https://www.openstreetmap.org/directions?engine=fossgis_osrm_foot&amp;route=30.6198%2C114.2566%3B30.3769%2C114.2611#map=10/30.4623/114.3086

I am an American who lived in a village near Yazd (Taft) for two years. I would recommend going to Deh Balah on Shir Kuh, and going hiking if you enjoy the outdoors. Shir Kuh is a mountain around 4,050m high. I climbed it when I lived there. Here is the area on Google maps that you can zoom in on for more detail.

One of the most iconic pictures I didn't see in the album or links

Also, I think this is one of the most powerful images I have seen from the war

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1442980

You can find Part I and II here.

Part I focuses on Cyrus the Great and Darius the Great.

Part II focuses on the later half of the Achaemenid Empire.

You're claiming " Most, if not all Arab countries prevent you from entering if you have Israeli stamp". You're wrong about at least one of them, I'm pretty sure you're wrong about Oman and Qatar too.

It's very much relevant.

EDIT: Oh look! I found another one!

>Israeli stamps are not a problem for entry, but Israeli passport holders are not permitted into Oman.

Shiraz is a great city.

most people in this thread will say stay away from Tehran.

here are some good websites

http://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2013/oct/18/iran-top-10-tourist-destinations-in-pictures

http://wikitravel.org/en/Iran

The below according to Chess.com

>Playing under the FIDE flag, Alireza Firouzja sensationally clinched the silver medal

> Jewish people aren't automatically Israeli.

According to the citizenship laws of Israel, yes, they are. I'll grant you that this is what makes some American Jews angry at Israel and they publicly renounce Israel's claim upon them...Yet, the law remains unchanged.

No problem.

I'm not sure what type of of music you're into, but one of the smaller artists that's music I enjoy is Salome MC who is the first female Iranian rapper.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that quite a few of the indie performers have free downloads on their music.

If you live in San Francisco or New York, then you might be able to appreciate the chaos of Tehran, but otherwise, I think it might be overwhelming after a few weeks. I have a very similar background to you, minus the money. I lived in Tehran for two months, in my late twenties. I love Iran. But Tehran is without a doubt one of the most stressful places I have ever been. Aside from the pollution and traffic, there are the economic difficulties caused by sanctions; it may not affect you personally, but you can see it in people's faces. People are tired, and that mental fatigue starts to affect you after a while. I was there during the summer, and I would find myself almost acting like a crazy person, due to the combined effect of the heat and pollution and people screaming all around me (not screaming out of anger necessarily...just screaming because that's what you have to do to be heard in a place where you're surrounded by noise all day long). In winter, the heat is obviously not an issue, but the pollution is even worse. Just about the only time that Tehran feels like a truly enjoyable place is during and right after Noruz, when the air finally clears up and a huge part of the population either stays home or leaves town. Again, I love Iran, but it takes an especially resilient soul to thrive in Tehran.

Best of luck to you though. And if you really have the money to burn, I would look into renting an apartment in another city: https://www.quora.com/Is-there-something-like-Airbnb-or-a-similar-online-service-for-Iran

Yazd is incredible. I've heard Shiraz is wonderful as well. Qeshm was really interesting and enjoyable, at least during the winter, which felt like summer in CA.

FYI - tor browser (farsi edition just scroll down)

and for those outside that want to help, you can run this or cupcake for chrome if you use that browser

In my opinion, you should probably try preply, i just had a look and you can get like really experienced tutors for like 4-6pound. And the trial lessons are like 70% off too with the referral link https://preply.com/en/?pref=Mzc1ODQ3Mw==

U can refund those for free if u dont like the lesson and just make a new account and again with the link to try other tutors.

Not sure if many such places are still functioning, and anyway Zoroastrians tend to be quite insular with their ceremonies. There is a place near Yazd http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g303962-d324082-Reviews-Zoroastrian_Fire_Temple-Yazd.html

Just make sure that the phone has the bands they need in Iran! There are websites like this one where you can choose Iran as the country and see how well the phone matches the bands that are needed:

https://www.kimovil.com/en/where-to-buy-apple-iphone-8#connectivity

(use the pull down menu)

Iran's future pop problem is a myth, a short baby boom and not drastically decreasing pop growth for a while after means there won't be a pop crisis. if u look at iran's age demographic like this percentage of ppl aged 1-40 is spread out about evenly, no major bumps that would suggest a future crisis for a certain age group...world's too populated I don't like when I hear anyone say we need to have more babies, a drastic decrease would be bad tho ofc and Iran's actually been growing steady every year, not growing too fast or better, a stable growth would make for a better functioning economy, enough jobs and better education for every one

> UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ISTANBUL 000461 > > SENSITIVE > > SIPDIS >
> LONDON FOR MURRAY; BERLIN FOR ROSENSTOCK-STILLER; BAKU FOR MCCRENSKY; BAGHDAD FOR POPAL AND HUBAH; ASHGABAT FOR TANGBORN; DUBAI FOR IRPO > > E.O. 12958: N/A > > TAGS: PGOV PINS SOCI TU IR > > SUBJECT: IRAN/CULTURE: SO YOU WANT TO BE A ROCK AND ROLL STAR

From WikiLeaks diplomatic cables exposure cache.

Essentially, those kids provided a full HUMINT debriefing on their country's subcultures in exchange for US visas.

tor might be useful. https://www.torproject.org/download/download-easy.html.en#mac

also use https everywhere in your regular browser. youtube sometimes works, imgur will work. https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere

https://wordpress.com/notable-users/

Wordpress is not a source. Wordpress is a medium. Television is a medium. Radio is a medium. A medium as such does not have any inherent reputation, but each item in the medium may be reputable or not.

There is censorship but it is easily circumvented, since you know, IR is widely incompetent. We use VPNs and proxies to access the free internet.

Some use free public VPNs like Hotspot Shield, Windscribe, etc. while others prefer paid service providers which are essentially private VPN servers run by Iranians outside the country.

A minority consisting of tech savvies, web developers, and geeks, buy their own VPS/cloud service and tunnel through it. These are the ones who were able to circumvent the massive internet shutdown in the 2019, telling the world of the bloodshed that was happening. Mohammad Mosaa'ed as an example, tweeted "Hello from Iran? Can anybody hear me?" and shortly was arrested. For a tweet.

IR sometimes retaliates by blocking the VPN services themselves. If you use paid services, the providers quickly change their IPs. If you use free services, you switch to another service. Sometimes these blocks are temporary though, ie. they get unblocked after a while. They may also depend on your internet provider.

Dick Davis’s translation of Shahnameh is fine. The copy I have is purely written in English though. I haven’t read any Hafiz so I can’t help you with that. Dick Davis Shahnameh

Indeed, there is a lot of history to it. Essentially it's all about oil and geo-politics. I recommend reading this book if you're interested in middle east politics.

Tor does not work with Netflix, not to mention that there are lots of websites that can't be accessed while on Tor. I am really grateful for all the suggestions, however it would be great if someone could test how and if NordVPN works in Iran.

some teamspeak servers work and discord is a bit hit and miss, but steam dose not work and if it did the latency is so high there is no point, same for origin and uplay not sure about roll20. in Iran there are loads of game cafes that you can go play games with people on LAN for like a couple dollars for hours so that might be your best bet they have loads of games. ask around for one close to you ! sign up for at least 2 VPN's before you go is my recommendation ( NordVPN is quite good i think ) hit me up if you need any more advice

EarthVPN didn't work because Iran blocks mainstream encryption tools using DPI. To bypass this, you need some kind of protocol obfuscation method that masks OpenVPN and makes it invisible to firewalls. Best VPN for Iran guide has a list of reliable providers that work there specifically because they trick DPI to believe you're using regular connection.

I have tried almost all of the android vpns and I like cyberghost and Betternet the most. I switch between them because all vpn apps run slow some of the times during the day based on what servers are available. Don't waste your time with hotspot shield, vpn master, hola, surf easy, supervpn, surfeasy and tunnel bear.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbas_Amanat

https://www.amazon.com/Iran-Modern-History-Abbas-Amanat/dp/0300112548

> This history of modern Iran is not a survey in the conventional sense but an ambitious exploration of the story of a nation. It offers a revealing look at how events, people, and institutions are shaped by currents that sometimes reach back hundreds of years. The book covers the complex history of the diverse societies and economies of Iran against the background of dynastic changes, revolutions, civil wars, foreign occupation, and the rise of the Islamic Republic.

> Abbas Amanat combines chronological and thematic approaches, exploring events with lasting implications for modern Iran and the world. Drawing on diverse historical scholarship and emphasizing the twentieth century, he addresses debates about Iran’s culture and politics. Political history is the driving narrative force, given impetus by Amanat's decades of research and study. He layers the book with discussions of literature, music, and the arts; ideology and religion; economy and society; and cultural identity and heritage.

Haven't read this translation (I read the farsi version), but https://www.amazon.com/Occidentosis-Plague-Jala-Al-i-Ahmad/dp/0933782136

Not an excellent book, but it is written in 1962 and clearly shows the intellectual's issue with the west, even back then.

Thank you so much! Despite a lot of the negative view of Iran, it is doing very well in terms of education among other things. It is interesting. I do not know many people from Iran so it is hard to tell what the people think. I am reading this book currently and am finding it interesting :

Foucault in Iran: Islamic Revolution after the Enlightenment (Muslim International) Paperback – August 8, 2016 by Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0816699496/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1

You will need the right skewers for it http://www.amazon.com/BBQ-Skewers-20-Koubideh-Pack/dp/B00M2FF1CI/ref=pd_sim_86_2?ie=UTF8&amp;dpID=41X9K12GSkL&amp;dpSrc=sims&amp;preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&amp;refRID=0441KMMKDVBC0PFJD16C

There is an art to putting it on the skewers, if you cant do it right it will fall off.

There is a solution though: http://www.amazon.com/GoldenStar-HZMRSKM1-Kabob-Maker-Stacker/dp/B00DOFRCOU

But when you first grill it turn it every minute or so you want to quickly cook both sides so the beef doesn't fall off. Once it has cooked on the outside you are golden. you can cook the rest of the way as regular.

"Temporary marriage" means childen are considered legitimate and must be taken care of.

>As Shahla Haeri revealed in her 1989 book, Law of Desire (published in the UK by I B Tauris), many muta contracts in Iran are transformed into permanent, loving relationships. Contrary to popular myth, it is usually not men but women, particularly divorcees and widows, who seek muta marriage. Haeri’s extensive survey showed that many older women approached “young men, particularly handsome ones, directly and frequently”. http://www.amazon.com/Law-Desire-Temporary-Marriage-Contemporary/dp/0815624832

Thank you for the recommendation! Is it this: http://www.amazon.com/Colloquial-Persian-Abdorreza-Rafiee/dp/0415157498/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1454111971&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=colloquial+persian

Or this: http://www.amazon.com/Colloquial-Persian-Abdi-Rafiee/dp/0415560454/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1454111971&amp;sr=8-2&amp;keywords=colloquial+persian

http://fpif.org/why-doesnt-the-foreign-policy-establishment-take-world-peace-seriously/

>For international affairs graduates, challenging such consensus views puts access to senior government jobs at risk. An academic at a prominent university whom I interviewed in preparation for this essay quickly grasped where I was heading and confided that “it is impossible to make a career in this field with an alternative view; it is not by chance that alternative views come from people educated in other disciplines, like linguistics for Noam Chomsky or law for Richard Falk

>Take Iran, for instance. Although the debate over the nuclear deal is heated, it revolves around technicalities such as verification protocol or the feasibility of air strikes. Very few people in the establishment challenge the threat to use force if Iran reneges on the deal. No one questions whether Iran should be considered an enemy in the first place."

Historically, the sort of think tanks and donors who fund the likes of Jeffrey Lewis were just PR fronts for the CIA to promote propaganda. This is very well documented: http://www.amazon.com/The-Cultural-Cold-War-Letters/dp/1565846648

Needless to say people who challenge the conventional wisdom don't get a Ford Foundation-type grant and the NY Times doesn't come knocking on their door regularly. They're the "internet trolls" that Jeffrey dismisses, even though they may be better qualified than he is to opine on nuclear weapons -- people like Robert Kelley.

These "experts" are just there to sell the govt policy

Yes, many of these exist, actually. Here is one that I have. This has Persian on the right pages and English on the left. There is also a part two. The third book in the set is The Full Vocabulary.

I received this and a couple of related books as a gift from my old boss, an American who is fond of Iranians and visited there.

If you are interested in choosing between multiple works, this is what I recommend. Make a list of your top picks. Type a name of the classic into Amazon. Find a copy that includes a white-sounding name or gives credit to someone for translating. Message the seller to make sure that you aren't just buying an English translation of the book.

Good luck. :)

edit: Also, since you are bound to be met with high prices, you can find the book and then compare prices on textbookland.com.

Iranian writers have written countless of accurate books about Iran but the problem is that none of them get translated to English unless you request the author to do so.

There is one book that I can recommend if you are interested in learning about Iran in General and it's this :

http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Iran-Everything-Republic-Ahmadinejad/dp/023010343X/

I didn't like Rosetta Stone. I never use it.

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Persian Here and Now Series (http://www.amazon.com/Persian-Here-Now-Introduction-Edition/dp/1933823518) is good because it has a lot of colloquial conversations. Read the forward because there is a URL to recordings of the conversations that you can use to help learn pronunciation.

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There are a fair number of errors in the book according to my tutor, but overall it is good for learning conversational Persian

Two of the important differences between Shia and Sunni Islam is Shiism's emphasis on rituals, along with a more hierarchical clerical structure (similar to Catholicism). The latter was formed out of political necessity -- as many regions, including Iran, were dissatisfied with the rule of the caliphs -- but in Iran in particular, their system drew influences from the Sassanid Magi (Zoroastrian clerics).

As for rituals, the most prominent being the martyrdom of Imam Hussein during Ashura. This mourning and its associated rituals come from an ancient Zoroastrian practice known as Sug-e Siavash (the mourning of Siavash). Siavash's myth also centered around his martyrdom and pre-Islamic Iranians used to mourn his death in the same fashion. You can read more about it here or on Wikipedia, if you're interested.

I recommend this book if you find time to read it: America's Stolen Narrative: From Washington and Madison to Nixon, Reagan and the Bushes to Obama.

>Do you think a regular Iranian without a major investment in learning English literature, American history, and the wider European sensibilities these have played out upon will be an understanding audience for Whitman or Dickinson?

I am not sure how to understand this question. Whether Persian or Western (and I think this is a false dichotomy since Western culture has long been enriched by Persian), it takes an investment in education of some kind to understand the insights of any of these poets. Scholars from both traditions continue to make the investments required to understand something of the other.

My mentor during my intial discovery of Iran wrote Shiraz in the Age of Hafez and there are others putting in this kind of deep effort which can benefit all of our understanding.

NB: "I'll Get the Lights" (چراغ‌ها را من خاموش می‌کنم) has been translated into English, but the publisher chose the title "Things We Left Unsaid."

The chances of a political problem for an American joining a tour would be very, very small. The most dangerous thing is the chance of accidents. The trade embargo affects the safety of planes, and road accidents are way too common. This is a risk of any travel, however, and I would be aware, but not so afraid I would stay home.

There is a chance that events could change, so staying aware of the political situation is important. I would recommend a book by Terrance Ward, Searching for Hassan for some insight on what it might be like.

I don't know of any online sources, but my university classes have used Wheeler Thackston's An Introduction to Persian. It's a bit dry, but fairly comprehensive for grammar and the like, and I'm fairly sure there's a section for colloquial.

Fascinating. I would really recommend anyone interested in the history of African populations in the Middle East to find two books. The first is "Jonoob: The South of Iran from Bushehr to Jask" (Tehran, 1997), a collection of photographs by Nasrollah Kasraian. I never realized there were African Iranians until I saw his amazing photographs...a few of which were on this website.

The other book is "Silent Terror" by Samuel Cotton:

http://www.amazon.com/Silent-Terror-Journey-Contemporary-African/dp/0863162592

It covers an aspect of Middle Eastern culture that most Iranians/Middle Easterners I've met aren't aware of (including a Pakistani friend who was certain that slavery didn't exist in Muslim countries), explaining that the slave trade between the Middle East and East Africa, centered on the island of Zanzibar and controlled mainly by the Portuguese and the Sultanate of Oman, involved the transfer of approximately as many people as the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

I just thought of another excellent book from the perspective of an American family that returned to Iran for a visit after living there during the McCarthy blacklist era.

It is called Searching for Hassan, a journey to the heart of Iran, by Terrance Ward.

Have you checked this out? https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.atistudios.mondly.fa The best way to learn is to socialize with Persian people. Go to their gatherings. They are specially welcoming to individuals who are interested in leaning about their culture and their language. And that is pronounced "mo te shakeram".

Give this a try. There are plenty of other similar recommendations from Play store, too. Some of them are bound to work for you.