Thread: Iran: the friendliest people in the world

Beaming smiles, gel and a joke about lavatory brushes and weapons of mass destruction - Iran overturns all expectations


The metal door to the synagogue swung open and a small boy skipped across the courtyard. He looked puzzled at the three people who stood before him, two of whom were clearly not Iranian. He led us up some steps to the temple, where I slipped a skullcap on to my head. A lady came towards us, smiling. “Are you Jewish?” she asked.
“No,” I replied. “Sorry.”
My friend Annette and I went inside anyway, past a table of food laid out for Passover, and sat at the back as an elderly man read from the Torah in front of eight others.
I'd never have guessed that my first time inside a synagogue would be in Tehran, but Iran is full of surprises. It has a fundamentalist leadership that many in the West believe to be as nutty as a box of pistachios. But it also has a population of 65 million, most born after the 1979 Islamic Revolution (which culminated in the return from exile of Ayatollah Khomeini 30 years ago this month), and far removed from the dour and menacing stereotype often portrayed on the 10 o'clock news. The ordinary Iranian people are by far the friendliest and most welcoming I've met in more than 20 years of travelling.

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But, above all, it was the people we met who made this trip for us. Groups of teenage lads - many in trendy T-shirts and elaborately gelled (and, in theory, illegal) hairstyles - always offered us big smiles and a “Salaam” (Hello). After establishing our nationality, there would be an invitation to pose for a photo with someone's mobile phone. Annette and I would beam away while everyone else adopted an authoritative stare into the lens.
“How-are-you-I'm-fine?” was the standard opener from laughing students. What did we think of Iranians, they all asked. Did we think Iran was dirty? What about the Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad? Was it right that Iran shouldn't be allowed nuclear power? (No mention of nuclear weapons.)
And what about America? “They think we're all terrorists,” said a laughing, leather-skinned loo-brush seller from his kiosk outside Tehran's main bazaar. He waved several of his products towards us: “Look! Weapons of mass destruction!”

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The women didn't shy away from us. Far from it. Yes, they wore drab, shapeless overcoats and headscarves, the latter often pushed back to show plenty of hair.


“Stop and have some tea with us,” we were asked more than once. “Please take some almonds. Tell people in Britain how we really are.” I promised I would.

Iran: the friendliest people in the world | Middle East - Times Online

Seems a nice place to visit actually, but might have to be quick before someone bombs the place.

Persian women are reputed to be very beautiful.

They are ok, pain in the arse according to my Iranian mates!!

It is a moral dilemma, there are bound to be a lot of wonderful friendly Iranians why should there not be?, but there is also a, to some, rather unfriendly regime that rapes minor Girls before execution so as not to execute a virgin, there is stoning of Women for adultery, execution of gay Men, this is not CIA propaganda but from Amnesty. They are also self admittedly supporting what in the West has been deemed terror groups with money Manpower and arms.

There is not a lot the normal nice Iranian can do about that it is after all a religious Cleric dictatorship, although it does have strong popular support, should you support such a regime by going there on holiday ? presently I don't think I would, I would prefer to invite a nice Iranian to come see me instead.

Originally Posted by Lily

Persian women are reputed to be very beautiful.

There OK

^3^
Only the ones with strapons.

I don't think anyone has a problem with the PEOPLE of Iran -- it's the thuggish fundamentalist government that is the problem, and most Iranians don't support it either.

Iran is a pretty big country, with different regions, some different ethnicities and cultural traditions. Some parts of the country are relatively 'backward', others quite modern such as Tehran. When you hear these occasional abominations such as a woman being stoned, it generally seems to emanate from the Kurdish region. As I understand, stoning is illegal in Iran-it would similarly be met with considerable revulsion there.

Originally Posted by DaffyDuck

I don't think anyone has a problem with the PEOPLE of Iran -- it's the thuggish fundamentalist government that is the problem, and most Iranians don't support it either.

Seems like some US citizens have something in common with the Iranians!

Originally Posted by Lily

Persian women are reputed to be very beautiful.

Indeed Lily, they're extraordinarily handsome people.

Originally Posted by DaffyDuck

I don't think anyone has a problem with the PEOPLE of Iran -- it's the thuggish fundamentalist government that is the problem, and most Iranians don't support it either.

You know this as fact? Did you conduct the indepth poll...??

Originally Posted by DaffyDuck

I don't think anyone has a problem with the PEOPLE of Iran -- it's the thuggish fundamentalist government that is the problem, and most Iranians don't support it either.

Exactly, the same situation the US has been in for the last decade.

By Lil

Persian women are reputed to be very beautiful.

We will see about getting you one Lil,.
but the one in the pic took 3 hours and 36 gallons of hotwax to iake the fir off for the competition,, and their snatch stinks, where the Iranian douch water has ran into the gulf, all the fish smell like pussy.