Posted by fidotron 8 hours ago
You can read plenty of good about Iran if you read something other than geopolitical news. It's a very interesting country with an incredibly interesting history and language. The news is a pretty poor source for much of anything except for "events are happening" or "politicians have an agenda in [area]" -- I don't mean to belittle those. Both of those matter, but really no one should consider the news to provide thorough treatment for any large topic.
It's always a joy to talk shop with a guy in England, a guy in Iran, and a guy in Poland in the same thread.
> Mirrors of the Unseen: Journeys in Iran (2006) is a travel book written by British travel writer Jason Elliot.
And a fascinating history of mathematics as well.
I do recognize that the type of person who I might encounter in the workplace is an educated, accomplished, English-speaking person who has likely gone through cultural adjustments to operate in an American workplace. So there’s a filter there.
But when you get to know people, especially when they talk about their family and childhood, the idea that a nation is full of bad people full of hate is just laughable.
I also believe that your claim of seven "official allowed" haircuts is bs, as with almost everything I ever read about Iran.
Source: I see that Tehrani men have the same variety of haircuts and facial hair styles as in any other city on the planet.
It didn't send its military for that reason, if that helps.
Hell, if you read Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis, you would find plenty of similar examples. The haircuts are just the cherry on top of that authoritarian cake.
Also, the west is not just the US. Trump failed to find anyone willing to join him in his military adventures.
https://www.bbc.com/news/10527088
And it didn't stop here:
https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-32587418
A few of my friends went there and I talked with a few Iranians whose families moved out. Yeah, the people are welcoming and you can have an amazing experience there, but it's still a theocratic regime. All the things you did happened because those who want to control everyone simply can't be everywhere at all times.
You don't see people in the west getting the death penalty for their political activity like you do in Iran.
My country also tried to interfere with people's private lives decades ago, but fortunately that system collapsed.
You can't make the argument that the common person enjoys the same freedom in Iran as they do in the west.
(you just moved the goalposts from "officially allowed" to "an official announcement")
In your link to a BBC article from SIXTEEN YEARS ago, the closest it comes to saying "officially allowed" or "official announcement" is...
"published a guide".
There is no "officially allowed" list of seven haircuts in Iran.
It literally does not exist, and yet you are now trippling down on your disinformation.
> I wasn't personally insulting nor aggressive in any comment I have made. I didn't spread disinformation. This thread is inherently political by nature, and I have been objective.
> It just goes to show, even here on HN, if you don't stick to the "THIS SIDE GOOD THAT SIDE BAD" narrative, your voice WILL be restricted.
> Again, RIP Marjane, you taught me a lot about Iran and the world.
You're not shadow banned, but comments peddling objectively false conspiracy theories and whining about downvoting do not play well here.
"Conspiracy" Theory: "CIA/MI6 coup of 1953 that overthrew Iran's democratically elected government to protect Western oil interests"
Evidence: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Iranian_coup_d%27%C3%A9ta... "On 19 August 1953, Prime Minister of Iran Mohammad Mosaddegh was fired by Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran .... It was instigated by the United Kingdom (MI6), under the name Operation Boot and the United States (CIA), under the name TP-AJAX Project or Operation Ajax. A key motive was to protect British oil interests in Iran after Mosaddegh nationalized the country's oil industry."
If you find any evidence that says CIA/MI5 were not behind the coup of a democratically elected government to protect Western oil interests, please let me know, I'm very interested in this topic.
"Conspiracy" Theory: "verifiable institutional actors with control over media outlets, public figures, and politicians -pointing to a systematic, decades-long negative framing of Iran"
Evidence:
State Department records list CIA “Political Propaganda” work in the TPAJAX files. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1951-54Ira... "CIA Confirms Role in 1953 Iran Coup" (from the National Security Archive) https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB435/ "American and British involvement in Mosaddeq's ouster has long been public knowledge, but today's posting includes what is believed to be the CIA's first formal acknowledgement that the agency helped to plan and execute the coup."
Since then, there is substantial evidence Western/U.S. coverage and official discourse has repeatedly framed Iran through threat, extremism, nuclear danger, terrorism, and regime instability. Rather than me spamming links, I will just say this evidence is very easy to find and read. If you have any evidence to the contrary, please present it.
"Conspiracy" Theory: "you almost never read anything good about Iran?"
Evidence: Go to the websites of major Western outlets such as BBC News, The Guardian, NYT - search for "Iran" and look at the first 50–100 headlines.
Then categorise them into things like: War/conflict Nuclear program Sanctions Human rights Economy Tourism Culture Science Daily life
Objectively, you will find mostly negative or negatively framed stories. If you find any evidence to the contrary, I'm very interested.
Are there any other "conspiracy theories" I have mentioned that are "objectively false"?
But complaining about upvotes and moderation is bad decorum and will get you downvoted out.
Which ironically enough proves the precise point.
Even Khomeini was in exile in France until the shah was deposed.
> Left Iran for Europe again at 24 and continued her art studies in Strasbourg, France.
> Now lives in Paris as a French citizen. Since publishing "Persepolis," has not been back to Iran.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/0...
It says so right in the title so I may have misunderstood your question.
And unlike the UK and US, they had no historic bad blood with Iran (Mossadegh et al.)
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sykes%E2%80%93Picot_Agreement