Bright red and a headache

Good evening,

Which tends to prove that it’s indeed a reliable agency...

... Or that they had no choice.

Michel

Hi Catherine,

The conditions for traveling in a reasonably serene atmosphere just weren’t there.

Some countries are closing up, while others seem ready to reopen.

Let’s hope Iran will soon be among the latter—not just for travelers, but especially for Iranians.

Hello,

Some feedback from Iran—about a year ago, I crossed the border on foot before my first stop in Khoy, then Tabriz... Tehran, Isfahan, Yazd, Shiraz, Bandar Abbas, Hormuz, Qeshm.

I should mention that the "job interview" was something else—at the embassy in Istanbul. I really thought I’d never get that visa (I’d been trying to go to Iran for a long time). But I convinced them by saying I didn’t mind spending my euros in Turkey either.

Right now, at that time, you take 250 € and I think you can stay a month in Iran. Rough but no worries. Even at nearly 40, I travel really rough—I have nothing, I even slept outside in Hormuz, by the water, with lots of Iranians (if there are any hippies left, they’re in Iran, yep...). But still, with that level of service, it’s incredible how little life costs for us, and so much for a country so rich in resources.

Iranians are amazing, and while *tarof* is always in play, their kindness is fabulous—sometimes I got really tired of being invited everywhere. But I forgive them; I had a great month. When I arrived, I immediately accepted an invitation from a very pious and conservative family. The father was a retired forklift operator, and I think he was more cultured than many French people—he even knew all our presidents since 1945. It’s pretty impressive to hop in an Uber and have someone start talking to you about Baudelaire. I think you only hear that in Iran.

Oh, and of course, the Sepah isn’t far away. They checked me, but as I mentioned, I’m a bit of a "country bumpkin" (fitting, since I’m from Finistère [;)]), so I didn’t have a VPN because my phone was too old to install one. In the end, I could still check the results for Stade Brestois—the only site I could access. The Sepah looked pretty silly when that’s all they found on my phone, and barely any photos either... In the end, I found it great not to use Facebook and to be *truly* cut off from French news for a month. Last year, there were lots of young French travelers, and I think unanimously, they loved Iran.

I also learned I had an "Aryan" face—I’d never thought about it, but I’m not saying that randomly. It’s better to look Aryan than mixed-race, something I experienced with a Dutch guy from Indonesia (his grandmother...) who really struggled to be accepted.

What you should know is that the regime is paranoid (and sometimes for good reason...), and at the slightest suspicion, the smallest clue works against you. It’s better not to mess around. I didn’t have the slightest problem—in fact, on my way out, someone even offered me a joint in the middle of the street. Not that smoking a joint in Iran is wild (on the contrary, it’s a narco-state), but when it’s the Sepah handing it to you and saying "Iran no khoubè"... When I left Iran, I wrote my travel journal, and it was obvious an attack was coming—the economy was on its knees. For comparison, Iran is cheaper than India right now, and I know India *very* well...

I desperately want to go back. I even planned to learn Farsi, but the current situation is very complicated. I don’t think it’s wise to go without local contacts, especially if you speak some Farsi as a foreigner.

Anyway, I hope you get to visit this incredible country.

Oh, and about Zoroastrianism—I assume you’re talking about MUMBAI and the area. There aren’t mass graves like that in Iran, and certainly no vultures. I didn’t see any in India either, unfortunately. Thanks to humans for that. It’s a very interesting religion and still widely practiced in Iran, despite the regime, especially around Shiraz. Personally, I think it originated in India because it closely resembles Buddhism, and I also think it’s the root of another well-known religion further south in the Middle East—but I’d rather not say which one. "Humata, Hukta, Huvarstha,"

Khodafez

Hi Agnes

I don’t know if you’ve already left or if you’re about to, but some unrest seems to be spreading across the country.

The agency canceled the trip.

Catherine

Hang in there, the CIA will blow everything up soon and the destination will be chic again.

https://youtu.be/k26EmbLQR3I?si=fKJX8kbinx8kNYix

A spring morning in the garden in front of the Golestan. The white-eared bulbuls are singing. Ali Khamenei and Donald Trump stand facing each other across the canal. They take up their firearms, step back three paces, and fire. Two dead. The sweepers come by and push the bodies into the basin. Excellent for feeding the carp, which love larvae, mollusks, and other worms.

Have a good evening.

Catherine

If only it stopped at 2 deaths, that’d be ideal 😅

Lovely tune from the white-eared bubul.

For now, Khamenei has taken refuge in his bunker... What’s he afraid of, since according to him, all his people are behind him?

Hi Agnes,

I think, as is often the case, you underestimate the strength of nations and nationalisms. There are probably fewer Iranians than you might think who want the United States to overthrow the regime like this.

Michel

You mean to say the mullahs have already killed them all?

The regime will fall. Its main financier is spending too much money in Ukraine. It can’t be everywhere at once. As for the Chinese dictator, he’s cautious. His regime holds on thanks to the enrichment of its population. If prosperity vanishes, trouble starts... So he’s betting on a certain level of global economic stability.

After all, you only risk your life for a cause you believe in. The driving force behind the Revolutionary Guards seems to be money or power rather than any god. If they sense the tide turning...

Why did Maduro fall? Uncle Sam had deeper pockets.

Yeah, I find your analysis shockingly naive and so over-the-top. What happened after the interventions in Libya, Syria, and Iraq? We’ll see in a year or two, but I don’t think your future trip to Iran is gonna happen.

Michel

No more than yours...

If the mullahs thought they had the support of their population, they wouldn’t need to organize rigged and controlled elections.

There wouldn’t be a need for Revolutionary Guards either.

Tomorrow’s Iran certainly won’t happen overnight, but is it better to survive under a dictatorship than to try to win your freedom? Is a half-life worth living?

Yes, up to a point—it’s China.

No, when nothing works anymore: no freedom of speech, no freedom of lifestyle, an economic disaster.

In short, all the warning lights are flashing red.

The transition will be what it will be, but Iranians have nothing to lose.

You're transposing and superimposing your Western values, which you see as universal, onto cultural and civilizational worlds that are very different. The freedom you're talking about takes many forms—it’s quite unique in France, for example, where opinions are tightly controlled, and very different from Anglo-Saxon freedom. In China, it’s strictly collective. So in Iran... You say Iranians have nothing to lose, but that overlooks the fact that this war is mostly about money, disguised as a battle of values.

Michel

You’re projecting your own fixed ideas onto your rhetoric.

What do Iranians who died a few weeks ago care whether Donald’s goal was monetary? What do the Iranians marching today care if oil changes hands?

The goal is to no longer suffocate under the mullahs’ rule.

My "fixed ideas" have a name: the diversity of political philosophies, each too easily seen as a universal reference. I think the media you listen to gives you a biased view of the real situation; personally, I’ll refrain from judging the aspirations of Iranians.

Michel

I also think the media you listen to gives you a biased view of the real situation...

There’s not even a need to listen to or read the media.

As mentioned earlier, just look at an Iranian election. [:)]

It’s really enlightening! !

At its core, you idealize what’s presented to you as the model everyone should universally envy: democracy through universal suffrage, a somewhat oligarchic and technocratic power structure, the cult of Western rationality, human rights and egalitarianism, militant secularism—and you’re incredulous when I explain that these are intellectual and social constructs, which are worth... well, what they’re worth. 😅

Michel

You don’t have anything concrete to suggest. As usual ![;)]

I’ll let you ramble on.

Hi Agnès.

For now, Khamenei has taken refuge in his bunker... What’s he afraid of, since according to him, all his people are behind him?

I didn’t get why you sent me this message—I couldn’t care less about Khamenei. [:)] I’m way less caught up in Westernism than you are, and I’m just appalled by this new phase of World War III. Hubris has us in its grip...

Catherine

Hi Catherine,

You mentioned Khamenei and Trump in your last message. That’s the only connection.

As for war, we’re animals just like the rest.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are at each other’s throats, Russia’s attacking Ukraine, and the Iranian regime is caught in the crossfire between the U.S. and Israel after waging war on its own people (no link between the first step and the second, even if the internal frustration certainly helped push the button—not for humanitarian reasons, though).

I don’t think a peaceful world will ever happen.

Hi Agnes,

The difference between us comes down to the fact that I take a relativist, anthropological approach. In other words, you believe there are universal values—superior ones, no less—and conveniently, these happen to be your own. You think these superior values should naturally impose themselves by their own force, so it’s only right to fight against cultures, civilizations, or nations that don’t subscribe to them. So, we end up launching what can only be called crusades. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there’s a lot of talk these days—just like with Iraq before—about the “axis of evil,” malevolent figures, justice being served, and so on. I don’t believe in inherently superior values, especially when I see them waved around as an alibi for imperialist and financial ventures.

"As for war, we’re animals like any others..."

Reductio ad animam? [:)] Humans are the only animals that wage war, the only ones that fight to expand their territory, influence, or wealth. You’d almost start to lean Rousseauist.

Michel

Hi Agnès,

You mentioned Khamenei and Trump in your last message. That’s the only connection.

Yes, about Khamenei and Trump. One of them is dead, and the other, the Epic Rager, is yelling that he’ll keep hitting for a whole week nonstop.

It’s possible the bulbuls have gone silent in Tehran. So let’s make Googoosh sing instead.

https://youtu.be/v9NdIV3uza4?si=jNeROMtJskmQ0hcS

Catherine

PS: You’d make me happy if you didn’t insult animals by comparing them to humans. [;)]

Words and words and words and words and words And more words you scatter to the wind

I’m noticing that, just like with Maduro, the inner circles of dictators aren’t very reliable. The weather vanes bet on new horses and the troublemakers disappear.