Promoting Understanding Between Iranians and Americans
– Part 1
By Dave Eriqat and Kourosh Ziabari

This project was inspired by young Kourosh in two ways. First, I read an essay of him titled something like Inviting Americans to Iran, which led me to contact him. Oddly enough, his essay seems to have vanished from that website, so I cannot provide a link to the essay. After I contacted him he gathered the mistaken impression from my own writing that I was some kind of journalist with a wide following, and invited me to interview him! Despite my correcting him about my true humble stature, we decided to do this project anyway. Ironically, Kourosh is the real journalist, not I! Dave Eriqat

INTERVIEW

These questions are asked in no particular order. They may seem rather simplistic, but that’s deliberate because they are intended to anticipate the questions an average, ignorant (of Iran) American might ask an Iranian, given the opportunity.

HISTORY AND CULTURE

Dave Eriqat: I remember when I was in junior high school, one of my best friends was a Persian fellow. I always thought it peculiar that he referred to himself as Persian and his country as Persia rather than Iran, though I never had the temerity to ask him why. Do Iranians prefer to be called "Iranian" or "Persian"? Why the distinction?

Kourosh Ziabari: I can clarify the distinction by giving you a simple example. Consider another major empire which enjoys a same historical background of Iran; the country which we call Greece today. The historical name of that territory was "Hellas" and the people of Hellas were being called "Hellenic" for thousands of years principally; due to the changing social and political conditions, they are now called "Greek".

Persia sketches the same image. It is the historical, ancient name of Iran and manifests 15,000 years of civilization, culture and "honor"; while Iran is the name which at its utmost returns to 73 years ago.

Persia is used mostly by Iranians inside and outside the country to attest the glorious past of Iran as a dominating power throughout the history. It has been renamed by the former Reza Shah and lacks the enough historical backbone; nevertheless, we all respect the name of our country today. Such a problem might be instinctive in historical countries. They undergo various transformations during times and that’s something spontaneous, commonly found in Italy, Greece, China, India and Egypt.

DE: How old is Persia?

KZ: According to the historical, proved evidences, Iran is enjoying the world’s oldest civilization with an approximate history of 15,000 years. Prior to Iranians, there were some hordes and tribes who had been settling in disparate parts of the world as mere inhabitants without any classified or recorded lifestyle and civilization. Nevertheless, Iranians were the first people to invent the symbols of culture and derive benefits from them. The very early scientists, poets, essayists, inventors, academicians and rhetoricians in the lineage of science belong to Iran and you know most of them; Rudaki, Mevlana, Hafez, Ferdowsi, Rhazes, Farabi, Avicenna and Khawrizmi.

Furthermore, you may have heard that the first charter of Human Rights in the world is the one which was written and compiled by Cyrus the Great, an Ancient Persian king of 500 B.C. This charter is known globally as the "Cyrus Cylinder" and is the first official universal declaration of human rights in the history.

DE: A lot of Americans think Iranians are Arabs, probably because Iran is in the vicinity of Arab countries. Are Iranians Arabs or related to Arabs in any way? How do Iranians truly feel about Arabs? Do you personally have any Arab acquaintances?

KZ: Actually, as you said, Iranians are just living adjacent to a bunch of Arab countries, and no more. Iran is among the rare countries in the world which has such as a marvelous and unprecedented ethnic diversity, for you can find all the tribes of Arabs, Kurds, Turks, Azeris, Turkmens, Gileks and Persians in Iran. In the southern parts of Iran and in the vicinity of the Persian Gulf, the Arab minorities of Iran do live, where they have been settling in a peaceful co-existence with the other flocks and races for more than 1500 years and even have some strong national feelings toward Iran, despite their different language.

One interesting facet of the truth about the neighboring Arab countries of Iran is that all of them, except Saudi Arabia, were once a part of Greater Persia. For instance, UAE was the latest of Arab states which has been separated from Iran. It took its independence from us 37 years ago, and we still consider them as our close allies; similarly, the people of Emirates pay abundant reverence and honors to Iranians and designate their country as the second home of Iranians.

As far as the Arab world is concerned, we pay an equal tribute to all of the world nations regardless of which language, color, nationality and religion they cling to. As our religion says, faith, knowledge and science are the virtues that differentiate the throngs of people from each other and put them in a superior position; so we judge on people based on their dispositions, qualities and insight, whether they are Africans, Americans, Asians or Europeans.

DE: What languages do the people of Iran speak? Kourosh, your English is excellent. Do many people in Iran speak more than one language?

KZ: Dear Dave, I am flattered to be said I am excellent in English. However, we have many people in our country with multilingual competencies. For example, the late Prof. Mahmoud Hessabi, a famous student of Prof. Einstein and the eminent scholar of math-physics, was almost conversant in all English, French, Deutsch, Spanish, Arabic, Hebrew, Aramaic and Urdu. Moreover, we have many students, especially language students, who can eloquently speak English and other European languages as well. The official language of Iran itself if Persian, but we have some fifty local dialects all over the country which are not even a bit similar to Persian! This is again an indicator of unique cultural diversity which you can find in Iran.

Additionally, many of the journalists, almost all of the university professors and political figures are fluent in more than language. It may be surprising, but, President Ahmadinejad himself is conversant in English and French, but he never speaks them officially or in the media, for some reasons which we can anticipate.

DE: Does Iran make an effort to preserve its architectural and historical monuments? Can you give an example of a recent such preservation effort?

KZ: Definitely! Architecture and cultural heritage in Iran form a major and substantive part of our identity, our past and our future. There are some heavy forfeits decreed for those who harm or damage the national heritage sites and architectural vestiges.

There are a large number of projects underway for the renovation, restoration, reconstruction and perseverance of historical monument. One of the most recent examples is the joint project of Iran and Italy to restore the historical tomb of Cyrus the Great which has been successfully accomplished a few days ago by the removal of metal cages and scaffoldings off the tomb.

Also Iran has shared a stock of joint projects with Portugal and UK for the excavation of ancient castles in the southern Iran which would be some great news for those in love of historical castles, as well!

DE: How “modern” is Iran? I suspect a lot of Americans have an image of Iranians living in simple brick houses in desert-like environments. After all, whenever we see news of a disastrous earthquake that destroys thousands of houses, it’s always places like that. What percentage of Iranians live like that compared to those who live in modern cities rivaling any throughout the world?

KZ: Unfortunately, in contrast to what the mainstream media portrays, Iran is more westernized than it should have been. Once, I was talking to Prof. Vivian J. Cook, the famous linguist scholar of Newcastle University who had come to my city, Rasht, to attend an international congress of linguistics in the Guilan University, where I study. He was dazzled by the architecture and construction of different facilities of the university and admitted sharply that even the Newcastle University does not enjoy such a modern environment.

You can come here and see that there are some slight evident differences between the Iranian cities and their western counterparts. Elevated towers, impressive edifices, protracted arc bridges, 5 start hotels, 4-band highways and all of the signs which a modern country should have, are found here.

Again unfortunately, the delicate and desirable signs of Middle Eastern architecture are becoming rather rare in Iran, and Milad Tower, which is 4th tallest communication tower of the world located in Tehran, is my proof.

However, the rustic houses have still their traditional and oriental architecture preserved; with spacious courtyards, green hedges and pales, hilltop and gable-shaped canopies, clayish chimneys, earthen walls and stiff doorways made of timber and mahogany.

FAMILY LIFE

DE: American families are not as close-knit as those of other cultures. In America a sign of “maturity” and “success” is the ability to form one’s own household. So each generation typically has its own household, separate from those of other generations. In fact, family households in America are often separated by hundreds of miles, and family members go months or even years without seeing each other. Does this differ from Iranian households?

KZ: "Family" is considered the most fundamental and essential base of the whole society in Iran and nobody is allowed to "scatter" this cohesion in any way. All of the family members live together until the children marry and go on their own, that is acceptable; otherwise, it would be a sign of impertinence, impudence and offense that you separate your household from the other members of family and establish your own household.

Furthermore, it is an emphatic order of Islam to regularly have relation and association with your near and far family members. This commitment is figuratively called the "Bond of Relatives" and those who abandon it would be "peccant" religiously.

DE: What is Iranian home life like? In other words, which family members reside at home? Who cooks and cleans? Who goes out and works? Who goes to school? How many meals does the family eat together at home?

KZ: The Iranian home is a pure manifestation of Persian Culture and lifestyle. The most esteemed and blessed components in this home are Holy Quran, Persian carpet, Persian Library which would be containing the prestigious masterpieces of Iranian literature including Shahnameh of Ferdowsi, Couplets of Khayyam and Mathnawi of Mevlana etc.

In the modern-day families, parents and children are the residents, while in some of the expanded families with more traditional tendency, grandparents also do live. Cleaning in the past 30 years was an absolute responsibility of housewife, but today it is shared by the wife and husband, but cooking still is an accomplishment of the thrifty matron. Obviously it is the children who go to school, but they are usually accompanied by one of the parents until they reach the school.

According to unwritten custom, all of the three main meals should be served with the presence of all members who are at home. If, for example, the senior boy is at home, and he does not join the other family members at the dinner table, that would be an unfavorable sign of dissatisfaction and cause indignation and turbidity in the home.

DE: Do people in Iran own their homes or rent? In America it’s not uncommon for people to spend one-third to one-half of their income on housing. What percentage of their income must Iranians spend on housing?

KZ: The rate of home ownership in Iran increased dramatically during the past 10 years. According to the Iranian Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, 75% of Iranian people hold their own homes and the remaining 25% live in rental houses.

An average Iranian who lives in a rental house should dedicate a same amount of one-half of his/her median income to surmount the payment of renting, therefore it would be evident that those who live in their own homes usually do not spend anything for the housing expenses.

DE: At what age to Iranians marry? After they marry, do they live with their parents or do they set up their own households?

KZ: Marriage, in the traditional culture and ancient beliefs of Iranian people, especially after they embraced Islam, has played a substantive and eminent role so far. Early marriage is considered as a solution of answering your indigenous and innate needs for which some people choose the unhealthy and illegal relations.

The average age of marriage in Iran floats between 18 and 35, but the religious creeds narrate that it would not be rational, proper to marry after one surpassed 25 for it might have harmful physical consequences for the couple and their children.

The wedding ceremony in Iran is a major concern and the whole family tries its best to provide enough resources and money to inaugurate a dignified, splendid and often sumptuous ceremony for the commencement of a new life.

It’s a sign of weakness and shame for the man to not have an independent home for himself and surprisingly, it’s a crucial precondition of girl’s family to accept with their daughter’s marriage that the boy should certainly have the "primary necessities" of a new life including home, personal car and career. So I can confess, without having any recorded stats, that near to 95 percent of Iranian couples, start their joint life in their own home upon marriage.

DE: In most two-parent households in America, both parents work. How does Iran compare to that?

KZ: There is not any particular difference here. In some families, both parents work, and in the others, only men do. But it mostly depends on the financial situation of that special family and whether they are able to afford the life expenses by the single occupation of one of them or not.

FOOD, ENTERTAINMENT AND RECREATION

DE: Iran is known for producing caviar. What other foods is Iran known internationally for?

KZ: You know that food is a reflection of culture in each society, and in a diverse, plural society such as Iran which is constituted of several sub-cultures and subdivisions, food is something which could be found in different variants.

For example, in addition to Caviar, which is an exclusive exportable product of Iran, Persian Tea is something which has gained international popularity during recent times. Persian Tea is different from those which are produced in China, Sri Lanka, India or Bangladesh because of its quality, freshness and naturalness. The artificial additions are not added to Persian Tea in order to change or ameliorate its taste; such additional essences that you can find in the tea of eastern Asia contain chemicals which cause negative physical symptoms in the long-term for the people.

Persian Kebab is another globally renowned, ubiquitous cuisine which is irresistibly delicious and tasty.

Furthermore, yogurt, which is a dairy product produced by bacterial fermentation of milk and is nutritionally rich in protein, calcium, riboflavin, is a kind of on-the-table dessert, served alongside the main dishes and is common in Iran, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.

DE: Can you describe two classic Persian food dishes that are particularly popular at home? For example, pizza and hamburgers are a couple of favorites in America.

KZ: Believe that if you test some sorts of Persian dishes, even for one time, you will employ an exclusive Persian cook for yourself to cook you Persian cuisines perpetually!!

You should be wisely selective and astute to name a few among thousands of variants that could be found on the Persian table-cloth. But let’s mention one of the most popular stews here to not empty the battleground!! "Fesenjan" which is a thick, tart stew made from pomegranate juice, ground walnuts and traditionally made with poultry.

The other one is "Kebab Barg", a Persian style barbecued lamb, chicken or beef kebab. The main ingredients of Kebab Barg are fillets of beef tenderloin, lamb shank or chicken breast onion adorned with olive oil.

Traditional Persian cuisine is culturally and nutritionally rich with the most delicious and fantastic foods which one can imagine. As I know, there is at least one big restaurant in each state of the US that serves Persian Foods exclusively. Though in some states, you can find Persian restaurants in every city!

DE: From photographs I’ve seen, Iran is a land of diverse climates: deserts, snow covered mountains, magnificent cities. Can you elaborate on the variety of climates and environments in Iran? By the way, to the people in Iran like to ski in the mountains?

KZ: As you mentioned correctly, Iran is the country of four seasons, which means that you can find the climate of all four seasons simultaneously in Iran. For instance, when the citizens of "Hormozgan" province of Southern Iran turn on their air conditioners and coolers in the torrid and astringent days of summer, the people of "Ardabil" tighten their quilts, blankets and ignite the fire of their heaters under the wing of heavy snow.

Iran’s climate ranges from arid or semiarid, to subtropical along the Caspian coast and the northern forests. On the northern edge of the country temperatures nearly fall below freezing and it remains humid for the rest of the year.

DE: Are there parks, museums and zoos in the cities of Iran? How much does it cost to visit them?

KZ: According to the latest stats, there are nearly 120 major museums all around Iran and I can name some of the most-visited among them all; e.g. the Museum of Cinematography, the Museum of Ancient Persia, the Iranian Museum of Cultural Heritage, the Iranian Museum of Time, Museum of Coin, Telephone, Post & Telegraph Museum, Mir Emad Calligraphy Museum, National Museum of Iran, Treasury of National Jewelry etc.

The number of zoos and parks exceeds what I could count. Most of these places are free to visit, but the base payment would range between 1.5 to 3.5 dollars.

DE: Shopping is dear to the hearts of Americans, and shopping malls are a prominent feature across America. Does Iran have large shopping malls?

KZ: There is an exceptionally large number of large malls and department stores in Iran. Two prominent brands are Refah chain stores and Shahrvand chain stores, each of which has more than 100 branches country-wide.

Also you can find numerous such malls in Qeshm and Kish islands in the Persian Gulf, and it’s prevalent that each province capital has at least one ultra-shopping mall with chains in the neighboring cities.