Bet you Didn't Know this About Iran

Think Iran is all about grumpy mullahs and anti-American rallies? Think again. Below, we outline a few surprising aspects of Iranian culture you probably didn't know. 

 

Women study more than men

Iran was one of the first countries in the Middle East to allow girls and women to attend in higher education, which it did in 1933. Campaigners worked hard to make sure girls received the same education as boys, including early education pioneers such as Bersabeh Hovsepian, who championed education for all children, and early women’s rights activist Sediqeh Dowlatabadi, who called for the establishment of schools for girls and whose values were rooted in the country’s Constitutional Movement, which took place in the first part of the twentieth century. 

Student numbers have increased since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and the number of female students continued to rise throughout the 1990s, until, in 2001, during the presidency of Mohammad Khatami, female students outnumbered males. In 2012, females made up more than 62 percent of the overall student body.

Throughout the years, not everyone has been thrilled with this success story, and women have faced successive battles in protecting their rights to learn. During the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (2005-2013), the government placed new restrictions on women in education.

“According to new rules, female students are banned from studying in 77 degree courses in 36 universities”, Mehr News reported on August 6, 2012. Activists mobilized protests against the bans, including at Azad University in Tehran and Chamran University in Ahvaz, and appealed to politicians to lobby on their behalf. But Kamran Daneshjoo, Iran’s science minister at the time, was adamant that the rules would not be changed — even if those fighting to protect the right to education ended up killing themselves, he said.

These moves to stifle women’s progress have had little impact on their desire to study, and women have fought hard to protect these rights. According to figures supplied by Mohammad Farhadi, Iran Science minister, in the 2015-2016 academic year, female students made up 54 percent of the student population. For them, education is not only a chance for them to learn and launch a career, but it is also a way of gaining some independence — and for some, a way of escaping the demands of a very conservative, traditional life in their parents’ homes.

 

Iranians are the largest consumers of opium in the world. 

In Iran, more than 1,325,000 people suffer from some sort of drug addiction.  According to Mehr News, Iranians consume 500 tons of different types of drugs annually.

Iran’s health ministry reports that Iran is the biggest consumer of opium, representing 42 per cent of global consumption. The biggest producer of opium, Afghanistan, is close enough to provide cheap narcotics for 55 percent of Iranian addicts. When the amount of production in Afghanistan increases, the prices decreases in Iran, so it is easier to come by opium than any other drug. It is especially common in the eastern provinces. Despite being illegal, and harsh punishments for possession  — including possible execution for drug traffickers — Iranians continue to consume large amounts of opium every year.

Methamphetamine is the second most popular drug amongst Iranians, used by 26 percent of drug users in Iran, according to Fars News.  Recently, The price of methamphetamine almost doubled — leading many addicts to turn to heroin as an alternative. Crystal meth, or “shishe” as Iranians call it, is particularly popular with some young Iranians. The rocky, highly addictive form of meth can be found in most of Iran’s major cities, and crystal meth production is on the rise in Iran.  

Most recently, so-called “Chinese heroin” has come on to the market — cheap and new to Iran’s market, this crack-like substance (which is most likely not from China) is gradually gaining popularity, although no official statistics on the amount Iranians consume is available.  

 

Iranian women light up the Iranian silver screen

 

Iran’s film industry is full of women directors, actors and other professionals. Iran’s first female director, Shahla Riahi, started her career as a cinema actor before the Islamic revolution. Her husband was a director, so she had the opportunity to learn about filmmaking. She directed her first move, Marjan, in 1956. She is one of the few Iranian artists — including musicians and singers — who didn’t leave Iran after the revolution and continued her career in acting.

There are more than 30 official — those who have secured permits from the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance to make films and have them screened — female film directors in Iran.

One of Iran’s most famous female directors is Rakhshan Bani-Etemad, who was awarded the Best Screenplay prize for her film Tales at the 71st Venice Film Festival (2014). Another accomplished director and screenwriter is Tahmineh Milani,  who challenges gender discrimination in her work.  (/en/special-features/61357m )

Iran also boasts many successful female actors, including Leila Hatami and Golshifteh Farahani. Both have received international recognition as well as being celebrated in Iran. 

 

Iranians love dancing wherever they can

 

There are no clubs in Iran, and women and men are not allowed to dance together in public — but that doesn’t stop Iranians from dancing. In fact, they embrace any opportunity to dance, whether it’s a family gathering, a party at a friend’s house, or day trip to the mountains or woods. It is not uncommon to head off for a hike near Tehran or Shiraz and bump into a group of Iranians setting up for dancing, equipped with battery-operated loudspeakers, CD players and smartphones, or who park their cars nearby and use their car stereos to provide music for dancing. Young Iranians sometimes even dance while on long road trips turning coach journeys operated by private companies into mobile dance halls. They’re also well versed at spotting the police and morality patrols, and making it look as if they hadn’t been doing anything untoward....

Persian traditional dance — which goes back thousands of years —  is still the most popular form of dance. The dance style changes from region or city, and can be influenced by Iran’s various ethnic groups. Dancing is an important aspect of most parts of Iranian culture: for entertainment, celebrations, and sometimes part of religious practice.  

Occasionally, Iranians get the chance to dance in the streets without getting into trouble. Police tend to turn a blind eye to unacceptable behavior at times of national celebration — for example, if the national football team wins a match. When Iran signed the nuclear deal with the leaders of some of the world’s most powerful countries, people came out on the streets to celebrate, and police showed uncharacteristic tolerance for the party.

 

Women can sing — but only to each other

Iranian women were banned from singing solo in front of men not in their family shortly after the 1979 Islamic revolution. Some politicians, members of the clergy and other groups that endorse the banning of women playing live in front of mixed audiences argue that these kinds of performances are riddled with danger because it goes directly against Islamic values as they see it.  A woman singing is too provocative and arousing, they say. 

So women are only allowed to sing in front of men as part of a group. If they want to give a solo performance, they can only sing in front of other women. Solo female singers host concerts for women — every week, there are concerts in Tehran, Qazvin, and Shiraz, and elsewhere. They work hard to promote their careers, despite restrictive rules and constraints on their talents, and the fact that the venues reserved for women’s performances are generally of a lower standard than those used for male or mixed group artists.

 

An American helped build Iran’s economy  

In 1911, Iran’s leaders hired an American, William Morgan Shuster, to serve as the country's treasurer general. Shuster's job was to help Iran build its economy and root out corruption, thereby stabilizing the democratic trend established by Iran's Constitutional Revolution five years earlier. Shuster set to work overhauling Iran's tax system and challenging vested interests, much to the disappointment of the country’s old elites and their European friends, who had benefited from Iran’s chaotic, foreign-dominated economy. Shuster lasted only eight months in his job. Russia, objecting to Shuster's reforms, invaded Iran and put an end to Iran’s first democratic experiment. Today, few Iranians remember Shuster. Yet some of the conclusions he drew while in Iran — about the role the county’s women would play in trying to forge change, and about an unstable future marred by violence, were surprisingly accurate. 

 

The biggest holiday is not an Islamic one

 

Since the foundation of the Islamic Republic in 1979, Iran’s leaders have linked national identity with the tenets of Shia Islam, and Iran’s clergy have put itself in charge of promoting a strong interpretation of what this means for modern Iranian society. Islamic holidays are marked with reverence, elaborate traditions, and public marks of devotion — especially when it comes to Shia holidays such as the Mourning of Muharram and the Day of Ashura. But for the majority of Iranians, the biggest holiday is not an Islamic one — it’s a distinctly Persian tradition with links to Zoroastrianism. The holiday, Nowruz, or Persian New Year, celebrates the coming of spring, and is also celebrated in several countries in Central Asia and the Middle East. Holiday traditions include the haft sin, an elaborate table setting with seven distinct features, and listening to Haji Firouz, a musician with a soot-covered face wearing red, and his accompanying crew. Nowruz takes place on the first day of spring, but can last for weeks. People travel across the country to visit families, and most businesses are closed. Tehran is quiet and relatively unpolluted. Since the presidency of George HW Bush, the White House has issued a Nowruz-themed message, and Barack Obama’s administration hosted a Nowruz celebrations to mark the holiday with Iranian-Americans. 

 

Many of Iran’s leaders went to university in the United States

President Hassan Rouhani’s cabinet is packed with US-educated politicians. In fact, according to the Atlantic, in 2013 there were more people with PhDs from the US than in the American president Barack Obama’s administration.

Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, has a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from MIT; Rouhani’s head of staff Mohammad Nahavandian studied at George Washington University, and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif studies at the University of San Francisco and the University of Denver (though he has written about how he and his wife shied away from embracing US culture — she demanded they live without a TV for a period).

The president himself studied at Glasgow Caledonia University in the United Kingdom. 

 

Iran boasts some fine ski resorts

When most people outside Iran think of the country, they usually think of the buzz of Tehran or perhaps the great monuments like the world-famous Persepolis. They might know a bit about Persian cuisine and culture. But most won’t be aware that Iran is a great place for skiing, and is increasingly becoming popular with foreigners looking for a new adventure — and an affordable one at that. Four of the main resorts — Dizin, Shemshak, Ab Ali and Tochal —  are near Tehran.  Dizin, the biggest resort in the country, is one of the 40 highest ski slopes in the world. One Australian tourist who visited Dizin said on TripAdvisor: “We had powder on the first day as it had snowed the night before, and this was excellent. The snow was dry and really lovely to ski on.” Iran currently has 26 ski resorts, though only six of them meet international standards on modernization and competition suitability.

Iranians love their pet dogs — despite fierce opposition

Despite the Islamic notion that dogs are unclean, many people keep dogs as pets. They do so at considerable risk, since dog walking in public places is banned and some politicians are calling for harsher punishments for people flouting the law, including lashes. In some cities — Shiraz is one — local authorities have promoted a dog euthanasia policy in a bid to make the city cleaner. But pet owners have fought their corner, protesting against what they see as fear-mongering, ignorance and downright brutality. They have gone out on the streets to protect the rights of animals in several cities, appealed to MPs, and supported dog shelters in cities around the country, including in Tabriz. The son of one of the country’s most celebrated human rights activists has been a lead campaigner for animal rights. 

Unfortunately, there have been a number of attacks on shelters continue, and last year a park warden shot a pet dog while its owner stood by. 

 

Iran is home to some cutting-edge fashion

Young Iranians love the latest fashion and do what they can to make sure dress codes promoted by the morality police and conservative clerics don’t impact too much on their style. Fashion designers with the young generation in mind work hard to make sure they provide cutting-edge, creative inspiration. Sharif Razavi, the director of Iranian model agency Behpoosh, believes that fashion in Iran has experienced a revolution. In the last couple of years, he says, catwalks have popped up across the capital, and in other major cities too. “In the last year alone,” he told the Guardian in 2015, we’ve seen more than a hundred.”

Behpoosh is one of several modeling agencies that has been forced to keep a low profile. But about three and half years ago, Razavi wrote a letter to the supreme leader. He asked him if Islam actually forbids modeling and fashion or not. The answer was no. So several agencies, including Behpoosh, started operating openly, hosting fashion shows in public that had once only taken place in private.

Of course, this doesn’t mean restrictions have been lifted. Only shows that follow strict Islamic dress code as set out by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance will receive a permit to hold a fashion show or other event. These shows must follow Islamic rules and the female models always cover their bodies, including their hair. 

There are still some model agencies and models who prefer to work freely and operate underground — but some can escape and some are less fortunate. In January, the Revolutionary Guards arrested seven fashion models after they had posted photos on Instagram, many of them photos of the female models not wearing the Islamic hijab. Later, in March, they bullied several models, launching “spider attacks” against them and blocking their Instagram pages. 

Every year, the ministry organizes a  “Chastity and Veil” exhibition, calling for designers and agencies to do their part to promote appropriate Islamic dress for women. Often, the exhibition does not actually include models wearing the new designs, but photographs of them instead. When there are exhibitions featuring live models, models are asked to attend workshops in proper “Islamic-Iranian” protocol. One of the directors of the courses said models are taught to “walk straight without superfluous movements and stare ahead” and that attempts are even made to muffle the sound of the models’ steps when they walk. 

Despite the regime’s hostility against fashion shows, Iranian fashion buffs can attend quite a few private women-only events in dress shops and at people’s homes.