close button
Switch to Iranwire Light?
It looks like you’re having trouble loading the content on this page. Switch to Iranwire Light instead.
Society & Culture

“Fuck U, Villain”: Iran's Ashoura Graffiti

November 19, 2013
Nafiseh Parastesh
3 min read
“Fuck U, Villain”: Iran's Ashoura Graffiti
“Fuck U, Villain”: Iran's Ashoura Graffiti
“Fuck U, Villain”: Iran's Ashoura Graffiti
“Fuck U, Villain”: Iran's Ashoura Graffiti
“Fuck U, Villain”: Iran's Ashoura Graffiti
“Fuck U, Villain”: Iran's Ashoura Graffiti
“Fuck U, Villain”: Iran's Ashoura Graffiti
“Fuck U, Villain”: Iran's Ashoura Graffiti
“Fuck U, Villain”: Iran's Ashoura Graffiti
“Fuck U, Villain”: Iran's Ashoura Graffiti

Traffic police in Iran have put down the law in no uncertain terms: it is illegal to add anything to cars that might distract other drivers, be it gadgets, curtains, colors or graffiti. But the enforcement of that proviso appears to be suspended during the holy days of Moharram, the month when Shi’ites mourn the martyrdom of Imam Hossain. Witness the large number of cars across Iran bearing graffiti on their windows and bodies.

Breaking the law during Moharram, however, does not stop at car ornamentation. Judging by car graffiti around the town, Iranians are also free to use expressions or words that in other times would be morally unacceptable and likely actionable by authorities if uttered in public. Curse Yazid or Shemr, the top villains of the Shia martyrdom saga, and you can emblazon the most provocative language across your car window and drive about town.The colonel commanding Tehran province’s traffic police warned in 2010: “Graffiti on car windows, popular in the past few years in occasions such as Moharram, is a violation of the law and the violators will be dealt with accordingly. People, especially the young people, must respect the law and refrain from writing on car windows or hanging banners that block the driver’s view.”

This is “not only a danger to themselves,” he added, “but also creates accident risks for pedestrians and other cars’ passengers.” He even went so far as to say that such cars will not be permitted on the road until and unless view-blocking graffiti is completely removed.

Yet neither the colonel's the warnings, nor the explicit regulations against car graffiti, nor the risks of having their cards impounded have prevented graffiti-mad drivers from dressing up their cars and driving around towns and villages during Moharram.

While Tehran’s traffic police commander made his position clear in 2010, it seems not all officials share his objection. His counterpart in Isfahan recently told Iranian media that  “the police finds nothing wrong with writing short sentences on the cars, provided they are removed after the Moharram period.”While Isfahan's traffic commander conceded that car graffiti would distract drivers, his position suggests that religious devotion trumps safety during the holy month of Moharram. “Considering the devotion of people to Imam Hossain, the police willallow car graffiti, provided it does not cover the whole car.”Interestingly, newspapers and website have reported no news of police taking action against car graffiti, and indeed have news agencies and other official media have promoted and praised car graffiti during holy days by covering the colorful traffic with reports and pictures.

In the days leading to the high mourning period, one can find people standing on the curbs offering to do car graffiti—a religious phrase, a line about the martyrdom or curses on Imam’s enemies —for free or for payment.But recently Moharram car graffiti has taken a remarkable turn. It has become popular to display gross curses against Yazid and Shemr, or to ridicule the two villains. Some of the graffiti on the rear windows would only lead to deep embarrassment if voiced in a public space.In recent years websites have published very few pictures of these graffiti. But this year social networks and weblogs have published extensive photos showing the growing popularity of borderline offensive language across the country. Some of the more interesting examples include “Rascal Yazid”, “Fuck your mother Yazid”, “Fuck you Yazid” (in English), “Yazid, Zero for Conduct”, “Yazid The Ass, Bovine Class”, “Yazid, Son of A Heathen“ and “Why did you do it Yazid?”

Most published pictures show the cars driving around or waiting for traffic light to change. It all goes to show that such graffiti, even those with vulgar curses, are not banned during Moharram, and that for Iranian authorities, the spirit of religiosity and the culture of Shia mourning is to be prized over consistency in law enforcement. 

comments

Society & Culture

Shooting for the Top: Jonas Lalehzadeh’s Journey from Khuzestan to Tulsa

November 19, 2013
ByHanif Kashani
13 min read
Shooting for the Top: Jonas Lalehzadeh’s Journey from Khuzestan to Tulsa