What? In Backward Iran? Iran is behind the times only if you read or listen to American and Israeli propaganda. It is au courant if you visit the country and get a first-hand glimpse of reality.
Trade Fair. During my recent visit to Tehran, I attended a fascinating trade fair and cultural exhibition. Jampacked with visitors, you felt like part of a pinball game, bouncing off the throngs of people crowding the walkways between exhibits. In fact, it was one of the few areas of my visit where it was next to impossible to take pictures, unless you wanted to show the huge crowds fascinated with the variety of items on exhibit. There was almost no place to park and the visitors were so many that shuttle carts transported guests to and from the exhibits hall.
There were booths showing metallurgy and minerals exploration, medical tourism, designer clothing, handicrafts, and visitor farms.
Surprisingly, I was overwhelmed by the designer clothing and visitor farms. The woman with the clothing booth told me that she combined traditional Iranian women’s fashion patterns with foreign motifs, particularly from Latin America. She was also a musician, wearing one of her creations. Fascinated with her story, I regretted not being able to spend more time chatting with her. But then, she was there to sell her wares and be recognized for being a talented designer, not to satisfy my curiosity.
Here are some other, trendy Iranian fashion designs taken from the internet.
Farms. Visitor or tourist farms were another interesting attraction. Combining eco-friendly and water saving processes, the farm exhibiting there provided comfortable accommodations and delicious food. Not only were there greenhouses spraying water mists on the trees and plants, there were outdoor orchards using underground drip irrigation, preventing evaporation in the dry climate. This is not the only one in the country. A quick perusal of the Internet produces a list of what is becoming a part of Iranian tourism, celebrating nature and not just historical sites.
Technology. I also traveled to Iran’s very own Silicon Valley, about 25 kilometers (ca. 15 miles) northeast of Tehran.
This was a truly astonishing visit to a facility with ultra-modern buildings housing high-technology sites. Pardis takes its name from Islamic heaven, Paradise. Its goal is to support new ideas and technologies, joining them to industry. Another objective is the commercialization of practical scientific achievements. The idea is to create a suitable platform for technology growth and market development.
Established in 2005, Pardis is the largest technology park in the country. To date, roughly 250 high-tech and knowledge-based companies, ranging from Information and Communication Technology to Mechanical Engineering through Biotechnology and Nanotechnology have set up shop.
The organization’s intent is to bring leading scientists, tech experts, and others to work there. There is an emphasis on promoting the concept to Muslims around the world. I attended a presentation to Islamic journalists from Croatia, Tunisia, Ghana, Russia, Georgia, and Turkey, to name a few countries.
One great advantage is that the park offers tax-free investment and operation for 20 years. Its website is www.techpark.ir. An additional benefit is that the park is building elegant new housing nearby, to quarter its staff and experts.
Film. I and others were treated to an evening of first-class clips from documentaries, feature films, music videos, and cartoons produced by the Owj Arts and Media Organization. These were of astonishingly high-quality, comparable to first-class Bollywood productions. Sharply-focused, detailed, and filled with obviously highly-skilled work, the pieces shown us were amazing. Heretofore, my knowledge of Iranian films was restricted to mediocre productions shown at Washington, D.C.-based festivals. Here’s Owj’s logo:
After the presentation, I queried Owj’s management, asking if their products wouldn’t be a good way of entering the American market and presenting a more realistic view of Iran. They agreed. However, I was told that U.S. censorship blocked them. They could not break through the solid wall of invincible American ignorance. However, management did note that they were having great success with all their products in South and Southwest Asia and North Africa, regions with pervasive Yankee influence.
Ignorance Might Be Bliss But It Sure Is Frustrating. Why did I have to fly to Iran to learn what should be readily available in the United States? The Islamic Republic is not on the Dark Side of the Moon. Nor is it an entity that sprang up overnight. However, it, its people, its history, its technology are kept from the rest of the world. Why? To maintain the fiction that Iranians aren’t people, that they are subhuman, that they are Untermenschen. And to keep the rest of the world in darkness, for the benefit of Neocons, Ziocons, and the Apartheid Entity.
The American writer Mark Twain said it all:
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”
J. Michael Springmann is an attorney, author, political commentator, and former diplomat, with postings to Germany, India, and Saudi Arabia. He previously authored, Visas for Al Qaeda: CIA Handouts That Rocked the World: An Insider’s View, recounting how the U.S. created and used Islamic Terrorism. Additionally, he penned Goodbye, Europe? Hello, Chaos? Merkel’s Migrant Bomb, an analysis of the alien wave sweeping the Continent. He currently practices law in the Washington D.C. Area. He is a frequent commentator on Arab and Russian news programs.
He is also on the Ukraine’s “Enemies List”, having questioned, inter alia, the country’s refusal to honor the Minsk Accords and for stating that its government is Nazified.