“Caught and thrashed”: Hidden dangers await tourists in Iran

“Against the backdrop of Western sanctions, Iran and Russia are getting closer and closer!” said the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran in early autumn. Since then, 8 months have passed, during which relations between the Russian Federation and Iran have become even closer: the Iranians open various businesses with us, and for the first time in the history of Russian aviation we sent our European-made passenger aircraft to Tehran for repairs. But those Russians who rushed to the Islamic Republic for tourism purposes are now warning others about the “hidden dangers” of being there.

The Russian national air carrier claims that its plane, sent to Iran on April 5, is receiving “service at the highest level” there. And Iranian bioadditives, products (mainly nuts, dried fruits and spices), henna and carpets appeared in Russian cities (before they were only exclusive and very expensive, but now they are available to the mass consumer). According to Iranian diplomats, Iran also intends to increase the supply of building materials, petrochemicals, agricultural and food products to the Russian Federation.

– It is very convenient for us to work with you, – says an entrepreneur from Iran, who opened his shop in New Moscow. – Your customers are very similar to ours, we immediately became friends with many of them. And it’s great that Islamic banking is available in Russia.

Islamic banking is a way of doing business in accordance with Sharia, namely the ban on income in the form of interest from any transaction in “haram” (sinful) areas – winemaking, pig farming, the production of tobacco and “obscene” toys, as well as any business related to excitement and gender relations outside of marriage. My Iranian interlocutor, who owns a children’s goods store in the southwest of our capital, assures that “obscene toys” are not at all something related to eroticism, which most Russians probably immediately thought of.

– In our country, American dolls such as Barbie and all the like are considered obscene, since they have specially emphasized female forms and, in general, they are a frivolous example for young Muslim women. Aggressive toys are also considered obscene.

So you don’t sell pistols?

– Weapons are noble, even the smallest man has the right to play with them. But computer games, where the main goal is to exterminate, teaches children to aggression and persecution … And your mothers are the same as those in Tehran – they love not just to run in and buy, but they will come with the children, calmly, without haste. Children play goods, and mothers and I drink tea with dates.

– Is it not haram to drink tea with mothers?

– In Iranian cities, a store in a block is not just a place where something is sold, it is an interest club. People come to chat with the owner and with each other. And women are no exception.

But the Russian, who visited Iran this spring as a tourist, did not think so. And now he warns others that, in addition to the usual bans for Muslim countries (on alcohol and open clothing for women), Iran has its own “pitfalls”. A hospitable travel agency may “forget to warn” about them, but if suddenly the morality police take it into their heads to punish a foreigner, formally they will be right.

And according to local laws, tourists in the territory of Iran are prohibited from many things that we don’t even know about: men – to wear shorts, T-shirts and any clothes that open their legs, shoulders and back (they differ from women in the Muslim dress code only by the absence of a headscarf requirement ), you can not import money from Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, as well as import, buy, store and even touch any product with Israeli symbols.

– We have a lot of prohibitions, – a resident of Tehran confirms. – We break some ourselves. But all this at your own peril and risk.

The vice police may or may not close their eyes, as happened to Mahsa (a 22-year-old girl who died as a result of being detained by the vice police for not wearing a headscarf). But most of the bans apply only to Iranians – in our country, for example, women are not allowed to appear in commercials, and men are not allowed to shoot women in them. Advertising billboards with women in close-ups are not allowed, even if they are wearing hijabs. Satellite TV, Western social networks, music, movies and websites are prohibited.

Tehran is modestly silent about the fact that behind closed doors (TV, social networks, music, cinema, etc.) Tehranians do not deny themselves the “ban” behind closed doors, although they do not advertise their freethinking. But even married couples, and even foreigners, are not allowed to hold hands and generally touch each other in public places and on the street. Not to mention breaking the Islamic dress code, drinking alcohol or dancing in a public place.

– Tourists still better know why the morality police can be seriously angry with them, regarding it as a challenge to our order, – the Iranian warns. – Even alcohol is not so terrible, if somewhere in the hotel restaurant. But if a foreigner appears in a T-shirt with the symbols of Iran’s enemies, this can be regarded as a provocation.

We had a case when a tourist was beaten up wearing a T-shirt bought in Israel with an inscription in Hebrew. It wasn’t even the police who thrashed him, but just local guys. You can’t take pictures of government institutions, especially law enforcement, police and military, even if they themselves are ready to pose for you.

There was another case: one tourist in his hotel room watched a video of frivolous content through a VPN (in Iran, such resources are blocked). And since he used the hotel’s Wi-Fi, he was identified and punished.