“Negative stereotypes about the Russian Federation live not only in the West”

Friends jokingly call our interlocutor “the love product of Russia and Iran”, because her mother is Russian, and her father is Persian. We cite this fact not for the sake of jokes – by origin, the words “mother” in Russian and Persian are closely related.

– Lana, tell us what is the modern culture of Iran, what types of art are in demand in the 21st century?

– Iranian culture is based on the Shia religion, as Iran is an Islamic country. Therefore, the religious aspect is put at the forefront there. Compliance with Islamic commandments is officially considered the basis of a prosperous life for people. In Iranian educational institutions and the media, they constantly talk about the life of the founder of the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini, about the martyrdom of the Shiite Imam Hussein in the 7th century, about the heroism of the “shahids” (martyrs who died for a just cause, as a rule, in the Iran-Iraq war). But this does not mean that other cultural aspects are neglected. Literature, art and architecture are rapidly developing in Iran. As for art, in Iran, traditionally well developed are kashikari (tile making) and hatamkari (encrusting caskets and other objects with decorative patterns), calligraphy and some others. Items decorated with calligraphy and made using the hatamkari technique are still popular with tourists. Of the modern art forms in Iran, cinematography occupies a prominent place. Directors Mohsen Makhmalbaf and Asghar Farhadi have gained worldwide fame. The short film “Driving Lessons” by Marzieh Riahi won Best Film at the 42nd Big Muddy Film Festival in 2020. In 2017, Farhadi’s The Salesman won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

– But meanwhile, Iran is portrayed as a closed country.

– Calling Iran a completely closed country is an exaggeration. Iranians pay great attention to popularizing their language and culture in the world. Every year, tens of thousands of foreign students (from all over the world, mainly from neighboring countries – Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan) come to Iran to study various specialties or improve their knowledge of the Persian language. If we talk about the state cultural policy of Iran, then it contacts mainly with Persian-speaking countries (Afghanistan and Tajikistan). In 2006, a commission for cultural cooperation was established in Dushanbe. Iran’s cultural ties with Pakistan and Turkey are also growing. And if we talk about the Iranian society itself, then believing Iranian Muslims are interested in the culture of Arab and Islamic countries, and secular Iranians are interested in modern Western culture. There is a fashionable fascination with Korean and Japanese cultures. Recently, some Iranians have become interested in Russian culture.

– What can be said about the Iranian-Russian cultural ties?

– They exist, but are not yet well developed. The cultural center at the Iranian embassy in Russia opened more than 20 years ago. Then its leader was the ex-ambassador of Iran to the Russian Federation Mehdi Sanai, who began active work on the presentation of Iranian culture in Russia. Also, former Ambassador Seyyed Mahmoud Reza Sajjadi did a lot in this direction, who spoke in his blog about Iranian art, music and religion. The cultural representation of Iran in Moscow constantly holds various events (performances by Iranian musicians, exhibitions of works by Iranian calligraphers, etc.).

But, unfortunately, such an aspect of cultural ties as tourism is very poorly developed, and the inhabitants of both countries are still very little familiar, for example, with the richest architectural heritage of each other. Russia is visited annually by about 80,000 Iranian tourists (28th position by country). Iran, despite the huge number of historical sights and developed tourist infrastructure, practically does not attract Russians – it is not even in the TOP-60 in terms of the number of visits (less than 13 thousand people), while Turkey ranks first in the Russian tourist rating.

– The Russian press writes about Iranian drones, but practically does not talk about culture. Do you think this is unfair?

– Of course, this is unfair. Iranian culture is one of the oldest in the world. For Russia, Iranians’ concern for their traditional cultural, religious and family values ​​could be relevant. For example, in Iran, examples from the family and religious life of Imam Khomeini are popularized as a role model.

As for the Persian language, some Persian words are still similar to words from Russian and other European languages, and have common roots (both languages ​​are part of the Indo-European family of languages). The Persian word “madar” (meaning “mother”) is related to the Russian “mother” and the English “mother”.

– Did the Islamic Revolution of 1979 affect the art of Iran? Can you name the realities and ways of artistic expression that existed before this event, and then disappeared? It is known that in Islam it is forbidden to depict people and animals …

– After the conservative Ayatollah Khomeini came to power, all Iranian art began to be regulated by strict Islamic precepts. Therefore, in all films (including foreign films in Iranian distribution), plays and even books, nudity, violence, swearing, and anything negative about the Islamic regime is strictly prohibited. Painting and theater still exist, but are forced to comply with the restrictions imposed on them. By the way, Chekhov’s plays are regularly staged in Iranian theaters. The traditional puppet theater is very popular. By the way, painting and sculpture are allowed in Shiism, unlike most other areas of Islam.

– What do Iranian writers write about?

– If we talk about the literature of Iran in the 20th – early 21st centuries, then there are a lot of works in prose (up to two thousand) about the Iran-Iraq war. Among modern Iranian poets, the most famous are Sohrab Sepehri, Mehdi Akhavan Sales, Nima Yushij – the founder of modern Iranian poetry, Parvin Etesami, Bizhan Jalali, and from the living ones we can name Umid Najari, an Iranian Azerbaijani whose poetry has been translated into some European languages. Among modern prose writers, Sadeq Hedayat (the largest Iranian writer of the 20th century), Sadeq Chubak, Golyamhossein Saedi, and from the living ones Mustafa Mastour and Hushang Kermani, whose work (“You are not a stranger”, dedicated to the life of Iran in the 50s of the 20th century), are notable c.) was published in 2015 by a Russian publishing house.

In general, the Iranians are the people of poetry. There is a famous saying by Goethe: “Of all their poets, the Persians revere only seven, but out of the other hundred rejected by them, many surpass me.”

– Tell us about yourself and your activities, did you initially plan to become a diplomat – but “retrained” as a culturologist?

– I was born in Baku, graduated from school there and studied at the university at the Faculty of Oriental Studies. Then, in my last year of university, I moved to Moscow, transferred to MGIMO and already studied there. Graduated from the Faculty of International Relations. After graduation, she went to work at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. But then it already became clear that I would not be able to work as a diplomat in Iran, since I have relatives there, and a diplomat, under pressure from a relative, can protect the interests of another country … I was offered service in Afghanistan. Therefore, I entered the Iranian sector of the Institute of Oriental Studies – first, in graduate school, and then stayed to work there. As for my activities, I deal mainly with ethno-confessional minorities in Iran, the domestic and foreign policy of Iran, in particular, such aspects of Iranian domestic politics as the history of Iranian communism and the history of Shiite religious guidance in Iran. I wrote my dissertation “Political Parties and Groups in Modern Iran”. I published a book about communist Iranians called Victims of Time, co-authored with the Iranian historian Turaj Atabaki.

I work a lot in the archives, and many of my discoveries in the archives are connected with the Russian architect Nikolai Lvovich Markov, about whom I wrote a monograph. He studied architecture at the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg. He was a student of the famous architect Leonty Nikolaevich Benois. With the outbreak of the First World War, he ends up in the Caucasian Army, in Tiflis; then with a detachment of General Baratov to the Persian front; becomes an instructor in the Persian Cossack brigade, where he meets and then becomes close friends with Reza Khan. He stays in Iran and becomes an architect there. He builds a number of Christian churches, the main of which was the Church of St. Nicholas in Tehran, where he was the headman for many years. An interesting fact is that although Markov was Orthodox and did not miss a single Sunday service, he was fond of Islamic architecture and also built mosques, in which combined Persian, Russian and even Byzantine motifs.

Among the ethnic groups I studied, I devoted most of my attention to the Kurds, deeply plunged into the topic. I studied Kurdish clothes, food, customs, traditions, brave Kurdish women who fight so bravely. She was the first to describe Kurdish weapons to the smallest detail. She visited the areas where the ethnic group lives, and not only in Iran, but also in Turkey, and even in Iraq. So at the moment, I got to know these people closer than others.

– What do you see as your main task? Break stereotypes about Iran?

– I try to break down negative stereotypes about both Russia and Iran, which I study. Negative stereotypes about the Russian Federation live not only in the West, but also among some Iranians. One of them is a stereotype about alleged poverty and economic backwardness of our country. But when Iranians come to Moscow or St. Petersburg, they are surprised by the comfort, beauty, cleanliness of the streets and the high level of infrastructure. There is still a negative memory that the Russian Empire conquered the South of Dagestan, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan from Iran at the beginning of the 19th century. There is a stereotype about the weather that it is almost always very cold in Russia. In fact, in the same Tabriz in winter, the temperature is sometimes the same as in Moscow (up to minus ten degrees), since Tabriz is located in the north and in the mountains. Still sometimes you can come across the idea of ​​Russians as very cold and laconic people, which is not true. By the way, in Russia Iran is perceived as a backward patriarchal country where only fanatics live, which is also very far from reality. Often Iran is generally considered an Arab country, like Egypt or Iraq, with which we often confuse Iran. I hope that with the rapprochement of our states, all this will become a thing of the past.

– What do you think Iran can offer the world in terms of cultural exports? And what will be the fate of Iranian-Russian relations?

– Iran can offer and has already offered the world the works of outstanding poets of the Middle Ages and the present (Omar Khayyam, Hafez, Saadi, Rumi, Nima Yushij, Sohrab Sepehri and many others). As well as architectural and tourist attractions, as I have already mentioned.

In addition, on a global scale, an approach to other religions that exists within Iranian society may be in demand. Iranians for the most part equally respect all major world religions (in addition to Islam, also Christianity, Judaism and Zoroastrianism). Such tolerance for other religions and teachings is clearly lacking in today’s world, mired in armed conflicts, many, if not most of which have a clear religious background.

Further rapprochement between Tehran and Moscow will take place without any doubt: the Russian and Iranian leadership are very much interested in rapprochement, primarily in the political and economic aspect. The cultural aspect has not yet received sufficient attention, but it may also become more active following the growth of political and economic ties.