Persians, despite having been best known in the West for really only two things, prior to their fame for Islamic fundamentalism, that is, cats and carpets, spend an awful lot of time pondering carpets and virtually no time thinking
The Ayatollah Begs to Differ - The Paradox of Modern Iran On page 0 November 5, 2012
what encapsulates the purpose of this book (and happens to also reflect what is, despite Western conceptions, very much part of the Iranian mind-set): Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there.
The Ayatollah Begs to Differ - The Paradox of Modern Iran On page 0 November 5, 2012
by the curb, onto the sidewalk on Safi Alishah. It took one look at me, and then fled down the road toward the Sufi mosque. “That’s the neighborhood laat!” exclaimed my friend Khosro, a longtime resident of the no-longer-chic downtown Tehran street. “He’s the local tough, and he beats up all the other cats. Every
The Ayatollah Begs to Differ - The Paradox of Modern Iran On page 0 November 5, 2012
remarked how very much it resulted in his trip occurring inside a “bubble.”
The Ayatollah Begs to Differ - The Paradox of Modern Iran On page 0 November 5, 2012
While American (and some European) politicians may often come from ordinary backgrounds, their lifestyles usually change dramatically when they are in office, and by the time they have reached the pinnacle of power, they are long removed from their more humble roots.
The Ayatollah Begs to Differ - The Paradox of Modern Iran On page 0 November 5, 2012
Iran is a nation of some seventy million people, the vast majority (90 percent) Shia Muslim but with Sunni, Jewish, Christian, Zoroastrian, and Baha’i minorities (though the Baha’is, officially unrecognized and often persecuted by the state as heretics, tend to keep their identities secret). Ethnically, it is made up of Persians, Turks, Turkmen, Arabs, Kurds, and a slew of other races, often intermingled to the point where it is impossible to say with any certainty what one Iranian’s heritage is, particularly since birth
The Ayatollah Begs to Differ - The Paradox of Modern Iran On page 0 November 5, 2012
