Trapped in Iran: My Summer as a Guest of the Revolutionary Guards

All these politics and political games are such a shame. The Tehran that the author describes seems like a really vibrant city that I'd really like to visit and experience. But I never will for fear or something like this happening, becoming some tiny pawn in a much bigger game. And I wish that Iranians could come to the US and visit NYC or SF and see our culture. Then we might realize that the other side is something more than the strawman that media or government portrays them as.

Iran has an incredibly rich culture that is (quite literally) thousands of years old and includes fantastic works in everything from poetry to painted miniatures to philosophy. The current political situation there is really a tragedy for world culture. I hope it becomes easier to visit within my lifetime.

I&#x27;ve driven from Alaska to Argentina[0] and right around Africa[1], and I&#x27;ve met a bunch of people that have explored a lot more of the planet than I have.<p>Without fail, every single person that has been to Iran rates it their number one country, and the one they most want to go back to. The people are so friendly, the culture so rich, the landscape and architecture so stunning.<p>I absolutely can not wait to go.<p>[0] theroadchoseme.com&#x2F;expedition-overview<p>[1] theroadchoseme.com&#x2F;africa-expedition-overview

There was a spy TV show produced in Iran and pushed heavily on the state run TV networks there that they used to help justify detaining reporters, very clever propaganda:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;apnews.com&#x2F;c5348f244a6b484fa3678f39a12e3ceb" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;apnews.com&#x2F;c5348f244a6b484fa3678f39a12e3ceb</a><p>I remember seeing a clip of an Iranian leader saying every journalist is a spy and if they aren&#x27;t they should be because they &quot;don&#x27;t get paid enough&quot;. Gives you insight into their thinking, or what happens when you give the hyper-paranoid intelligence agency people way too much power (which the west isn&#x27;t immune too).

The internal political wonkiness where the Guard makes their own policy and other departments don&#x27;t want to play along is amusing.

If you don’t want to read the whole essay, skim down to the section that describes daily life in Teheran. It’s really fascinating.

Very Kafka-esque. The whole thing is so bizarre.

Wow, this man sounds like a really good sport and knows how to enjoy the present :) I wish I could be more like that.

The writer seems to exhibit copious amounts of Stockholm syndrome for his captors. From that standpoint it was a successful intelligence operation on their part. Iranian intelligence can likely count on him as an asset to answer questions over the phone for them in the future for some time.

“The synagogues were packed. At 1am Iran’s largest synagogue still teemed with families. At 2am the congregation swayed in prayer for Israel and its people.”

<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;iamadamdev&#x2F;bypass-paywalls-firefox" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;iamadamdev&#x2F;bypass-paywalls-firefox</a><p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;iamadamdev&#x2F;bypass-paywalls-chrome" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;iamadamdev&#x2F;bypass-paywalls-chrome</a>

I don&#x27;t have an economist.com account, but the byline suggests it&#x27;s from 1843 Magazine, which doesn&#x27;t require registration to read: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.1843magazine.com&#x2F;features&#x2F;trapped-in-iran" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.1843magazine.com&#x2F;features&#x2F;trapped-in-iran</a>

Serious question: is it only the political or military leaders who wish to see Israel wiped off the face of the earth?