Posted on 05/18/2007 6:00:05 PM PDT by Cyrus the Great
Tehran, 18 May (AKI) - by Ahmad Rafat - Police commanders in Tehran are hailing the first results of a moralization campaign which kicked off on 27 April - citing the thousands of women admonished on the streets for not covering all their hair under the veil, the hundreds who will have to stand trial for failing to respect the new, strict Islamic dress code, all those who will have to pay hefty fines for listening to western music or for walking a dog, banned in public places in Iran as considered impure by Islam.
Thousands of satellite dishes have also been confiscated, they say, under the campaign promoted by the government of president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Nevertheless, most citizens of major Iranian cities appear to have so far managed to ignore this highly publicized campaign.
The campaign, which doesn't only target women but all those who refuse laws based on Sharia, or Islamic legislation, has so far mainly only produced clashes in universities nationwide, where students oppose the new rules limiting political activity, opening hours of campuses and scheduling lessons around prayer time.
In Tehran, as in all major cities, few people seem willing to change their habits although many are being more cautious about hiding them.
Alcohol is still being consumed, the market of satellite dishes is as flourishing as ever, boutiques selling stylish clothes are still doing a good trade. In Tehran, the number of stray dogs has not risen, a sign people have not abandoned their pets despite the new rules. (continues)
In Gorgan, eastern Iran, police seized in an apartment 3,700 bottles of wine. In the western province of Ghilan, some 80,000 bottles of wine, vodka and whiskey have been seized in the past month while 6,000 cans of beer were discovered by police in a car travelling from Kermanshah, in the northwest, toTeheran. This gives an idea of the entity of the market of alcohol in Iran, where it has been banned since the 1979 Islamic revolution. Finding a bottle of Scottish whiskey or French wine is reportedly as easy in Iran as in any part of the world, you just need to know the right phone number.
"We sell a bottle of whiskey or vodka for 150,000 rial (some 12 euros) including the home delivery," Hassan "Saghi" (the enologist, his nickname), who sells alcohol illegally in Tehran's Shahram Gharb neighbourhood, told Adnkronos International (AKI). "The most sought after are Johnny Walker whiskey, Absolut vodka and any French wine. We also offer our clients real German beer for 30,000 toman (2.4 euros) although other people are selling cheaper stuff."
Youngsters and the middle classes are reportedly fonder of vodka and wine produced in Russia or former Soviet Union republics. Bulgarian whiskey and vodka from Ukraine are sold for 6-7 euros a bottle. These products enter Iran through its border with Azerbaijan or Armenia.
The most pricey products instead allegedly cross the border from Iraqi Kurdistan on the back of mules.
A well known Iranian filmmaker, Bahman Ghobadi, has made a movie 'The time of drunk horses', on this trade.
One of these illegal importers says he owns 30 mules who cross the Iran-Iraq border by night. "Each one of them carries a dozen cartons of wine, a total of 72 bottles of whiskey," said Agha Mansour. "I usually buy reserve whiskey because I earn more from it." A bottle of Chivas which can cost some 28 euros in neighbouring countries can be sold for 100 in Tehran, he said.
Alcohol consumption in the Islamic Republic is growing and so are imports. According to the Brussels-based Iran Press News, four factories producing whiskey and vodka are about to open in a country neighbouring Iran to satisfy the growing demand while cutting production and transport costs.
A grape spirit known as Aragh Sagi is produced in Iran while local wine is made with the grapes from Ghazvin and Takestan in the north.
Armenians officially produce it for their community but most clients are working class Muslims.
"For my wedding my father had only bought 200 bottles of spirits and 100 bottles of French champagne and the result of this was that in the middle of the party I had to send some friends to get more alcohol because we had finished it already," says Javad, a student who has moved to Italy with his wife.
Indeed it is a custom among Iranians to drink spirits during meals.
Iranian weddings, especially those celebrated in the northern districts of the capital, are not only occasions for wining and dining out but real fashion events.
Many of the dresses worn however are not on display in the boutiques of Vanak, the main commercial area of Tehran. Fashionable clothes which are worn under the mandatory overcoats for women are bought in so-called private boutiques.
"There is a little villa north of Tehran and on its three floors you can find a bit of everything," according to Mina, 22, who says she has recently bought on sale a Mango coat and 'Dolce and Gabbana' dress.
Navvab, a young engineer who manages one of these boutiques says he sells "some 20,000 garments a month, almost all bought in Dubai from Italian and French brand shops."
"The most successful brands for low-budget buyers are Italy's Benetton and Spanish brand Zara while those who can afford it buy D&G, Versace, Hugo Boss, Mango and Chanel".
Local designers also follow western fashion style. Mohammad Ali, in his shop in Vanak, sells clothes produced in Iran which are copied from western brand names.
"Iranian garment producers don't even have time to wait for the arrival of the original designs to copy them, they just watch the fashion shows in Milan and Paris and copy the clothes," he says.
As for television, the roofs of Tehran, despite the moralization campaign, remain full of satellite dishes.
"The government has already lost the war against satellite dishes," Pejman, a technician, told the BBC. "Very few have not reinstalled dishes which had been removed" by police.
"Police removed our satellite dish late in the morning but by the time I returned home in the afternoon my father had already installed a new one," said Mariam, a 30-year-old clerk. "The dish's installer is very nice and gives a 40 percent discount for clients who have to replace a seized dish. My mother says she can't live without satellite television and she is right, our channels are boring and pious."
"People spend without a problem the equivalent of 200 euros for a satellite dish, a decoder and the installation because they know fun will be guaranteed and they can dream of a better life although they can't live it," said Pejman, who claims he installs on average four dishes a day.
amazing sense of morality they have. The beer I am drinking is immoral, but beating someone to death for questioning Islam is moral. Only the Father of Lies himself could have come up with Islam.
Things will only start inproving in Iran when the “morality police” increasingly finish their rounds in body bags
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