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Date: 7/7/2002
Time: 4:19:36 PM

Letters:

To those who haven't been to Iran I can only say I not only saw value in the beauty of Iranian architechture, artifacts the luxury
of it's tastes and foods, spices, khaviar and you name it, the diversity of its nature, but I found love and affection beyond and
above everything!!! This is the first feeling and sentence with which Id express Iran!!

My boyfriend and I were so much pampered and taken care of wherever we went that I can tell stories of my ten day visit forever.

I took 300 pictures and made three videos of the ten days.

We travelled mainly by bus in Iran, and ever be afraid of whether
or not you speak the language. People find their way not only to
communicate with you but tell you jokes.

Their sense of humor is something  .

We'll never forget one morning when we saw a middle aged man with
bread in his hands, what they call SANGAK or stoney bread, offered
us bread just because we were starring at his hand !!

We later learned that this is an Iranian custom, who buys hot fresh bread and carries it to those passing by with a sign on their face
that they wouldn't mind a bite !!!

So friendly,so charming, so warm. We felt like the Persian king and queen wherever we went. No matter how poor the Persians offer the best of their food to guests especially foreigners. No matter how poor they all have something of a carpet in their houses!!!

We visited Yazd,Isafahan, Kerman a little or nothing of Tehran
and the same from Mazandaran.

10 days is really nothing for seeing even half of Iran !!

We dearly thank our good friends who invited us there.

LOve to all

Trinn
 

Date: 3/22/2002
Time: 8:30:34 PM

Letters

Peris M. Karim, A world Between, Peoms, Short Storeis, and Essays by: Iranian -Americans: HYBRID: bY THE TIME i FIGURE OUT WHAT MAKES AN iRANIAN GIRL GOOD IT WAS TOO LATE. I HAD HARDLY BEEN CORRUPTED BY AMERICA, HER LOOSE HIPS AND UNGRACIOUS MANNER HAD WATERED ME DOWN FURTHER. I COULDN'T EVEN BE CALLED "IRANAIN-AMERICAN" I LACKED THE SENSIBILITY, THE LANGUAGE, THE DISTASTE FOR BODY HAIR AND THE DESIRE FOR A SMALL NOSE. IT WAS TOO LATE...I'D ALREADY BECOME SOMETHING ELSE AND COULDN'T READ THE CODES ONE NEEDS TO FUNCTION AS IRANIAN. IT WAS BAD ENOUGH THAT I HAD FOUR BROTHERS AND A MOTHER WHO WASN'T GLAMOROUS, I HAD LEARNED TO CURSE AND CARE MORE ABOUT GRADES THAN BOYS. OCCASIONALLY, WHEN I DIDN'T DO WHAT HE WANTED MY FATHER REMINDED ME THAT I WAS TOO AMERICAN...A PHRASE THAT CUT LIKE A DAGGER AGAINST THE SKIN, SEPARATED ME OUT AND DROVE A WEDGE BETWEEN US. I COULD NEVER QUIRE FIGURE OUT HOW MUCH WAS TOO AMERICAN. DID HE MEAN, DON'T RESPECT YOUR PARENTS, TELL THEM EVERYTHING. DON'T SLEEP WITH A BOY BEFORE MARRIAGE, DON'T GIVE YOURSELF TOO EASILY? DID HE MEAN THAT MY AMERICAN PART SHOULD NOT DISOBEY HIS LAW? it was too late. LIKE ALL IMMIGRANT PARENTS, TO BE SMART AND BEAUTIFUL BUT NOT TO FORGET THAT I HAD TO FIND A MAN. "wOMEN ARE LIKE FRUIT TREES," HE SAID, "THEY HAVE TO BEAR CHILDREN OR THEY'LL WITHER." wHEN HE PUT IT LIKE THAT, ALL I WANTED WAS TO BE ONE OF THOSE HYBRID ORNAMENTAL PLUMS WHOSE BLOSSOMS ARE SWEET AND GLORIOUS BUT FALL TO THE GROUND WITHOUT EVER BEARING FRUIT.

Date: 3/18/2002
Time: 11:48:03 PM

Letters

Mina Schoenheit: Mother’s Space Women leave the house twice: to the bridegroom home and to the cemetery. A sunny October afternoon, white birds fly high over the public spaces of the cement structure I work in daily, their wings spread, seeking my attention. As I bask in their sunny glory the birds ask me to join. We had mapped a lifetime together since I was a little girl in Iran when you would walk me home from the public bath, holding my right hand with your left clasping your scarf, sharing future journeys together, forever. I always thought we would go to the cemetery together but you started our journey without me. Perhaps Nature called for your return to earth. Mother you did not get to choose the bridegroom or the cemetery. The empty space you left by suggests you were killed by your father, who married you against your will in Iran while you were fifteen and your sons also who housed you finally Pines Cemetery, Spokane, Washington, United States of America, seemingly a liberal space on earth. The grounds are well maintained for 14,000 residents the population still growing. The cemetery with its many pine trees are scattered Pine trees have separate female and male cones; the former produce the seeds, and the latter, the pollen. Male and female cones are produced on the same plant, seed-bearing cones are woody when mature, the seeds winged. They are distinct from other confiers on the basis of its seed cones. Even in the cemetery, nature stand with gender differences, family distinctions symbolic of historical, geographical and social elements of the connectedness of nature and human being one. If my family a source of joy and solidarity, it was also the source of oppression and unhappiness, in particular for women. The washing of your body reflected the obsession of Islamic countries, with purity: purity of the body, moral purity, though not necessarily moral rectitude and cleanness of us, the women who own the body. The slaughter of the cow and the spilling of blood suggest the violent act associated with virginity lost, and the way women are sacrificed, whether in the name of the absence of blood or virginity as an indication of religious appropriation. Purity is presented by scientific methods in this Christian Euro-American environment garnishing data about disease patterns. I am convinced that even the washing of your body will not purify you and in fact, decomposition brings disease to the trees around your house. Only through natural fire in the Ponderosa pines and the burning of your house permit purification on earth and in this there is finality of rebirth. Mother’s journey is about questioning, immigration and migration, gender and the issues of moving through spaces and cultures while trapped in old stereotypes all the while producing new ones.

Date: 3/18/2002
Time: 11:46:37 PM

Letters

Mina Schoenheit Two Years Two years have gone by- Each day worse than a night- Each night turned blacker because of the black day. Two years have gone by- Since you left my side- I still have words of yours dangling from my ear- Oh, Mother, my eyes still attend to many of them- Ah, why did you go like that! Two years have gone by- Each night one year and each day one month- But I did not come one bit short of my work. And thanks to Aloneness I did what I should have And what I got - got its beauty from Your treasures.

Date: 3/18/2002
Time: 11:38:33 PM

Letters

Department: Religious Studies and Philosophy Course: ETH 323A Ethical Theories and Models Instructor: Marie Vianney Bilgrien, SSND, STD Student: Mina Schoenheit Final Project Explication of a Moral Situation with a Solution WOMEN OF ISLAM AND HIJAB Islamic women in hijab, the traditional headdress, often encounter harassment as a result of their choices. In the United States, a nation devoted to religious tolerance, Muslim women have reported being spit on, denied service and having their head scarves pulled off. Almost once a day, the center for American Islamic Relations in Washington receives a phone call from a woman who has been suspended, dismissed or barred from employment because of their traditional dress. Both the Koran and the Hadith, Islam’s holy texts, state that Muslim women and men should dress modestly. Women are required to not display their beauty except to their husbands from the date of their first menstruation. Reasons for the covering include downplaying a woman’s physical attractiveness and focusing on a woman’s intellect and spirit rather than her appearance. Muslim women do not all feel the necessity for wearing traditional dress, however those who do choose to wear the garments do so as an outward expression of their inner faith. Many of the women who wear hijab encountered discrimination on the job. Companies who have denied employment to women in headscarves include US airways, Taco Bell, Domino’s Pizza, Sears, J.C Penny, Holiday Inn and Office Depot. In most cases, the companies capitulated when the women explained their religious convictions or threatened a lawsuit. Upon occasion, the women retained their employment, but now work in positions not directly dealing with the public. They probably do not fit into the preconceived notion of a “rebel.” They have no visible tattoos and minimal piercings. In fact, when most people look at them, their first thought usually is something along the line of “oppressed female.” The brave individuals who have mustered the courage to ask them about the women’s dress usually have questions like: “Do your parents make you wear that?” Or “Don’t you find that really unfair?” A while back, a couple of girls in Montreal were kicked out of school for dressing in hijab (a headscarf that covers your head and hair). It seems strange that little piece of cloth would make for such controversy. Perhaps the fear is that they are harboring an Uzi underneath it. You never can tell with those Muslim fundamentalists. Of course, the issue at hand is more than a mere piece of cloth. A Muslim women in the United States, like millions of other Muslim women across the globe, chooses to wear the hijab. There are many different ways to wear it, but in essence, what you do is cover your entire bodies except for your hands and faces. If you’re the kin person who has watched a lot of popular movies, you’d probably think of harem girls and belly-dancers, women who are kept in seclusion except for the private pleasure of their male masters. In the true Islamic faith, nothing could be further from the truth. And the concept of the hijab, contrary to popular opinion, is actually one of the most fundamental aspects of female empowerment. When a woman covers herself, she makes it virtually impossible for people to judge her according to the way she looks. They cannot be categorized because of their attractiveness or lack thereof. Compare this to life in today’s society: We are constantly sizing one another up on the basis of our clothing, jewelry, hair and makeup. What kind of depth can there be in a world like this? In order to become beautiful, women have to learn to become perfect consumers (of fashion and beauty products that are). In other words, beauty is a commodity available to almost (if not all) women, but the trick is knowing how to bring out by having shopping skills...and shopping money. Female beauty is first shaped by or acquired with money and then validated through the male gaze. A good example of the influence of Hollywood on the beauty myth is the movie Pretty Woman where she was ‘discriminated’ against despite her looks because of her inability to buy/dress up fashionably. She needs money to shape her looks, to effectively bring out ‘the best’ in her, to give her self confidence and make her stand up for herself and her rights the way an independent, confident, liberated woman would. This empowerment of the female heroine through her consumerist self is no way specific to Pretty Woman. Western consumerist culture repeatedly reinforces this ‘selective’, specific type of female empowerment, whether in films or television, and the popular notion of the ‘make-over’ is exemplary. Women are constantly reminded in advertising, talks shows, and fictive narrative that their self worth and independence as modern woman can be acquired if they concentrate on their bodies: first by having full control of it and then by knowing how to take care of it (i.e. by spending on it) in order to be assertive and independent (i.e. have anything or any man they want). Western consumerist culture has thus appropriated some of the ideals of feminism, turning women into commodities to be bought and sold in the open market (buy a beauty product and become an emancipated, confident modern woman). Hollywood films, themselves a capitalist enterprise, can be seen to incorporate capitalist consumerist ideology in their own feminist narrative: screen heroines are empowered as human beings through the body and consumerism, trying to by trying to live up to almost impossible standards of beauty (perfect body measurements, perfect features, perfect wardrobe). The paradoxical effect, of course is that women are enslaved rather than empowered by the beauty/body myth, spending more time dieting, or shopping, or at the plastic surgeon’s, than on developing their ‘inner beauty’ and achieving a true liberation of (spiritual, social, intellectual, etc.) through education, work or social and political activism--goals that women of wholeness try to achieve By reducing female liberation to its sexual/physical component and by imposing specific (consumerist) norms, popular culture’s commodifying of feminism actually works to undermine feminism altogether. Instead of using their bodies as one way of liberating themselves from the dictates of men and patriarchal society in general, women end up oppressed because of their bodies and what they are told to do with it. Yes, women in hijab have a body, a physical manifestation upon this Earth. But it is the vessel of an intelligent mind and strong spirit. It is not for the beholder to leer at or use in advertisements to sell everything from beer to cars. Because of the superficiality of the world in which we live, external appearances are so stressful that the value of the individual counts for almost nothing. It is a myth that women in today’s society are liberated. What kind of freedom can there be when a woman cannot walk down the street without every aspect of her physical self being “checked out”? When a woman wears the hijab she feels safe from all of this. She can rest assured that no one is looking at her and making assumptions about her character from the length of her skirt. There is a barrier between her and those who would exploit her. She is first and foremost a human being, equal to any and not vulnerable because of her sexuality. One of the saddest truths of our time is the question of the beauty myth and female self-image. Reading popular magazines, one can instantly find out what kind of body image is “in” or “out”. And if you have the “wrong” body type, well, then, you’re just going to have to change it, aren’t you? After all, there is no way that you can be overweight and still be beautiful. While weight loss potions and gizmos have been in existence since 1800s, the modern day weight loss business has ballooned into a multi-billion dollar industry. It is impacting individuals’ health negatively, promoting social stigma and discrimination against fat people, and generating unconscionable conflicts of interest among public health policymakers. Indeed, by 1990, the revenues of the commercial weight loss industry totaled more than $30,000,000,000. According to Markedata Enterprises, $8,000,000,000 was spent on diet centers and programs; group and individual weight loss; diet camps; prepackaged foods; over-the-counter and prescription drugs; weight loss books and magazines; and physicians, nurses, nutritionists, and other professionals specializing in weight loss. Commercial and residential exercise clubs with weight loss programs brought in an additional 48,000,000,000, and revenues from sugar-free, fat-free, and reduced-calories food products, imitation fats, and sugar substitutes amounted to more than $14,000,000,000. It is no coincidence that the commercial weight loss industry has become a fixture in U.S. society and that its messages have colored the way most Americans view themselves and others. Look at any advertisement. Is a woman being used to sell the product? How attractive is she? How old is she? What is she wearing? More of the than not, that woman will be no older than her early 20s, taller, slimmer and more attractive than average, dressed in skimpy clothing. Why do we allow ourselves to be manipulated like this? Whether the woman wishes to believe it or not, she is being molded. She is being coerced into selling herself, into compromising herself. This is why we have 13year old girls sticking their fingers down their throats and overweight adolescents hanging themselves. When people ask a woman in her hijab if she feels oppressed, she can honestly say no. She made this decision on her own free will. She likes the fact that she doesn’t give anyone anything to look at and that she has released herself from the bondage of swinging pendulum the fashion industry and other institutions that exploit females. Her body is her own business. Nobody can tell her how she should look or whether or not she is beautiful. She knows that there is more than that. She is also able to say no comfortably when people ask her if she feels as though her sexuality is being repressed. She has taken control of her own sexuality. She is thankful she will never have to suffer the fate of trying to lose/gain weight, trying to find the exact lipstick shade that will go with her skin color. She has made choices about what her priorities are and these are not among them. So, next time you see a woman in hijab, don’t look at her sympathetically. She is not under duress or male-worshipping female captive from those barbarous Islamic fundamentalist countries in the deserts. She has been liberated.

Date: 3/18/2002
Time: 11:21:15 PM

Letters

By: Mina Schoenheit-Aslani To: Caltex Records As an Iranian-American I applaud your keeping Iranians connected through the arts. However, as a viewer of your television programs I recognize the imbalance of cultural images (clothing, music, Iranian born anchors with bleached out hair, Iranian born men with dark hair and olive complexions with Western partners in fantasy settings) that appear NOT authentic. The messages conveyed to Iranians abroad can be one of “disapproval” of who they are and having to give up their identity and personal values in order to belong. Ironically, unlike Iranian television, Indian, Spanish, Asian International Channel programs honor diversity and preservation of one’s personal and cultural identity by not “borrowing” others’ talents and believing in individual authentic self. I also feel that programs are too focused in California glamour and glitzy lifestyle thus not reaching out for Iranians from all walks of life and geographic areas. Thank you for keeping our people united through your artistic efforts and I look forward in viewing a more diverse programming effort on your shows that will remain true to the Iranian people and their culture. Sincerely, Mina Schoenheit-Aslani

Date: 3/18/2002
Time: 11:03:37 PM

Letters

Mina Schoenheit Stoppin’ for Floppin’ Since 9/11 the under wirebra I have worn since puberty is subject of security search at airport security points. I lift and hold my breasts in public because my underwire bra sets off security alarms wonds beeps at the straps, the underwire and back fasteners causing lines to back up behind me. Men gaze with chuckles and women offer reassuring glances. So I stand with my arms stretched out like The Flying Nun and endure the process by singing along quietly to the tune of the security beeps and buzzes while being thoroughly searched. My imagination questions how “Wonder Woman’s” “Wonder Bra” would pass security check today. Clearly, the apparel designers and manufacturers monopolized the 9/11 tragedy by presenting women fashion choices for the outside limited to red, white and blue in everything from our dishcloths to our wedding gowns as we wax patriotic and the need to be nestled in the colors of our Nation showing feminine solidarity. I believe women’s underwire bras are challenging our travel time by holding up the line because the intimate apparel industry has lacked response to 9/11 giving women security clearance and keeping them on “high alert” underneath it all.

Date: 7/16/01
Time: 2:30:22 PM

Letters

First time trip to Iran very exciting.

I am completely American, born and raised in the U.S. In 1994 I met some very nice Iranian people who encouraged me to take a trip to Iran. I finally got a visa some time later and was able to go in 1996. I was not shocked by what I saw, I had been to third world countries before and particularly in the middle east. I was just happy to be able to visit a place that most Americans would, or could not visit.

It was a great experience, and Iranian people are very hospitable, but almost to the point of being annoying. I can remember a friend of mine yelled at me because I did not say thank you to a shop keeper enough times. I think I had said thank you in english and farsi about 10-12 times, and I just did not want to say it again. But I guess that is the culture, so it is not bad it is just different. Everyone, of course, loves foriegners and being from the U.S. is a plus. Everyone wants to take care of you, but I did find it a little ungenuine. For instance on a flight from tehran to esfahan a guy invited me to stay at his house for the week while I was there. I said "you are very nice, that would be great, I will take you up on the offer." Well the man disappeared but by that time I had figured the people out so it was kind of cute. He wanted to be as hospitable as possible but there is no way he would follow that up with letting me stay there for a week ! :)

I was fortunate to travel to Tehran, Esfahan, Ahwaz, Kerman, and Mashad. The people in Ahwaz were by far the most hospitable, simple, and kind people I came across. They also happend to be the most religious, but I do not think that played the only part in their culture. Ahwaz was soooo hot, I asked a lady there if she feels opressed or uncomfortable in her chador. That day in Ahwaz it was 55 c, and she said "what the hell is the difference between 115 outside, and the 118 in my chador?" She said "it is hot either way, and this makes no difference." I laughed of course, and it was a good attitude for her to have. She was a Phd student from the U.S., who was just visiting Ahwaz for vacation. I also found that people there did not care about foriegners  as much as people in Tehran.

Esfahan was simply the prettiest city I have ever been to. It is old, historic, and beautiful.

Kerman was like pakistan for me, very different then the rest of Iran. Of course they were as hospitable and nice as the rest of Iran, but I found the city a little boring and dull. But, outside of the city, like Bam and some other places, there are beautiful old gardens and wonderful architecture.

Mashad, was busy, and I loved the variety of people there. There were people from all over the world visiting the grave of Imam Reza, and it was the first time I had seen real turkomans.

I would tell any American who considers him or herself remotley travelled, that Iran must be on the list of places to visit. I can say that being an american in Iran is a plus, and as long as you are not an ugly american looking for western style fun, you will have a great time and memories that will last a lifetime.

Date: 6/15/01
Time: 10:28:45 PM

Letters

A return to Iran finds the unexpected

June 13 -- I was born in Iran, spent 10 years growing up there, have Persian parents and speak fluent Farsi. But upon returning to Tehran for the first time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, I somehow managed to stick out. IT WASN'T my accent that gave me away -- for I have none. Nor was it my looks, for I loved how much I physically belonged in my country: I had the same dark hair, the olive skin, and brown almond eyes. I was no longer asked if I were Greek, Israeli, or Italian because in Iran, I looked Iranian. I was in a country where everyone looked like me and spoke my language, but what gave me away according to others, was my body language. It was the way I walked down the street or hailed a cab. Others told me it was my confidence that gave me away. It was the way I would talk to a man as if he were my equal that made me different. My body language had given me away, and it was the first thing that gave away other kharedjis, or the other Iranians who lived abroad.

23-YEAR ABSENCE I had not been back to my country in 23 years. The last time I was in Tehran's airport, my family and I left on what we thought was a two-week winter school break. But we never returned. Upon entering Tehran's Mehrabad Airport, I couldn't help but notice how the country appears to be stuck in a time warp. Iran's infrastructure hasn't been updated since 1978. The cars are old and dented and over 20 years old. The hotels and many of the homes are still the same ones that were built during the regime of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, Iran's last monarch, and need a renovation. As you get into a cab and give an address, the cab driver refers to the name of the streets with two different names: the name from during the shah's regime and the new name under the theocratic government that rules Iran today. The names of the streets and squares and official buildings have all been changed from imperial names to Islamic or revolutionary names. Shahyad Square is now the Meydaneh Azadi (or Freedom Square), and so on.

FEW 'OBSERVE THE LINES' The roads in Tehran are shockingly well paved, but the traffic is unbearable and the cars swerve every which way, frequently through red lights -- despite road signs that beg drivers to "observe the street lines." Air pollution is terrible. Much of this is due to cars that are over 20 years old and lack fuel efficiency. Cars account for 75 percent of Tehran's air pollution, according to official government estimates. Last year, Iran launched a 10-year plan to combat the problem. The current regime has made efforts in planting more trees along the streets, creating more parks, and generally trying to keep the city green despite its rough terrain. My first day in Tehran, I went to the very green and lush Park Jamshidiyeh, which is set high up on the Damavand mountains surrounding the capital. I climbed up the rocks. I was baking in the hot sun, wearing a long black nylon raincoat with a headscarf and sunglasses.

RELIGION AND SENSUALITY There are a lot of billboards scattered all over Tehran and they have become a fabric of the city. They consist mostly of Islamic art and propaganda paying tribute to the martyrs or war heroes of the Iran-Iraq war. Generally, the billboards feature a triumvirate rendering of President Mohammed Khatami, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his predecessor, Ayatollah Ruollah Khomeini, who led the 1979 revolution. They have somber faces and are often shedding a tear while mourning over a prayer. But right next to these billboards, you find a juxtaposition of religion and sensuality -- large advertisements for various perfumes such as Pierre Cardin and Kenzo. There are many such contradictions in Iran. Men and women are segregated in schools, are separated on the subway -- one train is all men, the other is all women. Yet on a taxi ride that normally takes five passengers and makes five different stops, men and women squeeze themselves next to each other. On a bus, a women pays in the front and then moves to the back, while the men sit in the front. In the airport, men and women enter through separate security stalls and custom lines, yet on the plane, men and women sit next to each other and 30 minutes after being airborne, the women start unveiling their scarves.

MIXING FASHION AND RELIGION Under Islamic law, women are legally supposed to cover their hair and bodies when they turn balegh, or hit puberty, at the age of nine. In Iran, this means a woman wears a manteau, or a loose coat over their body and a rusari, or scarf on her head. For the most part, the manteau and the rusari are dark colors, but over the last few years women have begun to sport colorful rusaris and the most chic women have begun wearing a light denim manteau or a beige anorak. I felt conservative and frumpy in my all-black outfit. Many women allow their headscarves slip to their temples, wear a ton make-up, and have coats with creeping hemlines that are worn with long loose pants or a long skirt. I noticed many women wearing open-toe sandals with nail polish on their hands and feet -- an offense which would have brought arrest just a few years ago.

LINKS TO OUTSIDE WORLD The effort to suppress media has been challenging for Khatami's reformist government. Young Iranians hang out at "CoffeeNets," or Internet cafes, to socialize. Midway through my trip, conservative clerics who control key levers of power in Iran had temporarily closed down the cafes. Although satellite dishes are illegal, many homes in Iran secretly own them. The satellite dish offers the Iranians a glimpse of Western programming which is greatly preferred over the traditional state-controlled TV that features orators reciting the Koran or news anchors delivering the latest government line. Overall, the vast majority of the population has backed Khatami's attempts to introduce civil reforms and challenge the grip of clerical rule that has been imposed since the 1979 revolution. On Sunday, Khatami won a second term with 77 percent of the vote, largely garnered from the country's disaffected youth. Sixty percent of the population is below the age of 25. In a country where the official voting age is 15, this number cannot be ignored.

LOOKING TO THE WEST Iranians are curious about what life is like outside their country. They marvel at the life of liberty and economic power in Western countries -- even the United States, one of the main backers of Iran's last shah, who was sent into exile during the Islamic Revolution. Many Iranians are kharedji parast -- or those who adore all things foreign. So having lived abroad for such a long period of time prior to returning did have its advantages. Iranians also are wonderfully hospitable. Almost everywhere I went, everyone would "taroff," insisting on receiving no money for their services or goods. "Ghabelli nadereh," they would say -- "It has no value" -- and often I found myself in a position in which the seller would refuse to get paid for a taxi ride, a meal, a souvenir purchase, or even a carpet at Tehran's Grand Bazaar. This was a mere gesture of courtesy of course, but it was so polite that it made me want to pay twice as much. Many of the European tourists I spoke to in Tehran said they, like me, admired the warmth and generosity of the people. This is not the Iran we expected after reading about the last two decades of tumult in the country. In Iran, one senses that, as reforms take hold, the country will slowly yet surely progress and open up to the outside world. As one relative I left behind 23 years ago told me, "Iran too will soon have its renaissance."

For This Iranian Filmmaker, a Harrowing Airport Scene

By John Ward Anderson
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, May 29, 2001; Page C01

TEHRAN -- "The Circle," a new movie by award-winning director Jafar Panahi that opened in Washington on Friday, is a gritty tale about the oppression and occasional brutality women face when trapped in the underbelly of street life here in the Iranian capital.

On April 15, the same weekend the film premiered to glowing reviews in New York, Panahi was given a graphic, firsthand example of what Iranian men face in the underbelly of John F. Kennedy International Airport when they arrive in the United States without a visa: He was arrested by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, handcuffed and chained to a bench overnight in leg irons before being unceremoniously expelled the next day.

Although he speaks very limited English, Panahi was never provided with a translator. But he got the message.

"They put a big belt around me with a very big hook in front of it, and then they cuffed me and fixed the handcuffs to the hook," Panahi said through an interpreter during an interview at his home outside of Tehran. "I looked at the senior officer and laughed and said, "Is this the USA?"

And he said, "No, this is Iran."

Most Iranians are aware that they have severely restricted access to the United States, and Panahi is no exception. Newspapers here give front-page treatment to what they consider the humiliating and insulting law that requires every Iranian to be photographed and fingerprinted upon entering the United States. Once in the country, Iranians are not allowed to travel outside a 25-mile radius of New York without permission.

But Panahi was in New York simply to change flights. He said that when INS officials discovered that he did not have a visa, they insisted that he be fingerprinted and photographed. "I explained my job and career," he said. "They kept insisting that I be fingerprinted. They said, 'What do you want?' I said, 'I'm an artist, I want a translator.' And I said I would never, ever agree to fingerprinting."

Panahi had made two previous trips to the United States to ceremonies honoring his work in Washington and New York, and on both occasions the fingerprinting procedure had been waived by the U.S. government at his insistence. At the Washington ceremony in March, which recognized the works of several Iranian and American artists, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell paid tribute to the honorees in a letter read during the gala, saying, "It often falls to them to be the voice of our common humanity when politics would keep us silent."

Panahi's three widely released films have captured 26 international awards and earned him recognition as one of the most influential young directors challenging the limits of Iran's huge film industry and helping to transform it into one of the most vibrant in the world.

On this trip, however, Panahi was merely transiting through JFK on his way from a film festival in Hong Kong to other festivals in South America. It was supposed to be about a two-hour layover. Officials in San Francisco were trying to persuade him to attend their festival at the end of his trip, Panahi said, but since it looked doubtful that he would get a fingerprinting waiver, he told them it was unlikely he would come.

"I consider this law an inhumane rule," said Panahi, 40, who has waged fierce battles against government film censorship and other attacks on freedom in Iran, where "The Circle" has been banned. The American National Board of Review of Motion Pictures gave the film its Freedom of Expression Award last year.

In a letter to the board protesting his treatment at JFK, Panahi wrote, "As a filmmaker obsessed with social issues, my films deal with social problems and limits, and naturally I cannot be indifferent to racist, violent, insulting and inhumane acts any place in the world."

Unlike the outrage sparked when the Iranian wrestling team traveled to the United States and immediately returned home rather than submit to fingerprinting, Panahi's detention prompted conservatives in Tehran to react with thinly disguised glee. "Mr. Panahi, when you make films for your American masters, this is how they repay you," sneered the right-wing Kayhan newspaper.

U.S. State Department and INS officials said that two laws ensnared Panahi. First, Iran is on a list of 25 countries whose citizens must have a transit visa when passing through the United States to other destinations. When it was discovered that he did not have a visa, a second law kicked in requiring that he be fingerprinted and photographed before being issued one. That law applies to only four countries -- Iran, Iraq, Sudan and Libya.

According to the Federal Register, citizens from those countries are subject to more stringent checks because of "continuing concern for national security resulting from terrorist attacks and uncovered plots directed by [their] nationals."

Under the circumstances of his detention, an INS spokesman said, Panahi would have been considered an inadmissible alien and thus was not eligible for "the same rights of due process as someone who is lawfully admitted to the country," including the right to an attorney, a phone call and the reading of his rights.

Panahi, explaining his ordeal while relaxing at home surrounded by old U.S. movie posters and small pictures of icons such as Clark Gable, James Dean, Marlon Brando and Marilyn Monroe, said that he had asked officials at the film festivals he was to attend whether he needed a transit visa, and their answers were "vague." So when he arrived at the Hong Kong airport, he checked with the desk agents of his carrier, United Airlines.

"I told them, 'I'm Iranian, and I don't have a visa,' and the people of United insisted that I did not need a transit visa."

In fact, most airlines check a passenger's passport on international flights to ensure that they have the necessary documentation for their destinations, "so I was totally convinced there was no problem because I was allowed to board the airliner," Panahi said.

Whitely Statley, a spokeswoman for United, said she could not comment on what Panahi may have been told, but that it didn't matter. "If someone is transiting through the United States, they need to call the State Department -- our customer service representatives are not trained to know who these people are and whether they are allowed to come into the United States of America."

Furthermore, INS officials said that when a foreigner is detained at a port of entry into the United States and the agency does not have a translator, it is the responsibility of the airline to provide one. Statley said she was not aware of such a regulation.

Panahi said that he was detained at about 6 p.m. at JFK, almost immediately after disembarking from the 15-hour flight from Hong Kong. After about three hours of jostling with INS officers over whether he would submit to fingerprinting, he was "chained like a medieval prisoner" and taken to another section of the airport, where the cuffs were removed and he was put in leg irons that were attached to a 12-foot bench with five other people sitting on it. The room was crowded with about 25 people from such diverse places as Sri Lanka, Peru, Iran, Mexico, Russia, India and Eastern Europe, he said.

Officers kept insisting that he submit to fingerprinting, and he refused. He asked for permission to make a phone call and for a translator, and they refused. When he asked for food, they brought a cold hamburger; he took one bite and couldn't finish it.

Panahi said a back injury kept him in excruciating pain through most of the night, and he didn't sleep. "The toilet adjoining the room was a very good thing, because when you asked for permission, they would unchain you from the bench and you could hobble over to the bathroom and they didn't follow you inside," he said.

"I respect your country's laws," Panahi told the officers in broken English and explained that he had gone to great lengths in the past to avoid coming into conflict with them. "I was never willing to travel to the United States" if it meant being fingerprinted, he said. "I didn't want to enter your territory or step foot on your land."

The 18-hour stalemate ended about noon the next day, Panahi said, when INS officers unchained his feet, recuffed his hands and escorted him to a United flight going back to Hong Kong. From there he returned home to Iran.

"It was torture the way they were taking me to the plane with the handcuffs and belt," he said. "That was the most humiliating part. While I was in custody, I felt I was being treated like a criminal when I wasn't one, and that gave me room to resist, and it was a beautiful feeling. But I couldn't explain to the people on the plane who I was and what had happened to me. Perhaps they thought I was a smuggler or had just been released from prison. But I really wanted them to know that I was not what they thought.

"I remember it was cloudy outside, and when the plane took off, I saw Miss Liberty and it seemed very funny," he said. "I was thinking whether that symbol was alive, if there was a human spirit behind it, or if no one had any sense of what freedom was."