My children and I accompanied my husband to Tehran when he was on assignment there with Lockheed Aircraft from 1972-1976.
There was a team of 25 Field Service Representatives in Tehran (about 100 in Iran) there to teach the Iranian Airforce how to maintain their fleet of 60 X C130 (Hercules) aircraft.
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Our sons attended a very good private American School, where the curricula stayed the same as schools in the USA. The school had intramural football, swimming competitions and other sports, but we never let them go anywhere unaccompanied. We took them to all their activities, stayed with them and brought them back home. The school provided transportation to take them and bring them home too. We were all especially careful to behave modestly at all times, being blond they were, therefore, infidel.
The American School had many extra-curricular activities, like the swimming competition and American Football, but the American community formed a Council to provide things like Baseball, The Jube ( a disco for teens) and Cotillion.
Parents of school age children were invited to join the council and officers were elected. We were joint presidents of the Youth Activities Council while we were in Iran. The Community Church also provided events for the youth. Everyone tried to make life for their children as much like home as possible.
The morning after we arrived in Tehran, the dining room of the hotel where we were staying was blown up. During the early 70’s there were over 2000 bombings in the USA too. This was probably the beginning of the Revolution against Shah Reza Pahlavi. I don’t think a lot of the young Iranians I knew expected the revolution to lead to the restricted society they live with now.
During the four years we were there I taught English as a Foreign Language which allowed me to get to know Iranians quite well. Because of my working in the local economy, I became more familiar with the culture than most foreigners. I had Iranian friends, I shopped on the local economy (no PX) and I drove my own car, except I had a chauffeur to take me to work. I was invited to partake in a Muslim Thanksgiving event, attend an Iranian wedding, which took over a year to complete, and we went to a Muslim party where everyone was singing songs to “Ali"
Iran, or Persia, has a long and meaningful history. The world has inherited this culture in the arts, literature and science. The Persian Empire was illustrious and successful until defeated by Alexander the Great.
After the 1976 revolution Iran became a theocracy and adheres to Sharia law. In the Sassanian period women were treated very badly and Islam changed that. Wearing the veil, allowing polygamy, being protected by becoming property of the husband’s family.
Iranians are Shia Muslims as opposed to Sunni Muslims in Saudi Arabia. Muhammad – ‘blessed be his holy name’ is supposed to follow every time his name is said – had a dozen wives.
Shia Muslims believe the mantle of Muhammad was passed to Ali, Muhammad's son-in-law who was the husband of Fatima. Sunnis do not. Shiites believe Ali was the first Imam after Muhammad.
A map of the region will show you where Iran is and you will see all the neighbouring Muslim countries. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 world geography has changed considerably.
Iran supports many of the Muslim countries in the Middle East monetarily and militarily.
The institute where I taught provided me with transportation from my home to the institute and to the TV and radio studios. I had classes of boys and girls at the Institute wanting to improve their English to be able to go to colleges in America and Britain.
At the TV and radio studios I taught the employees English so they could use the manuals and instructions for all the equipment they were using and for the beauty products in the makeup department. These were young working-class men and women. Teaching them English meant we discussed many topics – like the government, working conditions, movies, discos, sex, Pop music and fashion.
Iranians are very devout and devoted to their faith. All my 18 year old students told me they went to the Mosque to pray every day before going to school. My chauffeur was a highly esteemed Haji – he had made the very expensive, arduous pilgrimage to Mecca. Making the pilgrimage must be made and paid for by the pilgrim and cannot be paid by a relative.
Muslims are taught to be charitable, to take care of the poor and they should tithe.
When everyone fasts from sunup to sundown for the holy month of Ramadan, at the end of every day the women of the house would invite strangers into their home to feed them. During Ramadan everyone must be kind and thoughtful with everyone else (even when they have not had anything to eat or drink all day). If you get into an argument, you will have invalidated your fast and therefore will not be atoned.
At an Iranian wedding there is dancing and singing, but men dance together in one room and women can dance together in a different room. Men and women should not hold each other body to body and wiggle.
The complete story of an arranged Persian wedding, from the non-meeting of the bride and groom to the pyjama case tea party the morning after the wedding, can be found on this blog.
Marriages are arranged, dowries are amassed and documented, and rites are spread over many months before the bride is carried off by the bridegroom and his family … on camels .... or a rose-petal bedecked Mercedes Benz.
My kitchen on Echtahadieh Street, Tehran had 2 sets of sinks - one for the dishes of Muslims and the other set for the dishes of infidels (non-believers) - our dirty dishes would contaminate the dishes of true believers. I used that extra sink for washing every vegetable, every bottle, every can and every single thing I brought from the grocery store - dust and sand in this very arid country is very invasive.
A Scottish friend (and neighbour) married to an Iranian was told not to wash diapers (nappies) in the washing machine as that would contaminate the machine. She had to wash baby soiled garments outside by hand as her mother-in-law was very pious and old fashioned. At 70, the mother-in-law, would wear her veil at her own ‘sofreh’ (table) when my 14-year-old son was present .... in case he might lust after her.
My next door neighbour had watched our two sons clear snow from our driveway. When she saw their blonde hair she came over to visit. She asked if I was American and when I told her I was from Edinburgh she said "Ach away - I'm from Glasgow". I always wonder what happened to her. It was not 'politically correct" for her to keep in touch with me. Her husband was very devoted to her and he talked of trying to get her back to Scotland - but I know she had no family left in Scotland.
Thousands of foreigners had come to Iran in the early 70’s.
Besides Americans, (Lockheed, Bell Helicopter, Westinghouse to name a few) there were Brits, Canadians, Germans, Irish, Italians all there to help the Shah modernize Iran.
This set up a lot of resentment amongst the Iranians. – Sound familiar? All these foreigners coming to our country and taking over everything?
Foreigners did not understand the pricing system. Iranians bargain for EVERYTHING. Foreigners are told a price and they pay it. Landlords, shopkeepers, furniture stores owners all knew they would get much more money from foreigners. Landlords did not rent to Iranians and so young people could not get married because they could not afford the same price as a foreigner.
Cultural and religious aspects were affected too. Businesses would sell products and provide entertainment for foreigners of which the Muslim religion did not approve – movies, parties, drinking, immodest behaviour and dress. I would hear a lot about this from my adult students at the TV and Radio stations. These young people could not pay the higher prices incorporated into society, couldn't afford to get married.
In June of 1976 when 4 American businessmen were shot on their way to work, we sold up everything we could and arrived back in Washington DC in time for the Bicentennial on the 4th of July.
Thanks for the education on your time spent in Iran. Well done. I can't imagine living there and dealing with their strict rules and beliefs.