Tag Archives: iran

May 8, 2014 · 6:19 pm

US & IRAN: Opening Doors to Education

Facts about Iran Education General License G

May 8th, 2014

Did you know that despite the strained and hostile relations between the governments of the USA and Iran that thousands of Iranian students study in the U.S. each year?   

In fact, according to EducationUSA, “for the past several years, the number of Iranian students studying in American colleges and universities has steadily grown such that Iran is now 22nd among the top 25 places of origin for international students.”   

As per the non-profit Institute of International Education (IIE), we’ve seen an increase in the number of students from Iran enrolled at American universities reach 8,744. This is very small when compared to the numbers of Iranian students studying in the U.S. prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution. At that time, the highest number in any year was 51,310. In fact, Iran was the largest source of foreign students in the US for nine straight years — from 1974-75 through 1982-83. After the revolution the number began to drop and bottomed out at 1,660 in the 1998-99 school year.

Earlier last month I participated in a conference all hosted by the US Department of State and Department of Treasury on Iran Education General License G. The absence of a presence of a U.S. embassy in Tehran and an Iranian embassy in Washington, D.C. lack of direct diplomatic relations, and imposition of economic sanctions have prevented the easy flow of students and scholars between the two countries. However, with the granting of General License G, both Iran and U.S. can begin engaging in education-related activities, though with some limitations. This is still an improvement and shows the thawing of thirty plus years of animosity between the two countries.

Here are some of the highlights of what activities are covered in General License G:

• Allow accredited U.S. colleges and universities to process applications and acceptance of payments for applications and tuition from students in Iran or individuals serving on their behalf ;

• Academic Exchange agreements between accredited U.S. graduate and undergraduate degree-granting academic institutions and Iranian universities;

• Allow for recruitment, hiring, or employment in a teaching capacity of individuals who ordinarily reside in Iran and are employed in a teaching capacity at an Iranian university;

• Providing of scholarships for Iranian students allowing them to attend accredited U.S. academic institutions;

• Export to Iran of certain additional educational services by U.S. to Iran in support of not-for-profit educational activities in Iran such as: combating illiteracy, increasing access to education, and assisting in educational reform projects;

• Provision for individuals who are ordinarily resident to enroll in certain on-line undergraduate courses (including Massive Open Online Courses, coursework not part of a degree seeking program, and fee-based courses) provided by U.S. academic institutions in the humanities, social sciences, law, business, or introductory undergraduate level science, technology, engineering, or math courses required for the completion of undergraduate degree programs in the humanities, social sciences, law, or business;

• U.S. persons who are enrolled in U.S. academic institutions may participate in educational courses or engage in noncommercial academic research at Iranian universities at the undergraduate or graduate level in the humanities, social sciences, law, or business;

• U.S. persons, wherever located, are authorized to administer professional certificate examinations and university entrance examinations that are necessary or required for admission to accredited U.S. academic institutions, to individuals who are ordinarily resident in Iran.

In May 2011, the U.S. Department of State implemented new visa regulations allowing Iranian students to receive two-year, multiple entry visas. As noted on the website of EducationUSA: “This allows Iranian students the opportunity to return home for “family events, to participate in internships, to travel outside the United States—and they won’t need to get a new visa every time.”

The above provisions are paraphrased from the actual General License G document. For more information, the link to the license is available at: http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Documents/iran_glg.pdf.

Jasmin S. Kuehnert
President & CEO ACEI
www.acei1.com

1 Comment

Filed under Credentials, Education, Travel

Tagged as General License G, iran, United States

March 20, 2014 · 4:58 pm

8 things to know about Nowruz (Persian New Year) Celebrations

March 20th, 2014

We are going to share the blog we posted in 2012 on the Persian/Iranian celebration of Now-Ruz with a few new additions.

Vernal Equinox
The celebration of Now-Ruz (New Day), takes effect at the exact astronomical beginning of Spring, known as the vernal equinox. Now-Ruz is celebrated today on March 20th and has been celebrated for nearly 3000 years by Iranians. It is an ancestral festivity marking the first day of spring and the renewal of nature. Its rituals and traditions date back to Zoroastrianism, the ancient Persian religion that existed until 7th century A.D. before the Arab invasion and the enforcement of Islam.

Nowruz: An official UN observance
The United Nations has proclaimed Nowruz an official UN observance because it promotes peace and solidarity, particularly in families. The day also focuses reconciliation and neighborliness, contributing to cultural diversity and friendship among peoples and different communities.

National Holiday
Now-Ruz celebrations last for 13 days. As a child growing up in Iran, Now-Ruz meant a school holiday lasting for 13 days. In fact, most businesses throughout the country would shut down for the duration of Now-Ruz. Everyone was on holiday!

Spring Cleaning
In preparation for Now-Ruz, Iranians embark on the spring-cleaning of their homes, even make or buy a new set of clothes (my brother and I loved getting a new outfit or two), and bake pastries in anticipation of visiting guests when gifts are exchanged and feasts enjoyed.

Chahar-Shanbeh Soori Fire Festival
The rituals surrounding the celebration of Now-Ruz are rich with symbolism and ceremony. They begin on the last Wednesday of winter with Chahar-Shanbeh Soori (Eve of Wednesday), a fire-jumping festival, where people create small bonfires in their neighborhoods and jump over them as the sun sets.

Celebrants taking a leap of faith during Chahar-Shanbeh Soori

Parents join in with their children and jump over the flames inviting happiness and abundance while releasing and letting go of darkness and negativity by chanting: “Offer me your lovely red hue and take away my sickly pallor.” With fire signifying light (day), the symbol of all that is good, and dark (night), the unknown and all that is evil, celebrants partaking in the fire festival look forward to the arrival of spring bringing longer days and new beginnings.

Minstrels, Troubadours and Mischief-making
As a child growing up in Iran, I remember the minstrels or troubadours, known as Haji Firuz, who sang and danced in the streets dressed in bright red and yellow satin poufy pants and shirts, spreading good cheer and bringing merriment to neighborhoods.

Boys and men in costumes as Haji Firuz

Another tradition, somewhat resembling the trick-or-treat of Halloween, included young men who disguised themselves as women under chadors (long veils) and went from street to street banging on pots and pans, shaking tambourines and raising raucous. All this was done in jest as seeing a boy or young man in such a disguise invited laughs and more laughs.

Haft-Seen Display

A major feature of Now-Ruz is the preparation of “Haft-Seen,” (seven “S’s”); a special display of seven specific offerings each beginning with the letter “S” in Farsi. Typically, the “Haft-Seen” includes the following: “seeb” or apple (promotes beauty and good health), “seer” or garlic (wards off bad omen), “samanou” (a sweet pudding, symbolizing affluence), “sabze” or wheat-germ (representing rebirth) grown in a flat dish a few days before the New Year, “sek-keh” or coin, preferably gold (for wealth and abundance), “senjed” (dried fruit from lotus tree, symbolizing love), and “somagh” or sumac (color of sunrise). In addition, there will also be a mirror (symbol for the sky), a goldfish in a bowl (life force), lit candles symbolizing fire and promoting enlightenment, colored eggs (symbol of fertility corresponding to the mother earth), sweets to spread sweetness and a book of poems by Hafiz or Rumi.

Sizdah Bedar (Out with the 13th) Festivities
The Now-Ruz festivities end on the 13th day known as “Sizdah Bedar” (out with the 13th), and it is celebrated outdoors. Staying indoors is seen as a bad omen and families spend the day outside in parks and in the countryside near streams, rivers, and lakes, enjoying a festive picnic. The “sabze” or plate of wheat-germ that was the centerpiece of the Haft-Seen is taken on this picnic so that young unmarried women wishing for a husband will tie a knot between the green shoots (symbolizing a marital bond) and toss it into running water.

Images of Sizdah-Bedar of the past and present

About 300 million people worldwide celebrate Nowruz, with traditions and rituals particularly strong in the Balkans, the Black Sea and Caspian Sea regions, the Caucasus, Central and South Asia, and the Middle East.

Despite Iran’s Islamic Republic’s attempts to do away with Now-Ruz, calling it un-Islamic and pagan, the ancient tradition of celebrating the arrival of Spring continues in Iran. Now-Ruz is a reminder that the darkness is fleeting: the day will soon be longer than the night; and with the arrival of a new day, change for the better, is in the near horizon.

Happy Now-Ruz!

Jasmin S. Kuehnert
President & CEO ACEI
www.acei1.com

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Tagged as celebration, Chahar-Shanbeh Soori, Haji Firuz, iran, New Year, Now-Ruz, Nowruz, Persia, The United Nations, Vernal Equinox

January 23, 2014 · 7:21 pm

The U.S. and Iran: The History of Two Empires

January 23rd, 2014

The United States and Iran (also known as Persia) have not been on friendly terms for what is now more than three decades. Although, recently some overtures have been made over the discussions concerning Iran’s nuclear program, the relations between the two countries have been anything but amicable. But, thirty four years of animosity is a drop in the bucket where history is concerned. As much as the sound bites of the media and politicians on both sides and ends of the continent want us to think, the United States and Iran have had more in common than none.

Here are three examples of historic events and figures from both the U.S. and Iran and their significant impact on each other’s country over the course of time:

Cyrus the Great’s Persian Empire & the U.S. Declaration of Independence
Imagine my surprise when during a visit to the Getty Villa to see the Cyrus Cylinder, on loan from the British Museum, I learned that Thomas Jefferson and the Founding Fathers referred to the book “Cyropaedia” by the Greek historian Xenophone on the Persian King, Cyrus the Great (ruled 559-530 B.C.) in the drafting of the Declaration of Independence.

Cyrus the Great, was renowned as a benevolent and noble ruler, even before the discovery of the Cylinder in 1879. Reference to Cyrus the Great is also made in the Old Testament texts praising him for how he freed Jews and brought an end to their exile in Babylon. Influenced by Cyrus the Great’s effective leadership and management of the vast Persian Empire where different religions and traditions of the people in the empire were respected rather than outlawed, Jefferson and the Founding Father s employed these concepts in the drafting of the Declaration of Independence. This historic document which speaks of the people’s unalienable Rights, Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness has a great deal in common to Iran’s ancient Persian Empire.

The First Iranian-American
The Islamic Revolution of 1978 uprooted and displaced many Iranians creating a diaspora around the world. The U.S. has become home to the largest population of Iranians outside Iran. The Iranian-American community has produced significant numbers of individuals recognized for their contributions in medicine, engineering, business and government. However, the first ever Iranian seeking U.S. citizenship dates back to 1875 and his name was Mirza Mohammad Ali, also known as Hajj Sayyah (which means the traveler).

Hajj Sayyah was born in 1836 in Mahallat, Iran and from a young age he was exposed through his studies to modern and democratic ideas that at the time were percolating around the world. Curious to expand his horizons, at the age of 23, alone and with little money, he set off on a journey around the world that lasted 18 years and took him to Central Asia, Europe and to the Unites States. He stayed in the U.S. for ten years and met with many important figures, one of whom was President Ulysses Grant. His travels afforded him a look into other societies and governments as compared to the harsh treatment suffered by most Iranians under their autocratic rulers. He became convinced that all human beings deserve to live humanely, treated justly and enjoy basic human rights. According to State Department documents, Hajj Sayyah became an American citizen on May 26, 1875, making him the first officially-documented Iranian to become a U.S. citizen. He returned to Iran in 1877 and became politically active by speaking out against the unbearable living conditions in Iran as perpetuated by the monarch and the clergy which led to his imprisonment. Once he was released, he immediately sought refuge at the United State Legation in Tehran and continued to play a major role in the Constitutional Revolution of 1906 in Iran. He died at the age of 89 in 1925.
(Credit: Dr. Ali Ferdowsi, the Chair of the Department of History and Political Science at Notre Dame de Namur University. Encyclopedia Iranica www.iranica.com )

The Iranian Lafayette via Nebraska

Born on April 10, 1885 in Nebraska, Howard Baskerville, a Princeton University graduate and missionary came to Iran in 1907 to teach Iranian boys and girls at the Presbyterian Mission School in Tabriz, a city in the northwestern region of the country.

As far back as the 1870’s, American Christian missionaries had come to Iran (at that time: Persia) to help build schools, medical clinics and hospitals and proselytize. Two years after his arrival, during Iran’s Constitutional Revolution, Baskerville took up the cause of the Iranians who were dissatisfied with the Qajar monarchy (which pre-dates the Pahlavi dynasty that was overthrown in 1979), by raising a volunteer army. He did so against the advice of the evangelical Presbyterian missionaries and the American Consul in Tabriz. He saw the Constitutionalists struggle for democracy identical to America’s war for independence from Great Britain. The Qajar Royalists, with support from the Czarist Russia, had taken Tabriz under siege. Baskerville and his hundred-man army that included mostly young noblemen and some of his pupils attempted to break the ten-month siege. But as Baskerville and two others set off on a sortie to collect food for the city from a nearby village, he was shot in the back by a sniper from the Royalist’s army. The bullet went straight through his heart, killing him instantly. He was only 24.

One hundred years after his death, Baskerville continues to be revered as not only a hero by the Iranian people, who call him the “Iranian Lafayette,” but most importantly a shaheed, or martyr, turning him into a national legend. At his funeral, thousands turned out for a massive outpouring of mourning. He was buried in the Christian Armenian cemetery in Tabriz. When the Persian parliament reconvened seven months later, the first item on its agenda was a speech of tribute to the slain American. Even Ernest Hemingway credits his participation in the Spanish Civil War to Howard Baskerville and modeled the character of Robert Jordan in his novel For Whom the Bells Toll after him.

In 2003, a bronze bust of Baskerville was erected in Tabriz’s Constitution House. The Persian inscription at the bottom of the bust reads: “Howard C. Baskerville. He was a patriot – history maker.”

History has a way of helping us gain insight into the past, lessening our myopic perspective on the present. As Baskerville, the young American missionary was quoted as saying: “The only difference between me and these people is my place of birth, and this is not a big difference.” We are all pursuing our unalienable Rights of Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
(Credit: Hajj Sayyah – Dr. Ali Ferdowsi, the Chair of the Department of History and Political Science at Notre Dame de Namur University. Encyclopedia Iranica www.iranica.com)

(Excerpts on Howard Baskerville were borrowed from a previous blog “My Place of Birth,” which appears on AcademicExchange, 01/12/2012)

Jasmin S. Kuehnert
President & CEO ACEI
www.acei1.com

IRAN: Flirting with Change

October 17th, 2013

Students at Tehran University source: en.irangreevoice.com

Though the world is viewing the overtures made by Iran’s new President, Hassan Rouhani, with cautious optimism, on Monday, October 14, 2014, he challenged the country’s hardline factions and called for the lifting of restrictions on academic freedoms and for granting Iranian scholars more opportunity to take part in international conferences. Speaking to students and professors at Tehran University, Mr. Rouhani said that his “administration will not tolerate factional pressures on universities,” and called on the importance of scholars from taking part in international conferences as “scientific diplomacy.”

“I urge all security apparatuses, including the intelligence ministry, to open the way for this diplomacy. Trust the universities,” said Rouhani.

In an earlier blog I wrote about how the government of Iran, under the former presidency of Ahmadinejad, had justified its decision to bar women from studying in 70 plus programs. Mr. Ahmadinejad and the hardliners in his government were concerned about the disparity between the increasing numbers of women versus men enrolling at universities. Mr. Rouhani’s predecessor’s government wasn’t only concerned about limiting women’s access to over 70 fields of study, but also barring scholars and professors from attending international conferences and engaging in research, and making it difficult for Iranian students to seek higher education outside the country.

Mr. Rouhani’s Monday call was broadcast on state television. The Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s top policymaker, has endorsed Rouhani’s outreach to the U.S. However, this does not mean the hardliners are taking Mr. Rouhani’s calls for education freedom and his attempts to reach out to the U.S. lightly. In fact, they have vowed to organize a major anti-U.S. rally on November 4th to mark the anniversary of the takeover of the U.S. embassy in Tehran by militant students in 1980.

When Rouhani took office in August, he had called for lifting the restrictions on social media access and even urged police to be less vigilant toward women and the perceived violations of strict dress codes. I believe Iranian women had already taken matters into their own hands, even before Mr. Rouhani’s declaration. Street fashion in Iran, as seen in this series of photos, is alive and well and young women and some men are pushing the envelope expressing their individualism and unique sense of style even with dress code restrictions.

Perhaps change is underway in Iran and as far as academic freedom is concerned, the only way to gauge it is to see how students, professors and scholars are treated under Mr. Rouhani’s watch.

Jasmin S. Kuehnert
President & CEO ACEI
www.acei1.com

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Filed under Education, History, Human Interest, Politics

Tagged as change, education, fashion, hassan rouhani, iran, tehran, Tehran University

August 15, 2013 · 7:57 pm

Iran: Women…Beauty, Brains and Brawn

August 15th, 2013

In the current male-dominated society of Iran, where men vie for positions of power with questionable academic degrees (see our 6/20/13 blog), the government has set out to restrict women’s access to over 70 academic university degree programs. I wrote about this last year in a blog post on how the government of Iran justified its decision to bar women from studying in 70 plus programs because it saw a disparity between the number of women enrolled at universities versus men. If more women are motivated to pursue higher education versus men and select fields that were once attracting male students, why are they being penalized?

Here’s why.

Months before I wrote the piece about the restrictions placed on female students in pursuing certain university degree programs in Iran, I’d written a blog post that women represented 60% of enrollment at Iranian universities and more women than men pursued advanced degrees.

Source: http://www.zawaj.com

More women are entering the job market and earning salaries at times higher than their male counterparts, foregoing or postponing marriage, and sharing apartments with female friends. Embracing this new way of life brought on through financial security and their marketability based on their education has allowed women in Iran to question the socio-political problems in their country. If you recall images of the 2008 elections in Iran, where allegations of election fraud brought hundreds of thousands of protesters into the streets, the prominent faces we saw were not just of men, but young women calling for reforms.

It is easy to see that a vocal, educated, independent class and gender, in this case female, is a threat to a regime that has succeeded in keeping its women in second or third class ranking. Limiting access to higher education, especially academic programs that lead to financial security, is one way of curbing or derailing that evolution.

Given these restrictions, there’s a revolution happening in Iran, albeit a sexual revolution. Reports are coming out of Iran by travelers and reporters of sex parties where alcohol and drugs abound. One article appearing on the on-line magazine salon.com speaks of these sex parties and rebellious behavior that go against the grain of the religious morays of the regime. The author of the post says: “…despite the strict moral policies of the Islamic Republic, young Iranians were listening to music, dancing, drinking alcohol, and socializing in new ways. Western dress and makeup were ubiquitous…parties where famous DJs played techno music, Absolut vodka and Tanqueray gin were served, and female guests mingled with “western guys.” Although house parties were common among the middle and upper-middle classes, lower-class youth threw parties in abandoned warehouses or at secluded outdoor locations, serving homemade liquor and playing music on “boom boxes” or car stereos. Young Iranians also indulged in premarital and extramarital sexual escapades.” Restrictions are only fueling the people’s motivation and determination to challenge them.

Another new development is the growing interest in self-empowerment activities such as the martial arts and parkour amongst young Iranian women. The practice of the martial arts has always been popular in Iran mostly amongst the male population but now women are entering the field.

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com

If women can’t get into degree programs in engineering, for example, there’s always another way of building strength of mind, body and spirit, and what better way of honing those skills but by taking on the rigorous practices of martial arts whether its judo, ninjutsu, jiu jitsu, and tae kwon do or even the physically challenging parkour.

Source: http://www.girlparkour.com

If they are not sparring on the mat in the dojo, young women across Iran are putting their physical abilities to test by jumping from rooftops, catapulting themselves over stairways, scaling walls of building, and summersaulting over moving cars. Watch this video of some young women engaged in parkour: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ij_Apn5b_hM#at=16

While the men are jockeying for positions of power with dubious degrees and claims of academic achievements, Iranian women are training themselves, consciously or unintentionally, to be the true warriors and future leaders.

Jasmin S. Kuehnert
President & CEO ACEI
www.acei1.com

Iran: Elections and Academic Credentials Under Scrutiny

June 20, 2013

As you must have heard by now, Iranians had an election last week and cast their votes in favor of Hassan Rouhani (or Rowhani), ending the eight- year term of his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. What has caught my attention is not the President-elect’s victory but the news surrounding his academic qualifications, which only a week ago had been brought under scrutiny.

It appears that in a campaign ad promoting Mr. Rouhani’s experience and credentials, the advert reported him as having earned a PhD in Law from the University of Glasgow, Scotland, UK. When news of this said degree reached Scotland, the University checked its archives and found no record of his enrollment or having granted him the Doctorate. A spokesperson for Mr. Rouhani has since said that he had enrolled under a different last name, but the University of Glasgow was unable to verify its accuracy. His representatives submitted another amendment correcting the University’s name to Glasgow Caledonian University (formed after a merger in 1993 between Queen’s College and Glasgow Polytechnic) and also indicating that the newly-elected President had enrolled at the University under the name of Hassan Feridon.

On June 16, 2013, Glasgow Caledonian University confirmed that in 1995 it conferred upon a Hassan Feridon the degree of MPhil and the Doctor of Philosophy in 1999. Mr. Rouhani’s website indicates that he received the Master’s in Law and Ph.D. in Constitutional Law, however, dates of their awards were not listed at the time of investigation by Iran’s Election Watch. But the student Feridon’s dates of attendance appear to coincide with Mr. Rouhani’s tenure as President of the Center for Strategic Research (CSR) in Tehran a position with responsibilities that would have made post-graduate study very difficult. In a recent article in The Telegraph, Meir Javendanfar an analyst with the Inter-Disciplinary Centre in Hezliya in Israel says the following about Mr. Rouhani’s university credentials: “He would need to have herculean multi-tasking skills to write a PhD thesis while heading the national security council.”

On Tuesday, June 18, 2013, The Herald reported that Glasgow Caledonian University confirmed Hassan Feridon aka Hassan Rouhani as a graduate of the institution and holder of the Doctorate in Law (Thesis: The Flexibility of Shariah [Islamic Law]) with reference to the Iranian experience).

Verification of the validity of academic degrees is not unique to Mr. Rouhani. The out-going President, Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s academic degrees too were scrutinized in newspaper reports and even on the PBS newsmagazine Frontline. It seems that his attendance and graduation dates of when he received his engineering degree and Doctorate in Traffic Management or Transport Engineering from Iran University of Science and Technology don’t quite corroborate with historic timelines.

Given that I’m an international credential evaluator by profession, scrutinizing a person’s academic credentials is what I do by nature. I can’t help it. I see a diploma on the wall, and my brain quickly assesses the typeface, the name of the institution, the logo, dates, degree title, etc.

I don’t know about you, but an authoritative credential evaluation at the onset of presidential campaigns, or for that matter qualifying for any job, would have settled the confusion and alleviated doubts. But it is not too late; the two gentlemen need only submit their official transcripts for a comprehensive verification and evaluation.

Respectfully submitted,

The Frustrated Evaluator
www.acei1.com

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Tagged as credentials, education, glasgow caledonian university, glasgow scotland uk, hassan rouhani, iran, politics, post graduate study, university of glasgow scotland

January 24, 2013 · 7:24 pm

Heroes, Activists, and Martyrs: Lending their names to the streets of Tehran

January 24, 2013

When I heard the story of Granada, Spain planning to approve a measure to name a square in honor of the British punk band The Clash’s Joe Strummer http://www.theworld.org/2013/01/spanish-square-to-be-named-in-honor-of-the-clashs-joe-strummer/ I was reminded of the battery of street name changes that Iranian cities underwent immediately after the Islamic Revolution of 1979. The changing of names applied not only to streets and boulevards but to schools, colleges, universities and any building or organization that carried a name resonant of the former regime and all those it supported.

Besides serving as a practical guide to find one’s destination, street names and place names in general, create symbolic connections with the past, or recent past by commemorating and honoring the contributions of historical figures, military heroes, political leaders, inventors, industrialists, and athletes. According to the cultural geographer Wilbur Zelinsky in Nation into State, “the United States has a long history of naming places, especially streets, after patriot heroes and other notables.”

I first came across the term “commemorative landscape” a term referring to “a wide range of material sites devoted to remembering the past,” in an essay entitled “Commemorative Landscapes of North Carolina,” by Derek H. Alderman. We can safely agree that one of the most common of commemorative landscape types is the street name. In most cases, reasons to rename a street, monument or building are primarily politically motivated, reflecting the mood and sentiments of a new regime and its antipathy or respect for the past. When the Soviet Union collapsed, its satellites quickly set about a mission of de-Stalinization by renaming streets and building that once honored Stalin.

Though my recollections and understanding of Iran are memories frozen the moment I’d left the country in June 1978, I still remember those streets in Tehran named after American Presidents like Kennedy Square, Eisenhower Avenue, Roosevelt Avenue and British heads of state like Elizabeth Street and Winston Churchill Boulevard. Yet soon after the revolution these streets were renamed to honor martyrs of the Islamic Revolution and religious leaders. Kennedy Square is now Tohid Square, Eisenhower Avenue (named after the American President who helped the Shah topple Mossadeq) is Freedom Avenue and Roosevelt Avenue has been renamed Mofateh Avenue. Winston Churchill Boulevard, the site of the British Embassy in Tehran, was renamed Bobby Sands Street after the Irish Republican Army IRA member who went on a hunger strike and died in prison in northern Ireland in 1981. Apparently the British Embassy changed its entrance to another side of the building as they didn’t want the address to be Bobby Sands Street.

But not all American names have been censored in Iran. I read an LA Times article about Tehran’s decision to name a street in honor of Rachel Corrie, an American pro-Palestinian activist who was killed while protesting against the demolition of Palestinians homes in the Gaza strip. The photo below is proof of the street sign, which also includes a brief profile of Rachel Corrie.

“Tehran street sign named after American pro-Palestinian activist Rachel Corrie”

Iranian colleges and universities weren’t exempt from the name changing fever that had gripped the country following the 1979 revolution. Autonomous colleges, like the College of Surveying, or College of Statistics and Computer Science, or College of Mass Communication were phased out, merged and consolidated into university complexes named after revolutionary martyrs and religious leaders. Universities too saw their names changed, especially those that were named after the Shah or his family. Aryamehr University, known as the MIT of Iran, is now Sharif University of Technology, named after a former student who was killed in 1975. Melli (National) University was renamed Shahid Beheshti University. Farah Pahlavi University was renamed after the prophet Mohammad’s daughter as Al Zahra University. And the list goes on.

I haven’t returned to Iran since I left in 1978 but what I hear from friends and relatives who travel back and forth is that the old street names seem to still exist in people’s memories and used colloquially. It’s not unusual for passengers hailing a taxi to give their destination with the current name but also add its former name as backup. “Take me to Freedom Avenue, formerly Eisenhower.”

There’s a strange sense of belonging that happens when one sees and recognizes a familiar street sign. The main street leading to our home on Lane 8, off of Pakistan Avenue in northern Tehran, was Abbas Abad Avenue. That’s how I remember our ethnically diverse neighborhood of small mom and pop shops, the bakery, dry cleaners, and a vast empty dirt lot soon to be a large housing development. Our next door neighbor was a French diplomat. Across the street lived an American family from Maine whose eldest son was my brother’s best friend and attended the Tehran American School. A few houses down were a Japanese family whose patriarch would take strolls up and down our quiet street in the afternoons in his kimono and wooden shoes.

Abbas Abad Avenue has since been renamed as Shahid Beheshti Avenue. I have no connection to this new street and all that it represents, but one thing that seems to have not changed is the international flavor of the district that has carried on. Today, Shahid Beheshti, aka Abbas Abad Avenue, is home to embassies and foreign firms. Do you have any stories to share of the street names in your neighborhoods?

Jasmin S. Kuehnert
President & CEO ACEI
www.acei1.com

Higher Education in Iran: The Path to Freedom and…Singlehood

June 21, 2012

Three years ago Iranians marched through the streets of Tehran and other major cities in Iran protesting the presidential elections, which soon became known as the Green Revolution. I remember watching news clips and YouTube videos of the protests and found myself moved by the faces of all the people marching, especially the young men and women. But what really moved me were the faces of the Iranian women, mostly in their late teens and twenties, dressed in jeans, and form fitting coats, their heads and hair covered under loosely tied scarves. Video after video showed these fearless young women standing up to the riot police even if it meant being struck by their batons, feet or hands. These women did not back away but continued to march and cried out for freedom. Many were arrested, jailed, and even lost their lives.

I left Iran in August 1978 at the precipice of a popular Revolution, which morphed into the Islamic Revolution, which then overthrew the Shah and ended the country’s 2500 years of monarchical dynasties. In those heady days of the Revolution, Iranian men and women from all walks of life had poured into the streets carrying anti-Shah banners and calling for freedom. I was a freshman at the University of San Diego as the Revolution unfolded in Iran and watched the events as a spectator would in the nosebleed section of a giant stadium. And I’m still watching from the sidelines from my perch in Southern California.

In today’s Islamic Republic of Iran, women are asking for freedoms which Iran’s theocratic government is finding difficult to address. It appears that when it comes to higher education, women account for nearly 60 percent of the total enrollment at Iranian universities. In addition, the increasing number of educated females with a global awareness of social issues (thanks to satellite television, the internet, and inexpensive foreign travel), has also made it difficult for these women to find husbands they consider compatible. At the same time, divorces in Iran have increased by 135 percent, pushing into the forefront a dramatic rise in numbers of women who are choosing to remain single.

According to an article I recently read in the NY Times: “Politicians and clerics are warning that an entire generation is growing up with values that are anathema to the traditional ones upheld by the state.” A leading ayatollah, Kazem Saddighi, said the following in a recent sermon: “Young people who are not married are nude, as marriage is like divine clothes to cover them.” But with more women earning higher salaries by virtue of holding university degrees and the continued rise in divorce rates, remaining single, renting an apartment and living alone and not with one’s family, is beginning to be seen as a mark of success. Interestingly, the young women embarking on a life of singlehood and pursuing careers have the support of their parents.

The Iran I grew up in was not against women. In fact, women were able to attain higher education, study abroad, hold positions in government and business, marry and raise families, or remain single. In fact, I remember a popular TV series called “Talagh” (=Divorce), which dealt with stories of marriages falling apart and the drama around it. What is interesting in today’s Iran is that it is the Iranian women, pushed into second or third class ranking as having less worth than a man per Islamic doctrine, subjected to strict dress codes and social restrictions, are the ones who are fanning the flames of change. Education, especially access to higher education, has been the Islamic regime’s goal from its early days. What the framers of the Islamic Revolution had not accounted for is this sudden increase in a very highly educated and outspoken female population. This super irony isn’t lost on me.

In the words of one thirty-something Iranian female quoted in the NYT article: “Society has no option but to accept us…I hope the state will follow.” I certainly hope so. It would be foolish otherwise.

Jasmin S. Kuehnert
President & CEO ACEI, Inc.
www.acei1.com

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Filed under Education, Human Interest

Tagged as education, higher education, human-interest, human-rights, iran, middle-east, politics

March 22, 2012 · 7:21 pm

Now-Ruz: A Celebration of Life

March 22, 2012

Photo of Haftseen by Firooz Saofoura Zoroofchi

According to a recent post by Shirin Sadeghi on HuffingtonPost: “The talk of war (against Iran) walks tall amongst the rhetoric of Washington.”

As the U.S. and Israel increase the volume of their threats of war against Iran, Iranians in the diaspora and those living under the theocratic stranglehold of the Islamic Republic celebrated the arrival of the Persian New Year on March 19th at exactly 10:15 PM PST. The celebration of Now-Ruz (New Day), takes effect at the exact astronomical beginning of Spring, known as the vernal equinox. Now-Ruz has been celebrated for nearly 3000 years. Its rituals and traditions date back to Zoroastrianism, the ancient Persian religion that existed until 7th century A.D. before the Arab invasion and the enforcement of Islam.

In preparation for Now-Ruz, Iranians embark on the spring-cleaning of their homes, even make or buy a new set of clothes (my brother and I loved getting a new outfit or two), and bake pastries in anticipation of visiting guests when gifts are exchanged and feasts enjoyed. The rituals surrounding the celebration of Now-Ruz are rich with symbolism and ceremony. They begin on the last Wednesday of winter with Chahar-Shanbeh Soori (Eve of Wednesday), a fire-jumping festival, where people create small bonfires in their neighborhoods and jump over them as the sun sets. Parents join in with their children and jump over the flames inviting happiness and abundance while releasing and letting go of darkness and negativity by chanting: “Offer me your lovely red hue and take away my sickly pallor.” With fire signifying light (day), the symbol of all that is good, and dark (night), the unknown and all that is evil, celebrants partaking in the fire festival look forward to the arrival of spring bringing longer days and new beginnings.

As a child growing up in Iran, I remember the minstrels or troubadours, known as Haji Firuz, who sang and danced in the streets dressed in bright red and yellow satin poufy pants and shirts, spreading good cheer and bringing merriment to neighborhoods. Another tradition, somewhat resembling the trick-or-treat of Halloween, included young men who disguised themselves as women under chadors (long veils) and went from street to street banging on pots and pans, shaking tambourines and raising raucous. All this was done in jest as seeing a boy or young man in such a disguise invited laughs and more laughs.

Now-Ruz celebrations last for 13 days. As a child, Now-Ruz meant a school holiday lasting for 13 days. In fact, most businesses throughout the country would shut down for the duration of Now-Ruz. Everyone was on holiday!

The Now-Ruz festivities end on the 13th day known as “Sizdah Bedar” (out with the 13th), and it is celebrated outdoors. Staying indoors is seen as a bad omen and families spend the day outside in parks and in the countryside near streams, rivers, and lakes, enjoying a festive picnic. The “sabze” or plate of wheat-germ that was the centerpiece of the Haft-Seen is taken on this picnic so that young unmarried women wishing for a husband will tie a knot between the green shoots (symbolizing a marital bond) and toss it into running water.
Despite the Islamic Regime’s attempts to do away with Now-Ruz, calling it un-Islamic and pagan, the ancient tradition of celebrating the arrival of Spring continues in Iran. The Iranian people have endured and survived invaders and conquerors like Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, and with time will overcome the Muslim conquest.

I see it only fit to close by quoting Shirin Sadeghi who says: “According to top US government officials, April’s showers will bring superpowers to Iranian shores. The war has been penciled in, they tell us. But Now-Ruz is in ink. And as is its habit, it is a reminder that the darkness is fleeting: the day will soon be longer than the night.”

Happy Now-Ruz!

Jasmin S. Kuehnert
President & CEO ACEI, Inc.
www.acei1.com

5 Comments

Filed under Human Interest

Tagged as human-interest, human-rights, iran, politics

March 2, 2012 · 12:36 am

From Iran to Irangeles: A Tribute to Iranian-Americans

March 1, 2012

At this year’s Academy Awards, the Oscar for the Best Foreign Film was given to the Iranian filmmaker Ashghar Farhadi for his film “Separation.” In his acceptance speech, he spoke of how in the midst of the chatter between politicians and heads of states, the world forgets to see and appreciate Iran’s rich culture and history. I was heartened to hear these words, as so few of us have the opportunity to experience Iran’s cultural contributions at first hand given its strained relations with the USA.

However, while the Academy recognized Mr. Farhadi’s film for an Oscar, the Bravo channel is introducing a reality show called the “Shahs of Sunset,” depicting an Iranian family living in Beverly Hills in all its gaudy in-your-face obnoxious splendor. Sadly, as it is expected of a cable channel that peddles reality shows where good taste and educational value are not its primary concern, we cannot expect an objective portrayal of the Iranian community living in the USA.

There are an estimated 1-1.5 million Iranian-Americans living in the U.S. with the largest concentration—about 700,000—living in Los Angeles. No wonder the city is commonly referred to by Iranian-Americans as “Tehrangeles” or “Irangeles.” But, you can be sure that not all 1.5 million Iranians in the USA live ostentatiously in Beverly Hills like the family depicted in Bravo’s reality show.

Here are three outstanding Iranian-Americans who have had an impact on my life on a personal level.

Hooshang Pak, MD

Dr. Hooshang Pak is a board certified neurosurgeon and practices in CA. Having received his medical degree at Tehran University he continued his postgraduate training in New York in 1975 where he completed his surgical internship at Saint Vincent Medical Center of Staten Island. He completed his neurosurgery residency at Henry Ford hospital in Michigan. He has an extensive and impressive bio which is just what you want when facing a life and death situation as I was when I was 25. A freak accident in a Tae Kwon Do class had triggered headaches that over a course of six months accelerated into such debilitating pain that neither a CAT Scan nor the physicians who had examined me were able to diagnose the problem. A friend of our family recommended that I visit her brother-in-law, Dr. Houshang Pak, a neurosurgeon, for another opinion. It was Dr. Pak’s insistence that I seek an MRI, a process which two decades ago was still considered new, that showed the source of the problem. I was diagnosed with subdural hematoma (collection of blood on the surface of the brain). “Given the significant amount of bleeding and swelling of your brain, it’s a miracle you’re not in a coma and alive. But the bad news is that we have to operate,” is how I recall Dr. Pak breaking the news to me and my father who had driven me to the MRI clinic. It was Dr. Pak who drove me to Long Beach Memorial Hospital where within minutes of our arrival I was prepped for surgery which lasted about eight hours. Needless to say, I am here today because of Dr. Pak’s expertise and his team at the Long Beach Memorial.

Atossa Soltani

Atossa is the founder and Executive Director of Amazon Watch http://www.amazonwatch.org , a non-profit organization founded in 1996 to protect the rainforest and advance the rights of indigenous peoples in the Amazon Basin. I first met Atossa about seven years ago at a fundraiser for Amazon Watch and since then I have been a staunch supporter of her organization’s endeavors. But it is also her tenacious spirit and fearlessness as an advocate for indigenous rights and for standing up to the oil companies who have and continue to pollute and ravage the Amazon basin that have won my utmost respect and admiration. Her commitment to bringing awareness to the plight of the indigenous peoples in the Amazon means that she will attend an oil company’s shareholder’s meeting and not only speak to those in attendance but invite members of the indigenous tribes to do so as well. Two years ago, after attending a screening of the film Avatar hosted by NRDC on the Fox Studios Lot in Century City, my husband and I ran into Atossa and her husband and together we encouraged her (not that she needed it) to approach the director James Cameron for a brief interview. She wanted to tell Mr. Cameron that the real Na’vi are living in the Amazon basin and struggling for their survival against the polluting oil corporations. Atossa is petite and diminutive, but she pushed through the crowds with the three of us her wingmen and for the next twenty minutes she had Mr. Cameron’s undivided attention. Mr. Cameron was so moved that he gave her his business card to contact him, because this was exactly the kind of cause he wanted to be involved in. Two weeks later, there on the front page of the NY Times, was a photo of Mr. Cameron, his face sporting warrior paint treading carefully through a grassy field in the Amazon flanked on each side by tribal leaders! His journey to the Amazon to speak out against the building of the Belo Monte dam would not have occurred had it not been for Atossa. To follow Atossa and her organization’s on-going endeavors, please visit http://www.amazonwatch.org and even better, show your support with a tax-deductible contribution.

Nader Khalili

I never had the honor of meeting Mr. Khalili who passed away in 2008. I first learned of Mr. Khalili and his earth-friendly building designs at a green festival in Los Angeles about six or seven years ago. Born in Iran in 1936, Mr. Khalil was an architect, writer and humanitarian. He practiced architecture in the U.S. and around the world and was known for his innovation of the Geltaftan Earth-and-Fire System known as Ceramic Houses and the Earthbag Construction technique called super adobe. Click here to see some images of Mr. Khalili’s creations. Inspired by traditional arid house designs in his homeland Iran, he applied these concepts by developing his Super Adobe system in response to a call from NASA looking for designs that would accommodate human settlements on the Moon and Mars. Initially, the project was purely conceptual but he was soon able to actualize his designs by partnering with the United Nations Development Program and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees by helping build emergency shelters modeled after his designs. In 1991, he founded the California Institute of Earth Art and Architecture (Cal-Earth) which continues to teach his Superadobe building techniques to students from around the world. Three years ago, on hearing that the Ojai Foundation was offering a week of hands-on training on building an earth-dome following Mr. Khalili’s techniques, my husband and I both jumped at the opportunity. The weekend happened to fall on Valentine’s Day and proved to be one of the most memorable ways of spending the day: outdoor in nature and playing in the dirt! Of course, one weekend wasn’t enough to complete the construction of the earth dome, but working together with ten other volunteers and learning the basics of Mr. Khalili’s philosophy and techniques has me convinced that earth-friendly designs are not only affordable, but sustainable and habitable.

For a list of some notable Iranian-Americans living in the USA, please visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Iranian_Americans. Share with us your personal experience with Iranian-Americans who have had a positive impact on your life.

Jasmin S. Kuehnert
President & CEO ACEI, Inc.
www.acei1.com

5 Comments

Filed under Gratitude, Human Interest

Tagged as culture, current-events, gratitude, iran, Irangeles, iranian-americans, iranians, politics, Tehrangeles, travel

Tag Archives: iran

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Higher Education in Iran: The Path to Freedom and…Singlehood

Now-Ruz: A Celebration of Life

From Iran to Irangeles: A Tribute to Iranian-Americans

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