To see photos of modern Tehran -- and lots of food -- go to my blog.
****
Yesterday I went off to see Tehran's equivalent of Beverly Hills' Rodeo Drive. They had all the latest stuff there -- Gucci, Dior, Tommy Hilfiger, Givenchy, Mont Blanc, DSquared2, Yves St. Laurent, etc. The women were dressed to the nines. Forget just plain ordinary veils. Everyone there was wearing Hermes.
So much for sanctions.
"One reason that sanctions don't work so well over here" said an Iranian woman I met at the local KFC (Kabooky Fried Chicken), "is because there is so much European money invested in Iran that, even though the EU officially supports the imposition of sanctions, European investors cannot afford to completely play by the rules laid down by the US. And the other reason is that Iran is mostly industrially self-sufficient. We even make our own cars."
Iran, unfortunately, is not TOTALLY industrially self-sufficient, I was just about to find out. Today we flew from Tehran to Yazd and our plane was very very late in arriving. "Why is it so late?" I asked the man sitting next to me in the passenger lounge.
"This delay is due to the sanctions. Airplanes and airplane parts are hard to get in Iran right now."
"But doesn't sanctioning airplane parts put civilians in danger?"
"Yes it does. We just had a crash recently because of this. Plus it's hard to make repairs and we are forced to use the black market or to improvise. For instance, we now rent some of our planes because we are not allowed to buy them. We rent them from Russia, Turkey and even Bulgaria. But even so, many of our planes are in such poor shape right now that they aren't even allowed to land at European airports." Great. That's just what I needed to hear right before boarding my flight to Yazd.
"But why doesn't Iran make its own planes?"
"Specialization. In today's world economy, it's not possible to make everything." Oh. So the sanctions actually do end up hurting Iran -- unless of course you have a passion for Gucci. Then apparently you are okay.
But in general Iran really is industrially self-sufficient.
I wish that America was too.
For instance, just how vulnerable would WE be if we had sanctions imposed on us?
Let's suppose that the rest of the world finally got all pissed off at America because of Bush, Cheney and McCain's reckless and lawless foreign policy? Suppose that the rest of the world finally got fed up with all the waterboarding, preemptive strikes, DU contamination, WMD lies, lack of financial regulations and various other nasty things that the neo-cons have done across the globe in the past eight years? Suppose that the rest of the world decided to impose sanctions on the US? We'd be in big trouble. Why? Because America is NOT in any way industrially self-sufficient.
Stillwater is a freelance writer who hates injustice and corruption in any form but especially injustice and corruption paid for by American taxpayers. She has recently published a book entitled, "Bring Your Own Flak Jacket: Helpful Tips For Touring Today's Middle East". According to Ms. Stillwater, "It's a fabulous and entertaining book. I loved writing it. And I hope that you will love reading it too." It's available at http://www.amazon.com/Bring-Your-Own-Flak-Jacket/dp/0978615719 or you can special order it at any independent bookstore.
What to say about the indefatigable Jane Stillwater? You are one amazing lady. Some questions for you while you are in Iran. In the April, 2008 Majlis Election, the United Prinsipalists Front ended up with 117 seats in Parliament. Iran’s Parliament is unicameral, which means it has essentially one house, or chamber. It seems to me that gives the speaker a lot more leverage on policy. Ali Ardashir Larijani is now Speaker of Parliament. Larijani was, & is a principle player in Iran’s nuclear program. He was Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council from 2005 to 2007. It seems pretty clear Iran is NOT going to back away from its current nuclear development policies. With Larijani as Speaker, will Ahmadinejad’s bid for reelection in the 12 June 2009 Presidential Election be much more difficult? Israel has openly stated that it was waiting & watching closely the results of this recent election. What are Iranians saying about this recent election & whether or not Israel finds them provocative, more or less acceptable, absolutely unacceptable? The U.S. is actively preparing the Israeli military for a strike against Iran’s nuclear program. They may, or, more than likely may not pull it off in the coming weeks. Bush & his lunatic neocons are crazy, but are they THAT crazy? Iran has made it clear that they believe the U.S. is the driving force behind everything Israel does. Do ordinary Iranians buy into that? If Acting Prime Minister Tzipi Livni is able to form a government acceptable to the Knesset, do Iranians see this as a positive or a negative? Although a former Mossad agent, she is considered a moderate & slightly dovish. She was a firm supporter of Olmert’s disengagement plan. Surely a government she would form would be a more encouraging outcome than anything the hyper-hawkish Likud might do? What are Iranians saying about their situation with Livni running Israel & Obama as President?
by
dick overfield (22 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 35 comments)
on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 at 12:22:29 PM
Thanks for the insightful question. Not sure, however, if I can get you an answer. Talking to strangers here is just like talking to strangers at home. Sometimes you get a great answer but most times people don't really pour their hearts out to you from out of the blue.
But I continue to be amazed at how real the people of Iran are -- and it's hard to believe that I'm in the middle of the "Axis of Evil". In fact, I hardly believe it at all.
by
Jane Stillwater (469 articles, 0 quicklinks, 9 diaries, 69 comments)
on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 at 1:06:57 PM
2 comments
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