I am watching this on iPlayer and it is excellent.

Rageh Omar spent a year trying to get permission to film openly and indepenently in Tehran and got permission.

His journeys around the city, meeting young people in their homes, partying and very much in touch with the modern world gives the lie to the version of Iran pedalled by politicians and journalists in the west for so long.

Yes, the government is ultra conservative and as a result I as a gay man would not feel comfortable there, butb there is a real vibrancy to this modern city which makes me want to go there.

Do seek it out on the iPlayer- it's called Rageh Inside Iran.

must watch...Robert Fisk-probably the most knowledgable on the ME describes the current Iranian president as almost childlike in his view of the world.

Iranians are possibly the most educated in the ME..certainly there are some murderous lots amongst the religious fanatics (our fault they eventualy took charge).

I loved Tehran the only time I went there (1964), broad streets, huge lake full of caviar bulging fish and the most beautiful people I have ever seen, bridging the different races of Arab and Orient, Slav and Indian... those multiple genes produce incredible long eye lashes, gorgeous skin, deep pools of vision and sweet natures.

God spare us from the moral fascists of religion who can contaminate an entire race.

Thanks for pointing that one out, David. It was a fascinating programme from start to finish.

I feel so sorry for Iranians, especially the youth. They are a well educated and sophisticated nation. When the (at the time) unsophisticated Arab hordes brutally forced Islam upon them, they invented Sufism and the worship of martyrs, to try and inject some mysticism into a crude religion which lacks any such thing. They deserve better.

I hope that one day, as the old guard dies out, this great nation will rise to enlightenment again. There is surely more hope than exists, for example, in the murky medieval depths of Saudi Arabia, or America's bible belt for that matter.

JK2006 wrote:
I loved Tehran the only time I went there (1964), broad streets, huge lake full of caviar bulging fish and the most beautiful people I have ever seen, bridging the different races of Arab and Orient, Slav and Indian... those multiple genes produce incredible long eye lashes, gorgeous skin, deep pools of vision and sweet natures.

God spare us from the moral fascists of religion who can contaminate an entire race.

JK you seem to imply that Iran in the 60s was a lovely place compared to now. It might have been for you as a tourist, but not for the locals.

In the 60s Iran was under the regime of the Shah (Mohammad Reza Pahlavi) who ruled the country under a brutal regime sustained by a powerful secret police. This regime was kept in place by the UK/US governments.

I am very glad you found it nice there at the time tho.

It is true that the country is now in the grip of a distateful ultra-conservative regime.

but how did that come about? The population rose up against the Shah and his western backers, wanting something better. Unfortunately all they got was Ayatollah Khomeini, who promised much but delivered only more of the same but in a religious guise. He failed to deliver.

I've just watched the first part of the three parter Iran series on iPlayer ahead of tonight's second part - fascinating.
Jimmy Carter comes out of it very well - a decent, honest, honourable man.