I can never quite enjoy myself in a totalitarian country. Whether it be China or Myanmar, Franco's Spain or Castro's Cuba, I could never, in the past, quite rid myself of the realization that the local people around me were not able to speak their minds without risking arrest and imprisonment. And no matter how much I savored their cuisine or marveled at their views, there was at least a tiny part of myself that remained guarded and ill at ease.
I mention this because of the apparent surge, especially among young Americans, in plans to make touristic visits to Iran. From various people who have been there, I have recently heard rhapsodic comments about how gracious are the Iranians, how warm their welcome, how important their sights and history.
The people making those comments were of course unable to speak Farsi, the language of Iran. So they were limited to the explanations of tour guides or the translators who sometimes passed on their questions to ordinary Iranians. And these Iranians with whom they spoke were of course careful to make only positive comments about their nation and government.
I have heard other frequent comments by tourists or would-be tourists to Iran about how easy it is for female American visitors to don the headscarves that all women, including female non-muslim tourists in Iran, must wear when outside their homes. It's no big problem, said one to me. You can allow a large portion of your hair to show. You can take lessons from Iranian women about the artful manner in which they are able to arrange the head scarves, and thus make something of a fashion statement.
Now I am not against travel to Iran, in the same way that i am not against travel to China or other dictatorial states. We all have a great deal to learn from such travels. And I am not an hysteric on the subject of Iran. For one thing, I support the recent nuclear deal that holds out some hope that Iran will not develop nuclear weapons.
But travel to a dictatorial country must occur against the knowledge of what the true political essence of that nation is. It should be undertaken by people who are not dupes, who understand the negatives, and who do not convey to the local residents that they are wholeheartedly in favor of the governing regime. In the same way that I did not rhapsodize about the Franco regime in the course of visiting Spain in the 1960s, in the same way that I was well aware of the fact (and sickened by it) that Vaclav Havel and his associates were all in prison during the course of my visit to Prague in the 1980s, in that same manner the many young people now yearning for a trip to Iran should have some knowledge of the nature of the hard-liners who govern Iran.
A recent report by Amnesty International finds that the human rights record of Iran is among the worst in the world. It opens with the statement that Iranian authorities "have continued to restrict freedom of expression, association and assembly, arresting, detaining and prosecuting in unfair trials minority and women's rights activists, journalists and human rights defenders and others who voiced dissent. Torture and other ill treatment have remained prevalent and were committed with impunity. Women and ethnic and religious minorities have faced pervasive discrimination in law and practice."
As for those head scarves, the report names three prominent women's rights activists who have been under house arrest for two years, in conditions of deteriorating health, for having protested clothing rules imposed on women.
When a young Iran-bound tourist recently told me that the mandatory head scarves (for non-muslims) and other clothing requirements aren't really so bad, I felt like citing the Iranians who have gone to prison for simply advocating a lessening of such rules, I felt like rebuking this innocent American traveler, but mistakenly refrained from doing so out of courtesy.
By all means, visit Iran. But do so as an intelligent observer and not as an innocent dupe.
