Terrifying pictures of Iranian drug bust

Actually they are not targeting drug dealers per se--the Farsi term listed is closer to crooks or vagrants.

The same raid also hauled in guns, porn on DVD and VCD, fake passports, hookers...you get the idea.

Tehran is on pace to match the likes of Sao Paulo and Mexico City in terms of population and like all metropolises of such magnitude illicit undertakings are a dime a dozen. Still a hell of a lot safer to walk around at any hour than any major American or European City.

The standard of living varies greatly (just like most countries), but the general populace tends to be a heck of a lot more intelligent and worldly than the super-wealthy Arabs of the Persian Gulf Sheikhdoms and Saudi.

It's also true that America's popularity in the Mid-East is only on the rise in Iran, but that is somewhat due to the "forbidden fruit factor" which has been in effect ever since the anti-American revolution in 1979. If and when Washington tries to install another puppet regime in Tehran the natives will grow to despise the Yanks just like the penultimate generation which lived under the CIA-installed Shah.
 
Discodust said:
Still a hell of a lot safer to walk around at any hour than any major American or European City.
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Interesting. Is this coming from anecdotal evidence or crime statistics? I'm not calling you a liar or anything, I'm just curious to whether this is true or not, and how you came to this conclusion.
 
It's based on my own experiences (having lived in Tehran and a host of major American cities), so not really anecdotal. Though from my experience common sense goes a very long way in warding off crime anywhere in the world, in Tehran a foreigner's only constant worry is likely to be greedy shop owners try to trick a non-native regarding the price of everything from carpets to bottled water, but even while living in rural America violent crime often involving firearms is a constant worry and possibility for everyone.
 
one interesting thing I heard from an Iranian friend was that the biggest problem drug in Iran was meth. which I thought was a little wierd given it sits on the golden crescent smuggling route for heroin.

A bit OT......

Iran is a beautiful and diverse country, and if left alone would have gotten over the Islamic revolution hiccup, shame the Iran Iraq war was used to hammer them, in revenge for deposing the Shah. I seems the current situation is no different, the current American leaders have strong memories of the humiliation of the Embassy siege. Israel is pissed that Iran supported hezbollah in the lebanon war and their military was shown as wanting. Now America is pissed that their soldiers are getting killed in Iraq with Iranian made weapons.

Iran sees the Americans on every border, Iraq and Afghanistan as well as in some of the nearby fSSR's,Then by posturing and sabre rattling the west plays right into the hands of the religeous zealots in Iran.

If any country has a right to be pissed at the Americans it is Iran, in 1988 the Americans shot down an Iranian civilian airliner in Iranian airspace, because it dared to fly in the direction of a US missile cruiser. 290 dead and the Americans only grudgingly apologised.
Iran was on the recieving end of chemical weapons, the precursors to which were knowingly supplied to iraq by Britain America and Germany.

its enough to make you rather depressed. the world leaders are failing their people and things haven't improved in 50 years.
/rant
 
The country's well-documented lack of typical recreational outlets for youth (such as bars and nightclubs) has a lot to do with the huge consumption of narcotics.

Usually a "in drug" from the West is likely to hit Iran within a matter of months--MDMA beanies were all the rage a few years back, and now there are designer drugs like glass (shishe) which is basically meth and sells for over $100 a gram and "crack" which is actually something of a dirty speedball (H and crushed speed pills mixed together in a small rock) that can be smoked like its Western namesake.

It's also amazing how opium in Iranian culture holds roughly the same status as ganja in Jamaica; not even really considered a drug but a part of everyday life.
 
Discodust said:
It's also amazing how opium in Iranian culture holds roughly the same status as ganja in Jamaica; not even really considered a drug but a part of everyday life.
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ya thats very true. most people see it as being less harmful even then hashish. they dont see it as something that gets in the way of normal life or work. and its quite true, if you take opium you can still function normally.
 
nuke said:
Modern my arsehole -- it's a fascist shithole of a nation crawling with secret police, it nearly modernized once and then got taken over again by the right...QUOTE]

I believe you missed the point! Your comments represent most of the government, but not the majority of the people. The people are actually just like most people in the modern world, just trying to play the best hand with the cards they have been dealt.
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What most folks don't take into account is that due to historical, sociological and cultural factors nearly every Muslim land between Iran and Morocco would have a government quite like the one in Tehran if not for the ruthless and often American-backed monarchs and dictators keeping the "vocal minority" in check.

Guys like Assad, Mubarak, Saddam....were considerably more vicious than the Shah and thus kept an equally vicious religous fringe at bay. Look what Iraq has become now with 150,000 armed Yanks on its soil: a de facto Islamic Republic!

Even the country that has membership in NATO and hopes of joining the EU (Turkey) is constantly sweating out military coups due to leaders who are feared to be radical Islamists in coats and ties.
 
Discodust said:
What most folks don't take into account is that due to historical, sociological and cultural factors nearly every Muslim land between Iran and Morocco would have a government quite like the one in Tehran if not for the ruthless and often American-backed monarchs and dictators keeping the "vocal minority" in check.

Guys like Assad, Mubarak, Saddam....were considerably more vicious than the Shah and thus kept an equally vicious religous fringe at bay. Look what Iraq has become now with 150,000 armed Yanks on its soil: a de facto Islamic Republic!

Even the country that has membership in NATO and hopes of joining the EU (Turkey) is constantly sweating out military coups due to leaders who are feared to be radical Islamists in coats and ties.
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the other way of looking at it is that American intervention has prevented things from taking their natural course, the islamists would come to power and then failed to deliver the better future, just because some one can recite huge tracts of the koran doesn't make them a good leader, the islamists would blow any credibility they had and the country would remove them, leaving a secular but tolerant state. Algeria is the country I am thinking of, the islamists won the elections fair and square then were prevented from taking power by foreign encouraged intervention (mostly the French in this case). had they got into power they would now be recognised as a waste of time.
V
 
Yeah Phorzen one; I realize my last post went outside the doper realm, but it had to be postulated in response to some of the previous political posts.

To make it swing somewhat back in that direction I highly recommend a visit to Iran (especially gorgeous desert town such as Kerman and Yazd) for not only the scenery, architecture and history, but the hospitable natives who within a few minutes of a chance street encounter will invite a foreign guest into their residence for an an extended Opium smoking session--that stuff goes so good with the delicious dates of the region.
 
When you have police that will beat your ass for even thinking about stepping out of line, things tend to be a little more calm. The only good thing Saddam Hussein ever did was keep crime off the streets - what's the biggest complaint you always hear in quotes from Iraqi citizens? It's that there is so much crime now compared to before. You'll usually find that young/medium-length authoritarian regimes have (at least superficially) very stable and safe societies.

edit: okay, apparently I don't know how to navigate a thread anymore. I apologize for this totally and completely out of place post. =D
 
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^Dude, come on, that's semantics. There is usually much less street crime, particularly violent crime, in societies that skew toward authoritarian leadership with harsh police forces.
 
Au contraire feline in the dark; like anywhere else crime is very closely related to the economic situation--Zimbabwe and Cuba are places that mirror Iran in terms of "rogueness," and they have very high rates of petty crime due to the basic insolvency of the country.

It might be the same in North Korea, but since all visitors are under tight government control nobody knows for sure.
 
Discodust said:
Yeah Phorzen one; I realize my last post went outside the doper realm, but it had to be postulated in response to some of the previous political posts.

To make it swing somewhat back in that direction I highly recommend a visit to Iran (especially gorgeous desert town such as Kerman and Yazd) for not only the scenery, architecture and history, but the hospitable natives who within a few minutes of a chance street encounter will invite a foreign guest into their residence for an an extended Opium smoking session--that stuff goes so good with the delicious dates of the region.
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Iran is certainly a great place to visit, hell even Afghanistan is imo... But, as a white american, I wouldn't be caught dead there. Or maybe I would, and that's why I wouldn't go. :\
 
In Iran, two ~15 yr old boys were found to be having homosexual relations. They were both hanged. This was done in the middle of the street with tons of people cheering.
 
But Goerge Bush doesn't host homosexual hangings in Madison Square Garden.
 
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While living in Tehran i knew a couple of American ballers as though football/soccer is king there (like most of the world), their pro hoops league has high enough salaries to attract a fair number of foreign players including a few from the States.

Despite always standing out for not only being black, but also being nearly a foot taller than the average Iranian, they were immensely satisfied with their stays there...even the goodies of American life considered illicit in Iran can be had easily for the right price.
 
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