Tehran Local Customs

Not everyone knows that has other religious buildings other than mosques. There are at least five churches that I know of: Surep Georg Church, Thaddeus Bartoqimus Church, Tatavus Church, Enjili Church, Assyrian Church - and maybe more.

Another interesting and less known fact is that the Iran government is not trying to get rid of churches - quite the contrary, indeed. It is actually giving them money for restoration works, especially to older churches.

Valiasr Avenue is quite an interesting street... it's the the longest street in the middle east, and maybe also in the world. it divedes tehran into east and west and runs from the Tehran's railway station in the south of the city to the Tajrish square in the north, for a total lenght of 19.3 kilometers. Just for fun, I would suggest you walk some kilometres and take a look at the shops and gardens that line it.

Valiasr Avenue is of recent contruction: it was built by Reza Shah Pahlavi and originally it bore his name, Pahlavi Street. Then the Islamic revolution came and the name had to be changed... at first they chose it to be Mossadeq St. (from Mohammad Mossadeq, a nationlist Prime Minister) then they decided to make it more religious and turned it into Valiasr (from the 12th Shi'ite Imam.

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If you are a female visitor, you need to keep covered up. You don’t have to wear a full Chador and I never saw any veils. You do have to have your hair, shoulders and arms covered. Many women actually wear coats everywhere despite the heat. Hair covering can be a trendy scarf and not all your hair need be covered in Tehran. In rural areas, you really need to cover as much hair as possible.

Men can wear anything except shorts. I know it’s not fair, but that’s the culture.

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Political murals are all over Tehran, often depicting scenes from the Iran/Iraq war as well as showing religious messages. Whole sides of buildings are covered, with what often amounts to fairly gruesome pictures. I am not entirely sure what purpose they serve.

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The walls of the former US Embassy was covered with anti-American graffiti. Photographs were theoretically not allowed, but I did manage to sneak a couple of photos. The building is now used for a high-security office, hence the no-photo rule. There were cameras pointing to the pavement in various places, so you had to position yourself carefully to avoid detection. Some of the slogans were quite amusing:

“United States of America is the most hated state before our Nation.”

“A portrayal of great Satan from state stroke of 19th August to November 1998”.

“Down with USA”

“We will make America face a severe defeat.”

When landing at Mehrabad airport in Tehran, austere signs will greet women with instructions to follow the "moslem" [sic!] dress code.

In fact, Iran is the only country in the world where all women, regardless of their nationality or religion, must wear a headcover.

But what is really the dress code? The answer is: it depends.

A person coming in for business will never be expected to wear chador (the head-to-toe tunic that covers the whole body leaving only the face and hands uncovered. A more modest and practical jacket with long sleeves (mandatory) that covers your buttocks will suffice. This is called manteau, a French word for overall.

If you come in the summer, go for lighter colours, though you must know that during the day colours worn by local women tend to be darker than during the night. Wearing something else than black will let you breathe better in the scorching heat.

If you come in the winter, the choice is wider, but the rules are the same: no short sleeves and no shapes should be visible above the mid-thigh.

Below the jacket you can wear jeans or normal trousers. They should not be too tight or transparent. In theory you should not wear sandals in the summer.

This is theory. Reality is different, and you often see women wearing clothes that would be considered provocative even in Europe! As always, try and be modest in the beginning, and once you're here try to do like the locals do.

Yes, you do see women wearing the chador in Tehran. But they are much fewer than you might expect. You are more likely to see fashionable young women strolling through the city's constantly busy streets in styled costumes which completely fail to achieve the aim of the chador: to hide the shape of the female body. And although every woman wears a hijab or head covering, many of the younger women wear them far back on the head to reveal fashionable hair styles.

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If you really want to see Tehranis relaxed and enjoying life, the place to head for is the teahouses of Darband. The road up the mountain to the north of the city is lined with them and this is where the locals make for whenever they want to unwind, day and night. Friday (the weekend) night is especially busy with people of all ages eating, drinking (tea and juice - this is the Islamic Republic remember), enjoying the atmosphere and the clearer air up here. Things don't really begin to get going until quite late - 10pm or so - but the teahouses are open all day and it makes a pleasant change from the crowded city to come and sit by the river for lunch or an afternoon break.
Getting here is easy - all the taxis know the place. The higher up the mountain you go, the more expensive the places become - some are very smart indeed.