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| My reach is longest as two narcissists burn under the Persepolis sun. And wait, what’s that camera in the background? Enlarge photo |
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| Whenever we filmed a place of commercial or religious importance a plain clothes security guard would appear. Seyed would earn his pay by explaining who we were and what we were doing. It wasn’t always easy as different branches of the Iranian government don’t work entirely in sync (perhaps like different branches of American intelligence). Enlarge photo |
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| Seyed was expected to follow that big camera wherever it went. Zipping through the chaotic traffic to show the “point of view” of Rick on a motorcycle taxi? Hang on tight and follow that bike. Enlarge photo |
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| Our government guide, Seyed, documents our shoot on his tiny camera. Enlarge photo |
Here is a short email back-and-forth I had with our Iranian government guide, which I thought might be of blog interest. Seyed must be the top Iranian government guide (he accompanied Ted Koppel on his recent Iranian shoot). He was with us from start to finish. I wish you could hear his voice (as I can) in his writing:
To: Rick Steves Subject: Thanks from Tehran Iran, Seyed is sending you his best wishes
Dear Rick, I hope you and your family are well. I am following your web blog and I enjoy your comments and also the comments of your fans. I am so glad you had the interest in Iran and writing and caring about my country, Iran.
I am going to take my group to Italy next month so I meant to ask some of your advice if possible please. Unfortunately we do not get much American tourists at the moment, but I hope after your video about Iran comes out, then more American people will decide to come to Iran so that I myself will have more jobs and also all my colleagues will have jobs and Iranian people, not Iranian government, will enjoy the benefit of it.
I hope that people who comment on your web blog get and understand the reality that I as a tour guide have never misled you or misinformed you. As you saw, I have been honest and loyal to you and have answered all your questions according to my knowledge and plus that as I have said before I am not a government guide. But if you insist on calling me your government guide then go ahead please, no problem, call me as you wish.
I hope that some day I can come over to America and give some speeches in some universities and tell American public more facts and reality about Iran, so that we can have more understanding from each other.
My best wishes for you and your family and Simon and Karel and Abdi. It really was a great honor for me to be able to work with you and learn from you. As you said when you were in Iran, we have our differences, but it does not mean we have to change each other, but we can have respect for one another. Thanks for your friendship.
Yours,
Seyed
Seyed Rahim BATHAEI
Hi Seyed,
Thanks for the kind email. I have been so inspired by my learning experience with you in Iran. I am glad you are following the blog. It is interesting…so many the comments! People have strong feelings. I am thankful for your help and I agree you never misled us. In fact, you were the one who opened so many doors. I hope we can stay in communication. Would it be okay with you if I put your email on my blog?
Rick
Dear Rick,
Thanks for your so kind and so fast e mail. I think you are a superman and I am jealous of you how hard you work and how you take your job seriously and I think that is why you are a successful businessman and producer. That is something I like about Americans, the hard work. I did not tell you that once some years ago I tried to start a small business, but later I became bankrupt because I could not work hard enough and my mind was not a business wise mind so I failed. But I learnt some good lessons from you this time.
About putting my email in the blog, as you know my answer always is yes, as you saw I like publicity. I am so open for socializing with people and talking to people and even getting criticized and listen to criticism. It is OK to show my pictures and video and name and email and everything. As a mater of fact, some of my American tourists who have come to Iran and I have been their tour guide had seen your blog and noticed my picture there and they emailed me about it.
Even I know some of the commenters in the blog. And as we talked about my big wish is to become a commentator in the US TV morning shows and talking about politics. Of course I only mentioned I want to be in Hollywood which was a joke, but in fact I like to talk on TV shows, which I am working toward by appearing in documentaries, thanks to your video too, I will be one step closer.
I hope some day you start your tours to Iran and I can be the tour leader for your groups to Iran. My best wishes for you and your family.
Yours,
Seyed
As has been said many times, personal relationships should not be confused with official government policy. It’s very good to nurture these personal relationships as long as you remember the theocracy they live under and what that government stands for.
one thing that I take from this exchange is that he is just a guy trying to make a living doing what he likes to do.
Thanks, Rick, for sharing this email exchange in your blog. It’s very interesting.
That was cool. Thanks for sharing.
Seyed’s emails have added a very personal dimension to your blog. Including everyday dialogue between everyday citizens tempers the extremist opinions expressed on both sides. Thanks to you both, Steve and Seyed!
Rick: I notice in the picture of you and Seyed under the Persepolis sun that only Seyed is wearing a hat. My complexion is similar to yours and I always wear a hat when I am in the sun for an extended period. By wearing a hat you could encourage others to prevent skin cancer and premature ageing. Also, a hat would look good on you.
Mr Steves, Your Islamic Republic guide has unscrupulously lied when he insinuated that people use Dead to traffic occasionally. But, this will then signifies that lieing on occasion is a NEW Islamic Value promoted by the goverment in charge!
I cheered when I turned on “The World” today and heard you talking about Iran. I’ve been there twice (about a month of total travel time in country) and can confirm everything you’ve said about how Iranians welcome Americans. I hope that your show convinces more Americans to travel there. It’s a beautiful country with a fabulous history–and the food is great! Most Iranians do not confuse the US government with the American people and we should do the same in return.
Rick – I really enjoyed reading your blog and hope to follow you to Iran soon. We lived in Iran in the 1970’s. I have traveled all over the world since then, but Iran and the Iranian people remain in my memories as the most beautiful and welcoming in the world. It is my dream to one day return to Iran and find the people and places that I remember so vividly. The Iranian Magazine on the internet published my photos from Iran: http://www.iranian.com/Arts/2001/May/Manley/train.html Your blog is encouraging and exactly what I would expect from the people of Iran. I hope the words and photos will show why we should not even think about war with Iran. Best wishes, Tina Manley http://www.tinamanley.com
I just heard your interview with Lisa Mullins on PRI’s The World. I found some of your comments amusing. Why do you assume that Americans are so ignorant that we need to be reminded that Iranians are people just like us? You quoted one of your staff members as being “stunned after watching your footage.” REALLY? Why don’t you give us the same credit as you do the Iranians when you spoke of the people who said, “Americans? We love Americans. It’s your government we don’t like.” Why can’t you see that many (perhaps the majority?) of Americans would say the same thing; we would probably love most people of other countries; it’s their governments many of us don’t like. I don’t think we need to be reminded that people are people; what kind of idiot do you take us for? I also found it funny to hear your “minder” explain Iranian people’s attitude towards the pressure of the outside world. He said Iranians want the rest of the world to leave them alone, so they can be “free and independent”. I guess he doesn’t understand the hypocrisy in his comments–this is a MINDER saying this. How free and independent can a person be where tourists or film makers have to have MINDERS? So he says that Iranians want their country to be free, but individuals can’t be free?? Hmmmmmm
Great postings and pics on Iranian people! Is it possible that a category of say Iran or Tehran could be created so that clicking on that category displays all the posts on Iran or Tehran regardless of when it was posted?
I don’t know–I’ve read plenty of comments on these threads alone that indicate that a lot of people would rather forget that there are so many decent people in Iran. It’s easy to forget, and a lot of people do.
Actually Holly, non-American such as myself who travelled in Iran had no minders or anything. I was treated much nicer in Iran by the border guard than at the airport in JFK. We have to be reminded that “The Enemy” is human because we have Hollywood telling us that Brown People are inherently violent and “hate America”
See Iran: http://www.iranian.com/main/albums/hot-summer
Zebel, Please keep in mind that, unlike you, Rick is indeed an American with a film crew – hence, the minders. Unfortuntately the Iranian regime (not the people) has its own manufactured enemies – the evil US and the “Zionist Entity” as they call it. Hollywood is not the only one fanning the flames of paranoia.
One relationship at a time. The choice is whether to make it a hateful or a loving one. Didn’t Christ advise us to “Love our Neighbor?”. He probably meant that respecting and understanding them is part of the love he advised. Interesting how so many posters choose to look for ways to feed the hate. I like the technique the haters use: “Sure there are some good Iranians…BUT don’t forget the boogyman!” I’m sure they think they are being “realistic”, but I just can’t see how their mindset adds anything positive to the issue.
Having recently spent 17 days in Iran, on a tour, I can say that every Iranian I met was happy to see Americans in their country. They want to re-establish normal relations with our country, and long for the opportunity to interact. Many Iranians know a great deal about the US, through satellite dishes and Voice of America radio. The current theocracy that governs the country is not the choice of most younger Iranians, nor of the older folks I had a chance to talk with.At the same time, they hold their religion,history and traditions in high esteem. Under the Shah’s rule, modernization pushed out many of the traditional values, unsettling a great many people. Someday, the pendulum will swing back towards a more open system, which will allow Iran to embrace both the traditions of their great past and the contemporary culture around them. Contact with Americans can only help this process proceed. We do not have to fear the Iranian people, their government is another story. But, the more we can communicate with the people, the more people know that in the US are many who do not hate or fear them, the better off we will all be. It’s so much harder to hate and fear the unknown, we should learn all we can about each other.
Thanks for sharing this email on your blog! And if Seyed does get his wish and leads tours for you in Iran – I will definitely be taking that trip! As you always remind us, travel leads to cross-cultural understanding, which leads to peace.
Rick, you persist in calling Seyed your “government guide” and allowing to stand the notion that he is an IRI-controlled ‘minder,’ even tho Seyed himself attempted to correct you in the gentle way that is so characteristic of the Iranian people: “as I have said before I am not a government guide. But if you insist on calling me your government guide then go ahead please, no problem, call me as you wish.” So please, Rick, correct your references to Seyed; Holly’s post is one good reason why: when you base an argument or an opinion on incorrect information, you cannot possibly arrive at a correct analysis (ie. truth). I spent 3 weeks in Iran this Spring; our Iranian guide was an employee of the incorporated, international, Tourist Agency that arranged the tour. Yes, the agency and the Iranian guide were required to file our group’s itinerary with Iranian government officials, and we were cautioned not to deviate (too much) from that itinerary. This oversight has much to do with the fact that the U.S. is infiltrating Iran and trying to overthrow the Iranian government; tourists from Canada, Italy, Sweden, Germany and others that we talked with told us they were quite free to wander anywhere they wished; only Americans were carefully scrutinized. In addition, our Iranian guide told us that the Iranian government was terrified that if an American so much as stubbed his toe, the U.S. would bomb Iran; thus, the Iranian government — and our guide — took extraordinary measures to keep us safe in order to keep them safe. I had only one fear while in Iran: I feared actions of the U.S. government. HRC did not help: I was there when she said, “U.S. will obliterate Iran.” ugh. I love the country, people, & culture & hope to return soon & often.
I enjoyed reading your article about Iran and am looking forward to seeing it next year. I teach ESL and have a student from Iran who is very sweet. I have learned many things from her including her culture. After traveling all over Europe and the Carribean, I would love to expand my travels. However, I would feel unwelcome in a country that “hates” America and has such overt statements of such. I don’t think I would be willing to spend our hard earned money or vacation time in such a place. If they were more focused on being welcoming to visitors they should get rid of hate signs and not threaten peace keeping initiatives.
Rick, I watched your show on Iran last night and I was happy to see how many Iranians were quick to say they Love Americans. At one point you almost replied to a young woman in kind, but toned it down to saying we’d like to be their friends, too. That’s when I started thinking, why were they so quick to say they “Love” Americans? And being so careful to make sure they are proper for the camera with their head dress and all, why would they not be worried about government repercussions regarding their comments when the state obviously takes a different stand based on the murals depicting America with sculls and bombs? Is it possible, they are being disingenuous and have been prompted by the state to give this canned response to westerners? It just seemed to be a little too common of a sentiment and was always worded the same way “We Love Americansâ€. Also, as you realized yourself, you couldn’t reply in the same way because you really couldn’t speak for ALL Americans, so you toned it down. But the Iranians you met were always happy to say “We†love Americans, like they’ve been authorized to speak for everyone. I’m just wondering how you felt about that being there in person.
what a relation b/w human i like it clssical thoughts. jallal shah from pakistan