At a time when talk of a military strike
against Iran looms ever larger, it's often
easy to lose sight of the fact that Iran is one of the most visually stunning
countries in the world....
Having just returned from a memorable one-week trip
around Iran, during the Ashura festival, I wanted to send all of you on this
list a few samples of this country and temporarily lighten the political fare
that I'm usually serving up...
A
barefoot band troop wearing mourning black and gold-trimmed sashes with
the
legend “Ya Fatemeh Zahra”
Worry-beads and rings decorate the hands
of one of
the actors participating in a
procession to commemorate Ashura
in
Khomeynishahr, outside Esfahan
Four
exhausted, mud-covered friends sit in a Paykan modified for Ashura
in
Khorramabad, western Iran, at the conclusion of the
festival
Two Ashura
drums on the back of a truck with the legend Ya Hossein written
on one in the
town of Khorramabad, western Iran
Ashura
decorations in Khomeynishahr, outside Esfahan
A
horse goes berserk in the middle of a procession to commemorate Ashura
in
Khomeynishahr, outside Esfahan
Women
adjust their chadors in a side-street in Khorramabad on Ashura,
western
Iran
A
child sitting inside the family Paykan plays with
hand-prints
Having
covered themselves with mud, the men of Khorramabad stand next
to bonfires to
dry off before heading off on mourning processions on
Ashura
little
girl in Khorramabad, western Iran, plays with the blood-stained
legend
“Ya Hossein” daubed onto the family
car
Women
sit smoking the ghaliun in
Khorramabad, western Iran, during
Ashura
Men step
over the blood of a just-sacrificed sheep during an Ashura
mourning
procession in Khorramabad, western Iran
A
man in Khorramabad, western Iran, takes a break from mourning with
coffee
and cigarette (his Reebok T-shirt couldn’t help but remind me of
English ravers
in the middle of mud-soaked fields in Sussex…)
A
boy holds up a microphone to amplify the sound of music during an
Ashura
mourning procession
About: Iason
Athanasiadis a Tehran-based writer and photographer currently
writing a book on contemporary Iranian society. You can visit his web site
www.iason.ws for further
photography from Iran and the region.
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