Stories: Iran

Stories connected to Iran.

• A city's first public cinema. Gone within a month.In 1904, a cinema opened behind an antique shop in Tehran. It showed comedies and newsreels, but a cleric ban…
• A discarded garden cutting can take root outside the garden.Phedimus spurius is native to areas including Georgia, northern Iran and northeastern Turkey. It has spread f…
• Tea comes with novvot. The name changes across regions.Novvot is a traditional sugar confection enjoyed in Central Asia and nearby regions; in Iran, nabat is a comm…
• Spoons and bowls announce a request for treatsIran’s Chaharshanbe Suri takes place before Nowruz. One custom involves wearing disguises, visiting neighbour…
• An offer and refusal can be part of a longer exchangeIranian taarof is a form of etiquette expressing deference. In hospitality, offers and polite refusals can be…
• The apparent spider is part of a snakeThis viper from western Iran and neighbouring areas has a swollen tail tip fringed by elongated scales that r…