CERCLE DIPLOMATIQUE - issue 02/2019
CD is an independent and impartial magazine and is the medium of communication between foreign representatives of international and UN-organisations based in Vienna and the Austrian political classes, business, culture and tourism. CD features up-to-date information about and for the diplomatic corps, international organisations, society, politics, business, tourism, fashion and culture. Furthermore CD introduces the new ambassadors in Austria and informs about designations, awards and top-events. Interviews with leading personalities, country reports from all over the world and the presentation of Austria as a host country complement the wide range oft he magazine.
CD is an independent and impartial magazine and is the medium of communication between foreign representatives of international and UN-organisations based in Vienna and the Austrian political classes, business, culture and tourism. CD features up-to-date information about and for the diplomatic corps, international organisations, society, politics, business, tourism, fashion and culture. Furthermore CD introduces the new ambassadors in Austria and informs about designations, awards and top-events. Interviews with leading personalities, country reports from all over the world and the presentation of Austria as a host country complement the wide range oft he magazine.
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LE MONDE COMMENTARY<br />
“We are not retarded.“<br />
Tehran‘s youth at crossroads on the 40 th Anniversary of the big Islamic Revolution: A<br />
daily life full of high unemployment, curiosity, social media and nose operations.<br />
Text: Arian Faal<br />
Right: The Azadi Tower is a<br />
monument located at Azadi<br />
Square in Tehran. It is one of the<br />
landmarks of the city, marking the<br />
west entrance to it, and is part of<br />
the Azadi Cultural Complex, which<br />
also includes an underground<br />
museum.<br />
FACTS &<br />
FIGURES<br />
Iran<br />
Official name: Islamic Republic of<br />
Iran (Jomhuri-ye Eslami-ye Iran)<br />
Capital and largest city: Tehran<br />
Government: Unitary Khomeinist<br />
presidential Islamic Republic<br />
(subject to a Supreme Leader)<br />
Supreme Leader:<br />
Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei<br />
President:<br />
Ayatollah Hassan Rouhani<br />
Official language: Persian (Farsi)<br />
Population:<br />
83 million (2018 official estimate)<br />
Area: 1,648,195 km 2<br />
Currency: Rial (IRR)<br />
GDP (PPP):<br />
1.627 trillion US dollars (<strong>2019</strong><br />
estimate)<br />
PHOTOS: AHMAD HALABISAZ XINHUA / EYEVINE / PICTUREDESK.COM; ADOBESTOCK<br />
What springs into people‘s mind when they<br />
hear Iran? Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the<br />
former hardliner president from 2005-<br />
2013? Pistachios? Persian Carpets? Saffron? The Nuclear<br />
Deal (JCPOA) or the bomb? Or is it the over<br />
2,550 year old culture and history of Persia? But is it<br />
fair to reduce such a big and potent country to those<br />
headlines? No, certainly not. With a population of 83<br />
million well educated and Western leaning people,<br />
Iran is much more than politics and the nuclear deal.<br />
It is also a country full of well educated and Western<br />
leaning people with a lot of challenges in their<br />
everyday life.<br />
Questions like ‘What do I eat today and how will<br />
I pay my bills?‘ or ‘What will be my next Instagram<br />
post?‘ matter among young people.<br />
Most of them spend most of their time with several<br />
officially forbidden apps (social media) such as<br />
Snapchat, Viber, iChat, Telegram, Facebook, Whatsapp,<br />
Instagram and FaceTime. With over 45 million<br />
social media accounts, Iran has the most powerful<br />
internet community in the whole region. But also fashion,<br />
sports and lifestyle should not be forgotten.<br />
Operated noses and modern haircuts are a ‘must<br />
have‘. In their media usage it is noticeable that young<br />
Iranians are very internet oriented, yet they also read<br />
more books, newspapers, and magazines than the<br />
average citizen in the world.<br />
‘We are not retarded‘, says 22-year-old Amin Eghbali,<br />
a fashion designer in Tehran who is very sorry<br />
about the picture people outside Iran often have<br />
about his country. ‘Look at us and our life, we are in<br />
the middle of the 21 st century. And one more thing:<br />
Iran is not only the clergy and Islam. Iran is us‘, he<br />
adds.<br />
Young people like Amin represent the modern<br />
Iran. In the greater Tehran area, the Capital of Iran,<br />
13 of 16.5 million people are under 35 years old.<br />
They are interested in the world, especially what<br />
happens inside the US or Europe. Big western stars<br />
like Enrique Iglesias, Cindy Crawford, Adele, Rihanna<br />
and Cristiano Ronaldo are heroes. And what<br />
about politics? US-President Donald Trump is wellknown<br />
but not very popular.<br />
‘Alongside the topic of sanctions, politics and<br />
pressure and ways of coping with this topic, a central<br />
GDP per capita: 19,541 US dollars<br />
Formation: April 1979<br />
Admitted to the United Nations:<br />
24 October 1945<br />
Current Constitution:<br />
24 October 1979<br />
Iran is bordered by Armenia and<br />
Azerbaijan, by the Caspian Sea, by<br />
Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan,<br />
by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of<br />
Oman, and by Turkey and Iraq.<br />
YOUTH LIFE.<br />
Two young Iranians spend<br />
time at an alley in downtown<br />
Tehran, the capital of<br />
Iran.<br />
Shopping at a bazar<br />
in the capital city.<br />
42 Cercle Diplomatique 2/<strong>2019</strong><br />
Cercle Diplomatique 2/<strong>2019</strong><br />
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