Tehran Stories

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The World sent host Marco Werman and reporter Matthew Bell to Tehran to meet the people we don’t hear about in the headlines.

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We're back from Iran. Here's what most surprised us.

PRI's The World

February 16, 2016

Host Marco Werman and reporter Matthew Bell spent seven days in Tehran, Iran, around the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. They found a cosmopolitan city with great food and some contrasting feelings toward the US.

Arts, Culture & Media

Violin masterclass — Why I wanted to learn Iranian scales

PRI's The World

February 19, 2016

Last Friday night, The World's Marco Werman got a violin lesson in Tehran and learned what makes Iranian classical music scales different from Western music.

Global Politics

It's election season in Iran, too

PRI's The World

February 18, 2016

Iran’s hardline rulers have disqualified many of their rival candidates for this month’s elections. But supporters of the reformist camp are still holding out some hope that their votes can make a difference.

Also from this series...

The ayatollah and the rabbi who teamed up to help Syrian refugees

Story

April 06, 2016

In Canada, an imam from Iran has joined up with his next-door neighbor, a Reform rabbi, to help raise funds to resettle families fleeing civil war. What brought the unlikely duo together? It began with parking.

At the wheel of a Tehran taxi, a country’s history and a plea for peace

Story

March 14, 2016

In the back of a cab on the streets of Tehran, PRI's The World host Marco Werman found an unlikely connection between a cab driver back home in Cambridge and his cab driver in Tehran.

Iran’s startup tech scene is getting off the ground

March 01, 2016

The end of sanctions on Iran is giving rise to a fledgling tech startup scene. The folks at TechRasa in Tehran want to be at the center of it.

Iranians love their klezmer

Story

February 26, 2016

Iranian folk-rockers from the band Pallett have attracted a huge following in their home country. Interestingly, their music includes a heavy dose of klezmer, a musical tradition from eastern European Jews.

This Iranian American went to visit Tehran, and decided to stay for the food

Interview

February 25, 2016

Brooklyn-raised Iranian American Azita Houshiar visited Tehran last year and then decided to stay in the land where she was born. Houshiar is a former lawyer who writes a food blog about Persian cuisine called “Fig and Quince.”

This Iranian film is a love letter to classic American cinema

February 23, 2016

There’s no love lost between America and the theocratic rulers of Iran. But Marco Werman discovered during a visit to the cinema in Tehran that many Iranians have a whole lot of love for classic American movies.

These Iranian entrepreneurs are building a future out of wood

Story

February 22, 2016

Nagin Nasiri wanted to get of Iran. She was accepted to grad school in the US, but she was refused a visa. So, Nasiri started a company with her old friend, Shaghayegh Jahanbani. Now they make stunning custom furniture in a Tehran wood shop.

Iran’s cultural gatekeepers surprisingly greenlight a folk-rock fusion band

February 17, 2016

The band Damahi takes its name from a giant mythical fish of the Persian Gulf. It plays Western-sounding electric music and still manages to get support from the Iranian regime.