the great land of persia: iran and its people

there are obviously a lot of adverse feelings surrounding iran. while most of these are directed towards the country's government, there are those few who relate the politics of those in charge with the people of the country. thankfully, there are those like rick steves (who has been working on a special edition for iran, a summary of which is here) and the bbc who seek to show the true side of this proud and colorful people, whose history goes back thousands of years and whose traditions and bright and lively. please check out the report, complete with slideshow, here.

a brief summary of the story:


Tehran - A tale of two cities?

The political mood in the bustling bazaars of the Iranian capital may be changing.

Iran's conservative non-reformist President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad faces re-election next year - and many of the country's senior figures are despairing of his record in power and looking for other potential candidates.

For Radio 4's From Our Own Correspondent, Hugh Sykes went to Tehran to gauge the feeling on the streets.

In the city's crowded bread shops and vegetable markets, he found many people wanting change.

i dearly hope to be able to return to iran one day.