All language subtitles for Frontline.S37E03.Our.Man.in.Tehran.Series.1.Part.One.1080p.HDTV.x264.AAC.MVGroup.org

♪

♪

THOMAS ERDBRINK:
Once upon a time,

on a dusty road, I met a girl.

(LAUGHING)

ERDBRINK: It was in one
of the most isolated countries

in the world.

(CROWD CHANTING)

Joining us now is Tehran bureau chief

for "The New York Times"…

Thomas Erdbrink, welcome to the program

and thank you for joining me.

ERDBRINK: 17 years later,
I'm still here.

(CHUCKLING)

Filmed over four years.

ERDBRINK:

Stories from the inside.

PREACHER:

In a country where nothing is allowed…

But everything is possible.

ERDBRINK: For you.

A special two-part "Frontline" series.

ERDBRINK:

"Our Man in Tehran."

Say the truth!

This is journalist, you know?

Say all the…

ERDBRINK: This is TV,
we cannot talk very long.

♪

♪

ERDBRINK: Once upon a time,
I met a girl.

♪

It was right here,
along this dusty road.

Like me, she had come to see
the last solar eclipse

of the 20th century.

♪

I was a student journalist.

And she, she was a young photographer.

NEWSHA:

ERDBRINK: Yeah.

NEWSHA:

ERDBRINK: Here it was
all dust and sand and people,

arriving by bus to see the eclipse.

This was also the first time
I saw Newsha,

because these two buses arrived,
one bus with men…

I was in that one, of course…
and one bus with women.

And Newsha was in that bus.

And the women bus, of course,
everybody got out first.

And I saw Newsha walking by,

and then in my imagination,
she looked up to me,

and we had, like, a moment.

(LAUGHING)

Absolutely lie. (LAUGHS)

I'm taking pictures,
and I saw there is a queue

of maybe one kilometer of people,

old people, young people, middle-aged.

They're all waiting, and someone
is doing moon dancing.

And it was Thomas,
and he was signing…

he was giving signature
as if he's Michael Jackson

and was doing moon dancing.

ERDBRINK:
Well, what happened,

that I figured these people,

they haven't seen a foreigner
since the revolution.

And a young guy came up to me

and said, "Are you Michael Jackson?"

And then I thought, okay, I can
say, "No," or I can say, "Yes."

And I decided to say "Yes."

So I said, "Yes,"

and all the people
started crowding around

and saying, "If you're Michael
Jackson, do the moonwalk."

So I was, like, doing the moonwalk.

They started asking for my autograph.

And then Newsha came up to me

and said, you know, "Who are you
and what are you doing?"

And, of course, yeah,

I could have married a girl
from the Dutch countryside

and would, maybe
would have been different

and maybe in many ways
it would have been easier,

but I'm happy I choose you.

Of course you should be.

(LAUGHING)

♪

ERDBRINK:
That was in 1999,

20 years after
a massive popular uprising

had ended the long rule
of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

Ayatollah Khomeini returned from Paris,

and the shah's regime,

both fairytale-like
and ruthless, was replaced

by a strictly religious
anti-American ideology,

banning alcohol
and forcing women to wear veils.

(WOMEN SHOUTING)

♪

This is the mysterious
and isolated country

where I have been living and working

for the past 17 years.

Thomas Erdbrink, welcome to the program

and thank you for joining me.

Joining us now is Tehran bureau chief

for "The New York Times"…

ERDBRINK:
You mustn't forget,

these people have been living
under incredible pressures

over the last years.

Deal or no deal,
it will definitely be an end

to the status quo
as we have seen it now.

All right, Thomas Erdbrink
of "The New York Times,"

thank you very much.

ERDBRINK: Okay, thank you
for having me.

(WATER SPLASHING)

♪

I am one
of the last foreign journalists

still allowed to work here.

It hasn't always been easy.

It has taken me years

to get permission
to produce this series,

starting back in 2014.

We are given permits to film
on the streets.

There are always
some suspicious officials

who refuse to believe us

and tell us we are not allowed to film.

But usually, after a bit of waiting,

some discussions and many phone calls,

we part the best of friends
and are free to carry on.

Perhaps the best way to show

what it's like to live
in a country like Iran

is to start from the inside,
with the people around me.

Like my father-in-law and his friends.

I meet them every morning at the pool.

Sometimes we discuss politics,
but more often we discuss women.

ERDBRINK:

ERDBRINK:

ERDBRINK:

ERDBRINK AND MAN:

MAN:

That's it, then you're…

♪

ERDBRINK:
This is the neighborhood

where I found myself
a first place to stay.

(MAN SPEAKING ON LOUDSPEAKER):

In the beginning, Tehran
seemed mysterious to me,

and with its many walls and doors,

it seemed an almost inaccessible city.

♪

But thanks to my marriage to Newsha,

I discovered behind those barriers

a completely different world.

(CALLING)

ERDBRINK: At first,
I got a lot of my information

during lunchtime with my in-laws,

especially about the complicated
cultural rules in this country.

Newsha is the only woman here
who wears a headscarf,

even though she's not obliged
to do so indoors.

But she's a well-known photographer,

so while we're filming,

she doesn't want to take any chances

and get into trouble.

ERDBRINK AND WOMAN:

ERDBRINK:

WOMAN AND ERDBRINK:

ERDBRINK AND WOMAN 2:

ERDBRINK:

NEWSHA:

ERDBRINK:

WOMAN 1:

NEWSHA AND WOMAN 2:

NEWSHA:

ERDBRINK:

NEWSHA AND ERDBRINK:

But I ask you to marry me.

Yes.
ERDBRINK: That's true.

Yeah, yeah, I asked him to marry me.

WOMAN AND NEWSHA:

MAN AND NEWSHA:

WOMAN 2:

NEWSHA:

MAN 2:

NEWSHA AND ERDBRINK:

ERDBRINK AND NEWSHA:

(LAUGHING)

♪

ERDBRINK: So,
this is how I spend my days.

Sometimes, after lunch, I go out.

As a foreigner,

you're instantly approached
by friendly people.

Iranians are always happy to chat.

About whatever subject.

ERDBRINK:

WOMAN AND ERDBRINK:

MAN AND ERDBRINK:

ERDBRINK: Yes, yes!

ERDBRINK AND WOMAN:

ERDBRINK: Friendly…

MAN AND ERDBRINK:

ERDBRINK:

(SPEAKING LOCAL LANGUAGE):

Yes, I'm coming.

It's very hard to get a word in here…

people come up to you

and ask you all kinds of questions

like, "What are you doing here?"

How much do you earn?"

And "What do
the Americans think of Iran?"

(LAUGHING)

But the reason I came this day
was to buy a cake.

♪

See this big box?

I have some making up to do.

ERDBRINK AND SOMAYEH:

Meet Somayeh, my assistant
for "The New York Times."

She moved into a new apartment,

and I should have dropped by ages ago.

ERDBRINK:

ERDBRINK:

ERDBRINK: Divorced women have
a hard time in Iran,

but their numbers are growing,
especially in the cities.

It has taken Somayeh months
to find someone willing

to rent out an apartment
to a single woman.

(ERDBRINK LAUGHS)

♪

ERDBRINK: Somayeh comes
from a strictly religious family

in a small, orthodox town near Isfahan.

She married a cousin
12 years her senior,

but the marriage didn't work out.

ERDBRINK:

SOMAYEH:

ERDBRINK: Somayeh used to be
a brilliant student

of the Quran.

Actually, she was so good

that had she continued her studies,

she probably would have become
an eminent scholar

instead of my assistant
for "The New York Times."

Back home, her father looked
upon it with dismay.

SOMAYEH:

ERDBRINK:

ERDBRINK AND SOMAYEH:

♪

(LAUGHING)

♪

ERDBRINK:
I want to find out more

about this dusty,
conservative little town

where she grew up.

During the six-hour-long trip,

it feels as if we've traveled
20 years back in time.

This is where all women dress in black.

Five daily prayer services
determine the rhythm of the day.

And this is where Somayeh's father

must have been clenching his teeth

when he found out
about his daughter's divorce

and her cosmopolitan lifestyle.

ERDBRINK AND MAN:

WOMAN:

WOMAN:

(VOICE BREAKING)

♪

Things seem frozen here.

Things do not change that much.

You know, when I was a little child,

it was almost this,
like that it is now.

You can see new houses are
trying to be rebuilt,

refurnished outside, inside.

But the speed is still slow.

People cannot afford, you know,

refreshing everything once in a while.

And I think it's the same
for what's happening

in their mind as well, you know?

Speed of life is too slow here.

♪

WOMAN:

ERDBRINK:

WOMAN:

(WOMEN TALKING SOFTLY)

♪

♪

ERDBRINK: The following day,
we returned to the capital.

Compared to the sleepy,
traditional town

where Somayeh was born,

Tehran looks like
a sophisticated metropolis.

Once more, I realize
what a bold move she made

by leaving her family
and Dolat Abad behind.

But, on the bus, it turns out Somayeh

is not the only woman in Iran
who chooses her own path.

Up front, we meet Ms. Sadjadi,

who has been a truck driver
for 25 years.

ERDBRINK:

(LAUGHING)

MAN:

ERDBRINK:

MAN:

♪

ERDBRINK:

MAN:

ERDBRINK: Okay.

(BOTH SPEAKING LOCAL LANGUAGE)

♪

ERDBRINK: Thanks
to my marriage to Newsha,

I've come to understand
this country better

all the time.

(INDISTINCT TALKING)

Newsha taught me a lot here,

and especially about
all these invisible rules

and all these little mannerisms

and things in Iranian culture

that, if you're an outsider,
you just don't understand.

Yeah.

I mean, there are many people
who come to Iran,

they think of
short-term solution, you know.

Like, they're young journalists.

They want to come here,
make name for themselves.

So they always pick these subjects

that are actually very…

very interesting for outside of Iran.

ERDBRINK:
They, they even have a name

for this sort of journalism,

and it's, especially in photography,

it's called, "Iran under the veil,"

and it's always the wish
from foreign photographers

or foreign journalists to come here

and to say, "Okay,
we managed to bypass the rules",

"and we saw the Iranians
without headscarves."

The reality, yeah.

I mean, for us who, we live here,

this is very cliché, very cliché.

Easy journalism,

and it's not a story anymore.
But Thomas,

you can't deny that
you're a Westerner yourself,

so you are always being influenced

by these Western clichés
in your reporting.

ERDBRINK: Naturally.

You know, I am a Westerner,
and I work for Western media,

and my audience is also Western.

But it doesn't mean

that I cannot sort of
undermine those clichés

or give a different point of view.

So, for instance,

when I write about a ayatollah
gives out a new ruling

saying that all Iranians
should have five children,

and the news is that
sterilizations of men

are no longer allowed
or actually become a crime,

I want to write a story about that.

But then what people in the West
like to hear

is this confirmation that
a ayatollah has said something

and it is as if his
entire nation listens to this.

I come with the other story,

and I say what the ayatollah says,

but I explain that this won't
work the way he wants to,

in this case.

But you never disagree?

ERDBRINK: Of course,
sometimes we disagree.

I mean, naturally
we have different outlooks.

Newsha grew up in Iran,
I grew up in Leiden, right?

That's a whole different ballgame.

And I write for a Western audience.

And on top of that,

Newsha is now more an artist
than a photojournalist, right?

No, I try to mix both,
not photojournalism,

but documentary photography
and, um, conceptual.

It's good.

Basically, there is always
something to argue about.

Go on, continue. No, we always argue.

You always argue? Yes, yeah.

Because we both have
different ideas, different…

and we don't really compromise
with each other.

So that's, yeah.

ERDBRINK: Actually,
we compromise all the time.

Yeah, in the end.

But we always… and we like it.

This is how we… you know.

But remember, in the end,
he's the boss.

He's the boss in his dream.

ERDBRINK: I don't know.

Maybe you believe

that relationships have a boss
and a follower.

But for us it alternates.

On this subject, she is boss.

On that subject, I am boss.

Yeah, so for money thing,

Thomas is the boss,
because I'm horrible.

ERDBRINK: And cars.

I'm horrible with money.

I'm, like, the dumbest,
you know, person

who can handle money, because I don't…

(LAUGHS)

ERDBRINK: Newsha's idea
of money is: not spend.

Not spending, yes.

ERDBRINK: It's very Dutch.
It's good.

(IRANIAN POP SONG PLAYING)

ERDBRINK:
And this is how a young man

from a small town
in the Dutch countryside

learned to survive in Tehran.

(YELLS)

(SINGING CONTINUES)

(WOMAN SINGING IN LOCAL LANGUAGE)

Full disclosure, I just bought
my first brand-new car.

In Tehran, a car is much more
than a mode of transport.

It's a house on wheels,

especially if you consider
how many hours you spend

sitting in endless gridlocks
that clog up the city each day.

And that is why

some basic modifications are
an absolute necessity.

ERDBRINK AND MAN:

ERDBRINK:
Of course what I'm doing here

is not just covering the windows

with film against the sun.

I'm trying to create in my car

a world where
the state can't peek inside,

so Newsha can take off her veil

without being harassed
by the morality police.

♪

The plastic film turns the car
into a private area,

where the rules of the state
don't apply.

But it would be naive to think

that it will keep them
out of your life.

In this country, the government
is watching you 24/7.

And sometimes I'm unpleasantly
reminded of this fact.

Like in 2014,

when I started filming my life in Iran.

One of the first things
I had to swallow

was the sudden arrest of Jason Rezaian,

my colleague
from "The Washington Post."

Security agents entered his house

and took him and his journalist wife.

No, I haven't been able to go
to his house.

I don't know.

I expect it's under surveillance,

you know, which is,
which is normal here.

I had no idea why he had been arrested

and where he was being held.

(ERDBRINK SPEAKING LOCAL LANGUAGE)

ERDBRINK: According to this
news article,

the public prosecutor's office
will bring a charge

within the next few days.

The fact that Jason is a dual
American and Iranian citizen

and works for "The Washington
Post" doesn't help.

Since the 1979 revolution,

America has become
the number-one scapegoat

and is blamed for
just about everything in Iran.

(MAN LEADING CROWD IN CHANT)

Every year, the Iranian state
celebrates the anniversary

of the takeover of the American Embassy

and the hostage-taking
of its diplomats.

Images of the annual celebration
are shown worldwide,

reinforcing the Western image

of an aggressive nation ruled
by revolutionary fanatics.

But they are just a few thousand
in a city of millions.

(MAN LEADING CROWD IN CHANT)

♪

Ramin!

I'm coming down.

The man down in the garden is
my Iranian friend Ramin.

He works as a journalist
for "The Los Angeles Times"

and is fascinated by the animosity

between his native Iran
and the United States.

See, at the beginning of revolution,

there were three slogans:

freedom, independence,
and Islamic Republic of Iran.

What we understand in Iran, and
we are reminded every Friday,

this freedom is freedom from,

freedom from American dominance.

Freedom from American
and its allies' dominance.

So this is part and parcel of ideology,

who we are as Iranian.

We hate U.S.A.

We hate, beyond any remedy, Israel.

ERDBRINK: So you're saying
that hate

is one of the pillars of this ideology.

Hating America.

ERDBRINK: Hating America…
And Israel.

ERDBRINK: Hating… hating
the imperialistic outsiders.

Hating the other,
hating the oppressors,

is part and parcel of this ideology.

It has been incorporated, this,
in the ideology.

If you don't hate the oppressors…

now it's America,
later, maybe, France…

if America collapse,
and there is no oppressions,

so we think about the other things.

But as long as there is oppressor,

we have somebody to hate.

♪

ERDBRINK:
Of course,

the U.S. will never forget nor forgive

the occupation of their embassy.

(CROWD CHANTING)

But the Iranians in turn say
they have lots of reasons

to mistrust the United States.

In 1953, the democratically
elected Prime Minister Mossadegh

nationalized the Iranian oil industry.

The C.I.A. and the British

responded by staging a coup d'état,

and the highly popular Mossadegh
was ousted.

The shah was brought back to power.

He proved to be a cruel
and oppressive leader,

and a loyal servant to the U.S.

The U.S. took sides
against Khomeini's revolution,

and backed Saddam Hussein

after he started the long war
against Iran.

Hundreds of thousands
of Iranians were killed.

And there was
that other dramatic event…

almost forgotten in the United States.

In 1988 after a skirmish
in the Persian Gulf

between some Iranian speedboats
and the American fleet,

a U.S. missile cruiser shot down
an Iranian civilian airliner.

(MISSILE LAUNCHING)

We have got him.

That was a dead on!

(CHEERING)

Relax! Keep the noise down!

Knock it off!

ERDBRINK: All 290 people
on board were killed.

It appears that the captain
of that ship followed the rules

and, though a tragedy followed,

did what he had to do
to protect American life.

ERDBRINK:
The Americans said

they had mistaken the Airbus
for a fighter plane.

They expressed regrets,
but never apologized to Iran.

♪

That hurt is still not forgotten here.

So, it seemed a miracle when in 2014,

there was suddenly hope.

The U.S. joined negotiations
for a nuclear agreement

that would also ease sanctions on Iran.

So how do people see that when,
at the same time,

you know, they're
shouting, "Death to America,"

and the state television is
promoting "Death to America,"

but at the same time talking
to America?

Yes. But remember,

this ideology dictates
what should be done.

It dictates that we are talking
with the enemy, America,

as a foe, not as a negotiator.

Not the other side…

ERDBRINK: So, it's fine
to say "Death to America"

because it reminds the people
that America is the enemy.

Yes, the leaders are talking
to America…

But with the enemy, with the foe.

ERDBRINK: With the foe.
Not friend.

ERDBRINK:
And they're trying to correct
the

ways of the enemy. Yes.

♪

ERDBRINK: It's a
complicated situation here.

Besides the elected government,

there is Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Khamenei.

He has the final say

on all things political and religious.

He's backed by the hardliners.

And if you want to hear their opinions,

you have to visit Friday prayers.

(MAN SPEAKING OVER LOUDSPEAKER):

Every Friday we can see
religion is mixed, mingled,

and make a concoction,

which is called theo-democracy,
theo-whatever you call it.

ERDBRINK: It reminds
everybody here in Iran,

religion and politics are mixed.

Those who think wishfully
that this sort of talks

can lead to any rapprochement
or normalizations,

that America is one country out
of more than 190 countries

of U.N. General Assembly,

they should come sometimes

to stop by the Friday prayers
in Tehran, just to listen.

(MAN SPEAKING ON LOUDSPEAKER):

ERDBRINK: So while
the elected government

was talking
with the Obama administration

about lifting the sanctions,

the religious hardliners

tried to frustrate the negotiations.

They needed their foreign enemy.

As long as the country was isolated,

they could blame the West for
everything going wrong in Iran.

(CROWD CHANTING)

ERDBRINK:
Hamid-Reza Ahmadabadi

is one of the hardliners'
most loyal supporters.

♪

Every Friday morning,
he jumps on his motorcycle

to go to the city
for the weekly Friday prayers.

And every Friday, he makes sure
he's right there at the front.

Yelling close to the cameras,

it earned him a nickname
in Iran: Mr. Big Mouth.

AHMADABADI AND ERDRBRINK:

ERDBRINK:

ERDBRINK:

ERDBRINK AND AHMADABADI:

ERDBRINK: The first thing
I notice in his house

are the two decorations on the wall.

One is a picture
of the supreme leaders.

The other one depicts the famous
Iranian poet Omar Khayyam,

holding a glass of wine
and a beautiful woman.

If this poet were to go out
on the street like this today,

he'd be in serious trouble.

ERDBRINK:

♪

(CHANTING)

ERDBRINK:
Perhaps it is not surprising

Mr. Big Mouth is choosing the
supreme leader over the poet.

He doesn't want to let
the wicked Western world in.

But Ayatollah Khamenei

was still allowing
the nuclear talks to continue.

And as long as the sanctions were here,

I, just like all Iranians,

had to deal with the side effects.

"We cannot locate the bank
that your card belongs to.

Press to get your card."

So you can't use ATMs,

because our banks are not
allowed to do business in Iran.

Ta-da!

You end up with stacks of cash.

Try stuffing this
in your wallet or pocket!

♪

While the sanctions were meant
to keep the Western world out,

one Western product has always
been available in Tehran:

the American dollar.

(SHOUTING INDISTINCTLY)

After all, Iran has always been
a nation of traders.

MAN:

(MEN SHOUTING):

ERDBRINK:

MAN:

ERDBRINK:

ERDBRINK AND MAN:

MAN:

ERDBRINK: So this is the
dollar bazaar and euro bazaar.

People can change money here,

and… but these are not normal people.

These are all tradesmen.

And they know each other.

That guy, he's the boss of everything.

The guys who stand on top,

they have more information
than the rest.

ERDBRINK:

ERDBRINK:

MAN:

ERDBRINK:

MAN:

♪

Because there still was no news

from my "Washington Post"
colleague Jason,

I started counting the days
he had been imprisoned.

Day 105 now.

And still there is
no official complaint.

That is part of the power…

ambiguity, unpredictability.

And this is also part of the tradition,

part of the culture.

It was in Sassanid time the same,

pre-Islamic time the same.

The Sassanid kings ruled the same way.

Now is the same.

And in monarchy time was the same.

Unpredictability.

Then you don't know
what is the punishment

for anything wrong I do.

For the same wrong thing that
you commit and I do,

we have different jails,
different punishment.

You may be forgiven.

I may be in jail for ten years.

So what is the result?

As a citizen, I'm always intimidated.

There is less and less risk takers,

less and less people are eager
to speak out their minds.

♪

Less and less dialogue,
debates, interactions,

more isolations.

Everybody make a wall
around himself to be safe,

because he cannot trust.

♪

ERDBRINK: If you're feeling
miserable in Iran,

desperately searching for consolation,

not sure about the future,

there is at least one place
where you can go.

Just take the bus
to the city of Shiraz,

and then walk to the tomb

of the famous Iranian poet Hafez.

Although the poet died 800 years ago,

hundreds of visitors
gather here every day,

each of them harboring a secret wish.

This is where they hope to get
answers about their future.

ERDBRINK:

Uh-huh.

ERDBRINK:

MAN:

♪

ERDBRINK: Every Iranian owns
copies of Hafez' poems.

He's a national hero, and when asked,

every Iranian will have a couple
of favorite verses

at the ready.

ERDBRINK:

(LAUGHING)

WOMAN:

ERDBRINK:

(LAUGHING)

ERDBRINK:

WOMAN AND ERDBRINK:

(LAUGHING)

MAN AND WOMAN:

WOMAN 2:

WOMAN 1:

WOMAN AND ERDBRINK:

ERDBRINK AND WOMAN:

ERDBRINK AND WOMAN:

WOMAN AND ERDBRINK:

♪

Is there any news from your colleague

from "The Washington Post"
since yesterday?

There was something in Pars News,

which is… I don't know
it's official or non-official,

but actually it's very suspicious.

ERDBRINK:
It seems very well connected.

They accuse him of being involved

in producing of a video clip

of the Pharrell song, "Happy."

You know, this American singer
Pharrell,

he had a song called…

♪ Because I'm happy

Like this.

And then Iranians have also
made, you know,

a copy, a parody of this clip.

Because you know, these young kids,

they want to be part of the world.

And then these kids were arrested,

and now they're saying

that Jason has masterminded
the video clip.

Or paid the cost of it.

ERDBRINK: Or paid for it.

♪ Because I'm happy

♪ Clap along if you feel like a
room without a roof ♪

♪ Because I'm happy

ERDBRINK: So when
the American singer Pharrell

released his big hit "Happy,"

young Iranians made
their own version of it.

Quite innocent, but still,
this is Iran.

♪ Because I'm happy

ERDBRINK:
Men and women are not supposed

to expose themselves dancing together.

♪

Within a few days,
they were all arrested.

At least one person I know

would have wholeheartedly
approved of that arrest.

AHMADABADI:

ERDBRINK: Internet?

ERDBRINK:

AHMADABADI:

AHMADABADI:

ERDBRINK:

♪ Bring me down

♪ Can't nothin'…

ERDBRINK: Meanwhile,

the young people
who made the Iranian version

of the "Happy" song were forced
to appear on state television.

With their backs to the camera,

they had to express
their deepest regrets.

WOMAN:

ERDBRINK: After that,

the judge gave them a sentence
of 90 lashes, suspended.

♪

ERDBRINK AND ABADI:

(MOTOR STARTING)

ERDBRINK: Day after day,
this lonely soldier went out

to defend what he thought
was the right ideology

of the Islamic Republic.

But by his own admission,
the tide was against him.

Society was changing,

and no matter how much he wanted it,

he feared that he would end up
losing his battle

against modernity.

(SINGING)

♪

Two months later,
much to Big Mouth's regret,

President Obama signed
the nuclear deal,

lifting sanctions against Iran.

A day later, after 544 days in jail,

my colleague Jason was released
in a prisoner exchange.

♪

ERDBRINK AND MAN:

ERDBRINK:

MAN:

(ERDBRINK LAUGHS)

MAN:

ERDBRINK AND MAN:

MAN AND ERDBRINK:

MAN 2:

MAN 1:

MAN 1 AND ERDBRINK:

MAN 1:

ERDBRINK:

MAN 1:

MAN 3:

ERDBRINK:

(LAUGHING)

MAN:

♪

ERDBRINK: By now,
I'm used to the fact

that America is always blamed
for everything in Iran,

even for the dried up
River of Life in Isfahan.

It's almost as if Iran wants an enemy.

Ayatollah Khomeini understood
this like no other.

When he came to power,

he made sure to preserve
the image of a lonely country,

all alone against
the rest of the world.

ERDBRINK:

(ERDBRINK AND MAN
SPEAKING LOCAL LANGUAGE)

♪

ERDBRINK AND MAN:

ERDBRINK:
This man took care

of Ayatollah Khomeini's
financial affairs

for nine years.

According to him,
the leader of the revolution

was a modest man.

He lived in this tiny room

on a budget of less than $200 a month.

EBRAHIM:

ERDBRINK:

(CROWD CHANTING)

EBRAHIM:

♪

ERDBRINK: It is a reoccurring
topic in many conversations:

the long war between Iran and Iraq.

In Saddam Hussein,

Khomeini found an enemy
who united the country.

The Iranians rallied
around their leader,

standing shoulder to shoulder.

Men of all ages rushed
to the front line.

Hundreds of thousands died
in the desert.

ERDBRINK:

♪

ERDBRINK: The word "martyr"
became an honorary title.

Family members of those who died
were given a special status.

And even today, life-size
portraits of the martyrs

adorn the city walls.

♪

Here at Behesht-e Zahra Cemetery
in the south of Tehran,

the martyrs are buried side by side

in endless numbers.

Most of them were killed during
the war with Saddam Hussein.

Almost every Iranian family
has buried a loved one here.

♪

If you want to understand
the concept of martyrdom,

you can travel to a city
like Khomeini Shahr…

named after Ayatollah Khomeini…
on the day of Ashura.

Every year,

Shia pilgrims mourn the
violent death of Imam Husayn,

the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.

ERDBRINK:

GIRL:

ERDBRINK:

GIRL AND ERDBRINK:

GIRL:

ERDBRINK:

MAN:

ERDBRINK:

MAN:

(MAN CHANTING ON LOUDSPEAKER)

♪

ERDBRINK:
This is my friend Nieje.

Her father died in 1981
during the war against Iraq.

Shortly before, he and his
family had returned to Iran

from the United States,
filled with ideals.

He wanted to help make the
Islamic Revolution a success.

But when war broke out,
he volunteered and was killed.

ERDBRINK:

NIEJE:

NIEJE:

ERDBRINK AND NIEJE:

♪

♪

ERDBRINK: Most Westerners
fail to comprehend

why you would desire a martyr's death.

Do Iranians really regard
suffering as an honor?

Or is it a way to make the pain
of losing your loved ones

more bearable?

In any case, they find it a lot easier

to make sense of
incomprehensible events

than I do.

Most likely, also behind
this dry river bed,

a divine power is at work.

It's hard to believe
that this once-wide river

has been dry for three years now.

Where did the water go?

No one seems to know.

On the riverbank, you can hear
all kinds of rumors.

"The water will come back
in a week," they say,

"or maybe in a few days,
or no, in a month,

and then it will stay forever."

ERDBRINK AND MAN:

♪

ERDBRINK: This year,

500 million trees died
across the country.

Some Iranian officials…
the ones who dare…

say the drought
is a much bigger problem

than Iran's enemies abroad.

♪

ERDBRINK AND MAN:

MAN AND ERDBRINK:

ERDBRINK AND MAN:

(LAUGHING)

ERDBRINK:

ERDBRINK:

♪

ERDBRINK: The man
at the carrot-washing plant

expects a future filled
with rain and snow,

God willing, of course.

Sometimes it seems attractive
to put your faith

into the hands of a higher power.

But the flip side is

that you have to be ready
to sacrifice your life for it.

♪

ERDBRINK AND MAN:

ERDBRINK:

♪

ERDBRINK: Since the war
with Saddam Hussein,

the religious leaders label
every conflict across the border

as "a holy war."

For a long time,

Iran denied sending troops
into Syria and Iraq.

Not any longer.

In 2017, the Supreme Leader
appears in person

at the funeral of the beheaded martyr

to console the widow
and his two-year-old son.

KHAMENEI:

(CAMERA FLASHES SNAPPING)

ERDBRINK:

But not all Iranians share
those feelings.

♪

ERDBRINK: I've never
been able to track down

one of the volunteers fighting
across the borders.

Then I discover one,

who has been posting messages
on Instagram.

(RIFLE FIRING)

By his account, by 2017,

he'd been fighting
in Syria and Iraq seven times.

(GUNFIRE PLAYING ON PHONE)

ERDBRINK:

(EXPLOSION)

(MEN IN VIDEO SHOUTING)

ERDBRINK: You won't
hear Mojtaba talking

about expanding Iranian
influence into the region.

According to him,

he was only there to protect
the holy Shia shrines.

And of course to clean up ISIS.

MOJTABA:

ERDBRINK:

MOJTABA'S WIFE AND MOJTABA:

(GUNFIRE RATTLING)

MOJTABA'S WIFE:

ERDBRINK:

MOJTABA'S WIFE:

♪

MOJTABA:

MOJTABA'S WIFE:

ERDBRINK: I don't know
what to think of Mojtaba.

It seems as if he can't wait
to become a martyr himself.

I follow him on Instagram.

One of his posts is a video
of a young wounded man,

chosen by God to die as a martyr
with a smile on his face.

Then a last message:

Mojtaba left his family again
to fight one more holy battle.

(TRAIN RUMBLING)

I take the train back to Isfahan

and find a seat
in an empty compartment.

For a few hours,

I enjoy the sight
of the impressive mountains.

As the train descends into the desert,

I notice some excitement
amongst the fellow passengers.

It seems a miracle has happened.

According to them,

the water has come back
to the River of Life in Isfahan.

(IRANIAN POP SONG PLAYING)

For a while,
things were back to normal.

Nobody seem to wonder
how this could happen

or if the water would stay.

(POP SONG CONTINUES)

(POP SONG STOPS)

Three weeks later,
the water was gone again.

♪

(GLASS CLINKING)

(ERDBRINK SPEAKING, RECORDED):

(GLASS CLINKING)

MAN:

(MAN SPEAKS, GROUP REPEATS):

MIRZA AND GROUP:

SAMIN:

ERDBRINK:
In the Islamic Republic,

alcohol was banned from the beginning.

If you drank, you were flogged.

That was the traditional
solution to the problem.

It didn't work, of course.

The real solution came from overseas…

an American concept dating back
to 1935.

ERDBRINK:

MAN:

ERDBRINK AND MAN:

ERDBRINK:

MAN:

ERDBRINK AND MAN:

ERDBRINK:

MIRZA AND MAN:

ERDBRINK:

ERDBRINK AND MAN 2:

MAN 3:

ERDBRINK:

(LAUGHING)

ERDBRINK:

(GROUP MEMBERS LAUGHING)

ERDBRINK:

♪

If you want to live here
in the Islamic Republic,

you have to stick to the rules.

But those rules are
never completely clear.

So it's often a matter
of interpretation

by the law enforcement officers
on duty.

Somayeh had bad luck this morning.

She sent me a message

that she was stopped
by the morality police.

SOMAYEH:

♪

ERDBRINK: It's a dilemma
facing women in Iran.

It's okay to be beautiful,

but you're not supposed to show
off your beauty in public.

All you're allowed to show
is your face.

Maybe that's the reason

why Elnaz Golrokh is so famous in Iran.

She's a makeup artist

with more than 1.3 million
followers on Instagram.

GOLROKH:

ERDBRINK:

GOLROKH:

ERDBRINK AND GOLROKH:

ERDBRINK AND GOLROKH:

ERDBRINK:

GOLROKH:

ERDBRINK AND WOMAN:

♪

ERDBRINK: If owning a new car
is what it takes for a man,

then I'm sorted.

All that women have are
their facial expressions.

In Iranian cinema,
this is taken to extremes.

There, you would never see men
and women hugging or kissing.

Because there are
so few foreigners in Iran,

I was once asked to act in a movie.

I played the part of a man
who is released from prison

after a four-month sentence

and finally gets to see
his loved one again.

And all that yearning, desire,

and all the love he missed out on

has to be expressed
through the eyes only.

Nothing else is allowed.

Well, this is the result.

Hi.

ERDBRINK:
Well, no Oscar for that.

The lead role was played
by Mahnaz Afshar.

MAN:

ERDBRINK: She's the biggest
star in Iranian cinema.

And burning love stories
are her specialty.

ERDBRINK: It's tricky,

because the whole film is about love.

Mahnaz is the queen of looks.

She can tell you with one look
that she loves you.

And not only her co-star,
but the entire audience.

That's why Mahnaz is
in such high demand.

(AFSHAR SPEAKING UNDER MUSIC)

ERDBRINK: To me, it seems
as if they're making do.

But in Iran, it's all we've got.

It's almost as if the thick
glass partition that is there

to safeguard the physical distance

between men and women on the set

continues out there in the real world.

Iran is a country with a lot of rules,

which means that a lot of fun things

are actually banned here
under Islamic law.

But that of course doesn't mean

that fun things don't happen in Iran.

(LOUD BASS PLAYING IN DISTANCE)

Listen here for instance.

Something is happening here.

Of course, I know what is
happening here;

my friend Sooni is giving
a Zumba class.

Inside, women are dancing,
they're wearing sports clothes.

And these are all things
that we are not allowed to film.

Not only foreign journalists are
not allowed to film,

no one is technically allowed
to film those.

This is another gray area:

exercise is allowed here,
also for women.

But when it looks like jumping
or dancing… like Zumba…

it suddenly isn't anymore.

Where do they draw the line?

What do you think?

Pretty cool.

Yes, it is.

ERDBRINK: With elastic?

(LAUGHS): Yeah.

ERDBRINK:
The question is,

can I tell Sooni's story
about starting a Zumba business

without getting her into trouble?

(DANCE MUSIC PLAYING)

Look, these are American women
doing Zumba.

But this is nothing compared
to the explosive energy

that Sooni brings into this exercise.

But am I allowed to broadcast that?

ERDBRINK:

(SOONI SPEAKING, LAUGHING):

ERDBRINK:

SOONI:

ERDBRINK:

That's your problem, actually.

I'm not making movies.

ERDBRINK:

My problem is that I want to
show something you can't show.

We can't show this.

It will likely be considered offensive.

A man and a woman together is
probably out of the question.

Just me, a man alone, that is allowed.

And I even think that women
are allowed to watch me.

(DANCE MUSIC PLAYING)

I decide to ask Ramin,
my friend and colleague,

to call an expert…
a cleric he knows, a mullah.

He should know what is
and isn't allowed.

MAN (ON PHONE):

MAN (ON PHONE):

MAN (ON PHONE):

MAN (ON PHONE):

RAMIN:

So if you guarantee that
this dance or sport dancing,

is only seen by the female population.

ERDBRINK: Yeah, hello!

We're already men.

No, we are just committing sin.

We are committing sin,

I don't know great one or a small one,

but it is sin, and he said,

this gentleman, clergyman,
well-versed clergyman,

he says that, "I'm not decision maker.

You should call the censor man."

But to avoid the risk
and to avoid putting this lady…

I mean, avoiding trouble for her…

so it's better to blur it.

ERDBRINK: But that means no
one will be able to see it.

But you can see the movement,

or you can imagine, visualize,
fantasize, whatever.

Imagination is a good place!

(DANCE MUSIC PLAYING)

ERDBRINK: So the cleric
doesn't know exactly, either.

His advice is, "Blur her."

But what exactly should I blur?

Only the body parts that make
the Iranian man feel uneasy?

Or her whole body?

Or, to be sure, everything?

Nobody can give me a definite answer.

Perhaps it seems childish to go
on about this.

But this is an Islamic republic.

Your personal freedom and space
are determined by the state,

which explains its authority
by invoking the will of God.

Messing with that is a risky business,

both for men and women.

ERDBRINK AND SOMAYEH:

(ERDBRINK IMITATING FANFARE)

ERDBRINK: Wow.

♪

ERDBRINK: After 17 years
of living in Iran,

I still struggle
with how the state interferes

in your private life.

When I said that to a mullah once,

he said, "Don't think
that climbing a mountain"

"brings you closer to God.

God will come to you
if He deems it necessary."

Maybe that's the problem.

Because God can't be everywhere
at the same time.

For everyday matters,

we must rely
on His spokespersons on Earth.

In this case,
that's Supreme Leader Khamenei.

And under him is an army of officials.

So if I want to know
if I can film Sooni

without getting her into trouble,

I should pay a visit to this man.

He is the TV censor.

ERDBRINK AND MAN:

ERDBRINK:

ERDBRINK:

(DANCE MUSIC PLAYING)

ERDBRINK:
Finally, some clarity.

This rule I understand.

Western viewers can see this,

but it will never be shown in Iran.

(DANCE MUSIC CONTINUES)

♪

The different explanations of the rules

by the Supreme Leader's intermediaries

are reason for protest from all sides.

Not only from the young,
modern Iranians,

but even from conservatives,
like my religious friend Nieje.

♪

ERDBRINK:
I happen to know somebody

with a pair of those male hands.

And it's not surprising Nieje
finds it difficult

to deal with the way he views women.

AHMADABADI:

AHMADABADI:

ERDBRINK: Maybe Mister Big
Mouth will succeed

in keeping his wife in the kitchen.

But married to someone else,

he would have
a far more difficult time.

Nieje, for instance,

is not willing to let anyone
tell her what to think.

♪

ERDBRINK: Those conversations
were in 2015,

when the future looked
almost promising.

People seemed less afraid
to express their opinions.

And with the sanctions lifted,

they hoped the country
would finally open up

to the rest of the world.

In short,
life could only become better.

Still, not everybody shared
that optimistic vision.

ERDBRINK AND SOMAYEH:

ERDBRINK:

ERDBRINK:

SOMAYEH:

♪

Next time, in part two of
"Our Man in Tehran."

MAN:

It's three years later.

In this country especially,
if you live with fear,

you're done.

(WOMEN SCREAMING):

As change comes to the country…

Cash is gonna buy it. I love Iran!

♪

…the hardliners push back.

♪

While some Iranians dream of America…

MAN:

…others can't forget Iran.

MAN:

It's a map of Iran.

ERDBRINK:

Get back in the car.

But nevertheless, life goes on.

ERDBRINK:
We're gonna make baby.

Why are you…?

(MACHINE GUN FIRING)

MAN:

(POP SONG PLAYING)

♪

♪

For more on this and other
"Frontline" programs,

visit our website at pbs.org/frontline.

"Frontline's" "Our Man in Tehran"

is available on DVD.

To order, visit shop.pbs.org,
or call 1-800-PLAY-PBS.

"Frontline" is also available
for download on iTunes.

♪