All language subtitles for Frontline.s37e04.Our.Man.in.Tehran.Series.1.Part.Two.1080p.HDTV.x264.AAC.MVGroup.org

♪

THOMAS ERDBRINK: Once upon
a time, on a dusty road,

I met a girl.

(LAUGHING)

♪

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

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: Ta-da!

Tonight, part two
of "Our Man in Tehran."

(SPEAKING LOCAL LANGUAGE):

More stories from a country
at the brink of change.

In this country especially,

if you live with fear, you're done.

(WOMAN SCREAMING):

As the hardliners push back...

(PEOPLE YELLING)

...some Iranians dream of America,

while others can't forget Iran.

It's a map of Iran.

(ERDBRINK SPEAKING):

Get back in the car.

And yet, life and love go on.

ERDBRINK: We're gonna make
baby!

Why are you...

(GUN FIRING)

Three years later, "Our Man in Tehran."

♪

(BUZZING)

ERDBRINK:
There's one big change

compared to the last time that
we were filming here

in Iran, and that is that this time,

we have brought a drone,
a flying camera.

But in Iran, in the capital, Tehran,

drones are shot out of the sky.

(MACHINE GUN FIRING)

The last time that somebody flew
a drone in Tehran,

there was a huge panic.

(GUN FIRING)

(MAN CRYING OUT)

(GUN FIRING)

ERDBRINK: Suddenly, from
rooftops across the city,

anti-aircraft fire was opened to
take the drone down.

People crouched down in the streets,

duck and covered behind cars.

It turned out that the drone was
operating in the vicinity

of the compound of Supreme Leader

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,

and that poses a security risk,
of course.

♪

Our camera team and their drone
had just arrived in Iran

when I got a call from the media agency

of the Ministry of Information.

I had to hand over the drone
immediately.

The director, Mr. Taheri,
is an important man.

(SPEAKING LOCAL LANGUAGE)

He has to give us permission for
whatever we want

to film in Iran.

(TAHERI SPEAKING):

ERDBRINK:
His job is not an easy one.

He must help me and, at the same time,

take care not to displease

his political and religious superiors.

I'm curious to hear his opinion
about our last film,

knowing that the Iranians always
start with the polite answer.

(TAHERI SPEAKING):

(TAHERI SPEAKING):

(LAUGHING)

(NEWSHA AND ERDBRINK SPEAKING):

(WOMAN AND NEWSHA SPEAKING):

(MAN AND NEWSHA SPEAKING):

(LAUGHING)

(WOMAN AND NEWSHA SPEAKING):

(ERDBRINK AND NEWSHA SPEAKING):

(LAUGHING)

(CHANTING):

(ERDBRINK SPEAKING):

(TAHERI SPEAKING):

(CHANTING)

ERDBRINK: The images of Mr.
Big Mouth caused a stir in Iran.

Modern Iranians felt
he was a caricature.

A disgrace for the country.

And even his fellow religious
militants were unhappy

with the way he put them
in the spotlight.

And there was another downside,
according to Mr. Taheri.

(TAHERI SPEAKING):

(ERDBRINK AND SOMAYEH SPEAKING):

(SPEAKING LOCAL LANGUAGE)

♪

Is Mr. Taheri right?

Did the first film show too little

of the modern and carefree side
of Tehran?

Perhaps I should take my cue
from state-owned

Press TV's sunnier programs.

Typical Iranian house,
typical Iranian car.

This is how it is. Not!

I'm about to show why.

L-U-X-U-R-Y, luxury.

This is what we drive,
a beautiful Porsche.

Iran's second-largest active industry?

The automobile industry.

And everybody loves
a luxury automobile.

You're going to buy this car?

Yes, in cash. In cash?

Yes. I love it.

Okay. Cash, he's gonna buy it.

I love Iran.

ERDBRINK: L-U-X-U-R-Y,
luxury, in Tehran.

I decide to tag along with two
gentlemen

who are better at home in this world.

So, this is Reza Nayebi.

Hello.

ERDBRINK: This is Mr. Tasty.
Mr. Taster.

ERDBRINK: And this is another
person.

Yes, yes, yes.

ERDBRINK: Yes, but this is
not a modern sight of Tehran,

is it?

No, this is not a modern sight of...

(ALL SPEAKING LOCAL LANGUAGE)

ERDBRINK: First, they want to
get rid of him.

He has no place in their modern Tehran.

I want to show you a neighbourhood.

I want to show you a clothing designer.

And he is Mr. Taster, and he
wants to show you

a couple of restaurants. Yeah.

ERDBRINK: We start out for a
fancy district

with very expensive homes.

So, why this neighbourhood?

This is probably the best
neighbourhood I know of.

It's Bukan, located in Niavaran.

This is probably for the uber-wealthy.

If you look to your right,
this building right here,

this one comes in at about
$11,000 a meter, a square meter.

ERDBRINK: What kind of people
would live here?

Rich.

ERDBRINK: But just, just...

just try and describe them a bit more.

Materialistic.

People that love things.

And there's nothing wrong with
being materialistic.

♪

ERDBRINK: And then we go out
with Mr. Taster,

a celebrity in Tehran.

Mr. Taster, Mr. Taster!

(LAUGHING)

(MR. TASTER SPEAKING):

(ERDBRINK SPEAKING):

ERDBRINK: At first glance,
all these luxury visits

make Iran look more like
a normal, Western nation.

♪

This is mostly because of the
sudden popularity of Instagram

and all the silly events that
are associated with it.

So all these people here are
officially here to be informed

about having weddings in Thailand.

Iranians love to marry
in other countries,

because then they can have
mixed wedding parties.

But another reason for people to
be here

is because they're all Instagram stars.

This guy over there, 200,000 followers.

These three girls, maybe a million.

This is a place to be seen and to see.

And we've definitely seen her before.

A few years ago, she and her
friends were arrested

after making an Iranian version
of a Western music video.

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

ERDBRINK: For their indecent
behaviour,

they had to make a public apology

on Iranian state television.

(WOMAN SPEAKING):

ERDBRINK: They were given a
suspended sentence of 90 lashes.

But today, three years later,

the girl from the banned clip
has become

a celebrated Instagram star.

Hello.

(ERDBRINK AND WOMAN SPEAKING):

(WOMAN AND ERDBRINK SPEAKING):

(ERDBRINK AND WOMAN SPEAKING):

(ERDBRINK SPEAKING):

(ERDBRINK AND WOMAN SPEAKING):

(ERDBRINK SPEAKING):

(WOMAN SPEAKING):

ERDBRINK: President Rouhani
made himself

enormously popular after being elected

by bringing about a tenfold increase

in the speed of the internet.

Everyone is on Instagram.

Look, for instance, Supreme
Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

There he is.

1.6 million followers.

Speeches, photos, denunciations
of other countries.

More politics.

Hassan Rouhani, the president of Iran.

Hassan Rouhani, 1.9 million followers.

Does that make him the most
famous Iranian on Instagram?

No.

That honour goes to Taraneh Alidoosti,

an actress with 5.1 million followers.

When she speaks out on Instagram,

the country listens.

Thanks to the internet,

Western influences are pouring
into the country.

Like here, another modern
arrival in present-day Iran.

They're popping up everywhere:
cappuccino cafés.

Here, you can do things that
were banned for years:

listen to Western music, share
a table with the opposite sex,

and wear your headscarf balancing

on the very back of your head.

That sudden freedom looks like a
good call by the government.

"Go on, drink as many
cappuccinos as you like

"while roaming the internet,
as long as you keep your nose

out of our politics."

It seemed to work for a while.

These customers didn't look like
they were hoping

to overthrow the religious leaders.

But, below the surface,

Iran is simmering with
discontent everywhere.

The volcano can always erupt,
at any given moment.

(WOMAN SPEAKING):

ERDBRINK: Women waving their
headscarves

until passersby had filmed them

and spread the images
around the country.

(HORNS HONKING, PEOPLE CLAPPING)

(MAN SPEAKING):

ERDBRINK: It's a dangerous
protest.

Because for years, the religious
police have clamped down

on women who violated the dress code.

Their green and white vans had
disappeared

from the streets for a while.

(WOMAN SPEAKING):

ERDBRINK: But it's now
apparent

that they never really left.

(WOMAN SCREAMING):

ERDBRINK: If you thought that
these images belonged

to the past, this is a rude awakening.

♪

(WOMAN SHOUTS)

♪

ERDBRINK: The next morning, I
suddenly see my friend Banafshe

appear on Instagram.

I happen to know her from one of
those cappuccino cafés.

For 20 minutes during rush hour,

she waves her headscarf on a stick.

And she's lucky.

She doesn't get arrested.

(ERDBRINK AND BANAFSHE
SPEAKING):

♪

(LAUGHING)

(ERDBRINK SPEAKING):

♪

ERDBRINK: The nutty woman
had set all her hopes

on President Rouhani last year.

He would bring more freedom.

Later, I watch her president
defending protesters on TV.

(ROUHANI SPEAKING):

ERDBRINK: But he is overruled
by Supreme Leader Khamenei.

In the end, he and the
Revolutionary Guards decide

what is and what isn't allowed.

♪

Even though the president has
less of a say in matters

than he'd like, his job is still
in high demand.

At the Ministry of Interior,

an event takes place that will
surprise many Western onlookers.

For three days, an uninterrupted
stream of Iranians

pour inside here.

They line up to put themselves forward

as candidates for the presidency.

(PEOPLE CALLING)

ERDBRINK: So it turns out
that anyone in Iran

can try to become the next president.

That seems very democratic,

but everyone knows that only
a few candidates

will be declared eligible
to run for office.

Of the many thousands of candidates,

only a handful remain.

♪

This year, there are also some
female candidates,

but they stand little chance.

Of course, there are also some
oddballs, an attention-seeker,

and a man who is against everything.

ERDBRINK: But what I missed
that morning

was the arrival of an old acquaintance,

who apparently also sees himself
as presidential timber.

(ERDBRINK AND MAN SPEAKING):

(ERDBRINK AND MAN SPEAKING):

ERDBRINK:
So even Mr. Big Mouth

wants to become president now.

A lot has changed since we
filmed here three years ago.

In my office for the "New York Times,"

my assistant Somayeh's desk has
been empty for a while.

After the first film ran on
Dutch television,

she received many marriage proposals.

She swept them all aside and
left for the United States,

but more about that later.

In my mother-in-law's house,
time hasn't stood still, either.

Back then, every day at lunchtime,

it was a hive of activity.

Everyone was talking all at once.

(TALKING AND LAUGHING)

ERDBRINK: But when I visit
Newsha's mother today,

she sits in her kitchen all alone.

ERDBRINK: Grandma died a year
ago.

My brother-in-law finally
decided to get married

and moved out of the house.

And Newsha's sister, Negin, went
to seek her fortune in America.

(ERDBRINK SPEAKING):

ERDBRINK: It's a recurrent
theme in my family.

And my mother-in-law is expert
at bringing it up

when I least expect it.

"Why don't Newsha and I have any
children yet?"

ERDBRINK: And once my
mother-in-law gets started,

she doesn't stop.

(ERDBRINK AND MOTHER SPEAKING):

ERDBRINK: Everyone in this
country gets to have an opinion

about our procreation.

It's great that Newsha is busy

with a new exhibition of her photos.

But too busy to have children?

That is unacceptable in this country.

Although Newsha has other fish
to fry, and I am one of them.

It's just first time he's here.

He didn't help me at all.

At all.

Yes, please film him.

He should shy now.

Look at the camera and say sorry.

He didn't help me at all and he
was just busy with himself,

so... (LAUGHS)

Yes.

(MAN SPEAKS INAUDIBLY)

Yeah.

(ERDBRINK WHISPERING)

Yes, that's true.

He says, "I help you a lot
sometimes"... I say yes.

ERDBRINK: Saying, "Oh,
why they don't have baby?"

We're going to make baby!

Why you should...

ERDBRINK: Because I'm happy,
I want to have a baby.

Yeah, but the thing is,
everybody wants me or him

to do what they love, but I
think when I'm 80 years old,

I want to look out of the window,

and when it's snowing,
and think, rethink, and reflect,

and I want to be this
80-years-old happy woman

to be, I'm proud in any decision
I've ever made.

And this is what I love to do.

I'm not going to let anyone force me.

My family, friends, society, nobody.

ERDBRINK: In Holland, it's
exactly the same.

Everybody asks me, "When you're
going to get a baby?"

And so, okay, you know, maybe...
maybe we can't get babies.

We don't know.

I mean, we're just...
you know what I mean?

So...

No, I'm sure one day,
we will be parents, but not now.

ERDBRINK: And now that Newsha
started working

as a Magnum photographer,

the babies will have
to wait even longer.

♪

Meanwhile, I just have to find
out how Mr. Big Mouth is doing,

even if it makes some officials
unhappy.

I want to know if he still
fiercely opposes the internet

and women with driver's licenses.

Or is he too embracing modernity?

Thank you very much.

ERDBRINK: Thank you.

(ERDBRINK AND AHMADABADI
SPEAKING):

(ERDBRINK SPEAKING):

(AHMADABADI AND ERDBRINK
SPEAKING):

(AHMADABADI SPEAKING):

(ERDBRINK SPEAKING):

(ERDBRINK SPEAKING):

(ERDBRINK AND AHMADABADI
SPEAKING):

ERDBRINK: So even Mr. Big
Mouth has been swayed

by the social change in Iran.

A few years ago, that seemed
inconceivable.

Now his computer is on 24 hours a day.

And his wife no longer hides
away in the kitchen.

And more, she records our entire
conversation

on her own cell phone.

(ERDBRINK AND AHMADABADI'S
WIFE SPEAKING):

(ERDBRINK SPEAKING):

(ERDBRINK AND AHMADABADI
SPEAKING):

(ERDBRINK AND AHMADABADI'S
WIFE SPEAKING):

(ERDBRINK SPEAKING):

(ERDBRINK SPEAKING):

(ERDBRINK SPEAKING):

(AHMADABADI SPEAKING):

ERDBRINK: Mr. Big Mouth
always makes me chuckle a bit.

But make no mistake,
his ideas haven't changed.

He is still the same religious zealot.

Equally zealous, the religious
police have been confronting

women on the street,

protesters who dare to climb up
on one of these power boxes

without a headscarf.

On Instagram, I see how the
situation gets more tense.

When this woman refuses to climb
down, an officer steamrolls her.

(CROWD GASPS AND YELLS)

She lands badly and breaks a leg.

(WOMAN CRYING)

ERDBRINK: She was arrested
and could be sentenced

up to ten years in prison.

When I see this video on Instagram,

I'm amazed at how cheerfully
Banafshe told me

a few days earlier how she got
the idea for her action.

(ERDBRINK AND BANAFSHE
SPEAKING):

(BANAFSHE SPEAKING):

(ERDBRINK SPEAKING):

ERDBRINK: Banafshe's almost
carefree tone

is in stark contrast to the
strong reactions

from the religious side.

And it was only a matter of time

before Big Mouth also weighed in.

On Instagram, he threatens to kill

one of the promoters of the campaign.

When you read his words,

he suddenly becomes a lot less funny.

"We warned you plenty of times,"
he writes,

"but you haven't changed your ways.

"One of these days, you will be
slaughtered in your house.

Time to say goodbye to your family."

First I hoped it was a sick joke.

But when we called him,
he only doubled down.

He literally said on the phone,

"I will sell my pomegranate orchard.

"I will offer up the $500,000

"it will yield as a reward to anyone

"who manages to kill her.

"In addition, the killer will
receive the weight

of her tongue in gold."

♪

Of course, Big Mouth may seem crazy,

but after reading his threats,

I'm suddenly worried about Banafshe.

Her friends tell me that she has
left the country for a while.

She didn't tell her friends how
long she plans to leave Iran.

Then I find another surprise
on Instagram:

Banafshe and her friends singing
in the Tehran subway

on International Women's Day.

(SINGING):

♪

♪

♪

ERDBRINK: It is unlikely that
the religious leaders will ever

allow women to take off their
headscarves in public.

To them, that would mean the
beginning of the end

of the Islamic Republic.

ERDBRINK: Imagine, you're an
average Iranian.

You're asleep.

Somebody wakes you up at night
and whispers in your ear saying,

"You get to go abroad tomorrow.

Which country would you like to visit?"

I think that nine times out of ten,

you would get the same answer.

(WOMAN AND ERDBRINK SPEAKING):

ERDBRINK: Amrika.

(NEWSHA'S MOTHER SPEAKING):

ERDBRINK: There's one time
of the day

when I can't disturb my mother-in-law.

That's when she, along with
thousands other Iranian moms,

sits behind her laptop for her
daily Skype call

with her daughter in America.

(MOTHER AND NEGIN SPEAKING):

ERDBRINK: About one million
Iranians live

in the United States.

And among them are some big fish.

Whether a journalist for CNN or
the founder of eBay,

CEO at Uber or vice president
at Google,

or security adviser to George W. Bush,

they've all reached the top

and they're all of Iranian descent.

And they all have their roots in
this country.

♪

This is Hassan.

He's 18.

For as long as he can remember,

he's worked in his family's
rice fields.

(ERDBRINK SPEAKING):

ERDBRINK: So, why was Hassan
so happy?

Because Hassan is actually one
of the smartest kids

in this country.

He took part in the national
university exam

called the Konkour, and over
a million people participate

in this Konkour,
and in his special field,

150,000 people compete.

And they compete for,
basically, for a spot.

You became number...?

21.
ERDBRINK: 21.

21 smartest kid...

In country, and eighth in my field.

ERDBRINK: Eighth in your
field.

So 21 national,
and eighth in his field.

This is a super-high number.

ERDBRINK: Since his results
proved

he's one of the smartest boys in Iran,

Hassan has become a hero
in the village.

And he can't move an inch

without the whole village
following him.

(ERDBRINK SPEAKING):

(VILLAGERS APPLAUDING)

Thank you, thank you.

ERDBRINK: The first to
congratulate him

was his grandfather.

(ERDBRINK AND GRANDFATHER
SPEAKING):

(ERDBRINK SPEAKING):

(ERDBRINK SPEAKING):

(GRANDFATHER SINGING)

ERDBRINK: Granddad is
mightily proud of Hassan,

if only because it gives him an
excuse to burst into song.

(GRANDFATHER SINGING)

ERDBRINK: Hassan is still a
bit overwhelmed

by his eighth place in mathematics.

But now he wants the best of the best.

So, he has done his homework on
the best American universities.

ERDBRINK: Massachusetts
Institute of Technology.

ERDBRINK: Stanford.

ERDBRINK: Hassan isn't much
of a talker.

They know that in the village.

He's bound to miss them.

The next day, he will leave to
go to university

in distant Tehran.

And everybody in the village knows

that after studying in Tehran,

along with 98% of those other
prize-winning smart students,

he will probably go to the U.S.A.

Lucky him.

♪

Hassan's village reminds me
of Dolat Abad,

the town where my assistant,
Somayeh, grew up.

She took Islamic studies there,

but increasingly felt suffocated.

Things seems 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.

ERDBRINK: Three years ago,
she couldn't be clearer.

She wouldn't stay in Iran.

(SOMAYEH SPEAKING):

(ERDBRINK AND SOMAYEH SPEAKING):

(LAUGHS)

♪

ERDBRINK: Somayeh left far
sooner than I had expected.

She went to study journalism at
New York's Columbia University.

I decide to visit her, curious
to see how she's doing.

I'd already read in her emails
that it hadn't been easy.

She had to share a tiny room
with a former model.

Her roommate needed the room for
herself three days a week.

She would have male visitors and
needed Somayeh out of the way.

Whoa. Oh, there is a window.

Yeah, there is a very small
window at the end of this room.

So, welcome to my last year room.

ERDBRINK: Which bed was
yours?

There.
ERDBRINK: Next to the window?

Yeah, and imagine
that I had my own place,

after years fighting to have my
own independence in Tehran,

I got a very nice two-bedroom
apartment in Tehran

and I left everything behind...

ERDBRINK: You worked hard for
it.

And came here, yeah.

ERDBRINK: So you had a
roommate, you come from Iran,

and what was this roommate like?

Well, she was a very social
girl, totally active,

into a relationship, you know.

I learned a lot from her,

but I learned a lot
from some slice of life

that we totally don't have in Iran.

Like, it happened a couple of
times that I would come

to my room and she was with her dates

and it's a shared room.

And, yeah, you know,
I didn't know what to do.

ERDBRINK: What did you do?

I would say hi, just...

You know, I just played around,

just grabbed some stuff from my room

and left the room while
I just had come home to.

ERDBRINK: "Bye!"

Yes, yeah... "Bye, sorry."

ERDBRINK: That was quite a
different take on freedom

from what she had expected.

She and her fellow students now
laugh about it.

Especially about those endless
phone calls

she had to listen to.

It was so funny that she
would share every detail

of any relationship that she had
with her boyfriends

with her mom.

And sometimes I'd just say,
"Oh, my God!"

ERDBRINK: So how would it be?

She would be on the phone, like,
"Hi, Mom..."

Yeah, "Hi, Mom, this guy
is doing this or that."

And it's not just what the guy
would do at the, you know,

restaurant, everything
she would share with her mom.

And it was... oh, my God,
I can never ever imagine

I have such a relationship with my mom.

Maybe my best friends, but Mom?

Seriously?

Mmm, yeah, that was totally different.

ERDBRINK: I realise what an
enormous culture shock

it must have been for Somayeh.

Not so much her roommate...
she laughs about that now...

but American society, where
seemingly everything goes.

So, I can't think of a more
different environment

than Tehran.

You learn stuff, and it's so calm.

Yeah, welcome to Columbia!

(LAUGHS)

ERDBRINK: And what's up with
the hat?

(LAUGHS): So, umm...

ERDBRINK: I mean, why not
wear a scarf?

I'm planning to keep on...

I'm thinking about going back to
Iran someday, work from there.

So I prefer to follow the rules,
you know.

In some ways, it sounds coward

that I follow a rule without
believing in it.

But I believe in bigger things,

like going back and changing
things over there.

Not changing them to "bad hijabi"

or not wearing hijab,

but if I want to be a reporter
over there,

I prefer to follow rules to some
extent, so I can work.

So, like, I balance my expectations,

so they also balance a bit with
me, and hopefully it works.

ERDBRINK: I think Somayeh is
brave.

Whereas most Iranians
in the U.S. don't want

to go back to Iran,
Somayeh is determined.

She does want to go back.

And if she follows the Iranian
dress code, she can go back.

But that isn't the case for all
Iranians in America.

(SINGING)

♪

(MUSIC PLAYING ON PHONE)

(MUSIC STOPS)

ERDBRINK: I'm sitting here at
this near-abandoned parking lot

next to the studio waiting for
the Persian superstar Andy.

Andy lives right here in L.A.,

but he's known in Iran as the
"Prince of Persian pop."

And he is so famous that at
every Iranian wedding,

people play his songs.

(ANDY SINGING)

(AUDIENCE CHANTING)

How are you, my friend?

ERDBRINK: Not bad.
How are you?

All right.

ERDBRINK: Nice to meet you!

Nice to meet you, yes.

ERDBRINK: Like many people,

Andy used to dream of becoming a
rock star.

And just before the shah was
chased out of the country

by Khomeini in 1979,

Andy was about to make
his big breakthrough.

I managed to record one album

because CBS Record Company had
just opened a branch in Iran...

ERDBRINK: In Tehran.
In Tehran.

They discovered me and they said,

"Hey, we have found
the Iranian Rod Stewart,

we want to take him to America,"
and all that.

And I did a track, and we were
on the right track

to become the Iranian Rod Stewart.

And revolution broke out,

so everybody fled and I lost contacts.

ERDBRINK: And what made you
decide to leave immediately?

I was going to...

That was my plan to leave,
because I was discovered.

I was going to be an American singer.

(SINGING)

ERDBRINK: The Iranian rock
star, based in Los Angeles,

became hugely popular
in the Iran of the mullahs.

But soon, his music was
officially banned there.

When we would do music here,

it would be recorded on VHS tapes.

ERDBRINK: Mm-hmm,
video cassettes.

And smuggled in Iran,

and people would watch it at home

and suddenly it was the thing.

It was amazing.

ERDBRINK: Yeah, so, then
comes the point,

you're super-famous,
and then you would think,

"Okay, I should have
a concert in Iran."

(LAUGHS): Right.

Well, even from the beginning,

it was clear our music
is banned in Iran.

Our way of life is banned in Iran,

because we had female dancers.

It was a little too American for
the Iranian regime taste.

But thank God that we had the
opportunity to go to Dubai

and the surrounding countries
and then later on, in Armenia,

Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and
people would come outside

of Iran to see us, and that was
an amazing feeling,

because when they come out and see us,

we feel like the Beatles.

(BOTH LAUGH)

ERDBRINK: Because they were
so enthusiastic.

Yeah, hungry for music.

They haven't seen the artists.

(AUDIENCE CHEERING)

(ANDY SINGING)

ERDBRINK: Some of his fans
spent their last money

on a ticket to Dubai or Armenia,

so that they could see their
idol at least once.

But the millions of fans inside
Iran can only dream

that the clerics will ever let
Andy perform in his own country.

You actually, you even have one
video clip that you,

as a sort of animated figure,
go back and you fly over Iran

and then you jump out of a
plane, it's a pretty nice clip.

But then you actually go on a
motorcycle

and you tour the whole country,

and everywhere people are
waving, "Welcome back, Andy!"

Sure, it's very sad.

It's sad because we should be there.

We should be touring every city,
every village.

I grew up in that country
and I love that country.

And I always thought that's possible,

although it's been 38 years
already, maybe more.

But I keep thinking that's
possible and it will happen.

(ANDY SINGING)

♪

(FIREWORKS EXPLODING)

♪

ERDBRINK: It's usually
in a secret location,

preferably far from Tehran.

The members share information
on Instagram.

What time?

How many people?

And most importantly, where?

They convene in secret a few
times a year:

Andy's Iranian fan club.

It's all very innocent.

They only play his latest songs.

And today, there is a surprise
guest, an Andy impersonator.

He performs all over Iran under
a surprising name... Mandy.

(ERDBRINK SPEAKING):

(LAUGHTER)

ERDBRINK: I have a surprise
for them.

A live connection with their
idol in Los Angeles.

We have a lot of people here
that are very interested

in talking to you.

ERDBRINK: Like star-struck
teens,

they wait in line to talk
to their hero.

Some of them have driven for
hours to get here.

(WOMAN SPEAKING):

ERDBRINK: None of these fans
ever saw Andy perform in Iran.

They're too young for that.

(SINGING ALONG TO SONG)

ERDBRINK: This is one of
those moments

when I realise what a bizarre
country this sometimes is.

These people have come together
in secret

because the nation's leaders
have banned

their favourite singer, who sings
innocent songs about love.

Even when the whole country
listens to those songs.

(MUD SQUELCHING)

So does he... one of the smartest
kids in the country.

This could be the last day that
he trudges through

his family's rice fields.

Tomorrow, he will start his new
life in Tehran.

(HASSAN'S MOTHER SPEAKING):

(ERDBRINK SPEAKING):

ERDBRINK: Hassan, with his
predilection for numbers,

figured it out long ago.

It's precisely 10,142 kilometres
from his mother's lap

to Times Square, New York, one way.

The return journey is something
that most exam winners

rarely undertake
once they've reached America.

(HASSAN'S FATHER SPEAKING):

♪

ERDBRINK: For the last time,

Hassan will lay his big brainy
head to rest

in his teenage bed

on a pillow fluffed up by his mom.

And what will he dream about?

It's as clear as day.

America.

♪

This is Westwood, and everything
here is Iranian.

I bet the first person I'll
come across will speak Persian.

Look, Persian pizza.

So many Iranians live here,

people have started calling the
area, "Tehrangeles."

Most of the Iranians here
are highly educated.

You'd almost think that every
Iranian studied

to be a doctor or a lawyer.

And what do you study?

Psychobiology.

ERDBRINK: Because all
Iranians study something

really smart, right? Yeah.

ERDBRINK: And you're going
to be, like, doctor super-smart?

Hopefully a psychiatrist.

ERDBRINK: Why all Iranians
are so smart?

I don't know... because they
had, like, a hard life in Iran,

so when they come here, they
want to be the best they can be.

And, like, I guess, a doctor is
the best that you can be,

educational-wise.

(HORN HONKING) ♪

ERDBRINK: What is the
American dream?

Get rich.

And, if at all possible, get famous.

Iranian migrants, of course,
want to achieve the same goals.

And Goorgen Zargarian was
successful in making it.

He started a car repair shop,
won the lottery,

and also proved to be
an amazing entertainer,

when a video clip he made
promoting his company went viral

on the internet.

Hey, baby.

How does your car run?

Do you have trouble with your
transmission?

♪ Shift it, shift it in forward ♪

♪ Shift it, shift it in reverse ♪

♪ Domestic or foreign

♪ I please you with my service

♪ Shift it, shift it in forward ♪

♪ Shift it, shift it in reverse ♪

♪ Domestic or foreign

♪ I please you with my service

♪

Hi, how are you doing?

ERDBRINK: Hi, how are you
doing?

Good to meet you.

You, too.

ERDBRINK: Definitely!

Definitely.

Thank you so much, how are you?

ERDBRINK: It's amazing to see
you in real life.

You're very famous! Thank you so much!

Maybe you're famous more than me.

ERDBRINK: I think you're
very, very, very

more famous than me.

I'm lucky, yeah.

ERDBRINK: What do I see here,
"Ellen DeGeneres"?

I was into that, her show.

ERDBRINK: How do you like
America?

Of course I like it here.

It's good, yeah.

I'm long time here, almost 29 years.

ERDBRINK: 29 years?

29, my son is born here.

ERDBRINK: Okay, so this is,
America is great.

Of course, I enjoy.

40 years, 40 years.

♪

Hello, my name is Goorgen.

Let me, I help you shift it.

♪

ERDBRINK: Even celebrities
like Richard Gere

have their car repaired by Goorgen.

But despite his popularity,
more than anything else,

Goorgen still feels Iranian.

(ZARGARIAN AND ERDBRINK
SPEAKING):

ERDBRINK: Goorgen's big hobby
is singing.

And he sometimes performs.

But he would never have thought
of recording

a commercial for his garage.

(ZARGARIAN SPEAKING):

ERDBRINK:

♪

♪ Shift it, shift it in forward ♪

♪ Shift it, shift it in reverse ♪

♪ Domestic or foreign

♪ I please you with my service

♪ Shift it, shift it in forward ♪

♪ Shift it, shift it in reverse ♪

♪ Domestic or foreign

♪ I please you with my service

ERDBRINK: Goorgen didn't earn
a penny on his video.

But he doesn't care.

He enjoys all the attention.

The video was picked up by the BBC

and almost every American talk show,

from "Ellen DeGeneres" to local
radio stations.

...the best local commercial
of all time.

Yeah.

Watch the magic!

ERDBRINK: And soon everyone
on the internet

ran away with it.

♪ Shift it in forward

♪ Shift it, shift it in reverse ♪

♪ Domestic or foreign

♪ I please you with my service

♪ Shift it, shift it in forward ♪

♪ Shift it, shift it in reverse ♪

♪ Domestic or foreign

♪ I please you with my service

♪

(CHEERING AND APPLAUDING)

♪

ERDBRINK: There are over one
million Iranians

living in the United States...

Persians, as they're called.

And one of those Persians lives
right here

in this house behind me.

Her name is Azadeh,
and she is my sister-in-law.

(SPEAKING LOCAL LANGUAGE):

ERDBRINK: Azadeh moved to the
United States ten years ago

when she met the love of her life,

and she never wants to leave.

Also here right now is her
sister Negin,

visiting from Iran.

She's been here now for six months,

and she's doubting staying in
the U.S. or going back to Iran.

And the third person who you'll
see in this house is Romina,

Azadeh's oldest daughter, who
has been living here

since she was nine years old.

She's an all-American girl,
but she has one deep wish,

and that is to return to Tehran,

the city where everything happens.

Okay, I'm gonna go to nursing school.

I'll be done in six years.

I'll still miss Iran.

I'll still be working here
in a hospital,

and I'll still be missing my country.

ERDBRINK: Yeah, but the way
you live, I mean,

how can you say, because then
you are here?

You... this is America,
you have a stable job

you have a good life.

I have a job, I have a stable income.

But I still miss, I'd still have...

You have freedom.

ERDBRINK: Freedom.

Okay, I'm sorry, but my

freedom there is much more,

like, open than here... yes...

ERDBRINK: What do you mean?
I mean...

Here I'm so busy on social media

and something that's, like,
just on my phone.

Over there I'm busy with my
friends going out, doing stuff,

for, like, experiences and...

ERDBRINK: Experiences, what
do you mean?

Go to parties, experience?

That's a very big experience,

trying to, like, not get caught
by the police,

that's also another experience
that, you know, is...

ERDBRINK: Exciting.

It's more... it feels, like,
more like you're living there,

you know, rather than here.

It's more like the routine of
wake up, work, school,

maybe, like, friends after, and then...

♪

ERDBRINK: Romina went on
holiday to Iran last year.

She had the time of her life.

Everything was so exciting.

Drinking on the sly, avoiding
the police

for not following the dress code.

It was a breath of fresh air

compared to her life of luxury
in San Francisco.

Romina's reasons for wanting to
go back to Iran

are the same reasons
why her mother decided

to leave the country.

I miss my family, I miss
my friends, and I love Iran,

but I don't want to live in Iran
anymore.

Anymore. Anymore.

But you did.

But you did when you were a
teenager, you lived in Iran.

I did, for 29 years, I did, but..

ERDBRINK: Do you ever see
yourself moving back to Iran?

Yeah. Yeah?

Yeah. Uh-huh.

(ALL LAUGHING)

What do you have in Iran
that you don't have it here?

Feeling like I'm home.

So here is not your home?

No, I mean, yes, it is my home,

because I live here,
I go to school here.

But, it's that moment when you
walk off the plane,

and you're, like, "Welcome to..."

Like, you know, it's, like, the
scarf comes out, it's, it's...

There's nothing bad about it.

I don't... How is it...
Okay, look at me.

I'm more liberal, like,
I don't cover myself,

it's, like, you know, I've
totally, like, adapted

to the way girls dress here,
live here, you know?

But, if... isn't it funny that
I'd be okay with covering myself

for the whole summer in that weather

than be here in shorts and
bikinis all the time, like?

What?

I just don't get it.

(MUSIC PLAYING ON SPEAKERS)

(SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY)

ERDBRINK: I could easily find
a thousand Iranians

who would gladly change places
with Romina

and her American lifestyle.

Just to go out cruising with
your friend in an old Prius,

blasting music in a parking lot
as long as you like.

I moved here when I was nine,

so I completely had to adapt
into the typical, like,

"Cali girl," you know?

ERDBRINK: And that's why now
you have a tattoo on your neck

that says...

"God is with me" in Farsi. Yeah.

Yeah. Is that... how is that Cali girl?

I still like to stay, like,
close to my roots.

That's why I have the tattoo.

ERDBRINK: But in Iran,
no one has a tattoo.

Because they don't appreciate it

until they have to move away

or they have to move out of the
country.

ERDBRINK: But what made you
do that,

that suddenly you think,
"I want to put 'God is with me'

on my neck"?

It just means something to me.

It means something close to my heart.

Like, all my other tattoos have
meaning to me.

ERDBRINK: What is, what are
the other tattoos?

It's a map of Iran.
ERDBRINK: A map of Iran?

Yeah, the outline of it.

(ERDBRINK SPEAKING):

Get back in the car.

(MUSIC PLAYING ON SPEAKERS)

(SINGING ALONG WITH MUSIC):

(ERDBRINK SPEAKING):

ERDBRINK: Goorgen will always
remember the day

he left Iran 30 years ago.

♪

For Hassan, that journey is just
starting.

The first stop on his way to
Stanford University is Tehran.

♪

(HASSAN'S GRANDFATHER SPEAKING):

(SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY)

(FAMILY OFFERING GOODBYES)

(HORN BEEPS)

♪

ERDBRINK: Since he became one

of the most brilliant students in Iran,

Hassan started dreaming
of a future in the U.S.

But most of the Iranians living
in the U.S.

can't stop dreaming about Iran.

Why do you think Iranians, even
when they live abroad,

when they are, you know, at,
like a beautiful campus

like here, why you think they
are still so busy with Iran?

I mean, I'm sure if someone from
Colombia passes by,

they are not only busy with Colombia,

or someone from Belgium, but Iranians,

they are so busy with Iran.

Even when they live tens of
thousands of miles away.

There are so tensions about
my country, you know?

I think we are passing
from very important...

This, this passage from tradition

to modernity is not easy.

It takes maybe a couple of generations,

so that we feel comfortable with
what we are, who we are.

I am here, I wear my scarf.

I care about what I wear,
because I have hope to go back,

and I know about the
complexities over there.

This country, I mean, Iran,
keeps me constantly

be aware of the decisions I make,

because it's like a very sick
child that you have,

that you cannot ignore it.

You know, that's not going
to get better,

but you cannot just get disappointed.

You want to do whatever you can
to help it.

And I'm not disappointed, I'm
still hopeful, and I do my best.

ERDBRINK: Somayeh is still
hopeful that the sick child Iran

will one day recover.

But the current American president

doesn't share that optimism.

♪

This afternoon, in a little while,

I'll be giving a speech on Iran.

ERDBRINK: If there was any
doubt about how serious

Trump was, it disappeared when
he appointed

his new national security adviser.

John Bolton had over the years
made no secret

of his plans for Iran.

...policy of the United
States of America

should be the overthrow of
the mullahs' regime in Tehran.

ERDBRINK:
And said so plainly at a meeting

of Iranian dissidents in Paris in 2017.

The behaviour and the
objectives of the regime

are not going to change,

and therefore the only solution
is to change the regime itself.

(APPLAUSE AND CHEERING)

And that's... and that's why,
before 2019,

we here will celebrate in Tehran.

Thank you very much.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

♪

I am announcing today that
the United States will withdraw

from the Iran nuclear deal.

We will be instituting
the highest level

of economic sanction.

Thank you very much.

This will make America much
safer... thank you very much.

♪

♪

ERDBRINK: When I came to live
here 17 years ago,

it was as if I'd landed
on a different planet.

As soon as I stepped off the
plane in Tehran,

the door to the outside world was shut.

This isolation ended recently,

after internet and social media
opened up the country.

Iran is now rapidly becoming
more modern.

Some leaders do their utmost
to try and stop these changes.

And I saw the ugly side of that
battle this week.

Kavous, the father of a friend of mine,

was arrested out of the blue.

He was charged with spying.

♪

And just three weeks later,

I typed this headline for
"The New York Times."

Developing news this hour.

A prominent academic, believed to be

a dual Iranian-Canadian citizen,

has died in prison after being
arrested last month.

Today his son, Raam Emami,
posted on Twitter

that his father was arrested on
the 24th of January,

and that "the news of his death
was released"

"to my mom on Friday.

I still can't believe this."

ERDBRINK: I couldn't believe
what I was hearing.

I thought it was far-fetched
that he would be a spy,

but now Kavous was found dead
in his cell.

I asked his son to come over.

The intelligence services have
forbidden him

to talk about the case.

They said that he had hung
himself in his cell.

And they showed my uncle some
marks on his neck,

on the back of his neck,

and he had some bruises
over his body, too.

They said, "Oh, this is probably
when, you know, he was hanging",

he probably hit somewhere."

Um...

ERDBRINK: But wasn't your
father in,

like, a high-security prison?

You know, that's the thing.

He was, you know,

if he was such an important
person in a high-security cell,

how did it go, you know, unmonitored

for such a long time?

For them to allow such a thing
to happen?

ERDBRINK: When they called
your mother,

your mother hadn't seen your
father in two weeks.

What did they say to her?

They finally said, "Oh, so you
want to see your husband."

We'll take you to him. He's dead."

And my mom started laughing,
because she didn't believe it.

She thought that they were just
playing mind games with her.

And they're, like, "How dare you
laugh in here?"

"Do you know where you are?

We'll do the same thing to you."

And she was just hysterical,
because she couldn't believe it.

And so they finally took my mom
and my uncle,

and they drove them to the
coroner's office,

where my dad's body was apparently,

like, on these steel medical
tables, you know.

And my mom just kept kissing my dad.

And she couldn't believe it.

She... obviously, she was just
in complete hysteria.

And... just... it was impossible
for her to fathom,

because this was, this scenario
of this event happening

the way it did was the last
thing we ever thought

would happen to our family.

ERDBRINK: After studying
in the U.S.,

Kavous didn't stay in the West.

He had been granted a Canadian
passport,

but still took his family back to Iran,

because he wanted to help build
up the country.

And he went on to do that for 30 years,

until he was arrested and
accused of spying.

But why would they target your father,

who was a professor for 27 years

at one of Iran's most prominent
universities?

Why would they target him?

I mean, it's a question that
I don't think

I'll ever know the answer to.

That and my dad's real cause of
death are these two questions

that I don't think I'll ever get
to know

what the full spectrum of the truth is.

Because, you know, while
I'm 100% convinced and sure,

and I think everybody else is,
of my father's innocence

in this story, there is a whole
spectrum of a thousand things

that could have happened
that I can't speculate on.

I can't...

And it'll just, like,
drive my mind to go crazy,

unless I have real, hard facts

of actually why he was, you know...

this is what our lawyers are
trying to do, too,

through legal channels, to find
out why was this man arrested,

why was he interrogated, why
wasn't he allowed to communicate

with his family, and how, and
why was his death,

you know, so irresponsibly,
you know, not prevented?

♪

ERDBRINK: So, the funeral was
today.

And, um, yeah, I mean, it was dramatic.

First of all, it was pouring with rain.

We were on top of this really
cold mountain outside of Tehran.

There were around 100 people.

Now, Kavous Emami was a really
popular guy in the city,

but many people had been afraid
to come to the funeral.

And actually at the funeral,

there were people who clearly
hadn't come

to pay their last respects, but
to keep an eye on us...

men, you know, on cell phones talking,

taking pictures of people.

And at the point when they,
when they brought in the body,

Maryam, Kavous's wife, just
let out this primal scream.

And she started, like, yelling,
like, she said,

"Why didn't I talk to the press
earlier?

"Why didn't I throw a racket?

Why did I keep silent
and let this happen?"

And at that point,
everybody just started crying.

I mean, it was intense.

It was quite something.

♪

From the moment the news came
out about Raam's father

dying in prison, something in
his environment changed.

Everybody was suddenly frightened.

Even after these events, so
many people don't even answer

our phone calls or come to visit
us, or...

Even my own dad's university
hasn't even called us to send,

you know, their regards or condolences.

ERDBRINK: And he worked there
for how many years?

I think 27 years.

ERDBRINK: And they didn't
even call?

They haven't even called.

ERDBRINK: Why do you think
people are so afraid?

In this country especially,
if you live with fear,

you're done.

You're done.

They'll, they can smell that
on you like a dog.

And they'll take control of
every single aspect

of your life.

And I just refuse, not just
myself, my brother, my mother...

My mother has been so brave
during this whole ordeal.

Um... we just refuse to give in
to that fear.

It's a crazy story, man, though.

It's just, like, it's something...

(EXHALES)

♪

ERDBRINK: The modern world
invading the country

is a serious threat to elements
of the leadership.

Sometimes, normal people fall
victim to those fears.

In this case, it was Raam's father.

And although I've seen this
happen before,

I found it very difficult to get
his story out of my mind

that evening.

The next morning, I pulled open
the curtains,

and what did I see?

Nothing.

Well, almost nothing.

I've suddenly had my fill of
Tehran's polluted air.

Fortunately, there's a quick way
to escape from it.

♪

To lift my spirits, I catch
a train to the Caspian Sea.

This train ride is one of the
most beautiful

train rides in the world.

It's winter now, so the trees are bare.

But in spring and summer,
it will be intensely green.

Look at the truck crashed over there.

It just came down the mountain.

I'm on my way to an old friend,
Isa Saharkhiz,

a seasoned journalist who loves
his country,

but refuses to keep his mouth shut

when he sees political wrongdoing.

♪

As a result of his critical articles,

it seems he's almost spent more
time in prison than out.

(SAHARKHIZ SPEAKING):

(CAR DOOR CLOSES)

(ERDBRINK AND SAHARKHIZ
SPEAKING):

(SAHARKHIZ AND ERDBRINK
SPEAKING):

(ERDBRINK AND SAHARKHIZ
SPEAKING):

ERDBRINK: I last interviewed
Isa four years ago.

He was just released from prison.

But he always had a blue bag
packed and ready in his hallway.

Just in case they came for him again.

ERDBRINK:

ERDBRINK: That was four years
ago.

Not long after that conversation,

Isa was incarcerated again.

This time, the price was high:

he was also banned from writing
for two years.

His health is poor, his wife
left him, and he moved here,

a village near the Caspian Sea.

(ERDBRINK SPEAKING):

(ERDBRINK SPEAKING):

(CONTINUING TO CALL GEESE)

ERDBRINK: Still, it must be
strange for Isa.

Being an activist and continuing
until you wind up in prison

seems to have fallen out of fashion.

(SAHARKHIZ SPEAKING):

(ERDBRINK SPEAKING):

(ERDBRINK AND SAHARKHIZ
SPEAKING):

ERDBRINK: Isa is finding it
very difficult

to keep his publication ban.

He's itching to get back to work.

But when he tries to write, his
children react furiously.

(GEESE HONKING) ♪

ERDBRINK: It's a good
question:

Is the new generation still
prepared to pay the price

for a truly free country without
repression and tyranny?

Or have they been lulled to
sleep behind their cappuccinos?

And do they mostly celebrate the
freedom they have on Instagram?

Is this contentment only
reserved for people

who can afford cappuccinos?

The answers to all these
questions came unexpectedly

just when I returned from
a vacation outside of Iran.

Yes, yes.

We get snow here in Iran, too.

But whenever it falls,
it's always a surprise.

The city descends into chaos.

Schools are closed.

People make snowmen,
just like they do in the West.

Well, that element of surprise
that comes with snow

is also very present in
Iran's political situation.

Because you always know that,
at some point,

there will be unrest,
you just don't know when.

Well, for me, that surprise came

when I was on the other side
of the world, in Japan,

on a skiing trip,
and I started receiving

all these videos on my phone...

videos of big, nationwide
protests in Iran.

And these videos,
they were quite impressive.

In over 80 cities, Iranians have
taken to the streets,

voicing their frustrations.

They were even angry with
Supreme Leader Khamenei,

who was called a dictator
by some of the protesters.

(CHANTING)

Also, President Rouhani took some heat.

(CHANTING)

Soon after that, Instagram was
blocked by the government.

I meet with my friend and
"L.A. Times" correspondent Ramin

for our weekly chat.

He couldn't be more sure: the
majority of the protesters

are people who find it hard
to make ends meet.

The promise of the nuclear deal

was that things would get better
for them.

But they haven't.

These people are challenging
the day-to-day life,

the daily routine.

They don't have decent job.

They don't have decent, I mean,
payment... they're underpaid,

they are educated,
sometimes uneducated,

but they cannot achieve what they want.

ERDBRINK: But they are
saying, "Change this!"

Why can't the government change this?

Because the government has
been failing all the time.

I mean, this government cannot address

these basic needs of the people.

They cannot, government cannot
provide enough jobs.

The private sector is unable
to do anything for them.

There is no foreign investment,
there is no domestic investment.

So there's no job.

ERDBRINK: The security forces
employed strong-arm tactics.

25 people were killed.

Around 4,000 protesters were arrested.

♪

But it was surprising that
Tehran was relatively quiet.

The regulars at the cappuccino cafés

didn't join the other protesters.

Because the middle classes didn't join,

the protests soon fizzled out.

Why the middle class
isn't joining them?

I mean, they are dissatisfied
about everything,

constantly complaining and saying,

"This is wrong, that is wrong,"
and they have points.

It's a matter of price.

The middle class wants to
achieve the goals

just by snapping the finger.

What is that?

Just, "We participate in the
election, we vote on Fridays",

"and then everything will be promising,

"as has been promised to us

in the campaigns of the elections."

ERDBRINK: But they don't want
to take to the streets for this.

No.

ERDBRINK: But they did in
2009.

They did in 2009...

ERDBRINK: When they went
by the millions,

and they protested the
re-election of Ahmadinejad.

Yeah, because that time, that time,

victory seemed very achievable,
very near.

The middle class is ready to
take a risk

when victory seems guaranteed.

It doesn't seem now.

ERDBRINK: Do you think these
protests

will not lead to anything?

It will accumulate
frustrations and will re-emerge,

like many previous ones,

in different forms under
different pretexts.

♪

ERDBRINK: When Rouhani was
re-elected last year,

people were cheering in the street.

But now change is coming much
too slowly

for a generation spoiled
by the internet.

At the same time, they fear
the new sanctions

will only strengthen the hardliners

and make change even more difficult.

There is just, like, a
general, sort of, resentment,

disappointment that now has
seeped through all

of society on all different levels.

People are, like,
"Oh, what happened, you know,

"after the deal?

You know, nothing got better."

And I think obviously the
hardliners want that,

because the more chaos, the situation,

the more they can consolidate
their power.

Like, President Rouhani, for example,

had such a huge swath
of the population behind him.

You know, the biggest statement
Rouhani could make,

that he's powerless in this government,

is to just resign.

And it's pretty evident to a lot
of people

that the government is powerless,

but it would make such
a bigger statement

if they themselves came out, you know,

and just say it, you know?

Just say, "You know what?"

We can't, we can't help you,
because our hands are tied."

♪

ERDBRINK: So maybe President
Rouhani couldn't bring

the changes his voters wanted,

even though he'd given them an
Instagram revolution

and access to a wildly faster internet.

But, the internet has a downside,

and that downside is
that it gives information

that Iran's leaders don't want.

So, when there are protests in
this country,

the internet gets cut...
no more internet.

That doesn't mean, however, that
Iranians are isolated.

Because the outside world has
penetrated this country

a long time ago.

For instance, in the shape
of satellite television...

there are over 150 channels
that transmit in Persian

straight into this country.

And...

This is one of the two channels

that Ali says is very popular
here in Iran.

It's called Manoto,
and it operates from London.

Now, as you can see,
this is a show about cooking.

A guy with tattoos is presenting it.

It's much more "now" than
Iranian state TV,

that has, like, "The solution
of mathematical problems"

in two hours" or "A roundtable
discussion between clerics."

If you are a young Iranian,

naturally you're more attracted
to this kind of TV,

but just like Iranian state television,

Manoto and the other channels

have their own political agendas.

Manoto, for instance, shows
political documentaries

about the time of the shah in
beautiful Technicolour colours.

They show how the shah was
receiving President Carter

back home, or they show
how great life was,

according to them,
before the revolution.

Now, if you are a young person
who has never experienced

that time, then naturally
you look outside,

you see the smoke,
you see the restrictions,

and you think,

"Hmm, that time was much better

than the era that I'm living in."

So propaganda is on all sides:
on state television, yeah,

but also on the Persian channels
operating from abroad.

As a journalist, I try to watch
Iranian state television,

at least to understand
the frame of mind

of the people behind it.

Like last night, when they tried
to prove

that Kavous and his
environmentalist colleagues

were all spying for the West.

ERDBRINK: They used footage
from the family's confiscated

home videos.

Cameras placed to film wildlife
are called high-tech spying

equipment, aimed at monitoring
Iranian missile movements.

Camping trips with the family
allegedly took place

near secret nuclear installations.

(TV HOST SPEAKING):

(MAN SPEAKING):

ERDBRINK: It turns out that
security officials

have taken the deed to the family home.

Now they have lost everything.

It's the last straw.

The two sons and mother decide
to leave the country.

This is how it ends.

Exactly one month after their
father died in his cell,

both sons and their mom leave Iran.

They head to Canada.

I wait for them in Frankfurt,
where they change flights.

I wonder if the family has succeeded

in getting out of Iran.

What happened?

They didn't let our mom out.

She couldn't leave the country.

We were just standing at the
last security control,

and then someone walked out and
started calling her name...

Moments before the flight.

ERDBRINK: Like a guy in an
official suit, or... just...

Like a plainclothes suit guy.
ERDBRINK: A plainclothes guy?

Yeah, and he basically was
calling out my mom's name,

and we immediately knew that
something was wrong,

as soon as we heard her last name.

And, um...
ERDBRINK: What did she say?

And it was really close to the flight.

We both wish they had just told
us sooner.

We might have called someone.

It was literally, like,
20 minutes before,

ten minutes before the flight.

ERDBRINK: So the last, last
moments from before boarding.

The last moment, yeah.

ERDBRINK: And what did your,
what did your mom say?

I mean, the dogs were already on
the plane?

You guys were allowed to go? Yes.

They said, "The two sons can go",

but Maryam has to stay back."

And they said, "You just have, like,

literally two minutes
to make a decision."

I mean, "Do you want to stay or
do you want to go?"

You have to decide now."

And our mom forced us to,
like, just get on the plane.

"I want you out of this country."

I mean, that's like... she is so
selfless and so full of love,

like, she just wanted us to be
out of here,

and just safe and in one piece.

And we luckily had some friends
at the airport with us,

you know, who were with our mom,

so we didn't just leave her on her own.

There was, like,
ten, 12 people with her,

but they took her Iranian passport away

and said that she can't leave
the country now.

ERDBRINK:
So you think you guys...

I mean, your mom is there,
you think maybe you'll go back

if they don't allow her to come out?

I just talked to my mom,

and she told me,
"Don't ever come back."

She said, "No matter what happens."

Even if I were to die..."

(CRYING)

Like, she's, like,
"Just don't come back."

I'm going to make sure that
she comes out safe and sound.

(ERDBRINK SIGHS)

I mean, how much can one
family go through

in just a couple of weeks, you know?

I mean, they arrest with no evidence...

my dad died in prison
with no explanation;

the case, according to them, is closed,

and the legal channels
are very limited...

And they continue to smear our family.

And they continue to smear our family,

to bother our family,
to pressure our family,

to threaten our family.

I mean, we're tired of it.

ERDBRINK: And for what?
For what?

I mean, aren't we living in a...
Where are we living?

I mean, this is... this is not
the Iran we imagined.

This is not the Iran we envisioned.

This is not the Iran my father
wanted to be a part of.

(SNIFFS)

♪

ERDBRINK: Okay.

So you guys are...

It's B, so...

Now we're going to say...

Thank you so much, man.

(ERDBRINK TALKING SOFTLY)

Hopefully we'll see you in one piece.

(ERDBRINK LAUGHS)

♪

ERDBRINK: A few weeks later,
an extraordinary reversal.

President Rouhani's minister of
intelligence declares

that there were no grounds for
the accusation of espionage

against their father.

But it didn't change anything.

Kavous is dead, and his wife is
still not allowed

to leave the country.

♪

It's always the same in Iran.

Life here is unpredictable.

You get tossed back and forth
between happiness and sadness.

So, along with all the other Iranians,

I too feel moments of doubt.

But then, walking in winding alleys,

I stumble across a man
with a plastic bag.

He suddenly turns around,
looks at me, and smiles.

He thinks I'm a stranger here
who doesn't speak his language.

And so he sings me a song.

(SINGING)

Goodbye, my friend, goodbye.

ERDBRINK: And just as soon as
he appeared,

he disappears again.

So, even after 17 years,

Iranians never fail to surprise me.

♪

I wanted to show you an Iran
different from the impression

most Americans have from
following the TV news.

There is so much more to it
than this...

ERDBRINK: So I have mainly
stuck to those people

I already knew.

People who trusted me and who,
one by one,

are willing to share their
stories and thoughts

in front of the camera.

All honest and open people,
brave without exception,

and always up for a good laugh.

(LAUGHING)

ERDBRINK: Thanks to those
people and, of course,

Newsha and her family,
I feel at home here,

in spite of everything.

(ERDBRINK SPEAKING):

So there is one thing I know
for sure:

I'm not leaving anytime soon.

I'm not done telling stories about Iran

and the Iranian people.

Not yet.

♪

Got to pbs.org/Frontline

for more of "Frontline's"
reporting on Iran

and its neighbours,
the three-hour series

"Bitter Rivals"
about the dangerous rivalry

between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

They started this sectarian
mess, not us.

Nonsense, the Iranians are the ones

who are exporting terrorism.

Then visit our films page

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Connect to the "Frontline"
community on Facebook,

Twitter, and pbs.org/Frontline.

Here comes the federal government

saying that they own the land
and everything on it is theirs,

but my dad said hell no.

How one family's fight
against the government...

...the armed standoff in Bunkerville.

This became sort of this rallying cry,

for anti-government extremists
everywhere.

...sparked a movement

...anti-government patriot groups...

...Ammon Bundy is in federal
custody now.

And what it means. Free the patriots!

The Bundys defied three court
orders, and the rule of law.

Next time on "Frontline"...

♪

For more on this and other
"Frontline" programs,

visit our website at pbs.org/Frontline.

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♪