Children's stories from Iran Syria Iraq Ukraine
…»No one will introduce me to the sun,
No one will take me to the sparrows' party.
Keep the flight in mind,
The bird may die.«
— Forugh Farrokhzad
Iran has been subjected to sanctions by the United States, the European Union and the UN Security Council for the last 10 years, due to its nuclear program. These sanctions have particularly affected the middle and lower classes of the Iranian society. Despite of this Iranians on a whole meet foreign visitors from Western Europe with great hospitality, openness and curiosity.
Since the mass protest (Green Movement) in summer 2009 following the presidential elections, the regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran is faced with a crisis of legitimacy. The mass protests, demanding greater social participation, freedom of expression and the end to electoral fraud were immediately and brutally suppressed by the volunteer batallion (Basiji).
A lack of career opportunities due to political mismanagement, nepotism and corruption further reinforce the frustration and disappointment felt by the predominantly young population of Iran — with youth unemployment running at about 25 percent in 2015.
With the signing of the nuclear agreement in the summer of 2015 and the expected end of the economic and financial sanctions in early 2016, there has been a renewed interest by international investors, including from Western countries to economically engage with Iran.
However Reporter without Borders still lists Iran on position 173 out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom index 2015.
In October 2015 I travelled to Tehran where I interviewed and photographed a number of children.
I express my thanks to Atefeh and everyone in Iran who supported me with this work.
