Jennifer Green

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Mar 12 · 8 min read

 

Special thanks to Marzieh M., who contributed the majority of examples of Iranians doing good deeds from her personal network, Telegram groups, and from reports on television. I couldn’t have written this story without you!

Wehave been in Iran for almost a full year now, much longer than we had originally intended for this trip. We came here at the end of April 2019, and have stayed as my husband has had family business to conclude after his late father’s death. As the work started to wrap up, we began investigating a return, to deal with our long-neglected home and belongings before returning to Iran later in 2020. However, just as we bought our return tickets, everything changed, and drastically.

Two sets of tickets back to the USA have been cancelled since February; the first set were cancelled just a couple days post-purchase, after international discovery that the fatal Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 was actually shot down by Iran; subsequently, most major airlines cancelled their flights to and from Iran til March 28. The second set were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic ravaging the country and rest of the world.

We soon realized that nowhere was safe from the spread of coronavirus.

At first, I felt very insecure after having the flights cancelled twice, and wondering when, if ever, we would make it back. Then I started worrying about what might happen here in Iran. But after much research about the situation, we soon realized that nowhere was safe from the spread of coronavirus. I was worried about staying in a large city that is purely dependent on agriculture from other areas — questions of supply chain shortages and failures concerned me, as well as the potential for civil unrest. After all, it has been an extremely hard 2019 and 2020 for Iranians.

However, after reading Western news and media; seeing the panic buying and fight break out over toilet paper; hearing from friends in California that despite (at the time) no coronavirus cases in the state, all the disinfectants, N-95 masks, and pasta were suddenly gone from the stores, I‘ve wondered if perhaps it is not actually better to be staying here in Iran.

These days, supermarkets, farmer’s markets, and other shops in Tehran are at times crowded, full of people waiting in line with larger than usual amounts of food to buy and cook while under self-quarantine. But so far, I haven’t seen any shoving, grabbing, fighting, or hoarding. The shelves are stocked. There haven’t been any shortages that I have noticed yet — I can still find everything I need at both the farmer’s markets and the hypermarkets.

Today (March 14), following yesterday’s announcement that inter-city travel will be banned (save for food being transported), the lines were very long and the carts very full at my local hypermarket. This is likely due to the announcement and fear of a drop in supply, and also possibly in response to a rumor that stricter restrictions will be in effect soon, although we don’t know exactly what they will be. All this being said, though, there is still plenty of food on the shelves, including high-demand items like meat, milk, pasta, and bread, and despite the crowd, people were still being decent with one another.

Some cultural elements have brought up significant differences for comparison. Toilet paper is not as big a need here as elsewhere; people wash their bodies with water after using the restroom and might use toilet paper just to dry off, so no worries on that front. Nobody is doing the customary three kisses on the cheeks anymore; some have adopted the Wuhan Shake, or foot bump, as seen in Chinese media. Likely the upcoming Nowruz, or Persian New Year, is going to be very different than in years past, as it is customary to visit all your living relatives and host them as well. The road to the north has been blocked, banning Tehrani travelers from potentially spreading the virus to other, more susceptible and less-prepared communities, like what has happened in Rasht (no beds at the local hospital and plenty of patients still needing care).

There has been some ugly behavior too, here, though. Within the first week, masks had largely disappeared in Tehran and were being sold for much higher prices by opportunistic hawkers. Lemons, ginger, and garlic were very hard to find at the regular farmer’s markets — other vendors bought up the supply and have been selling them at 2–3 times the regular price, knowing these would be in high demand. Prices for ethyl alcohol are still extremely expensive.

But there have also been a lot of beautiful things going on, slightly below the surface. Of course, most people have heard about the enormous infection rate, high death rate, the inadequacy of the Iranian medical system to deal with this pandemic, the effect of sanctions on medical supplies, governmental mismanagement, and a lot of other bad news. You can read more of that elsewhere. There are some good stories not being reported on that you should know about, like:

• the anonymous ATM machine disinfectors. People have been photographed disinfecting ATMs and also providing homemade tools to limit spread of the virus through touch, even though that isn’t their job….
• the people leaving unused plastic gloves on public garbage bins for rummagers and garbage and recycling collectors (see below)….

• the voluntary translation of coronavirus instructions by a Chinese alumna of the University of Tehran, and another group of Chinese people and Iranian language students studying Chinese who are working hard to translate more information about the virus and its prevention from Chinese into Farsi….
• the secret angels giving masks to others, at no charge, just because they care (we know of them because people are posting on Telegram about the kind acts that they have received)….

• the people of Kakhk, Razavi Khorasan, a tiny agricultural town near the Afghanistan border, who have delivered gloves, masks (which they made in town), and ethyl alcohol to each home in town and have gone so far to make sure people visiting are also given supplies….
• people like our friend, a pharmacist who doesn’t jack up his prices on ethyl alcohol or iodine, even though the majority of others have done that (of course he is sold out now)….

There is an underlying belief here that if you want to be safe from the coronavirus, you must protect those near you too. How can you be safe if your neighbors get infected?

• the landlords waiving two months of shop rent for their tenants….
• microbiology specialists who are volunteering to work on coronavirus tests….
• using humor to communicate important messages about hygiene, like Danial Kheirikhah, an Iranian actor in his Instagram video (below)….

• a group of people gathering volunteers to make masks and full body protective gear for health care workers….
• a shoe repair shop making masks and distributing them (although limited in number)….
• a campaign to help the people who have been destroyed by the economic crash, or as seen below, regular people donating for flood victims in the Azerbaijan province of Iran, despite the pressure of coronavirus now….

• the government giving everyone with existing home internet accounts 100 GB of free ADSL internet for two weeks so that people can stay at home and work or not be tempted to go outside (thank you, I have benefited from this!)….
• the dancing medical staff and singers in the hospitals trying to keep everyone’s morale up (below)….

• the Iranian Children National Library has made 23,000 children’s books available to read for free online for library members, as the National Library is currently closed….
• the government’s extension of license validity, such as for the operation of wells….
• free sweets from a Gorgan bakery for nearby hospitals’ (5th Azar and Sayad Shirazi) doctors and nurses, saying “thank you, warriors”….

• online messages encouraging people to continue feeding the urban animals that roam the parks….
• and so many people taking care of their neighbors and coworkers, hunting through their network for someone who may have disinfectant or medicine by any chance.

There is an underlying belief here that if you want to be safe from the coronavirus, you must protect those near you too. How can you be safe if your neighbors get infected?

Ultimately, we are all in this together, whether we want to be or not.

Ihear these stories and think about how different they are from other places in the world at the moment. I am so saddened to hear each story of chaos and selfishness, even violence, resulting from fear. I just wish that more people could learn from the Iranians, who are suffering immensely and have little or inadequate medical resources to work with, yet they still share what they do have and take care of those around them.

Perhaps if we all stop for a second and consider these examples, we might make it through this a little better, with friends at our side, and not fearfully cutting out those around us, just for a false sense of security. Ultimately, we are all in this together, whether we want to be or not. The coronavirus doesn’t distinguish between rich or poor, race or creed, or geography now. We all rely on each other in this modern system we have built; to think that we can escape any effects is short-sighted. By taking care of one another, we may be able to better weather this storm.

So in this regard, I am more relaxed here in Iran than if we were back in the States right now. I don’t have to face a terrifying virus AND terrifying behavior of those around me all at the same time. I hope that others can learn from Iranian examples, and try out a little generosity and consideration for those around them, especially for those who don’t have the choice to self-quarantine, take leave of work, or who are more susceptible, like our elderly and immunocompromised community members.

It’s possible that working together is our best bet for survival and resilience.