____________________________________________ 8 IICC Perspectives Some Shi’ite jurists have ruled that is permissible only in cases of personal danger, however, ketman has become routine in both personal and national daily life. Sighe means “marriage for an hour.” It is conducted in the presence of a mullah and allows the couple to “sin” with permission and authority. In its expanded form, it characterizes the Iranians’ ability to whitewash the forbidden, to override, or more accurately, to circumvent prohibitions, and to appear fully righteous in their own eyes and in the eyes of the religion in whose name they act and by whose light they live their lives. That was how Khamenei could declare on April 18, 2010, “We consider the use of weapons of mass destruction forbidden by religion and see their prevention as the duty of all humanity.” He, of course, was not referring to the production of such weapons, which the Iranian Republic pursues with great zeal. If wine is forbidden, then they drink vodka or whiskey, neither of which is mentioned in the Qur'an as forbidden, for obvious reasons. Wearing a chador often conceals jeans or a mini skirt. An Iranian who tells a lie is simply saying what he believes is the right thing to say at that moment, and therefore he feels no remorse. Life operates like the bazaar, where baleh, “good, yes,” is a magic word with a thousand meanings and interpretations, all depending on the intonation with which it is spoken. Even when they are forced to explicitly say “no,” they will add baleh because it is impolite to say “no.” The more refined will simply say baleh when they mean “no.”Iranians waffle all the time, and a good Iranian will never answer directly, even if there is no reason not to. He will first try to guess the other person’s expectations and what he would like to hear, and will formulate his answers accordingly. The starting assumption is that the other side is not telling the truth and it must be uncovered before answering. The Iranian is extremely suspicious, and the saying “you cannot trust your eyes” illustrates his suspicion. In his speech on November 6, 2009, Isfahan in all its glory, 1970 (Courtesy of the painter Itzik Barzilai)
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