A long time ago in Tehran

• A long time ago in Tehran

Introducing Iran's photos taken at the time when the skirts were short, energetic dancing, and the United States were not enemy number 1.

When people in the West today hear the word "Iran", they come to mind veiled women, burning American flags and an angry mob shouting nationalist slogans. But those who have preserved the memories of Tehran, 1960s-70s, painted a completely different picture of yourself. Before the Islamic revolution in 1979, the capital of Iran was one of the most culturally advanced in the world. The newspaper The New York Times wrote: "Before the revolution, Iran was the most cultural and multi-ethnic country in the region. There's art developed rapidly, literature, film and television industry. " Education could receive both men and women, and to rest the residents went to the ski resorts in the mountains of Alborz. Kaveh Farrokh is now live in Canada, but remembers held in Iran youth, when it was possible to watch American films in movie theaters and upscale roam the airport, is crammed with cutting-edge technology of the time.

However, life was not sweet for all Iranians. Social and economic inequalities created by the government of the Shah of Iran, led to the poverty of some and the incredible wealth of others. Such contrasts and led to the fall of the government of the Shah and the Islamic Revolution of 1979, the consequences of which still define the country's course.

Aerial view of Vali-Asr Square in 1971

Students in Tehran University Park in 1971. Women were first admitted to the university study in 1934, long before the same thing happened in the United States. After the revolution, a woman can still get an education, but now they have to be only in certain areas. About mini-skirts, no one even talks. But, even though this openness, in 1977 only 35% of women were educated in Tehran.

The gates at Tehran University in 1971. After the revolution, the university courtyard is used for mass prayers on Fridays.

University students in 1970. Although religious studies and was a popular subject, lectures on mathematics, astronomy, medicine and literature are also visited by a large number of students. Today in Tehran university has about 35,000 full-time students and part-time modes of study.

medical students. Now the university is listed library of 17,000 volumes of manuscripts in Persian, Arabic and Turkish.

The operating hospital in Tehran in 1971. By the end of the reign of the Shah, Iran's 34 million inhabitants lechilo all 15,000 doctors, which caused huge problems with the medicine, especially outside of major centers like Tehran.

Vali-Asr Street, formerly known as Pahlavi street in honor of the ruling dynasty in 1960. This street, surrounded by trees, is one of the busiest in Tehran.

Hilton Hotel in Tehran, 1961. Now it is called Esteghlal International Hotel. Farrokh says that in 60 years this was the place to come for a walk with my friends, but when he was in the city in 2001, he discovered that the building is surrounded by a variety of industrial buildings.

Photo streets of Istanbul in 1965. Trendy American cars were not uncommon on the streets of Tehran. Visit the capital of Iran at the time was considered as prestigious as a trip to New York or Paris.

Tower memory of the kings in Tehran (in 1979 was renamed the Freedom Tower, or Tower of Azadi) during construction in 1966. Later, a monument has become firmly associated with the city, and Farrokh calls it "the Eiffel Tower in Tehran."

Miss Iran 1967 Shahla Vahabzhadi. Beauty contest held at the Hilton Hotel, where contestants battled for the title of most beautiful girl of the country.

Shemshak ski resort in 1971.

Ski Resort Abali in 1966.

The cap of Pepsi-Cola from Iran of the 1970s. Farrokh says tegerantsy always considered his Pepsi tastes better than the American original.

The Iranian rock-jazz band called Black Cats (the Black Cats).

Cinema Golden City Cinema in 1971. The poster can be seen the name "Arabesque" - a movie with Gregory Peck and Sophia Loren.

Twist in Tehran? Cream Tehran society took off shoes and dancing to rock and roll in the early '60s.

The mother and son in the children's department store in Tehran in 1971. The department Kourosh, except chic clothing for men and women, on the top floor also has a luxury restaurant.

Iranian radio station in the early '70s. State broadcasting company "National Radio and Television of Iran" was opened in 1971 Rezo Gotbi, a close relative of the former Queen of Iran. Gotbi now lives in the United States.