Iran - Andrew Burke [67]
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ORIENTATION
Tehran is so vast and so congested that getting lost here is inevitable. Thankfully, most of the streets you’re likely to visit have signs in English, though there are still some areas without signs in any language.
As you move through the city the huge social and economic gaps between northern and southern Tehran are plain to see. The south is older, cheaper, more congested and generally less appealing. However, it has almost all the budget hotels, especially around Imam Khomeini Sq, which also hosts the main station on the growing Tehran Metro and has a local bus terminal nearby. The north is more inviting, more expensive, has cleaner air and a range of better hotels and more exotic restaurants.
The main street and top shopping strip is Valiasr Ave, which runs from Rah-Ahan Sq and the train station in poorer southern Tehran all the way to Tajrish Sq in the foothills of the Alborz Mountains in the north – a distance of more than 20km. It’s a great street to find when you’re lost. One of the main east–west thoroughfares is Azadi Ave, which starts at the Azadi Tower, near the Mehrabad International Airport, and becomes Enqelab Ave east of Enqelab Sq.
It’s handy to remember that the Alborz Mountains are known locally as the North Star of Tehran for a reason – yes, they’re in the north. And as the whole city slopes down from these mountains, if you’re walking uphill that usually means you’re going north.
If you plan to use public transport – or any transport – it helps to learn the names and locations of the main squares as soon as you can; Getting Around for transport options.
Tehran has two international airports Click here: the older Mehrabad airport on the western edge of the city near Azadi Sq; and the new Imam Khomeini International Airport 35km south of the city. If you’re coming or going by bus, you’ll need to use one of four bus terminals Click here. The western terminal, adjacent to Azadi Sq, and the southern terminal, near the train station, are the largest. The central (Arzhantin) terminal in the city centre and the eastern terminal have fewer services and serve fewer destinations. All are connected to the rest of Tehran by bus, taxi, shuttle taxi and, increasingly, Metro.
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A REVOLUTION IN STREET NAMES
Across Iran you’ll find streets named after the same few martyrs of the revolution, historical figures and revolutionary buzzwords. In many places the government has conveniently painted a huge mural or erected a mosaic likeness of the person beside the street that bears his (it’s almost always a man) name. So who are these dead men?
Ayatollah Beheshti Founded the Islamic Republic Party (IRP) in 1979. He took part in the negotiations over the US embassy hostages but was killed a year later by a bomb planted in IRP headquarters by the Mojahedin Khalq Organisation (MKO).
Ayatollah Taleqani A much-admired cleric who was repeatedly exiled and later tortured by the last shah. He led the first Friday prayers after the revolution but died soon afterwards.
Amir Kabir This was the nickname of Mirza Taghi Khan, a reformist prime minister (1848–1851) who was put to death at the command of Nasser al-Din Shah in Fin Gardens near Kashan.
Dr Ali Shariati Returned to Iran from France in 1964 with a doctorate in sociology from the Sorbonne. He combined radical political thought with socially conscious traditionalism and became an inspiration to many women. Barred from teaching, he went to England in 1977, but was found dead in his apartment three weeks later – apparently a victim of the shah’s secret police.
Ayatollah Morteza Motahhari Was a close confidant of Ayatollah Khomeini who railed against communism and the effect it would have on Islam. He became president of the Constitutional Council after the revolution, but was assassinated