During his last visit to Tehran in 2012, Aryan Diba enjoyed the sweeping hospitality of the city, but was annoyed when he and a group of friends were disrupted by local authorities while talking to a group of women at a local fast food joint.
“The government doesn’t let people breathe,” he said about the country where his parents are from.
But the people themselves? “Iranian culture is very different behind closed doors,” he said. It’s full of warmth, humility, hospitality and respect — a form of social etiquette that is encapsulated in a concept known as taarof…