Posted on 10/25/2007 5:57:42 PM PDT by nuconvert
Iran Clamps Down on Coffee Shops
October 25, 2007
The Guardian
Robert Tait in Tehran
They have become a haven for modern bookworms everywhere - a place to combine a love of the written word with the pleasures of cafe society. But now the trend of opening coffee shops inside bookstores has fallen foul of the authorities amid a general clampdown on social and intellectual freedoms.
Four bookshops in Tehran this week closed their coffee shops after receiving a 72-hour ultimatum from Amaken-e Omoomi, a state body governing the retail trade. The order has led to the closure of the cafe in one of the city's best-known bookshops, Nashr-e Sales, which has hosted reading sessions by writers, including the Nobel prize-winning Turkish author, Orhan Pamuk, and become a popular meeting point for literary types.
Amaken justified the closures by declaring that the coffee shops constituted an illegal "mixing of trades". However, critics suspect the move is aimed at restricting the gathering of intellectuals and educated young people.
The reformist newspaper, Etemad-e Melli, pointed out that Ahl-e Ghalam, a bookstore linked to the culture and Islamic guidance ministry, had been allowed to keep its cafe. "When we pointed this out to the authorities, their argument was that just because other people make a mistake doesn't mean you have to repeat it,"
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
No faith is so afraid to be challenged as Islam. This is truly Satan’s fear of exposure to light.
From Great Moments in Coffee:
One of the first actual appearances of coffee in Europe during the reign of Pope Clement VIII. The brew was then known to be the drink of choice of Moslems. This immediately alarmed the Vatican who wanted to outlaw the brew as an invention of Satan. The pope,however, had the desire to know learn more about the beverage and fell immediately in love with its aroma. Tempted, he tried a cupful and decided that it was "too good to leave to the infidels," and instead of banning it, he "baptized" it as "a truly Christian beverage."
Cheers!
their coffee shops be makin' no mo' money...
DON’T DECAFFEINATE ME, BRO!
In the words of the Soup Nazi...
No coffee for you!
Revolutions have been fought over caffiene supplies.
;~ p
Just before the Revolution in France, they tried to shut down all the coffee shops...
I’ve known many Iranians when I was at the University and in my work career. Every single one was a nice person, personable, and smart. Not a single one was a fundamentalist nutbag Muslim. All but one returned to their home land although they hated their government.
Now either they were faking their personalities, or there are middle aged Iranians in Iran that are not happy with their government.
Despots only last as long as the people haven’t recognized their power to free themselves.
Give me Barnes and Noble and Borders, give me Starbucks and Seattle’s Best, or give me death.
OMG Monk how do you do that you should have Islamic rage boy drinking double caffineocatied
Wow...college students wouldn’t survive in Iran! LOL
I actually don’t like coffee, but what is up with all the closures? Probably because a lot of Iranian college students meet there and probably speak against the current regime. So, just as in the Soviet Union, the government clamps down to ban speaking out against the state.
LOL!
Never take America’s freedom for granted. Fight for it every day.
Crackdowns :: USSOF Budgets?
Now it’s personal.
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