You have lots of questions about Iran, we know! One of which—maybe the third—is likely to be, “Is it safe to visit Iran?”. If you ask us, we’d say yes. If you ask your Home Office, they’d say no. Sure, it’s complicated, and if you’re reading this any time between 1979 and 2029, it’s even more complicated.

Disclaimer about whether it’s safe to visit Iran: We do not, and will never, advocate any travel that contravenes the travel advice provided by your nation’s Home Office. Information about travelling to Iran is constantly changing, so always consult with the relevant authorities before making any plans. Travelling to and inside Iran can be risky, possibly more riskier than visiting London. Don’t say you weren’t warned.

• How safe is it to travel to Iran?
• Who is Micheal of The Red Line podcast?
• Where is the Island of Qeshm?
• What is Stabberstan?
• What language do they speak in Australia? (spoiler, it’s not kangaroo)
• Is George an Iranian name?
• What does it take to get you jailed in Iran?
• What should I do when the Iranian police want to delete photos from my SD card?
• Who is TikTok for? (spoiler, it’s commie kids)
• Are people and government the same?
• Are politics and religion the same? (they are in Iran)
• Is it safe to travel as a tourist in Iran?

You can find Daisy on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/d_lorenzi/

And Michael’s podcast can be found here: https://twitter.com/TheRedLinePod

And you can read more here!

Music credit: “Mahvash, Parivash”, Jalal Hemmati | “Ask An Iranian Outro”, The Devildog

Image credit: European tourist begging for help in a fictional traditional Iranian setting, made using images generated with MidJourney and edited specifically for Ask An Iranian, 2023.

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We put it out to our Iranian audience. We asked them if they prefer their men cut, i.e. circumcised. They mostly preferred it. We also asked them if they think being cut is a good idea. They mostly thought it was a good idea. Lastly, we asked them if they would have their next male child cut. They were kinda 50/50 on this. Where did the enthusiasm for circumcision in Iran go?!

The practice of circumcision goes way back — like 15,000 years back. Yes, apparently Egyptians are depicted as performing circumcision before Judaism and Islam adopted it into their rituals. Fast forward to the modern day and we now have health reasons to help perpetuate this practice. In fact, health was the main reason given to us by our audience for why they think it's a good idea. Another top listed reason was beatification.

• Do Iranians circumcise their boys?
• Are women circumcised in Iran?
• Does female genital mutilation (FGM) happen in Iran
• Why do Iranians think circumcision is a good idea?
• Where did the practice of circumcision come from?
• Why do Muslims circumcise their boys?
• How did one of the Ask An Iranian host's circumcision in Iran go?
• Is circumcision common in Iran?

Read more here!

Music credit: “Mahvash, Parivash”, Jalal Hemmati | “Ask An Iranian Outro”, The Devildog

Image credit: image of a circumcised banana representing a golden penis, or "doodool tala" as Iranians say. All of the Ask An Iranian podcast covers are available as NFTs here.

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You might have uncles, and you might have aunties. Iranians, however, have uncles, and they have uncles, and they have non-uncle uncles. This is because the titles given, differ, depending on the relation. Although this is not unique to Iran, there are many uniquely Iranian things that the world needs to know about Iranian aunts and uncles. What are they? Like any good Iranian uncle, we attempt to get deep into things.

In this episode, we discuss the Persian words for aunts and uncles. We also let you know why Iranians, seemingly, have different feelings towards their aunts and uncles, depending on if they are your mother or father's sibling. As if that wasn't enough, we get into the good, the bad and the ugly Persian terms that involve Iranian aunts and uncles.

We believe that comedy can help highlight disturbing topics by helping bring about awareness, and subsequent change for the better. In this episode we tackle one of the more disturbing ones: that of child abuse. We’ve heard anecdotal evidence of such happenings, and elude to this during our conversation. We conclude the conversations about this with a warning to those that might fall prey to such horrors. It goes without saying that we find such crimes against children abhorrent.

• What is the Persian (Farsi) word for uncle?
• Why are some Iranian aunts and uncles more important?
• What is the Persian (Farsi) word for aunt
• How many words are there for aunt and uncle in Persian (Farsi)?
• Why do Iranian uncles and aunts answer you with their own title?
• How do you say aunt and uncle in Persian (Farsi)?
• Why is a Dāi better than an Amoo?
• What Persian (Farsi) phrases, idioms or terms use aunt or uncle?
• Why is a Khāleh better than an Ammeh?
• What are the gender neutral terms for aunt and uncle?
• Who is Amoo Sabzi Foroosh?
• What Persian (Farsi) phrases use aunt or uncle?
• Are there gender neutral terms for the words aunt and uncle?

Music credit: “Mahvash, Parivash”, Jalal Hemmati | “Ask An Iranian Outro”, The Devildog

Image credit: Remastered image based on the promotional poster for the Iranian movie, "Amoo Sabzi Foroosh", edited by Ask An Iranian, 2022. This artwork has been used for the related podcast episode cover. All of the Ask An Iranian podcast covers are available as NFTs here.

Read more and find the links on ASKANIRANIAN.COM

Check the merchandise out on ASKANIRANIAN.COM/SHOP