DEALING AND SOCIALIZING WITH IRANIANS

Iranians are diametrically different from the Japanese. Generally, an Iranian businessman or just any ordinary Iranian person (man or woman) is extremely engaging, loves to argue and to ask many questions. And quite often, his or her answer takes the form of a question.  Expect to frequently hear this word “Really?” upon conversing with an Iranian. If he or she says “Really?” once, this means that he or she is still wondering and or doubting your intentions. If he or she repeats the word “Really” twice, this means that the Iranian person is seriously “questioning” your ability to deliver and or the sincerity of your intentions. Iranian people have a high level of self-esteem and self-respect. They are among the most generous people in the world. They might not keep their promises all the time, but when they begin to like you or trust you, their generosity and their “extra mile” friendship will overwhelm you.  Iranians who have traveled abroad and lived for a while in western societies where they had the opportunities to deal with Jewish businessmen, have tendency to have more trust and faith in Jews than in their own people. This is very true, especially if they are dealing with Iranians merchants who are in the business of used (second hand) goods. A former Iranian associate of mine, once told me: “It takes 5 Arabs to fool one Jew and 10 Jews to fool one Iranian.”  Just like the Afghanistanis and Pakistanis, the majority of Iranian businessmen who live and work in the United States, especially in large and cosmopolitan American cities don’t fully trust Americans.

They have no respect for American codes of ethics and social/moral values. They consider the American society as “a decadent and immoral cell”. Thus, fully trusting American businessmen is not highly recommended. Yet, 87% of men who go regularly to strip joints in Washington, D.C. and particularly in the Georgetown’s North West area and on Wisconsin Avenue (Maryland Bethesda’s area) are Iranians. So much for Islamic ethical standards!! Iranians are very fond of American technology and gadgets. Their children’s rooms are filled with American gadgets, toys and juvenile tools. The Iranian middle class loves “Wall Mart” stores. The Iranian high society is very picky and usually buys the very best and the most expensive items, and believe it or not, la crème de la crème of the Iranian society loves to do business with American Jews. Iranian women of the upper middle class and the high society are extremely elegant, love to shop at expensive department stores and are unconcerned with what their men think about Jews and Americans. They love to buy Israeli products. They buy the most expensive dresses, gowns, shoes and feminine apparels, usually designed by Jewish or Israeli designers and couturiers. It is a fact that wealthy Iranian women adore the fine jewelry and world-class diamonds sold by Jews in Antwerp, London and New York. If they can afford expensive gowns and dresses, they buy it in a heart beat. If they cannot afford it, they stand in front of the boutique display window, take a pen and a stack of papers and copy the model. They rush home to ask Myriam or Nour their dressmakers to copy the dress. The majority of Iranian women I met in large American and European cities was resourceful and tricky, but generous to a fault.  Back home, they act and live according to social prerequisites and rules imposed by a society made for and by men. Abroad, and particularly in Paris, Rome, London, Washington, D.C., New York and Los Angeles, they explore all the possibilities life has to offer. I literarily mean all possibilities. The upper class is fun, bright, highly educated, classy and shrewd. The middle class refuses to live as a middle class. The lower class in Iran is pure misery. Abroad, it becomes very creative and daring.