Seventy percent of Iran is under 30, and this new generation has a different outlook on life than their parents did during the revolution. Jessie Graham for The World presents a view into the life of a secular young woman living in Iran.
"You can take off your headscarf now," Seema says with a wide smile as she welcomes me into her world and offers me some tea.
A friend of a friend who'd lived in Iran for a few months introduced me to Seema, a 24-year-old film editor. She's part of a crowd of twenty- and thirty-somethings I saw in Tehran's lively galleries and cafes. They're artistic, literary and highly educated young people from middle class families.
The clock is ticking. Less than 12 hours until I need to be on a plane out of Tehran. I've just been told politely by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance that I won't be getting the visa extension I'd expected. So I am on overdrive, trying to cram the last of my interviews into a sleepless night.
In those final hours, what I most want to know is how I can describe Iran's "red line." That's the slippery, ever-changing boundary that dictates what Iranians can and cannot say. I realize I have no idea what that line looks like. Is it wavy? Is it straight?
Iran is cracking down on people it suspects of being dissidents. For the past few months, authorities have rounded up students, activists and women who dress immodestly. Observers say the government is trying to divert attention from Iran's most pressing concern, its growing economic crisis.
The World's Jessie Graham reports from Tehran.
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