Portraits of Everyday Life in Iran
Despite rising geopolitical tensions, the lives of most Iranians remain ordinary.
Simone Tramonte
- Simone Tramonte01With the fortieth anniversary of the Iranian Revolution approaching, Italian photographer Simone Tramonte traveled through Iran last summer to capture images of ordinary life—from Tehran to the holy city of Qom, then across the Zagros Mountains to visit the nomadic Qashquai people.
- Simone Tramonte02In the years after Ayatollah Khomeini took power in 1979 and declared an Islamic Republic, the country became the United States’ central nemesis in the Middle East.
- Simone Tramonte03Recently, the country has been in the news again because of widespread street protests against the regime, raising the possibility of another revolution. Tramonte’s trip to Iran was his attempt to go behind the headlines.
- Simone Tramonte04“I wanted to tell the daily life of contemporary Iran, led by the new moderate president, Hassan Rouhani,” Tramonte says. “I’ve always been interested in the ‘closed countries,’ and having the opportunity to be there with the locals allows you to see things in a very different way.”
- Simone Tramonte05By traveling on a tourist visa, Tramonte was able to document the country without being monitored by regime officials. This freedom allowed him an extraordinary intimacy with the Iranian people.
- Simone Tramonte06Dancing in public in Iran is illegal, but men in Kashan circumvent the rule by dancing by themselves in the desert.
- Simone Tramonte07Tramonte noticed that many Iranians live a double life, bifurcated between “the official version of Iranian life promoted by the authorities and the reality of daily life for the Iranian youth who are struggling to find an identity in a rapidly changing and evolving world.”
- Simone Tramonte08Images of an Iranian skateboarder, children in shopping carts, or a young couple taking a selfie show ordinary life proceeding in defiance of the geopolitical tensions that dominate CNN and Fox News.
- Simone Tramonte09The aspiration to live a normal life, in a normal country, is what is fueling the protests we’re seeing today, Tramonte says. “In Iran there is a great desire of the people to be free. They want to express themselves, and are struggling to find an identity without losing their historical memory.”
Tech Companies Are Complicit in Censoring Iran Protests
Opinion: Google, Twitter, and Signal should take steps to ensure their tools aren’t restricting Iranian’s free speech.
Firuzeh Mahmoudi and Fereidoon Bashar
Provoking Iran Could Have Unseen Cyber Consequences
By decertifying the nuclear deal with Iran, President Trump could risk provoking hacks from a country that hasn't focused on US cyberattacks in years.
Lily Hay Newman
Iranian Hackers Infiltrated Critical Infrastructure Companies
A new Iran-linked hacking group called APT 34 has been spotted lurking in the networks of financial, energy, telecom, and chemical companies.
Lily Hay Newman
Feds Indict Iranian for HBO Hack—Good Luck Arresting Him
Months after tormenting HBO with the release of unaired episodes and Game of Thrones spoilers, the alleged hacker has been indicted.
Andy Greenberg
Inside Bin Laden’s Files: GIFs, Memes, and Mr. Bean
A newly released trove of 470,000 files seized from Osama bin Laden's compound include some internet classics—and links to Iran.
Lily Hay Newman
NASA’s Curiosity Rover Got Its Drill Stuck on a Rock. Here’s How They Freed It
This is the first time NASA has encountered a situation like this, and it took nearly a week to resolve.
Marta Musso
A Probe Took Incredible Pictures of Mars on Its Way to a Far-Off Asteroid
NASA took advantage of the recent close approach of the Psyche probe to Mars to calibrate its observation instruments.
Jorge Garay
Asteroid 2026 JH2 Is About to Fly Right Past Earth—Relatively Speaking
On May 18, an asteroid about the size of Chicago’s Cloud Gate will fly four times closer to Earth than the moon.
Anna Lisa Bonfranceschi
NASA Details Its Plan to Build a Lunar Base at the Moon’s South Pole
The project’s first mission could arrive as soon as this year, with a little help from Blue Origin.
Jorge Garay
Why Soccer Still Defies Statistical Analysis
Sarah Rudd, who once ran analytics for Arsenal, made her name applying the tenets of probability theory to movements on the pitch. Even she admits not everything can be solved with data.
Nick Greene
The Real Losers of the Musk v. Altman Trial
A federal jury is now deciding whether Elon Musk will win his lawsuit against OpenAI and Sam Altman—but the trial has made everyone look bad.
Maxwell Zeff
Iran Is Using Tiny ‘Mosquito’ Boats to Shut Down the Strait of Hormuz
Iran’s traditional naval fleet has been almost completely destroyed by US-Israeli raids. But Iran’s military has put a fleet of small vessels on the water that is crippling every passageway.
Vincenzo Leone