Tehran Bureau takes a peek at the party culture lurking just below the surface in the Iranian capital’s more affluent districts:
For the wealthy and the well-connected, the boundaries of hedonism are limited only by the spatial confines of their villas or luxury apartments. Some outfit their homes with back-lit bars and DJ tables, transforming their homes into nightclubs at the flick of a light switch. There are strobe-lit discos where girls in bikinis spray guests with water guns, and embassy-district shindigs in which all counter space is taken up by imported alcohol. Then, there are parties based around film screenings, dance performances and concerts by underground bands, where members of the cultural scene gather to critique each other’s projects, sway to 1970s-style rock music or enjoy some Persian-tinged flamenco.
Most of the time, however, they are simple gatherings where friends and acquaintances gather in search of release from daily pressures. Nastaran, a 33-year-old translator, says throwing regular parties in her two-bedroom central Tehran apartment gives her something to look forward to as she goes through the weekday grind. “I get up after 6, splash some water on my face and head out into the traffic. In the evenings, if I’m lucky, I make it home by 8, eat dinner and go to bed. If I didn’t have this” – she says, raising up her glass of bootleg liquor – “what kind of life would I have?”
(Photo: Tehran skyline by Shahrokh Dabiri)
The Dish 