The Islamic Republic in Iran is not only at war with the United States and Israel. For years, the country’s government has been waging war on Iranian culture. Music, poetry, storytelling, dogs, dancing, singing, art, dice and card games, romance, tolerance and the honouring of women are central to Persian culture and its ancient history. Yet under the Islamic Republic, these cherished expressions are banned or stigmatised, especially when pursued by women.

Their departure from the country they love is one of the most poignant brain drains in history

Their departure from the country they love is one of the most poignant brain drains in history

In the dark, dystopian times immediately following the Islamic Revolution in 1979, couples holding hands or a man so much as looking at a woman could lead to arrest, or worse. My mother was forced into hiding in the mid-1980s when she was 16 years old. Her only crime was to oppose the regime. My father, who witnessed teenage school friends hanged for protesting against the Islamic Revolution, wasn’t able to go to university in Iran because he refused to pretend he was religious.

The Islamic Revolution (or the Islamic Occupation to give it its more accurate name) was revenge of the peasant class against the elites and........

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