“Sangak” bread was traditionally the bread of the Persian army. It is mentioned for the first time in the 11th century. “Sangak” bread is very useful for children especially for the periods that nervous cells are on the growth. The iron existing in the whole meal bread will cause children to be clever.

Tourist Review| Another classic iranian bread: sangak

And here is my favourite of all Iranian breads, sangak, a large and very thin loaf that is pointed at one end and square at the other mainly because of the way the baker stretches the very wet dough as he lays it on the floor of the oven which is covered with hot pebbles. You often find sangak bakeries attached to restaurants, either dizi or simply kebabs like in this post about such a place in Dubai — there is an important Iranian community in Dubai and as a result great Iranian food. The bakery in my pictures is in Tehran, at the back of a wonderful dizi restaurant where the owner stopped looking at fashion in the late 60’s, early 70’s. He was dressed in a white and black suit with flared trousers and wore a hat. Quite unexpected in a place where everyone looks rather drab (on the street) because the women have to cover their hair and hips and most men are in grey or dark suits./ Source: Anissa Helou

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This historical tradition is held in Gilan province in northern Iran.

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Nomads Tour in Iran

There are about one and a half million nomads in Iran, extending from the border of Turkmanistan to the warm waters of the Persian Gulf. Most of these tribes, the Kurds, the Lurs, the Bakhtiaris, the Guilaks (on the Caspian Coast) and the Baluchis are the original invaders who, in the first millennium BC, swept down from Central Asia and settled in various parts of the Iranian Plateau. Most of the tribes in central Iran are from pure Aryan stock, while other tribes such as the Arabs of Khuzestan and Khorassan, the Turkish tribes of Quchan, the Qashqai tribes, the Shahsevan and Afshar tribes of Azerbaijan and the Turkmens are remnants of races that have passed through Iran at various periods of history.

Traditionally, there has always existed a close link in Iran between the ruling dynasty and the domination of one particular tribe or ethnic group./ More

QASHQAI PEOPLE: MEETING THE AUTHENTIC IRANIAN NOMADS
Iran has with one of the biggest nomad populations of any country. And not only this, but these Iranian nomads are also classified into different sub-groups, according to their ethnicity, origin and even language. Around Shiraz, there’s one group of nomads called Qashqai. Originally, they came from Turkey but, even though Turkish is their first language, most of them speak fluent Persian as well. Like most Iranians, they are Shia Muslims.

Qashqai people, also known as Ghashghaei, are one of the Iranian nomadic tribes that keep on moving across the Zagros Mountains. In winter they live in the southern part but, as soon as the summer comes and the heat starts to become unbearable, they start moving north. Their flocks of sheep and goats are their main source of income. From these animals, they get meat, cheese, and milk. They also sell the newborns at the markets of Shiraz.

Qashqai people: meeting the authentic Iranian nomads

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The construction of St. Sarkis Church in Tehran began from 1964 and was complete by 1970. The church was built by Sarkisian brothers in memory of their parents.

At beginning the Tehran prelacy was located at conjunction of St. Mother Mary Church in central Tehran. In the early 1960s it was decided to change the site of the prelacy offices into new location. So therefore the bishop and committee members of the time requested to an Armenian benefactor Markar Sarkissian to help them in this cause. So the committee bought the land located at end of Villa Street (now called Nejatollahi Street). In 2006 Mr. Hrair Hagopian renovated the baptism pool and the church in memory of his beloved wife Vartoohi Davidian.

Armenians in Iran

Armenians can be found in almost every major city of Iran, engaged in a variety of professions and occupations, as university professors, physicians, high-school teachers, businessmen, engineers, skilled workers, truck drivers, artists, technicians, artisans, professional athletes, etc. Their traditional centers of Azerbaijan and Isfahan (since the 11th/17th century) have been overshadowed in recent years by the tremendous growth of the Armenian population in Tehran, where more than 66 percent of the entire community (estimated at 270,000 in 1977, see Nyrop, Iran, p. 152) resided in 1345 Š./1966 (Firoozi, The Population of Iran, p. 346). Three prelates with jurisdiction over the three district areas of Azerbaijan, Isfahan (including southern Iran and India), and

Tehran (including Qazvīn, Rašt, Mašhad, Bandar-e Anzalī, Hamadān, Arāk, and Kermānšāh) head the community. They are subject to the catholicos of Cilicia in Lebanon who nominates three candidates for each prelate post out of which one candidate is elected by the assembly of local representatives; then the elected prelate is officially appointed as such by the catholicos (Rāʾīn, Īrānīān-e Armanī, pp. 61-62). The Iranian community traditionally acknowledged the jurisdiction of the catholicos of Echmiadzin (Vałaršapat, the ancient capital of Armenia, now in Soviet Armenia) until the 1950s, when for political reasons he was replaced by the catholicos of Lebanon. This led to a split in the Armenian community, since a large number continued to follow the catholicos of Echmiadzin, who refused to relinquish the jurisdictional claim of his church over the entire Iranian community (Nyrop, Iran, p. 135).

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list of presidential candidates
The Iranian Interior Ministry has released the final list of candidates qualified to run in the forthcoming presidential election.

Iran’s Interior Ministry on gave the following list of eligible candidates (in alphabetical order) vetted by the Guardian Council.

Mostafa Aqa-Mirsalim
Mostafa Hashemi-Taba
Es’haq Jahangiri
Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf
Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi
Hassan Rouhani
The vetting body was examining the qualifications of more than 1,600 candidates who registered to run for president for days.

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About Tehran

Although Tehran is not Iran, but without this great metropolis, which is the focal point of Iran’s transportation network and the center in which more than 40% of the nation’s economic activities takes place, it would not be possible to fully comprehend the ever changing Iran. Tehran is the mirror of Iran. Those who inhabit this young metropolis have come from around the country with different beliefs, cultures, languages and life styles and live in a national and international context together. It can be noted that modern societies take form in large cities, and therefore, Iran’s future is being formed in Tehran.
Iran is a complicated and mysterious country and Tehran is more so. Activities, population and cultures have shaped a new and ever changing logic upon which people relate to one another without prior familiarity. This phenomenon, despite being problematic, expands and facilitates innovations and
creativity.

in fact, this is a characteristic of all metropolises to instigate new dynamism. Availability and awareness of economic, social and cultural information are necessary for understanding a city. These concepts, however, make sense only when they materialize within a country, an urban space or its periphery.
Although the City of Tehran can be similar to Los Angeles or Shanghai in terms of urban planning, size, variety, internal dynamics and economic role, it cannot be understood without its territorial and cultural characteristic.
Tehran’s population increased fifty folds from 200,000 in 1900 to10.3 millions in 1996, of which 6.8 millions live within the city limits of Tehran. In the same period, however, total population of Iran increased only five folds, from 9.8 million to 60 million. Tehran, which had only a 2% share in total population, now incorporates more than 15% share. This proportion has remained relatively stable since 1970s. This population explosion is the result of migrations due to the Capital’s unique attractions. A capital that was merely a town 100 years ago has now become a more or less modern metropolis, because of governmental
centralization and improvements in social welfare. Hence, Tehran, despite its many unique aspects, is comparable with large cities such as Ankara, Brasilia, and even St. Petersburg.

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Iranian carpets are renowned for their quality and style around the world. They truly are works of art, and also of great labor, many of them taking years at the hands of the nimble and skilled.

Tabriz is home to one of the most beautiful and most popular kind of carpets in the world with an inclusive variety, giving it the title of “World Carpet City”.

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