From “Past”, Another Magazine, issue 9, 2005.[...] Judging by its public sculptures, Iran looks more like Disneyland or a not-so-miniature golf course than the self-confessed enemy of the West. Statues of plants and animals dot the round-abouts, intersections, and town squares all around the country. Some are monumental, others are so small they hide behind the bushes, like a life-sized diarama. While some act as mascots for their given region, others seem to be lost in the wilderness. Sculptures of grapes dot the highways and roads leading to Shiraz, home of the famous Shiraz grape. But what dolphins are doing near the border with Turkmenistan is anybody’s guess. The planners and commissioners have been reading more of La Fontaine than the Qu’ran. [...]