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I would like to say that I am disappointed by this new round of sanctions leveled against Iran by Congress, but the sad fact is that I didn't expect anything less than the aggressive wrong-headedness displayed by our elected legislators last week. And so, as the war drummers up their aggressive tempo against Iran, I'd like to take this moment to share some facts, and a few of my own experiences living in that country.

In 2008, I made a home for myself in the Islamic Republic of Iran. I had hoped at that time to foster cultural exchanges between my home country, Brazil, and Iran. It was indeed for me a shock of cultural bipolarity, going from bikinis in sultry, carnal Brazil, to long sleeves and headscarves in the more socially-conservative Islamic Republic. Despite this, however, I found the Iranian people to be exceedingly warm, generous, cultured, educated, and fun.

One thing that struck me immediately about Iran was how overwhelmingly young the country is. About one-third of the Iranian population is under the age of thirty, one quarter being 15-years-old or younger, and I found that kids in Tehran, for better or worse, are not so different from kids in any other developed nation. They love junk food, American music, and pop culture. Hip-hop is considered "un-Islamic" by the regime and is therefore banned, though this has not stopped rappers like Hichkas from gaining an underground following in Iran. As a zealot for free-speech, I helped produce a video f... >>>