In Iran, Cafes providing Coffee and an Escape One can Afford
In Packed Cafes, Iranians Yearn to Escape War’s Wreckage
By Farnaz Fassihi
Three weeks into a fragile cease-fire with the United States, Iranians are seeking to reclaim fragments of normal life. For many eager to connect with one another, cafes have emerged as the focal point of social gatherings in Tehran and many other Iranian cities.
Men and women, young and old, pack the coffee shops that dot the sprawling capital. Friends, families and colleagues crowd at tables and bar stools that spill onto the sidewalks. They gather at all hours of the day and late into the night.
They sip espressos, cappuccinos and Persian tea infused with cardamom. Sometimes they share a piece of cake. These are tough economic times and many people have been laid off. Many say they are running through their savings as they struggle with a collapsing currency and rampant inflation.
But a cup of coffee is still affordable and cafes provide escape, if only for a few fleeting hours, said a dozen Iranians who frequent them. Cafes allow Iranians a place to collectively process the five weeks of war with the United States and Israel and the wreckage in its wake...
Mehran, a 37-year-old businessman, said he meets his friends at a cafe every night after dinner with his wife and son. “Going to the cafe every night has become my coping mechanism, it’s the place I can let loose from all the pressures,” Mehran said in a telephone interview.
https://www.omanobserver.om/article/1188916/opinion/as-iranians-face-war-theres-still-solace-in-a-cafe