Iran announces Formula 1 plans
I have an Iranian friend, he says all is it not what it seems/reads...I wouldn't know, but he says I would love it there skiing...
I just can't help but think it's a recipe for tragedy in the making. I can just foresee some ruler of some ministry ordering the slaughter of "insert whomever here." At the very least, you'll have some holding of drivers for some violation an impounding of the assets.. something. How would they ever even pass the new human rights mandate?
I have great respect the the Persian people. I have no respect for the thugs and ideologues who rule Iran today and those who support its islamo facist regime. F-1 has no place in Iran of today. Irans policy on Sponsoring Terrorism, its deplorable record on human rights, women, gays, and in general its death to America ( and the west) slogans and propaganda is totally out of what F1 means / is. lets say they do build the track and pay Bernie the fees + some... how will the sponsors look supporting a race in this intolerant terrorist sponsoring country? Bernie and the girls will look great in a birka's.
Come on guys, too much exaggeration here. I have an American friend who have been to Iran as tourist (using his other passport) and found it to be a very cool place with a welcoming people. A Formula 1 race in Iran would be awesome in so many ways!
"Using his other passport" you say? Cool Please report back about how welcoming they are when he uses his "American" passport
Iran has an interesting dichotomy, the political/religous leadership are much more hard lined and present an image to the world that isn't the reality for all of the citizenry. Many younger Iranian women for example seek education and opportunity but are met with resistance (Dan Rather Report on HDN from a few years back). It might be a good thing for more world culture to find its way into Iran...however that said, the election outcomes and tamping down by the Gov't was certainly a pretty dire situation and makes me believe that a F1 race in Iran, while overall positive, would be a TV attendance opportunity for me.
I don't know that for a country investing so much in carbon free nuclear energy, motorsport is a good idea. What about their reputation?
Re. Iran. We should build bridges with this country, instead of isolating it. The best way to get people on your side is to engage with them and sport is an excellent mean for this. Remember Nixon sending table-tennis players in China: that was a diplomatic brealthrough. Bans, boycotts, sanctions and other form of hostilities are pointless and in the end counter-productive. If Iran can afford a GP, why not? That may open doors and lower the tension with this country. I am all for it.
I can understand that william. I will go after you go first, be a man of your convictions, be a ferrari chat pioneer I will look out for you on the tv screen, you should be easy to spot flying your union jack flag
Yah well it would help if they didn't have weekly "death to America" demonstrations. That might just start a bridge you know. If the USA had "death to Iran" rallies, I'm guessing a lot of Iranians wouldn't feel to comfortable to come to the Austin F1. I'm not trying to get all P and R here but it's a matter of fact that Americans are locked up in Iran for doing nothing. It's well documented -- and "counter-productive" as you say.
Efforts must come from boith sides, but there is nothing wrong in making the first step. It's often seen as a sign of strength and self-confidence. That's my opinion anyway.
And neither was Cuba ... until recently. It makes you wonder what all these sanctions and isolation measures against Cuba were for. In the end, the heads of states shake hands and things go back to normal.
As an Iranian, having London, England, as my home, I'd just like to reiterate a few things already said without turning this tread into a political discussion -so I'll get to the point : I understand the apprehension especially from some U.S. members, but the reality is rather different from what we see in the media. Bottom line is that I disagree with US Foreign Policy (if they have one) but I have a Gibson guitar, like my Four Roses Bourbon, visit Carneghie's Deli once a year, wife is nuts about Blake Shelton, and probably half my friends are American. We might have major issues with our respective countries' policies but we never have issues on a personal level. Also Qeshm Island, where the GP is supposed to be held, has its own international airport - kind of like visiting Hawaii without having to go through Washington DC - just a holiday /tourist destination without having to visit the mainland. The Iranian government will be using this event as a PR exercise, and they would have gained much more publicity having detained US drivers (all zero of them) rather than hounding US F1 fans passively enjoying a sport. Plenty of unofficial US sports teams have visited without any issue. Seriously, google it and you can see that sport events have been taking place under the Obama adminstration without any issues. IMO if Bahrain can have one, so can Iran you'd have thought. If it'll ever happen in the first place........ Best, Sammy