He also hopes for change within Iran - specifically, a lifting of the ban on dog-walking in parks. "By allowing us to establish bank accounts and verifying our identities, we would be able to receive assistance from individuals and charities outside of Iran without them breaching the sanctions and risking legal complications,” he added. government and others capable of influencing the lifting of sanctions, to consider making exceptions for organizations like ours that engage in humanitarian and peaceful endeavors," he said. “I appeal to Western governments, particularly the U.S. With many Iranians struggling to get by, there is little left over for the cleric's furry friends. Within Iran, the economy has cratered, with the local currency plunging to a record low over the past year. The country's banking system is almost completely cut off from the outside world, making it extremely difficult to transfer funds. He says the funds available for such pursuits have dried up in recent years as the United States has ramped up economic sanctions over Iran's disputed nuclear program. He relies on donations from animal lovers in Iran and abroad. They stay here until they fully recover and regain their strength.” "Many of them are dogs I’ve personally nursed back to health. “We take in dogs with disabilities that cannot survive in the wild and have a hard time finding adoptive homes," he said. These days Tabatabaei wears ordinary clothes while tending to the dogs and cleaning their kennels at Bamak Paradise, the shelter he established two years ago. The ruling was later suspended, but he remains cautious. When pictures surfaced of him tending to dogs while wearing his clerical robes, a religious court ordered him to be defrocked in 2021. It's gotten him into trouble with fellow clerics. They say they feel a wave of kindness, peace, and friendship coming through those videos.” "My videos seem to leave a good impression on people too. “It’s pretty interesting and kind of weird for them to witness a religious figure doing this stuff," he said. Tabatabaei, an animal lover who wears the Shiite black turban signifying he is a descendant of Islam's Prophet Muhammad, seeks to bridge the divide. Many younger Iranians ignore such calls, as they do other religious edicts. Iran's clerical establishment, which has ruled the country since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, proclaimed dogs to be “unclean” and advocates against keeping them as pets. But in Iran and other countries, dogs are shunned by many and local authorities periodically shoot and poison them. Across the Middle East, people put out food and water for stray cats, often seen safely wandering in and out of public buildings. Islam prohibits animal cruelty and promotes feeding those in need. He has become an unlikely advocate for animal rights in a society deeply divided over the role of religion in public life. Iran's ruling theocracy views keeping dogs as pets as a sign of Western decadence, and hard-liners have been pushing for laws that would prohibit walking them in public.īut that hasn't stopped Tabatabaei from opening a shelter in the city of Qom - home to several major religious schools and shrines - where he takes in street dogs and strays and nurses them back to health. The timestamp is only as accurate as the clock in the camera, and it may be completely wrong.In some parts of the Muslim world, dogs are considered unclean, driven away with shouting, sticks and stones, and sometimes even shot by city workers in failed attempts to control the feral population. If the file has been modified from its original state, some details such as the timestamp may not fully reflect those of the original file. This file contains additional information such as Exif metadata which may have been added by the digital camera, scanner, or software program used to create or digitize it.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |