In pictures: Iranians’ Modern Life

- Iranians are increasingly buying into Western-style consumerism, despite sanctions and often high prices.

- Despite slow mobile internet connections and high prices for consumer electronics, Iranians are frantically buying smartphones, tablets, and flat-screen TVs.

- For many young people, shopping has become a near-obsessive ritual. Although traditional bazaars remain the favourite places to shop for most Iranians, they now face stiff competition from huge shopping malls all across the country.

- Analyst Richard Javad Heydarian recently described Iran as “one of the most promising economies of the 21st century - and perhaps the next China”, portraying the country as an awakening lion.

- In the past few months, relations between Iran and the West have warmed, and negotiations to lift sanctions could pave the way for even more changes.

Customers at the ‘Kentucky House’, a fast-food restaurant in the Isfahan City Centre Mall.
Thomas Cristofoletti/Al Jazeera

People shopping at the Isfahan City Centre Mall, one of the biggest in the country
Thomas Cristofoletti/Al Jazeera

Children play at Iran Land, an amusement park inside the Persian Gulf Complex.
Thomas Cristofoletti/Al Jazeera

Two girls check Facebook on a smartphone in Isfahan. Despite slow mobile internet connections, Iran has seen a considerable increase in smartphone purchases.
Thomas Cristofoletti/Al Jazeera

 

Young Iranians walk in front of a recently opened unofficial Apple reseller.
Thomas Cristofoletti/Al Jazeera

A woman shops at an appliance centre in the Isfahan City Centre Mall.
Thomas Cristofoletti/Al J

A customer at Hyperstar, Iran’s first international-style hypermarket, inside the Persian Gulf Complex, a huge mall located a few kilometres outside Shiraz. Hyperstar plans to open 15 branches by 2015.
Thomas Cristofoletti

Iranian women wear western-style hijabs made of fashionable fabrics.
Thomas Cristofoletti/Al Jazeera

Young pilgrims eat ice cream in a cafe in Qom, the second-holiest city in Iran.
Thomas Cristofoletti/Al Jazeera

view of Tabriz’s Grand Baazar, among the oldest in the Middle East.
Thomas Cristofoletti/Al Jazeera

Women’s shoes are sold in a shop located inside a bazaar in Tabriz. Despite the increasing number of malls, many Iranians still prefer to shop in traditional bazaars.
Thomas Cristofoletti/Al Jazeera

A portrait of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini is displayed on a wall of the Isfahan City Centre Mall, above elevator doors advertising laundry detergent.
Thomas Cristofoletti/Al Jazeera

Source: Aljazeera.com