Friday is Sunday in Iran, as is the case throughout the entire Muslim world.

The stores are closed. The otherwise clogged streets are sparsely traveled, in the morning at least. Only essential needs are addressed.

Good weather means families head to the parks, stroll the boulevards, visit friends and kin and essentially do what most North Americans do on Sunday, take a day of rest.

The pause has allowed me to gather some of the pieces to what has been a dawn-to-dusk marathon of meeting Muslim and Christian leaders, academics and government officials, including President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

It has also allowed me to take in the chance encounters of talking to folks on the streets, in shops and restaurants, at roadside rest stops and on university campuses.

I am traveling with a group of 13 U.S. religious leaders whose purpose, in a nutshell, is to pry open opportunities for dialogue among Iranians and Americans at as many levels as possible so the two countries can avoid a bloody conflict.

The delegation includes representatives from six denominations, including the National Council of Churches who represents another 30 denominations nationwide, and was sponsored by Mennonite Central Committee and the American Friends Service Committee (Quakers).

The motivation for the trip comes out of the delegation members' Christian faith, which in religious terms means loving one's enemies. In political terms it is an attempt at "track two," or citizen diplomacy, to avoid conflict.

On one level, it is hard to believe the United States and Iran have reasons to be belligerent toward one another. Nearly every Iranian I've met along the way has a friend or relative living in the U.S.

Each knows of someone who has studied in the states, gone there for vacation, work, or just to see America. Iranians know a lot about America.

There are so many Iranians in the Los Angeles area that one young man here said, "Have you ever heard of "Tehran-geles"? Yes, there is a such a place right here in Tehran."

At lunch on Thursday, an Iranian professor of English language seated next to me asked for permission to recite a Robert Frost poem to me.

Somewhat embarrassed at my failure to remember enough Frost to make decent conversation about poetry, I reluctantly agreed, while fearing I was going to have to reciprocate with some sort of recitation myself.

I know absolutely nothing about Iranian poetry.

He leaned toward me, and in a quiet voice, sang rather than recited a Frost poem about walking through the falling winter snow. It was absolutely beautiful.

"This was my own music," he said, half apologizing for suddenly being so personal.

Big differences
For all of the interest and even respect for America that I encountered, the reality is there are differences between Iran and the U.S., and as one of the delegation members said, Americans and Iranians are operating from "two very different narratives."

The differences are as real as one's perspective about the 1979 hostage taking at the U.S. embassy in Tehran. For Iranians, it was part of a revolution and perhaps a misguided slap in the face at America for their support of the brutality of the Shah of Iran.

For Americans, who knew little then about Iran, they saw their countrymen blindfolded and held against their will. Even 30 years later, the hostage saga remains a point of deep emotion by the two peoples.

But that was then, and today there are raw geopolitical differences involving nuclear issues, the war in Iraq, Israel and Palestine, and at the end of the day, there remain stark religious differences and misunderstandings.

And what of President Ahmadinejad's statements about the Holocaust and his sponsoring an "in your face" Holocaust denial conference last December?

As the sparse attendance to the conference showed, Ahmadinejad is a lonely figure on this issue, even in Iran. Some Iranians said it was embarrassing.

The delegation intended to ask Ahmadinejad about the Holocaust, just as they did when they met him in New York Sept. 20. It was at that meeting where Ahmadinejad extended the invitation for this visit.

Iran and the United States have a bit of a cold war on their hands. And unlike some earlier visits by other U.S. religious delegations, this visit appears to have actually broken some ice.

It is the first religious group to meet with any Iranian president, while in Iran, since the revolution.
 

Monday, Feb. 19
As our Lufthansa flight made its final approach to Tehran International Airport, a male flight attendant spoke over the public address system.

"By decree of the government of Iran, all women must wear a head covering."

Despite the women on the delegation being prepared for this, the announcement still carried a sting.

Hoping the flight attendant would follow with something like "Welcome to Iran and enjoy learning about its people and history," or "We hope your stay in Iran will be wonderful," the transmission ended; nothing more was said.

Upon exiting, we were quickly ushered down the steps of the plane ramp into a waiting bus and taken to a VIP lounge. It all felt very official and special.

It was 1:25 a.m. We were immediately served tea, and then we conducted some introductions with our contact at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who had met us at the airport.

Despite our host's warm welcome, the sense of any perks about being whisked off to the VIP lounge and "special" treatment quickly evaporated as we waited for our passports and luggage. We started to envy those who left the airport the "usual" way. We eventually left for our hotel nearly two hours later. I finally fell asleep by 5 a.m.

I woke at 8 a.m. Outside it was snowing heavily. But the snow melted as soon as it hit the ground.

The day officially started around 10 a.m. with the first meeting. In a large receiving room at the Armenian Orthodox Church, we met Sebu Sarkissian, the archbishop of the Armenia church in Tehran.

Sarkissian proved to be one of the warmer church leaders I have met, approaching us with a bright smile and full-bodied laugh, and reaching out his hand as if you were doing him the favor by shaking it.

"You will soon realize that Iranians are quite open-minded people," he said to the group. "They always welcome people from other countries and are very keen in cultivating good relationships with people of other faiths."

That was a good start. Sarkissian knew Americans well enough to see the need for dispelling some myths about Iran and Iranians. It wasn't a closed society filled with fundamentalist ayatollahs. There was more to it than that, including the Armenians, who saw themselves as Iranians.

Later in the afternoon we visited with Ayatollah Mohammad Emami Kashani, who is best known as the leader of Friday prayers in Tehran, as well as being a former member of the Council of Experts.

The cleric lived within the compound of an Islamic seminary he had started. His lodgings were simple.
 

Tuesday, Feb. 20
At breakfast the delegation was told the first meeting of the day would be with the deputy foreign minister of North America and Europe, a man introduced to us as Dr. Jalali. It was already 8:30, and the group had less than a half hour to get to the nearby Foreign Ministry complex.

While traffic in Tehran does not reach the levels of paralysis found in Bangkok or Cairo, it is heavy and creates a daily brown haze that gathers by early morning. Situated against mountains on the east and north, the haze tends to lock onto the city.

Only a few minutes before boarding the bus, the meeting with the deputy foreign minister was abruptly canceled and just as quickly rescheduled for Wednesday morning.

We also learned that our meeting with Ahmadinejad would happen Saturday.

Now plan B was put into effect: visits to the shah's palace and the home of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

The shah of Iran was a great ally of the U.S. and the West. However, he tended to be a leader that didn't know limits both in how he governed and how he lived.

His palace and grounds, which sit on the north side of Tehran overlooking the city from the mountainside, were glistening from freshly fallen snow when we arrived.

Inside the palace, the rooms were grand and filled with all the trappings of any monarch. For the tour guides the history is still living.

"In this room President Jimmy Carter visited and said how the U.S. supports the shah," one guide said. During the few days after that visit, the shah slaughtered a thousand of his opponents.

A short bus ride away and nestled on another hillside overlooking the city was the final lodgings of the Ayatollah Khomeini, who in 1979 returned to Iran from exile only to see the shah depart within the next few weeks. And so the 10-day revolution changed Iran.

In contrast to the grandeur of the shah, Khomeini's lodgings were significantly downsized. He lived in one room with a bed, desk and few other items. Across from his room was a small mosque where he gave prayers.

Tuesday afternoon the delegation was part of a seminar of Iranian religious leaders and scholars. The event seemed to capture the imagination of the local and international media.

The BBC sent their correspondent to cover the discussions. As seminars go, it was filled with rather dry presentations, until an ayatollah stirred the pot and spoke up, calling for something more than dialogue. There has been dialogue between faiths for years now, he said, listing the various councils of churches and other groups he had met with. It was time for action, he said.

Everyone seemed to agree it was a good idea to move beyond talking, but by the end of the seminar no particular ideas were forthcoming as to how they would move words to action.

The fact a Christian delegation from the U.S. was sitting in the same room as ayatollahs, other scholars and academics was perhaps significant itself to show there was some movement.
 

Wednesday Feb. 21
When approaching the Ministry of Foreign Affairs you step through a beautifully shaped wrought-iron gate and into a broad walkway as wide as a football field and stretching for two to three city blocks.

On either side of the walkway are monolithic government buildings and then in between smaller buildings with mosaic facades. Young, gun-toting guards came running when some in the delegation pulled out their cameras.

"No photos, no photos here," they shouted. The cameras were quickly stashed again.

The delegation met with the deputy foreign minister in a large meeting room with floor-to-ceiling curtains and brightly burning chandeliers. The meeting tables were set in a "U." There were enough spaces for three times the participants.

We were told this was the first time any Americans were in this room since the revolution.

Jalali entered the room with two staff members and sat at the head of the table. For the next 20 to 30 minutes, he gave an impassioned talk about the pain and anger Iranians felt toward the United States.

What was supposed to be a two-hour meeting turned into almost three hours, as the deputy foreign minister and the delegation discussed the lack of relations between Iran and the U.S. and ways things can improve.

At the end of the session, one of the Mennonite representatives offered Jalali a handmade quilt wall hanging, the same item the group presented to all of the dignitaries they were meeting.

The deputy prime minister appeared visibly surprised and moved by the gesture.

Perhaps, even despite all of the rhetoric and bluster of government officials, a simple quilt can move things to another level.

Later that evening, the delegation met with a group of Protestant leaders. Christianity is a distinct minority in Iran. There was some nervousness about this meeting on the part of the Protestant leaders.

Their concern had more to do with their fears about the delegation, whether they were spies or how their visit might create problems for the delicate balance they must find living in an Islamic state.

We learned the meeting with President Ahmadinejad was still on for Saturday at 9 a.m. In fact our foreign ministry contact told us the president himself had called to confirm the time and date.

Thursday Feb. 22
Qom is a religious city, not unlike Karbala, Iraq. Its primary feature is a massive mosque, which serves partly as a religious and pilgrimage center, as well as tourist attraction. It sits two hours south of Tehran and is a must visit for any delegation.

Visiting Qom moves you out of the political context of Iran into the more conservative religious world. Not all of the ruling clerics are happy with the way things are going in Iran. And for the delegation not to visit Qom would raise questions about the intentions of the group.

The town also includes a library filled with ancient texts.

A local cleric took it upon himself to collect old and ancient texts from all over the world. When he died 17 years ago, he left behind 30,000 volumes of everything from the ancient Arabic texts to the two-volume history of Freemasonry, written in the late 1800's.

His personal effects at death included a pair of slippers, some robes, a tunic, a Koran and perhaps some small change. His love for books led him to always being short on funds. On display are notes he wrote offering a year of prayers for someone in exchange for a book he was interested in.

Most of the library facilities are tucked underground in an earthquake-proof structure. The ancient texts are lodged in a temperature-controlled room with a 2-foot thick vault door.

There is even a room for "sick" books where they are given a sort of literary triage. Each book is placed in a cooling bin to dry pages and kill bacteria that might be eating away at the pages.

Several floors below are rooms with workers meticulously rebuilding books, identifying microscopic insects bent on turning man's greatest thinking back into dust, or at least a healthy meal.

The library is part of a consortium of libraries around the world, which includes close ties to the U.S. Library of Congress.

At an afternoon meeting with clerics and students at the Center for Religious Studies near Qom, the opening comments by a professor were less a speech than a personal testimony of his experience as a young man during the Iranian revolution.

He did not mince his words. The passion and anger at the U.S. for its support of the shah appeared as vivid today as it was 30 years ago.

And if asked how the differences between the U.S. and Iran could be rectified, he bluntly said, his answer would be if the conflict in Israel and Palestine is solved, there will be no problems between the U.S. and Iran.

On the return to Tehran, I came into the middle of a conversation several of the delegation were having with a young man in an ice cream shop. When told by the group of their intention to foster peace, the man blurted out, "What's in it for us?"

I couldn't contain myself so I equally blurted out, "McDonald's, that is what's in it for you."

Everyone laughed. The young man turned and said, "That is outlawed here, you know." It was hard to tell whether he was serious or just building on the moment of humor. Iranians are famous for their sense of humor.

Then we asked him what the group should say in our meeting with Ahmadinejad. "Well, if I tell you, I could get my head cut off." Everyone laughed again, but with a bit more nervousness.

The man then gave a thumb down on Ahmadinejad and thumb up on some of the earlier presidents since the revolution.

Back on the bus, we were told the meeting with Ahmadinejad was now set for 7:45 p.m. Saturday, and we would be meeting former President Mohammad Khatami at 5:30 p.m.
 

Friday Feb. 23
Churches in most Islamic countries meet on Friday. This morning I did some videotape work at the Armenian Evangelical Church in Tehran. The church is about 10 blocks from the hotel we are staying in, tucked away behind a school.

A small cross hangs on each of the metal gates, and a small sign spells out the name of the congregation in English and Armenian.

Attending an Armenian church of any sort always becomes an emotional experience for me. This was no different.

During the last five months of 1989, I lived in Armenia as part of a team building health clinics after the devastating earthquake in 1988. The pain and joy of that experience still lives inside me and emerges each time I meet Armenians. It's as if their tragedy became part of my life experience.

Outside the church, the women must wear their coverings. Inside the church they are free to remove their scarves, which many do. It is here, too, that they also shake hands with men.

With our meeting with the president still on the docket for 7:45 p.m. Saturday, we knew that by midnight, we would be on our way to the airport for a 3:30 a.m. flight back to Frankfurt, Germany, and then home.
 

Saturday Feb. 24
Directly across the street from the infamous American Embassy in Tehran is the The World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought.

The delegation had a meeting Saturday morning with Mohammed Ali Taskhiri, an ayatollah who was once on the ruling Council of Experts and is now a close friend of the Supreme Ayatollah Khomeini.

I did not make the early part of the meeting but arrived toward the end, just in time for presentation of a gift from the delegation.

The meeting was four blocks from my hotel, so I walked. As I approached the embassy compound, I could see the front of the building where, during the crisis, the blindfolded staff had been led out. It is strange how photos become imprinted in your mind.

One of the delegation members from the National Council of Churches suggested to Taskhiri that high-ranking religious leaders meet as soon as possible. Taskhiri liked the idea.

Saturday quickly became the most packed day of the entire trip. And it was filled with some irony. We were hosted for lunch by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at a complex that was once home to a diplomats' club during the shah's time.

It was situated just below the snow-covered peaks that surround Tehran on the north. Now it served as conference center, and according to Mahoud, our interpreter, it was the same place the ill-fated Holocaust denial conference was held in December.

Mahoud was working for National Public Radio, spending one day at the event, and said most Iranians had no idea it was taking place.

From there we moved on to a meeting with former President Khatami. He now heads a nongovernmental organization that works at dialogue on a variety of international issues.

Khatami spoke at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., about five months ago, just before Ahmadinejad visited in September.

He spoke eloquently to our group, and said as he was walking out the door after the meeting, "Everyone has a role to play in resolving this conflict."

From there we rushed to the residence of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. And for the first time, we stopped, waiting outside the gate until he had completed a meeting with the foreign minister of Bahrain.

We didn't wait too long. But any pause was a welcome pause.

We were told the meeting would be about 90 minutes. Instead, it went nearly two and a half hours. A lot of ground was covered.

And as planned, the delegation broached the issue of the Holocaust, commenting to Ahmadinejad that his statements about the Holocaust have made the work of those wanting to build bridges toward Iran much more difficult.

In response, he said what has been said previously, that he is concerned that the Holocaust is what allowed for the creation of the state of Israel. "On the pretext of the Holocaust, some people were brought to this land," he said referring to Israel.

"If it is historical fact, why is no one allowed to study it?" he asked. These comments were not much different than what he said at the meeting in New York last September.

Ahmadinejad did say that this is not about going to war with Israel, but said he wants to see the Palestinians have the right to determine their future through the ballot box. "Palestinians should be allowed to decide for themselves," he said.

The group also asked him about the nuclear issue, and he responded much as he had done in New York, saying nuclear weapons were against the Muslim faith, something several of the ayatollahs said during the week.

He also said, "Today, Iran has the capacity to produce nuclear fuel."

On a question relating to church and state he said, "The best president would be a divine prophet." The problem is, he said, "Pious people are not in office."

The interview ended a whirlwind week of meetings, discussions and trooping around in an oversized bus. It was hard to put a two-and-a-half-hour discussion like this into the context of conversations held with folks on the street, in ice cream shops, at church and in the mosque or hotel lobby. Still it is part of the puzzle.

Now, it is midnight in Tehran and time to go home.

Contact Mark Beach at mbeach@lnpnews.com