One of the most intriguing or worrying countries – depending on your point of view – which can be found along Tracing Tea’s route is Iran. On our television screens, the Islamic Republic of Iran has again been in the limelight over its nuclear programme. There a three competing views. The West – Israel and America in particular – strongly suspect Iran’s continuing enrichment of uranium is aimed at developing a nuclear weapon. Iran, for its part, strongly denies this, accuses the West of double standards (‘if Brazil can, why can’t we?’) and, as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, emphasises its ‘inaliable right’ to pursue peaceful nuclear power. Finally, Russia and China defend Iran’s nuclear ambitions and act as a brake on the West’s more ‘proactive’ approach to the issue. Why are Russia and China interested in taking Iran’s point of view? The answer is, put simply, there is much to play for. Indeed, due to its geographic position and its resources, Iran has always found itself being pulled one way or the other between the objectives and power-politics of regional players: between Russia and Britain during the Great Game and again during WWII; between Saddam Hussein’s Iraq and the Taleban of Afghanistan (Iran’s leaders rejoiced in their removal, in the case of Afghanistan, actually offered to help). In a modern context, China sees in Iran a country which, on the one hand, has very little or no economic ties with Europe or America but, on the other, has areas in which Chinese expertise could play a profitable role – telecommunications, highways and public transport infrastructure and sadly, of course, internet censorship. Then there is Russia, badly hit by the financial crisis, and keen to maintain and – if possible expand – its valuable commercial contracts in Iran, in their case providing military hardware and building the Bushehr power plant.

A short history of Bushehr

Previously a quiet backwater known only for its unique folk music, Bushehr was selected in the 1970s (under the Shah) as a site for a nuclear powe plant. The reason was quite simple: it was (and is) one of the few locations in Iran not in an earthquake zone. The plant was initially developed by a subsidiary of the German company Siemens. Following the Islamic Revolution however, Siemens abruptly ceased to cooperate with the project and French company Eurodief, who were contracted to provide the enriched uranium for the plant, declined to do so, despite the fact that Iran had already paid for some. Here we have the roots of the present enrichment crisis: the withdrawal by Europe, in the words of Iran’s last nuclear negotiator, Dr Ali Larijani, ’caused our mistrust towards the west and encouraged us to go for the completion of our own peaceful nuclear program.’

Iran still needed a partner, however. Fast forward eight years, past the long and traumatic Iran-Iraq war, and negotiations for the project were re-opened under the government of then Prime Minister Hossein Mousavi (incidentally the same Mousavi who lost out to Ahmadinejad in the rigged election of July 2009.) This time, the assistance of Russia was to replace that of France and Germany. The resulting $800 million deal, signed in January 1995, allowed for the supply of three 1000MW light-water reactors and associated technological assistance. Under this scheme, the plant was to be completed by Iranian engineers, with Russian expertise and guidance. In 1998 however, with the project still crawling along, it was decided to draft in large contingent of Russian engineers to speed up proceedings. If one considers therefore Russian jobs created, both directly and indirectly, as a result of the Bushehr deal and indeed by Russia’s wider nuclear and military assistance to Iran, it is hardly surprising that Russia consistently vetoes UN Security Council resolutions to impose punitive measures on Iran. Russia’s intrasigence was underlined recently (September 2009) by Secretary of State Hilary Clinton’s fruitless attempt to persuade President Medyedev to agree to sanctions on Iran. That US pleas should again fall on deaf ears is no discredit to Mrs Clinton; it is worth remembering that one of her predecessors in the 1990s, Al Gore, went much further and effectively tried to bribe Russia out of cooperating with Iran. However, because the compensation to Russia proposed by the Clinton administration (30$ million) was pretty derisory when compared to the value of the contract ($800 million), the effort to dissuade the Yeltsin administration from cooperation with Iran, of course, met very little success.

The Bushehr plant was originally due to be completed in 2007 and, as things are, looks scheduled to go operational in 2010. For the Russians, it is imperative to get the plant up and running as soon as possible, and not bow to European and American pressure on sanctions. Russia sees Bushehr effectively as a storefront for its nuclear industry, allowing it to present itself internationally as an reliable nuclear partner, which delivers on its commitments and does not bend to international pressure. In this regard, Atomstroyexport – the Russian state-controlled conglomerate behind the Bushehr plant – has its eye firmly fixed on the growth of demand for nuclear power in India and China, where it already has a number of projects. To put it simply, Russian withdrawal from Iran’s nuclear industry, even in view of disagreements with the West over uranium enrichment, would not only damage Russia’s commercial reputation but also marr its carefully cultivated relations with Iran’s government and, in consequence, seriously dent the profits of major Russian companies. It was surely for this reason that president Vladimir Putin, visiting Tehran in October 2007, was swift to attribute delays in the project to ‘legal and financial difficulties’ rather than to international politics.

Iran, for its part, highly values Russia’s involvement. The nuclear industry in Iran has emerged as symbol of national pride, one of Iranian nationalism’s central articles of faith. One finds that Iranians from a broad variety of backgrounds and ages, many of who are deeply resentful of their present government, will nevertheless passionately defend Iran’s right to nuclear technology. Setting nuclear development aside however, Russia – and China – play a more fundamental role in Iran’s position on the international stage. Iran, by balancing the concerns of the one side (US, Europe, Israel) against the vested interests of the other (Russia, China), allows itself to maintain a useful equilibrium. And Iran’s diplomats, long-standing maestros of the international balancing act, will surely do their best to ensure that, as in the past, Iran will continue to get its own way in future.

Michael Pye

Unless you are as lucky as Arthur Dent, the chances are that you’ve be warned against hitch-hiking. Hitch-hikers are warned against the threat of being picked up by motorists with nasty intentions, and motorists live in fear of being mugged by their strange new passengers. In the Kyrgyz Republic, however, the story is a little different as in the absence of reliable public transport, hitch-hiking is commonplace and can lead to all sorts of entertainment. The truck bed of the Ford is the perfect place to carry additional passengers and, providing we’re not too overladen, we can usually squeeze an extra person or two into the cab as well.

Our most recent hitch-hiker didn’t fit the usual profile – she was nearly 70, had neither dreadlocks or grungy beard, and lacked the usual grubby rucksack half her size. Her name was Sofia and the much-anticipated bus to her village had never arrived. It was freezing cold and far too far to walk. There were already 5 of us in the cab of the Ford but we squished up in the back seat and as, fortunately, none of us are too large, managed to fit 4 people across the back seat.

Sofia’s village was about 20 minutes drive through the slush and the ice. When we picked her up we were en-route to Kiga Tees and so couldn’t stay for tea. We did, however, promise to drop in on the way home.

Late that afternoon we came back through the village and pulled up across the river from Sofia’s home. On foot the five of us crossed the snowy bridge, an icy  chill biting at our heels. Two alsation-crossed-with-something dogs loitered around the houses, yapping as we lifted the five-bar gate into the compound around the house. The house itself was white-washed with a pointed roof. The living quarters were on the ground floor and in the roof space above fodder was stacked to feed the farm animals through the winter.

We entered the house through a narrow doorway and left our shoes in the porch – you should never wear your outdoor shoes inside a Kyrgyz home. Sofia and her husband, a retired geologist who had specialised in gold mining in Kyrgyzstan, had laid on a splendid feast in their living room. We sat on brightly coloured quilts around a low table piled high with fried and baked breads, chocolates and raspberry pink meringues. When our picnic of chicken legs, crudite and potato salad was addded to the mix, the table was groaning under the weight of all the plates. Sofia brought to the table homemade raspberry jam for the tea which, as you may remember, is my absolute favourite.

Keen to warm us up from the cold, Sofia’s husband emerged with a bottle of cognac. A small glass was poured for each of us and we drank a toast to friendship and good health. In Kyrgyzstan you should drink whenever someone makes a toast and ensure that you empty your glass – not to do so would be rude. Fortuntely today was primarily about tea and not about cognac, so we were left in a fit state to drive.

The Kyrgyz are known for their hospitality and in this small living room we tasted the best of it. Hours before we had been strangers but, as the meal progressed, we began to feel like old friends. Crowded around the table were people from Kyrgyzstan, England, Egypt and Canada but there were endless things to discuss and, as Sofia’s husband said, at the end of the day we are all brothers, sharing our food, our friendship, and our love of Canadian basketball players. When the snows have melted and we can once again pass along the road to Kiga Tees, we will be back once again for tea and to further our new found friendships.   

Temperatures are falling fast in Kyrgyzstan and although so far we have only had one lot of snow fall, over a week has gone by and it has still not melted on the bed of the Ford. Bishkek, being as it is constructed almost entirely from grey concrete, is not much improved by a layer of the white stuff, but the Kyrgyz countryside can look absolutely striking in winter time. When Ali Mansi, food and beverage manager at the Hyatt, suggested a day’s road trip out to the waterfall at Kiga Tee, we therefore jumped at the chance.

Every winter journey should begin with adequate preparation and so before leaving we filled up the vehicle with warm blankets, thermos flasks of tea (de-caff. green and Makaibari black) and a picnic to make an army proud. We collected Ali and his guest, Jim Aziz, from the hotel and then headed out east of Bishkek in the approximate direction of our destination. Unfortunately maps in Kyrgyzstan, having been drawn originally for the military, are decidedly lacking in tourist sites and the signposts are pretty much non-existent. Daniyar, the newest member of the TT crew, came with us to translate and help us find our way.

The main road to Tokomok is well surfaced and sees a large amount of traffic. Once we turned off the main road, however, the roads deteriorated sharply so that at one point we felt we were driving across a field. The snowfall here had been heavier and if it weren’t for the fact that a lorry had passed through earlier in the day, we wouldn’t have been able to see where the road was at all!

We eventually found Kiga Tee just before the fog set in; had we arrived even 20 minutes later it’s likely we’d have driven straight by without even noticing it. The waterfall is cut vertically into the rock a short distance back from the road, and it falls into a stream which then joins the river in the valley bottom. As you walk up towards the waterfall you notice hundreds and hundreds of small pieces of fabric tied onto the bushes – this is a sacred place and previous visitors have left the ribbons whilst making a wish. This is something we saw back in India at the Sufi shrines, although here it is more likely to be a Shaman ritual. The idea is that you tie your ribbon at the sacred place and then, when the ribbon finally falls off, your wish will come true.

The waterfall is 90-100 feet in height but feels much higher when you are stood directly beneath it. Although the water in the centre continued to flow as normal, water at the sides had frozen into magnificient icicles and the spray made fantastic patterns, jutting starkly out into mid air at a right angle from the waterfall. The pool at the bottom is unexpectedly shallow and so we were able to stand right where the water hit the pool, pointing the cameras upwards at the natural ice sculptures and frozen bubbles.

In summertime, Ali assures us, the waterfall is a popular picnic spot, but had we enjoyed our lunch on the river bank today we’d have all frozen to the spot. Instead we hopped back in the car, heaters blowing full, and enjoyed a well-earned and warming cup of tea.

I can complain until the cows come home that I hate watching most television shows – they’re banal and, unfortunately, aimed to appeal to the lowest common denominator of taste and intelligence. However, when you travel around the world you come to realise the true value of having a broadcasting corporation that is answerable only to the general public and not to either a government body or a group of investors. The BBC – or ‘Auntie’ as it’s fondly known – is, of course, the most famous organisation of this type and its tv shows, radio broadcasts and website are accessible from almost every corner of the globe. When ‘Auntie’ gave Tracing Tea a call asking for help filming in the Kyrgyz Republic, it was a challenge we couldn’t resist.

Ben Tavener, radio producer extraordinaire from the BBC’s Russian service, arrived at Manas airport at the ungodly hour of 4am. We picked him up with the Ford, and also took onboard what at first appeared to be a rather lost looking American tourist but turned out to be the man charged with signing contracts for the Manas supply base – the US army’s head of real estate. Ben’s remit in Kyrgyzstan was to produce a radio programme for the Russian service about tourism in Kyrgyzstan, to film a web broadcast for the BBC website, and also to submit a proposal to the BBC World Service. Keen to show off the best that Kyrgyzstan has to offer, we planned a hectic but exciting schedule encompassing Lake Issyk Kul, goat polo, eagle hunting, white water rafting, a visit to Osh Bazaar, and interviews with both Kyrgyzstan’s tourism minister and the Mayor of Bishkek. A true professional, Ben didn’t even look phased!

Our week with the Beeb was a complete success and whilst we were able to show Ben a thing or two about mounting goat-cams, horse-cams and avoiding getting accidently covered in entrails, we also learnt a huge amount about how to create a radio programme. A martyr to his art, Ben was perfectly happy to lie by the hooves of galloping horses and get a little too close to the beak and claws of an eagle or the flames of a roaring fire in order to capture just the right sound effects on his microphone.

Back in the UK the BBC material is now being edited for broadcast. We’re watching developments closely and will be sure to post a link as soon as the broadcasts go live. Ben will be back with us filming and recording Tracing Tea next year, the start of a long and productive relationship.