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Young Australian couple traveling across Asia to prove how safe travel is held in prison in Iran for 3 months now
- Thread starter thediamondage
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The local laws shouldn't keep you from going IF you read up on stuff for like 20 mins and stick to the main tourist-y areas.
Dubai for example is very lenient with their sharia implementation. Your internet is unobstructed, you can buy alcohol and you'll see women in mini skirts around town. In Abu Dhabi, just 100km away, it's much stricter (lots of blocked websites, no booze, no holding hands in public).
That said, for a hetero male like me and his wife it was bearable on vacation down there.
If I was gay, I wouldn't go period.
You also need a permit to operate a drone here in Germany in residential areas.
But I will bet you 100€ that if I were to go outside right now to let a drone fly for 30mins, these would be the outcomes:
a) nobody would care
b) someboy would care, but not enough to call the cops
c) someboy would care, but assume I have a license
Option d)
some random person saw them flying a drone, assumed they had no permit, cared enough to call the police
AND the cops arrived there in time to arrest them?
Sounds fishy to me UNLESS the couple was being watched already.
I don't believe the Iran gov goes around arresting random western tourists, I do believe that they watch them and wait for them to slip in a time of crisis. Especially if it's a UK citizen.
I'd wonder what the story is here. I'm a travel agent in Australia and I've sent a ton of people to Iran without incident. Most of them are on guided tours as is advised by the Iranian consulate which we have here and is normally? A condition of their visa.
Asking these questions is not victim blaming.
Asking these questions is not victim blaming.
Maybe, but remember that they flew the drone one month after Iran shot down an American surveillance drone. Security might have heightened when it comes to it.
Lol. The double standards here are glaring. Never will you find a thread about people "asking for it" being co-signed by so many posters without bans. The fact is, if you blame these people for getting locked up and tortured, you are an actual piece of shit. If you say "well..they should have known 🤷♂️ you are an actual piece of shit. If you feel like saying that shit is sweet because you pretend to be woke on resetera, you're an actual piece of shit. Fuck the simpletons blaming these people for the actions of a barbaric regime.
I'm sorry, but no.
I don't wish torture on them. I don't think it's good they're getting tortured. I don't think they deserve torture. And I don't blame them for the action of a barbaric regime. I do, however, blame them for not realizing that Iran IS a barbaric regime, and for some reason assuming that they wouldn't be punished by it. That makes them idiots pure and simple, and that's perfectly fine to call out. This is common sense stuff that anyone who grows up in either Australia or the UK should know.
It's unfortunate that is the way the world is. Iran is a country full of rich history that I WISH I could just go visit on a whim without fear of something like this happening. But it isn't.
These people literally went to prove that it's a safe country. And it isn't. They're paying that price. I'm not saying they deserve it, or that it's good that it's happening. But "play dumb games, win dumb prizes" is very appropriate here.
-You- are the one "pretending to be woke" by trying to deny that this is an unfortunate reality and equating it with "victim blaming" in sexual assault cases, or whatever you're trying to equate it to.
It's not particularly difficult to look up drone use laws for Iran...
You have to wonder why they didn't do this beforehand. I doubt it's that expensive to get a permit.
You have to wonder why they didn't do this beforehand. I doubt it's that expensive to get a permit.
The stupid thing is that if they were caught flying a Drone without a permit where I live in Australia they could get 2 years and a $25k fine due to proximity to an air base, at least if it endangered any flights. The laws in Australia aren't a big secret, drone owners will be aware of them. This is just pure arrogance on their part, they should know better.
Its hilarious how victim blaming gets used and abused around here that word don't mean shit anymore.
Most countries have strict laws about drones and you can get jail time even in Australia. So fuck this victim blaming nonsense. Drones are not toys.
Permits? For white people? What? Why? Thats victim blaming!
Most countries have strict laws about drones and you can get jail time even in Australia. So fuck this victim blaming nonsense. Drones are not toys.
You can end up in jail when you fly a drone in my area. And this is austria.
Why on earth would you think 'Lets fly that thing in iran. What possibly could happen?"
Why on earth would you think 'Lets fly that thing in iran. What possibly could happen?"
That is a very good point and me comparing Germany to Iran was stupid.
It's logical that Iranian civilians, police and the military care a lot more about drones than people Germany.
If that drone is controlled by a UK citizen... yeah, I can see why the Iranian police would get involved and even assume they are spies.
Fuck off with this shit. Pointing out how dumb doing something like this in Iran is is not 1. Victim blaming or 2. An endorsement of Iran's behaviour.
For some reason we have a lot of Iran regime apologists here, that's the sole reason for people spouting nonsense.
Them being in a financial crisis, harshly sanctioned by the US seems like a good enough reason for some posters here to wish death and torture upon a couple of tourists, fucking insane!
As if it's such a common thing to research laws regarding things which are basic in your native country.
Dude they were flying that drone without a license! WITHOUT A LICENSE! How am I supposed to feel any empathy just because they are being tortured in a hellish iranian prison for months?
No worries. It's easy to forget what something can mean in another region/culture. For some of us drones are pretty much part of a recreational hobby. For some it takes a whole ominous meaning entirely.
Are they really being tortured? I can't see any source for that.
"If you hold people responsible who gave no shit about a foreign country, because they assumed they're kings of the world, then you're a piece of shit."
Look, I could shit on all those middle-eastern, northern-african and south-east-asian countries all day long; it doesn't absolve these tourists from breaking local law. And we're not talking about trippimg over yourself or dropping a glass of water, something that can happen accidentally. We're talking about a fucking drone.
I don't know much about Iran, but flying a drone in a region that's permanently part of some war-like conflict is the one thing I know not to do.
Do these two deserve gruesome Iranian punishment? Nah. But let's not put this under "that could happen to anyone".
BuT tHeY bRoKe tHE Law
/s of course.
I totally agree with you.
Iran know fucking better than everyone they're not spies or some shit, purely PR to extort other countries.
User Banned (2 weeks): homophobic point of comparison
And no gay man should be murdered for being gay, either. But I'm not gonna not shake my head if you start kissing your boyfriend in broad light in Iran or Pakistan.
What "should" be is a nice theoretical concept, but it doesn't help any real person.
holy shit thank you! I couldnt be bothered or put into words as good as yours why what that fool u replied is way off the mark.
Like it sucks what happened to them, but you must have to be some kind of special type of privilege to think you can go to Iran of all places break the law and then just leave what a slap on the wrist, because you're an innocent white tourist who didn't know better?
I do hope they are able to return home safely tho, and wish them the best of luck
Why are you following me in multiple threads and displaying your lack of reading comprehension? I'm confused.
It's as much victim blaming as shaking your head at someone jumping in a lion cage at the zoo. 🙄 Iran is a homophobic hell, wjhich is known. So publically expressing homosexuality there is asking for trouble. As is flying a drone.
If that is victim blaming, I apologize. But then I'd like to ask what you'd tell homosexual friends visting such a country. "Go for it"? :/
Quote whoever in this thread is an Iran apologist.
No person should be jailed for operating an object capable of causing a plane crash?
I guess that means now for you noone should be jailed for potential negligent homicide ever. *rolls eyes*
Eh while that is true technically there is the issue of what is reasonable to call illegal and not reasonable.
A lot of the thread opinions in here are based on the idea that flying drones are no big deal even though it actually is a very serious flight risk if they took time to actually research the matter.
Being gay isn't something someone would reasonably argue should be illegal.
That is the issue here for most of these calls of victim blaming. They think flying a drone is on the same scale as jay walking.
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I dunno.
Intentionally going to a totalitarian regime and proceeding to do things to break the law, lol.
Again, torture, etc...bad.
But this narrative of these poor folks innocently walking through life and were unfairly kidnapped and tortured doesn't play out considering all the steps they had to intentionally take, all the signs they had to willfully ignore, etc.
By and large the world is a fucked up place. Most of the world is a fucked up place, run by fucked up people and the ability to be able to ignore and not worry about it is a part of privilege; borrowing your example if it was a gay couple for instance guaranteed they would have been more aware of what they could/could not do in Iran. But this couple thought they were fine, and the 'why's' of such beliefs is why I keep on harping on the privilege/distorted views on living in the west/their own countries civil right fuckups.
I feel alot of the replies here are from a 'WELL, GOLLY, I should be able to do what I want where I want and that's the way it should be because that's the way it is where I live and for people in my neighborhood, and I am shocked Iran is such an evil place!'. Like they see themselves in that couple (which shows their own privilege)
And the crazy thing is by the nature of us even talking about it is a form of privilege, because guaranteed there are hundreds getting tortured now that no one cares about because they aren't western vbloggers
Hm, I can see the difference, thx. Although I think 'reasonably' is just not a word applicable to inhumane countries like Iran, Pakistan etc.. :(
Yes, take a look at the prison that they're in.
"The prison is notable as the primary site for the housing of Iran's political prisoners since 1972, before and after the Islamic Revolution, in a purpose-built wing nicknamed "Evin University" due to the number of intellectuals housed there.[1] Evin Prison has been accused of committing "serious human rights abuses" against its political dissidents and critics of the government.[2] "
You can read about the many people that have been held there in solitary confinement awaiting rape and torture.
I know about that, but you said they are being tortured and I was wondering if there's any reports saying that they are.
Iran isn't really going to be handing out information about what's currently going on in that prison, but I think it would be a bit naive to assume that they're being treated well with everything that place is known for.
Disagree. A few months ago someone intentionally flew drones over Heathrow Airport. Not only could that have caused fatalities, but grounded flights for a full day preventing people seeing family, going on holiday etc. at one of the busiest airports in the world. All for some personal enjoyment?
Our government were looking to enforce the maximum of 10 years jail sentence which I think is more than appropriate given the circumstance.
There were also Greenpeace threatening to fly drones over an airport until our Government warned them off with severe jail time.
You think flying a drone over an airport deserves 10 years in jail?? Like, it's not acceptable as there are safety concerns but I feel like you can get that across to someone without putting them away for a decade
If you travel to a country that is known for its countless human rights violations and break the local law than it's accurate.
I don't see why this should be a discussion about white privilege (if anything, it would be "first world" privilege). Like, isn't the ideal world ultimately a world where we can expect to travel anywhere without being afraid of each other?
Drones are disruptive and more importantly dangerous machines that in my opinion are nowhere near as regulated as they should be.
It will probably take deaths for people to start taking it seriously TBH. Outside of cases like firefighting/airport disruption where the law will come down on them like a sack of bricks.
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They ARE regulated, enforcement of those regulations is what is needed.
When the regulations are enforced, this is what happens.
I mean it may sound harsh, but I'd much rather an idiot go to jail for 10 years than a potential plane crash killing 300+ people. I know it's an extreme hypothetical, but the exact reason a 10 year jail sentence is applied is because this sort of thing is entirely possible.
Most drones have strict warnings before flying (I have the Mavic Pro), which you can actually override manually. Doing this shows you're willing to break FAA regulations and local law and as a result risk potential danger.
How much do you think a drunk driver should get for killing a random pedestrian.
Now square that rationale with the potential to kill hundreds.
Yeah torture and rape are pretty common accusations against Evin Prison. Whatever these people did the don't deserve to go there.
Drones are a lot of things. I just bought one that essentially flies indoors and has access to apis so I can program routes or analyze the video feed with artificial intelligence. That's pretty cool, and 0 risk. I also have a dji phantom that can fly several kms and potentially cause real danger. There are also military drones of an entirely different nature.
Flying a drone can be 100% safe (even in the outdoors, you can use it basically as a longer selfie stick) or really dangerous. Do we know how this couple was using theirs?
Flying a drone can be 100% safe (even in the outdoors, you can use it basically as a longer selfie stick) or really dangerous. Do we know how this couple was using theirs?
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