Nizar Latif has an interesting article in The National this week on the reluctance of Baghdad residents to ride buses imported from Iran, which are identified by their bright yellow paint scheme. It does a great job of conveying the ambivalence of the Iran-Iraq relationship, where friendly state to state relations and expanding trade fall against the backdrop of painful memories of war among the general population. A few paragraphs:
“Residents believe these buses may be working for the benefit of the Iranian government and Iran’s economy,” Mr Mansour said. “The buses represent a direct Iranian presence in Baghdad and there are plenty of people here who are outraged about that.”
On a personal level, the 56-year-old driver said he was also unhappy with the Iranian machines, although not for ideological reasons. “The Iraqi government used to import British or German buses, which were always high quality,” he said. “These Iranian buses are not as good; they spend too much time broken down in the middle of the road. No one can love a bus like that.”
Some 50 Iranian-made buses, painted a distinctive yellow, were recently purchased by the Baghdad city authorities. The decision was a purely practical one, based on urgent demand and their affordability, according to the mayor, Saber al Esawi.
“We imported the buses to resolve a shortage because many of the buses in service in 2003 were stolen after the fall of Baghdad,” he said. “We needed new buses to serve the citizens.”
Buying Iranian proved to be a controversial step, however, and was met with disbelief by some Baghdad residents, who immediately suspected a conspiracy was under way.
“I was shocked when I saw the Iranian buses,” said Mohammed Ibrahim, a doctor with a clinic overlooking the Bab al Moutham bus station. “We’ve had so much Iranian intervention here and now we have Iranian industries invading.
“I don’t know why we would buy bad quality Iranian buses, buses that even the Iranians don’t like to have in Tehran because they break down. I can only think that administrative corruption is to blame, that the provincial council wanted to have good relations with Iran.”
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