In the Spotlight - Iran
Hazukashii
In the Spotlight – Iran
By Ed “Hazukashii” Howell
26 Dec 2023
Iran (a.k.a. as Persia until 1935) is one of 18 countries that make up the Middle East, others include Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the Syrian Arab Republic, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. These countries span from Southeast Europe, to Northern Africa, and Western Asia, according to the World Atlas. Iran enjoyed a typical western style of parliamentary democracy until the 1979 when the Shah of Iran fled the country after many months of political unrest. On 1 April of that year, Iran was declared an Islamic Republic, and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini became the supreme religious leader, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica. Sharia Law was declared throughout Iran on 7 July 1980.
Iran had a solid expat community at the start of the 1970s, and as you might guess, that coupled with the running craze of the period, was suitable ground for the Hash House Harriers. Although Guy ‘Sir Guy of Guy’ Woodford is credited as the founder in the HHH Genealogy, Karl Henne and Ian Lindeman were also deeply involved. The history is recorded as the first organizational meeting taking place on 4 March 1975 in Karl Henne’s office at the Australian Embassy in Tehran. At that time, Ian Lindeman became the Hon Sec, and Guy Woodford became Hash Cash. The first actual trail, set by Henne & Lindeman, was set on 6 April 1975 near the Alborz Mountains, with 18 hashers participating in the chase of the two hares.
The Tehran H3 had enjoyed over 150 hash trails in and around the capital city, by the time they called their 3rd Annual General Piss Up (AGPU) on 1 Mar 1978. That is the last recorded history I could find on the Tehran hash. I conversed with founder Guy Woodford to see if he recalled when the last trail was held, but he stated he was unsure, as he had departed Iran in April 1976. None of the other former members could recall a date, so it may be safe to presume that the last run was sometime in mid to late 1978 when the Iranian Revolution commenced. Up until that point, the Tehran H3 had packs averaging in the mid-40s, and peaked on 27 Feb 1977 for run #100, when 79 hashers participated.
Iran now stands as one of the countries without an active hash club (there are currently 136 UN countries with and active hash club), and an even smaller number of countries that once had a hash club, but no longer does. Based on the current political environment in Iran, I doubt I will ever get the chance to run a hash trail there.