Young Iranians Follow Dreams to Dubai

Hassan M. Fattah, The New York Times:

When young Iranians like Arash Tale look across the skyline of this rapidly growing city, they see what their parents once saw in American and European skylines: opportunity, riches and freedom.

Mr. Tale, 24, founder and publisher of a real estate magazine aimed at Iranian investors, is one of a new generation of educated Iranians who have eschewed dreams of heading West for the more easily realizable destination of Dubai, where home is only a 45-minute flight across the Persian Gulf, Iranian passports draw no extra scrutiny and nightclubs are as accessible as mosques.

"Getting a visa to Canada or the U.S. is almost impossible now," said Mr. Tale. "Here, you just buy a property and you get a residence. Dubai is building an environment of freedom that still fits our culture." READ MORE

Thousands of Iranians, most of them wealthy, are making the leap, investing in real estate, starting businesses and opening second homes, turning this desert country into an Iranian business hub free of the corruption, American penalties and political turbulence they face in Iran.

Mr. Tale, who studied in Australia, came last year in the hopes of profiting from the construction boom here, which is fed in significant part by Iranian money. His biweekly real estate guide, Maskan, with its print run of 12,000 copies, disappears from the stands in days. "This is a bridge between Iran and the West," Mr. Tale said. "It's like America 25 years ago, where if you are smart and you have a plan, you can make money."

Iranians were the first to jump in when Dubai's real estate projects opened to foreigners more than three years ago; they now control 10 percent to 30 percent of the developments being sold, the Iranian Business Council and others report. A recent report by an Iranian cultural publication estimated that up to 400,000 Iranians control some $200 billion in assets in Dubai; other estimates put the number far lower, $20 billion, still a significant sum.

Iranian businesses make up about a tenth of the companies operating in the so-called Free Zone, Dubai's vast tax-free industrial and business zone, helping to increase trade between the United Arab Emirates and Iran to an expected $7 billion this year from $4 billion in 2003. And that does not include the illicit trade that can never be accounted for.

The Iranians rushing here are mainly seeking the same formula: personal freedom, political and economic stability and a break from the West's political tensions with Iran. Businessmen use Dubai's free-market zones to funnel goods across the gulf, skirting the trade sanctions in place against Iran since the 1979 revolution. Youngsters come for schooling minus the mullahs, while older Iranians come for a more comfortable and cosmopolitan life.

"The boundaries are closed in Iran because of political policies," said Peiman Haqhiqhat, 29, who moved to Dubai with his new wife in 2004. He had been teaching computer engineering courses at the Islamic Azad University in Tehran when he was invited to teach at the university's new Dubai campus.

"You have more freedom here to live as you want," he said. "Here you can interact with people from other countries. It is interesting for me."

The effect of the flight of Iranian cash to Dubai became apparent when the Tehran Stock Exchange plummeted in October, in the wake of an International Atomic Energy Agency resolution on Sept. 24 to refer Iran to the United Nations Security Council for violating its nuclear obligations. The agency has not yet formally made the referral, but such a move could result in international sanctions. Officials said Iranian investors appeared to be moving millions into Dubai's stock market, which had opened to foreign investors only weeks earlier.

The Iranian government appears to be tolerating the exodus, as evidenced by Dubai's huge Iranian Club. Financed by the Iranian government, it is the largest country club for a single expatriate community in the city, with nightly cultural events, soccer fields of lush grass and a renowned restaurant. Several Iranian schools operate here, too, while Iranian pop stars schedule frequent concerts for the Iranian community.

Dubai and Iran have long had a special relationship, unusual even in the Arab world. A quarter of the citizens of the Emirates trace their roots to Iran. During the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980's, Dubai became a crucial transshipment point for goods and supplies, and the late president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheik Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan, argued for a more balanced relationship with Iran's ruling clerics than that of the policies pushed by the United States.

The proximity does mean that the government can keep close tabs on its citizens here. Many Iranians were afraid to speak on the record for this article for fear of retribution from the government.

Mr. Haqhiqhat said that he felt a degree of ambivalence about leaving Iran, but that the current political environment made him glad to be in Dubai. "Maybe in the future the situation in Iran will get worse," he said. "There may be limitations on people's freedom, and this can affect how long I stay here."

Perhaps influenced by a growing influx of Iranian-Americans, too, some Dubai streets are beginning to resemble parts of Los Angeles, home to one of the largest Iranian communities outside Iran. Dubai's heavily Iranian Deira section has long streets divided by shrubbery, dotted by swanky stores like Gucci and Iceberg, and teeming with rows of Iranian restaurants and businesses.

"This is a very nice, very free, very safe and rich country in the neighborhood - which is very unique," said Zahra Tehrani, who owns the Iranian Sweets Palace. "None of the other countries near Iran have this. You have everything that you have in Europe and America, but close to home."

Nada El Sawy contributed reporting for this article.