Photographs: Morteza Nikoubazl/Reuters
Call it propaganda or counter-propaganda, or may be even stringent media restrictions, but perceptions of Islamic Republic of Iran in the eyes of the world have been anything but accurate.
Often described by the West as a barbaric nation with an unjustified urge to expand its influence beyond its frontiers, the fact that Iran continues to be an absolutely 'normal' society, has been heavily, and often deliberately, missed.
Like many other countries in every nook and corner of the world, even the 21st century Iran is trying to blend tradition with modernity in its own way to find and shape its future.
A country which is the modern face of one of the earliest civilisations the world ever witnessed, with parts of its history soaked in violence, modern Iran is not just a fossilised society dominated by religious dogmas.
Rediff.com presents some pictures of modern-day Iran where normalcy has found its legitimate space amid supposed fanaticism.
In this picture, a musician from the Tehran Symphonic Orchestra performs in Tehran.
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Photographs: Fars News/Reuters
An Iranian warship and speed boats take part in a naval war game in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, southern Iran
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Photographs: Morteza Nikoubazl/Reuters
An Iranian man helps to smear mud on the face of another during the Ashura religious festival in Khorramabad, southwest of Tehran.
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Photographs: Morteza Nikoubazl/Reuters
Members of the Islamic Azad University's women volleyball team rest during a break in the second leg of Iran's women's volleyball premier league in Tehran.
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IN PHOTOGRAPHS: Inside an unseen IRAN!
Photographs: Morteza Nikoubazl/Reuters
Members of Iran's Basij militia smile as they pose for a photograph at a war memorial site, 16 miles from the Iraqi border, in Khoozestan province.
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Photographs: Morteza Nikoubazl/Reuters
A general view of residential buildings in northwestern Tehran.
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Photographs: Morteza Nikoubazl/Reuters
An Iranian woman plays at Maryam Bowling fun and sport center on the island of Kish, south of Tehran.
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Photographs: Morteza Nikoubazl/Reuters
A boy smiles as he plays on a tank at a war exhibition held by Iran's revolutionary guard to mark the anniversary of the Iran-Iraq war in southern Tehran.
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Photographs: Reuters
Members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Navy march during a parade to commemorate the anniversary of the Iran-Iraq war, in Tehran.
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Photographs: Morteza Nikoubazl/Reuters
Iranian women walk along the southern beach on the island of Kish in the Persian Gulf, south of Tehran
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Photographs: Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters
An Iranian man at the Ali Ebneh Musal Reza mosque in the city of Islamshahr, southeast of Tehran.
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Photographs: Morteza Nikoubazl/Reuters
Majid Kavousifar and Hossein Kavousifar, his nephew, the killers of a judge who had jailed several reformist dissidents, hang from the cable of a crane in Tehran.
Majid and Hossein were hanged before a crowd of hundreds.
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Photographs: Morteza Nikoubazl/Reuters
A woman carrying a basket shops at a supermarket in northern Tehran.
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Photographs: Mehdi Marizad/Fars News/Reuters
Members of Iran's Revolutionary guard personnel monitor an area as they stand on top of a hill while taking part in a war game in the Hormuz area of southern Iran.
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Photographs: Morteza Nikoubazl/Reuters
An Iranian official smiles at the camera at a polling station in Tehran during a run-off parliamentary election, in 2008.
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Photographs: Raheb Homavandi/Reuters
Iranian students study in a classroom in Bam, southeast of Tehran.
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Photographs: Morteza Nikoubazl/Reuters
An Iranian couple look to each other while shopping on the island of Kish in the Persian Gulf, south of Tehran.
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Photographs: Morteza Nikoubazl/Reuters
Members of the Iranian army's land force march during a parade to commemorate the anniversary of the Iran-Iraq war, in Tehran.
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Photographs: Morteza Nikoubazl/Reuters
A cleric walks through the members of Iran's army air force and land force while attending Friday prayers in Tehran.
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Photographs: Morteza Nikoubazl/Reuters
Women pose with an abandoned Iraqi tank during their visit to a war memorial site near the Iraqi border, in Khoozestan province.
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Photographs: Morteza Nikoubazl/Reuters
A cleric who is a member of Iran's Basij militia southwest of Tehran.
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Photographs: Morteza Nikoubazl/Reuters
A young Iranian woman prays during the first Friday prayers of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan at the University of Tehran.
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Photographs: Morteza Nikoubazl/Reuters
An Iranian couple rests as they sit in front of an Iranian-made Zelzal missile at a war exhibition held by Iran's revolutionary guard to mark the anniversary of the Iran-Iraq war, in southern Tehran.
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Photographs: Morteza Nikoubazl/Reuters
An Iranian Sunni Kurd walks at a bazaar while shopping in Marivan in Kurdistan province, west of Tehran.
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Photographs: Morteza Nikoubazl/Reuters
Schoolgirls attend the Iranian parliament in Tehran.
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Photographs: Caren Firouz/Reuters
An Iranian walks past a mural of a former American hostage outside the former US embassy in Tehran.
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Photographs: Raheb Homavandi/Reuters
Worshippers pray during Friday prayers in Tehran.
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Photographs: Morteza Nikoubazl/Reuters
A woman walks along an avenue in central Tehran.
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Photographs: Morteza Nikoubazl/Reuters
A cleric prays during his visit to a war memorial site near the Iraqi border, southwest of Tehran in Khoozestan province.
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