Late last month I made my first visit in 22 years to Iran, where I had covered the Islamic revolution under the leadership of Ayatollah Khomeini as a Japanese newspaper correspondent. Some conspicuous changes in the country attracted my attention.
First of all, vehicular traffic in the city was flowing smoothly. Previously, the city was plagued by severe traffic jams, and I would come across the sites of a few traffic accidents every day. Now the city is covered by a network of freeways, and there is little traffic congestion. Not once did I see accident-damaged cars on the roadside.
The city is also served by a subway system that was under construction with Chinese technical aid when I was there before. The Middle East's first subway, whose fare is only 500 rial (8 yen) per section, is popular among the citizens and is always crowded.