TEHRAN - In the heart of the Iranian capital, the Boof cafe serves up refreshing cold drinks on a hot summer's day. They must be the most distinctive iced Americano coffees in this city – the cafe sits in a leafy corner of the long-shuttered US embassy.
Its high cement walls have been plastered with anti-American murals ever since Washington severed relations with Tehran in the wake of the 1979 Iranian revolution and the hostage crisis – which still cast a long shadow over this tortuous relationship.
Inside the charming Boof cafe, Amir the barista says he'd like relations to improve between America and Iran. "US sanctions hurt our businesses and make it hard for us to travel around the world," he reflects as he pours another iced coffee behind a jaunty wooden sign - "Keep calm and drink coffee." Only two tables are occupied - one by a woman covered up in a long black veil, another by a woman in blue jeans with long flowing hair, flouting the rules on what women should wear as she cuddles with her boyfriend. It's a small snapshot of this capital as it confronts its deeply uncertain future. A short drive away, at the complex of Iran's state TV station IRIB, a recorded speech by the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was broadcast to the nation on Thursday. "The Americans have been opposing the Islamic Republic of Iran from the very beginning" he declared. (BBC)
