Sahand goes to his parents' tearoom to forget about the situation in Iran, because it's too painful. Some of his cousins have been taking part in the demonstrations, and he is concerned about them.

 
Sahand came to the Netherlands with his parents 26 years ago. They settled in the Netherlands more or less by accident. They were en route to Canada but missed their connecting flight at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, and one thing led to another. His mother Parwin and father Ali-Reza had fled the new regime in Iran, the Islamic Republic. According to Parwin:

"My husband resisted the oppression and censorship during the regime of the Shah, who ruled the country before the Islamic Republic. He was thrown into jail, and because he had been picked up, so was I".

Arrested
The substitution of the Shah by the Islamic Republic did nothing to make things better for Parwin and Ali-Reza. "I was a laboratory assistant at the health ministry", Parwin says.

"In those days, people suspected of being opposed to the government were arrested, tortured and forced to inform on others. It was a terrifying situation. People were being held without charges and summarily executed".

Parwin closely follows the ongoing protests in Iran; all of her relatives still live there. "I feel involved and concerned. I hope the leadership will listen to these people. I hope things will change for the better."
 
 

Teargas
Her son Sahand has little faith in a positive outcome.

"You just don’t know where this will lead. Those who say that this is a revolution have no idea what is going on. My cousins, and brothers of friends are out on the streets now, empty-handed, facing an army of animals armed with guns and teargas. Today, we heard a rumour that they are dumping water laced with acid on people from helicopters. It does not exactly cheer you up, you know. We will see, in a few weeks, months or years whether it made any difference."

The living room-sized tearoom is a place where Sahand can put the whole situation out of his mind. "I’m looking forward to making beautiful music with my Iranian and non-Iranian friends".

• The Iranian tearoom Mezrab is located at 50 Tweede Lauriersdwarsstraat in Amsterdam.