TEHRAN: The impeccable polish of northern Tehran’s plush shopping malls and bustling fast food restaurants could not mask the gasps of shock from chic young customers that Mahmood Ahmadinejad is their president elect.

The colourful headscarves and flashing bare ankles of the women and tight-fitting T-shirts of the men are testament to the increased social freedoms Tehran’s young and beautiful have won under the cautious reforms of Mohammad Khatami.

But on Saturday afternoon, the sound of low-fi pop music and excitable gossip was mixed with expressions of fear that Ahmadinejad’s stunning victory in presidential elections will see the newly embraced freedom snatched away.

Ahmadinejad’s aides have taken pains to shake off the “extremist” tag plastered on the Tehran mayor by his opponents and deny wilder speculation that he plans strict segregation of the sexes.

But his team will have to work hard to convince the young people who were merrily lunching on fried chicken and chips at the Jam-e-Jam food mall with flickers of fear for the future across their faces.

“I am really worried,” said Sharzad Zamani, dressed in a chic coat and blue and white headscarf pushed almost to the back of her head. “They may not start right from tomorrow but they will gradually try to make women look like they looked before.”

“This may as well be the end. This might be the last time we are able to go out together like this,” moaned Ali Reza Yazdgerd, a spiky-haired 20-year-old out for the afternoon with two friends.

“We will have to cut out hair, parties, skiing, coffee shops. Everything that we enjoy is going to be suppressed.”

Aresh, tucking into lunch with a group of male and female friends, gasped with disbelief when told of the result, which many people in the restaurant had apparently tried to ignore.

“What a catastrophe! And why? Because he will implement a culture of martyrdom. Even if Ahmadinejad is honest, he is surrounded by scary people,” he said.

Zahra, a student dressed in the chador, expressed hope that her own choice of dress would not be imposed on other women. “I didn’t like either of the candidates but I hope that Ahmadinejad will have tolerance. I have chosen my cover, I hope that others will have that choice too.”

Ahmadinejad has described freedom as “God’s biggest gift” to the Iranian nation and vowed to spread liberty to all spheres of life.

But many remain concerned by the reputation of religious conservative he has earned as mayor of Tehran, where he clamped down on the city’s once thriving cultural centres.

“I am worried that women will not be at ease any more,” said Sheida, shopping at the nearby Tajrish market. Peering nervously into her shopping bag she said: “I’ve bought this coat but I am not sure that I am going to be able to wear it anymore.”

The north of Tehran is the home of the westernised upper middle-class, in the foothills of the mountains and its avenues lined with shady trees.

Farhad, a young well-groomed owner of a shop piled to the ceiling with all kinds of western-brand sport and casual shoes said: “I am worried about my business. My customers are not people who wear the chador. I’m also concerned they will try to impose new directives such as not allowing us to serve badly veiled women.”a

However, for all the fears of a radical rollback of reforms, there is some hope that the claims put out about Ahmadinejad by his enemies will prove to be no more than scaremongering.—AFP