Migration, Exile, and Cafe Conversations

Dreams of Leaving Iran

Many conversations inside Tehran cafes revolve around migration.

Young people discuss:

• Studying abroad
• Immigration visas
• Economic opportunities
• Leaving Tehran
• Building futures elsewhere

Cafes became spaces where people process uncertainty about their future.

At neighboring tables, conversations shift between:

• Hope
• Frustration
• Nostalgia
• Fear
• Ambition

Coffee accompanies nearly every emotional state in modern Tehran.