(10 Feb 2020) LEAD IN:
A factory in Iran provides the U.S. and Israeli flags that are regularly burned and stomped on by Iranian protesters.
Made in Iran, the flags are burned as a way for protesters to vent their frustration and anger.
STORY-LINE:
Although they are aware that all of their work will go up in flames, the workers at a small Iranian flag factory carefully colour each of the 50 stars and 13 stripes on the U.S. flags they are making.
They attentively imprint the Star of David on the Israeli flags, which will ultimately end up as ashes after being burned in a public square.
The Diba Parcham Khomein plant, roughly 260 kilometres southwest of Tehran, is a major producer of the U.S. and Israeli flags that are burned in demonstrations in Iran.
With the 41st anniversary of the 1979 Iranian Revolution around the corner, a new batch of flags is being prepared.
The workers at the plant use stencils to turn a white canvas into a colourful flag.
With the U.S. flag, they start with dying the blue canton, before moving on to the bars.
As Iran does not recognize Israel, the workers add the words "Death to Israel" on the country's flag.
Once they have coloured the flags, they hang them up inside the factory to let them dry.
The factory produces roughly 6,000 U.S., Israeli and British flags annually.
The symbolic burnings offer the Iranian people a chance to express their anger and frustration, especially as tensions with the U.S. run high.
The demand for U.S. flags has tripled in recent years, according to owner and founder of Diba Parcham Khomein flag factory Abolfazl Khanjani.
"I see that our people have no instrument to express their rage so I do not feel bad (about making the flags) and giving them the right to demonstrate their anger by burning the symbol of America," he says.
"Does production of the U.S. flags for burning pose any danger to anyone? Does it hurt anyone? My answer is no. It is an insult at worst," he adds.
Anger at the U.S has been building up in Iran but it peaked in recent weeks when U.S. airstrike killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, a popular figure of national resilience in the face of four decades of U.S. pressure.
Soleimani had become Iran's most recognizable battlefield commander, ignoring calls to enter politics but growing as powerful, if not more, than its civilian leadership.
When Khanjani's sister Azam sews the flags that are going to be set ablaze in protest, she has Soleimani on her mind.
His death caused the Iranians "great torment", she says.
"This year, as I sewed every flag, I was excited that they were going to be burned. I only feel hatred when I sew them," she adds.
The factory has 40 workers, including 25 women from the nearby villages, earning monthly salaries of around $400.
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