ABSTRACT
Putting pressure on teachers was seen by teaching staff as a typical "Muslim" or "Arab" characteristic of "bargaining for reality. When applied to Iranian clients and Muslims more generally, the metaphor also resonates with other representations and fears in the wider society in which individual Muslims are themselves potential containers of cultural substance that threatens the nation. Iranians, in their narratives of self and, it would seem, in practice, want to be more expansive social persons. But whatever the problems that can arise from the mismatch of person models and the differences between official trajectories and personal ambitions, Iranians continue to act. One involved attempting to prise Iranians away from what was perceived as an excessively strong group attachment and identity. Also indicative of a basic container metaphor is the belief, found among many personnel, that Iranians did not always reveal their true intentions.
