Entrepreneur, traveler, and former mayor of Riga Gundars Boyars stated in an interview with the program 'nra.lv TV sarunas' that Iran is an amazing country with an ancient culture, where friendly and tolerant people of other religions live.
In his opinion, what is currently being said about Iran is untrue: "What is actually happening there can be understood by traveling. If you have been there, it is impossible to impose 'complete nonsense' afterward." He believes that much can be understood by interacting with locals and observing what is happening with your own eyes: "You need to go with an open heart and observe for yourself." Boyars also noted that perceptions are influenced by political narratives: "'Uncle Trump' is one thing, but many repeat it, and it 'settles in'. Then you tell your friends — they don't believe it, they think it's terrible there, that they shoot immediately if a woman does something wrong... You need to understand that there are different forces. This is not a conspiracy theory — there is a high-stakes game going on. Therefore, it is clear that they invest in PR, in 'preparing the ground' to justify their actions." At the same time, he emphasized: "I am not saying that everything is good there. It is not so — not everyone loves their government there. But we don't love ours either. For example, I don't love mine either."
