Perhaps a bit frivolously, a fast food restaurant in Tehran bears the name of the political activist Bobby Sands, and even includes the iconic mural that was first painted in Belfast on its front awning.
Another spot in the bustling Iranian capital is Bobby Sands Street, which was originally named Winston Churchill Street. Not surprisingly, the locale has a more politically influenced history.
The students concocted their idea in March 1981 when they first heard the news that Bobby Sands had died as a result of his hunger striking while in the Northern Irish prison. Sands quickly became a name for the teens to connect with righteous rebellion and wanted to pay homage.
One of the friends lived in an area that overlooked the British Embassy in Tehran which was located on the aptly named Winston Churchill Street. The Iranian teens knew they wanted to pay homage to Bobby Sands, and knew this would be the perfect place to do it.
Originally, the teens wanted to replace the Embassy’s British flags with Irish ones, but weren’t able to locate any in Tehran, and weren’t able to handcraft a decent looking one. Then, they came up with the plan to hoist a white flag bearing the letters ‘I.R.A,’ but the sheet was too heavy the flag wouldn’t fly.
Ultimately, the teens decided on attempting to rename Winston Churchill Street to Bobby Sands Street.
“The plan wasn’t as exciting and adventurous, but we were desperate at this point. We all agreed and had soon bought large white construction paper and navy magic markers to make signs. I was the most graphically gifted of the bunch, so I’d draw the shape of the actual signs, copying the real ones made by the city and the rest of the gang would color and cut them. We made about twenty of them and got out when it got dark to cover the old signs,” the Irish daily wrote.
“The larger victory, however, was when we discovered the embassy had been forced to change their mailing address and all their printed material to reflect a side door address in order to avoid using Bobby’s name anywhere,” The report added.
Source: Irish Central
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