Angus McDowall

A restaurant named after one of the world’s best known hunger strikers comes across sounding pretty sick. But Bobby Sands Burger on Darband was named for the republican hero well before he died, when he was a figure of great inspiration for revolutionary Iranians suddenly aware they had comrades in the West.

A man who had fought the British – loathed by many Iranians as the ultimate colonial meddlers in their country – was just the ticket. So the restaurant was named after him. So too was a downtown street running behind the British embassy. Bobby Sands Street is still there too, but the British diplomats never quite got the hump the way they were supposed to.

Khaled Islamboli Street, on the other hand, named for the Egyptian assassin of Anwar Sadat, has prevented the re-establishment of diplomatic ties between these two major Middle Eastern countries. There’s an occasional movement to rename it for the sake of better international relations, but these are usually sabotaged.

Revolutionary ghosts die hard in Iran, but they do grow fainter. Over a quarter century after his death, the kids stopping for a spicy burger or hotdog at Bobby Sands see little more than an exotic named stall conveniently placed beneath the resort area of Darband and Tajrish Square. A few can remember the Irishman – and the cause of his death. They recognise the snapshot and maybe toast him with a sour-milk doogh. Most of the others just know the joint as a good place for a decent sandwich with spicy sauce.

A few foreigners pass by and take pictures. They seem most interested in the novelty value. It’s sad, I suppose.