There are some countries where you can learn important facts just by peering out of the window. In Tehran the other day, I looked out of my hotel room at the flat rooftops of Iran’s gigantic capital. Countless satellite dishes were arrayed around me, some old and rusting, others new and shiny.

All perfectly ordinary, you might think, until you remember that satellite dishes are banned in Iran. Selling them is illegal, buying them is illegal, owning them is illegal.

Satellite television is denounced by the regime as a conduit for Western decadence and sin. Official propaganda holds that whereas America and Britain once used force and espionage to manipulate Iran, they have since resorted to more subtle and devious methods, including the cultural intrusion embodied by satellite dishes.

Yet hundreds of these illicit objects were on brazen display outside my window. If I could see them, so too could the authorities. But countless ordinary Iranians evidently felt confident enough to break the law in the most obvious way.