[...] business has declined as modern conveniences now allow showers and baths in most homes across the Islamic Republic. [...] people gathered in the humid air to discuss current events and debate ideas. [...] bathhouse owners like Gholam Ali Amirian, 70, who has spent four decades working in a hammam that is some 850 years old, fear the institution will dissipate like the steam from its heated pool. Sajjadi suggests the government could turn the bathhouses into tourist attractions by offering low-interest loans to owners to renovate their aging interiors.