© the eyeranian

Random Observation

Political Idiocy X 2

The definitive example of political idiocy is wearing white socks with a suit. Just kidding! It actually is making comments like this.

I wrote and spoke in support of both Israeli's and Palestinian's right to self govern and political existence long before it was fashionable, but am still wondering what does Israel being "wiped off the map" mean anyways? Is he talking about a political entity or a physical geography being "wiped off"? Will everyone he considers to be Israeli just pack and leave? Where to? The kid that was born there to parents who were born there moves to where his grandparents were born? Don't be ridiculous. Maybe they'll just stay and be ruled under the Palestinian authority now. You think that would end the ongoing conflict? Hardly. Hope it isn't advocating a genocide. I doubt that, even coming from most of the extremists. So where is Ahmadinejad getting off with opinions that go nowhere and have no practical reality?

This kind of idiotic rhetoric only plays up the emotions of a very limited circle of similar-minded airheads, plus fuels the flames of hate within the ranks of your foes. Just take a look at how his "World without Zionism" observations is already translated by the extremists on the opposite side:

News by Us, translated Ahmadinejad's ludicrous comments as "Kill All Jews"! According to them and only them, " (Ahmadinejad) said what his generation has always believed, ... that Jews must be killed." Their accurate reporting -not confirmed by any credible news organization- continues this way: "He stated that the state of Israel, founded on May 14, 1948, must be "wiped off the map." In other words, all Jews must be slain."

The same source then condemns a whole generation of Iranians (not just the extremists in Ahmadinejad camp) when it concludes that "Khomeini, then Ahmadinejad, and now the next generation of Iranians are to continue with the project of eliminating Jews and those friends of Jews."

Reporting "without bias" apparently also means misquoting others along with Ahmadinejad. Just read the following paragraph:

"No wonder that British Prime Minister Tony Blair has referred to Islam as "an evil ideology." US President George W. Bush has referred to it as an "ideology of hate." Finally these two democracy leaders realize that Islam is not a "religion of peace."

Hmmm. Did they say that? That is not how I remember it.

The point is, by opening your mouth irresponsibly, you can easily play into the hands of your enemy. Then again, in my view there isn't much difference between the extremists on either sides of this particular political ping-pong or so-called "enemies". Those attending the "wipe-off conference" and the ones interpreting what has been said to justify their own intentions, have both used each other as the big bad wolf to allow them to rule on a foundation of fear. The imaginary enemy that once in a while threatens your entire existence is a powerful tool to help in crushing any opposing point of view under the guise of national security or similar nonsense (hey just ask the defenders of "patriot act".)

For that, the extremists in Iran and their ideological brothers in Israel have done much over the years in helping one another and very little in creating any real harm.

Relax, Sky is NOT Falling!

So, the "opposition", academia, the community abroad, bloggers, observers, pollsters and even the CIA-funded call center that spent weeks with numerous Los Angeles based operators calling Iran in order to predict a winner, got it all wrong and Ahmadinejad came out as the new president.

There is little point in discussing the accuracy or even legitimacy of this so-called election. What is perhaps more compelling to watch now however, is the reaction it has created. Some are clearly in mourning to the extent of going completely silent, although the most common reaction is what I can only describe as the "sky is falling" syndrome.

This refers to all those who are predicting a catastrophic doom as the result of one bureaucrat taking over another's job. After all, isn't by constitution the role of Iranian president more or less that of an administrator? He (and by their latest interpretation of their law, there will never be a she) is not in charge of deciding whether nuclear energy requires further steps forward or whom should the para-military Basij and Revolutionary Guards target next. He also has no control over the judiciary, so can not release prisoners or decide to take more in. He introduces no legislation and vetoes none either. Even his elected seat could be taken away if the non-elected leader decides so, as the first ever president of Iran quickly found out.

If all of that is true, then what is the difference who the man at the high seat is? I know it may seem easy for someone from so far to seat back and say "who cares", but then again it is sometimes hard for those surrounded by trees to see the forest.

Iran is only the second country in the world (that I am aware of) who produces both sides of its fundamental political positions from the same essential cloth. In other words, those in power as well as it's supposed opposition share the exact same views on 90% of the issues and even the other 10% also run more along posturing than actual values. It may not be an accident that the main architects of this scheme were all educated in the first country in the world with a similar system (You think Saeed Emami is reading this? I'm yet to be convinced he's dead.)

So my friends, take heart in knowing that the sky is NOT falling yet, just because we are changing presidents. Whatever changes take place over the next four years will not be a result of Ahmadinejad's new title, as those decisions are made way above his head and when they are made, even the most "liberal" of the reformist presidents will not stand in the way of their execution.

As I look at my Sunday issue of LA Times, I see the gloomy face of Pooya Dayanim, introduced as president of Iranian Jewish Public Affairs Committee and holding a framed image of Forough Farokhzad with this caption "he fears her poetry will be banned under the newly elected Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad." Then I wonder if some of us are still in shock over what took place in our country over a quarter of a century ago and can't accept the reality of its magnitude yet.

Iran Vote

I did not vote in the last Friday's "Presidential Election" for Iran. Not being the type to hype up a "boycott" of any sort or try to inject my opinion on anyone at all, I also stayed quiet on the topic, both in my private life as well as publicly.

It wasn't anything new to me of course, as I am yet to vote in any of the Iranian governments various "elections" of the past 26 years or so.

Perhaps it is because of the sacredness I feel towards the practice that I object to anything that would diminish its greatness. Elections in Iran have very little to do with democracy or even choice and are rather tools used by the privileged few to further entrench their hold on power. For that, I refuse to lower my own standards.

Are We Nuclear Yet?

One of the most clever ways a regressive fundamentalist theocracy has been able to remain in power in an otherwise discerning country like Iran, is how this government has always managed to control the pace and direction of the political dialogue internally as well as abroad. This has enabled them to divert discussions and even demands of the opposition towards an objective that suits their needs first and above all else.

Just look at the current arguments regarding nuclear power. By erecting yet another paper monster in the atmosphere of political discourse, they have managed to sidetrack any demands on more fundamental questions of human rights violations, democratic reform and essential civil liberties such as equality of women and more evenhanded distribution of wealth, while all the discussions seem to go around only one real or imagined trepidation.

Search the latest news on Iran and you are almost guaranteed to discover an overwhelming percentage of your findings will include the term "nuclear program". Even as EU discusses their concerns with Iran, the direction of talks is not towards guaranteeing more freedom for Iranian people (as presumably there is no objections about a "democracy" having nuclear capabilities), but more along the lines of how big of a reward they'd like in order to slow down their progress.

At the end, and once again, the final result of these discussions and the presumed pressure inflicted by the current U.S. administration is allowing this backwards establishment to solidify their position even more strongly, while people of Iran continue to suffer with some of their basic rights being denied.

It's funny how their opposition used to think the regime in Iran is so foolish and idiotic.

Ahura - Hakha - Speaks!

I had prepared this post for yesterday but when I brought it up in a conversation with a friend, he insisted I should not publish it. Some of us eyeranians have this weird concept of Aberoo or honor of our outside persona we try to protect so dearly at at any cost. If we have family problems, our friends are usually the last to find out and if anyone close to us creates an embarrassment, we'd rather die than to make it public knowledge.

The same sometimes applies to our politics and some of us try really hard to hide our dishonor, be it a weird figure or movement or even public viewpoint. Well, I disagree and believe that the only way to get rid of some of those same backward people or beliefs is to expose them fully to the outside world, as in this way they rapidly lose their luster and the ugly truth will become more visible.

So is the case with the current master of such political/social embarrassments; Mr. Ahura Pirooz Yazdi. Don't agonize if the name does not ring a bell, the man did not exist on anyone's political or social radar screens up to a few short months ago, if that. In short, he is a self-appointed opposition leader who is going to "free Iran" on October 1st, by taking a few planes full of his supporters to land in Tehran and celebrate their freedom on the streets! He is also the creator or promoter of a new/ancient faith he calls "Hakha", where everyone loves everyone else and nobody asks too many questions.

The Labyrinth tells us he has found some followers inside Iran through his 24 hour access to a satellite television organization, but who really knows?

Ebrahim Nabavi, satirist and known novelist based in Europe, recently wrote a piece about Ahura Yazdi and to make his point about the man who is supposedly our future leader, transcribed parts of one of his television speeches without adding any commentary, which I am translating for you here.

This isn't to promote or even denounce Ahura, as I think getting to know him and how he is received by our people tells us much more about ourselves than we'd ever like to admit to or are successful at learning. Here it is, with almost a day delay:

(Explanation: Guardians are between 300 to 500 people who control the world)

"...Guardians when they do it to a President, especially in Africa, he will come and - Feed or Eat (unclear word usage) - his family and then do it .... about the event in 1979 during Shah's time, the world's economy, be it in U.S. or Europe, was under control of Iran. Iran had supremacy over Suez Canal, dominance over South Africa and diamonds was Shah's, economy of Somalia was Iran's... Iran was about to reach what do they call it?... world's developed countries... Shah at this time wanted to become the Guardian's leader, the same way Tsar wanted to be the Guardian's leader and they murdered him and his entire family.. Shah had created a Club of Life and with that he wanted to expand global peace and development... and they saw he is pulling ahead and stopped it... When someone is getting out of his own territory, meaning his own boundary, meaning his area, the Guardians wont allow it.

... For example, during Reagan's time, the person assigned by the Guardians shoots in a way so people will not die... it all depends on who is carrying the assignment... for example, you'd find fifty people who had Cream Pie on their face in Europe during the 90's... the agent responsible was a different one..."

Another Freed Motallebi

Saeed Motallebi, Sina's father has been released. At least for now and who knows what prompted it. I can tell you that the reaction to his arrest was extensive and came from a wide and varied range of sources; bloggers, prominent writers, even one of Iran's Vice Presidents. Hope it is permanent and his family is not put through any more heartbreak.

Sina needs our help, NOW!

It may be fair to say that if it wasn't for Sina Motallebi, the eyeranian would probably not have been born. More accurately, if it wasn't for Sina's arrest in 2003, I don't know if I would have committed myself to a regular and organized web log.

You may remember he was arrested in Iran, mainly for the content of his blog and this was a first even for that regime. I did not know Sina personally, but Hossein Derakhshan did. They were both amongst the crop of young journalists who had found an opening to get published in the barrage of new newspapers that came to be after the election of Khatami and had become friends. Hoder (as Hossein is often known as) and myself had exchanged more than a few e-mails by then and I had used his advise in starting an infrequent weblog.

Naturally, it was through Hoder then that I heard about the arrest. He was also asking people for help, trying to get the story publicized further. I wrote him and volunteered to help. Soon, we had thousands of signatures on a petition I prepared and our multiple press releases and contacts for interviews, got the attention of some major mainstream media outlets such as Newsweek and BBC.

That is when I felt a regular outlet needed to be available for spreading the latest on his condition and starting the eyeranian seemed like a natural course of action. At the beginning and up to his release later in 2003, Sina was a regular topic of this weblog. In fact, the name "Sina" came up a total of 98 times during the first two months of eyeranian's existence in April and May of 2003.

We managed to get even more publicity for him and whether true or not, Sina himself gives much of the credit for his eventual release to all the bloggers who united behind his cause. He went even further and gave myself way too much recognition in his first post-release article about his arrest, more than it was ever warranted, sought or deserved.

Now, I told you all of this to get to this point; Sina's father was arrested a few days ago, most likely because of the outspoken and critical nature of Sina's writings since he escaped Iran. Hoder sees this as part of a much larger movement to put more restrictions in place, particularly against websites and blogs. Sina has a picture of his dad (with his grandchild, Sina's son) on his blog, followed by a link to every post and article people have written about his dad's predicament.

I'm not sure what the answer is at this point and how we could help, but I am volunteering myself and ask the rest of you to come up with some suggestions or help out in some even small way to get more attention to this travesty. I don't think sitting back and choosing silence will help, so be creative as well as generous with your time. I'm all ears.

Hey Monkey, Dance Now!

Don't you wish you had a puppet you could pull out of the closet whenever you needed to do whatever nonsense mission you assigned to it and it would be done with little resistance or any question asked? Well, the NeoCons sure have one on Iran and it even comes from a genuine background of progressive ideals. How sad is that?

Iran, the new old enemy?

I woke up on July 28th and did something I have not done in a long time; I checked my web log's counter for the number of visitors that day and it read 179. At first I was not sure how to react. A few months ago (maybe last time I checked) that number would have been in thousands but then again I haven't really written much in weeks.

I decided there were two ways to react; either get negative and mourn that a whole bunch of people got tired of coming back to a similar page until they stopped checking OR think of it this way; you haven't written anything of substance for a long time and yet still a bunch of loyal people come back to check your blog. I chose to feel the second way and that's why I even announced that I wrote something that day.

What I wrote was a response to an article in Sunday's LA Times. Something put out by Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and picked up by a bunch of papers in actuality, including LA Times. Here is the piece by Walter Russell Mead. Read it first, then you may wish to read my reply below. This was sent to the paper, but I doubt they'd ever publish it:

It is a shame to see the same hawkish mentality that pushed us into an illegal and immoral war in Iraq has increased its intensity in preparation for yet another horrible mistake, this time preparing the groundwork for a possible military confrontation with Iran.

Walter Russell Mead’s piece in Sunday’s LA Times (A Darker Shadow than Iraq) is just another example of the types of articles appearing in media over the last few weeks that should worry those who can see the parallels between now and how the public opinion was molded on Iraq about two years ago.

In fact, similarities between the cases made against Iran now and Iraq then are plenty and far from just alphabetical. Not only they are similar in the tone and even charges levied, but also identical methodology of fear and stating false premises as facts are used. Perhaps not surprisingly though, is that again most of these latest attacks, including this particular article, come from The Council on Foreign Relations. The same outfit who provided most of the intellectual rationale behind invasion of Iraq and anything else the “New World Order” crowd sees as their necessary next step.

Let me clear one point from the start, as a former political prisoner of the Islamic Republic, there is no stronger desire in me but to see the current regime in Iran replaced with a democratic and peaceful alternative. I have lost no less than 36 of my close friends, classmates and relatives to the brutality of this current system, many of them executed as teenagers. So, do not expect to find a hard-core defender of that system here, but even the most brutal dictators should be dealt with fairly and the method to replace them is critical to what they will be replaced with. The mess we have created in Iraq should provide enough evidence on that fact.

The fear factor in this article starts with a myth perpetuated a few years ago by one Israeli tabloid. It is a quote often used cleverly and never in its entirety to show the supposed intentions of Iran to go after “nuclear destruction of Israel”. It came from a 2001 sermon by one-time President of Iran Rafsanjani. Again, I feel it necessary to point out that if one day Rafsanjani is brought to an international court to answer for his crimes against humanity, you’ll find me in the long line of claimants as I have experienced his sadism and brutality first hand. But again, even he deserves to be judged on what he has actually said or done and not something imagined by a third-rate newspaper.

Mead repeats the allegations of that tabloid paper in his article as facts. Here’s how he puts it: “Moreover, Iran's statements about the nuclear weapons it hopes to build are far from reassuring. In December 2001, former Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani said the "application of an atom bomb would not leave anything in Israel" but would produce only "damages" in the Muslim world. After the nuclear destruction of Israel, Rafsanjani said, "Jews shall expect to once again be scattered and wandering around the globe."

Unfortunately the full text of Rafsanjani’s speech is not available to confirm or deny this without any suspicion. Friday sermons are rather long and as such they are usually abbreviated by most newspapers and are published the next day. However, more than one source has searched for what was actually said on that day and here is the quote closest to the tabloid’s allegation reported by Michael Rubin of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, hardly an anti-Israeli outfit: "If one day, the Islamic world is also equipped with weapons like those that Israel possesses now, then the imperialists' strategy will reach a standstill because the use of even one nuclear bomb inside Israel will destroy everything."

The most detailed account comes from The Middle-East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). They highlighted various parts of that entire speech and here is their version of what was said about Israel and nuclear weapons: “Rafsanjani said that Muslims must surround colonialism and force them [the colonialists] to see whether Israel is beneficial to them or not. If one day, he said, the world of Islam comes to possess the weapons currently in Israel's possession [meaning nuclear weapons] - on that day this method of global arrogance would come to a dead end. This, he said, is because the use of a nuclear bomb in Israel will leave nothing on the ground, whereas it will only damage the world of Islam.”

Again, the facts seem a lot different than what is presented, particularly nothing about Jews wondering the globe and certainly nothing about the bomb Iran is presumably “hoping to build”.

But I’ll play the devil’s advocate here for a second and just pretend for a moment that Iran is somehow successful in building that one bomb they have apparently been so desperate to make. What will happen next?

Dropping a bomb on Israel is an impossible scenario, even if they have been successful in building and using a delivery method that is tested and accurate. The land occupied by Israel is not an area void of anyone but Zionists. A nuclear bomb destroys everything in its path, regardless of its genetic or cultural makeup. Detonation of a nuclear device over Tel-Aviv or even Jerusalem will annihilate millions of Muslims, Christians and others, not to mention destroy some of Islam’s holiest places and shrines. How could a government fighting for glory of Islam could justify that to the world’s Muslims?

That is even if this was a remote possibility, for everyone knows that the nuclear rocket leaving Iranian skies for Israel will not even be near its landing before every single Iranian city and even small village is destroyed under a barrage of nukes coming back from Israel and U.S. bases in the region, the naval carriers and subs, long range rockets from Europe and far east, and cross-continent arsenal within the United States territory. Rafsanjani and company may be brutal against their opponents, but even they love their children and grandkids too.

If you are surrounded in your house by a military many times your owns’ strength and have only one, maybe two bullets to fight with, it will be suicide to take that first shot. More unequivocally, if you’ll be guaranteed to take out a number of your own sympathizers with that first shot as well.

So, it would not be in Iran’s current regime’s interest, (or “Mullahs” as Mead calls them, although he must be aware that most of their decision-making infrastructure is made up of non-Mullah/Clergy people and besides judging anyone based on their outfit alone could not possibly be fair, as there are good and bad within each clergy or other professional group, but I know it helps to de-humanize the enemy and stereo-type it by attaching a simple label) to attack Israel by their supposed nuclear weapon.

The reason Mead, Michael Ledeen, Richard Armitage and Richard Perle are so eager to inflate the danger of Iran’s nukes is clear; things are going bad in all other fronts and a new bogyman is needed real soon to divert attention to. Besides, the old friends of key figures in this administration on the other side (remember October Surprise or Iran-Contra?) also need the danger of this big bad enemy at their doorsteps to crush their own democratic opposition. Both sides supposedly win if Cheneys and Rafsanjanis of the world are given more of a chance to line their pockets further.

Iran is a country in perpetual motion towards freedom and democracy, despite occasional set-backs. Three major revolutions in one century are proof of Iranian people’s desire to reach their ultimate goal on their own terms and by their own means. Amazingly, most of their efforts have faced interference by outside governments that eventually have led to defeat of their movements. As once again Iran starts its deliberate momentum towards yet another attempt at freedom, it is the same unwanted interference that is endangering the progress.

If Mead and company want a truly free and democratic Iran, they’d leave it up to Iranians to build that eventuality for themselves and on their terms.

For a true “Darker Shadow” though, we may want to look at our close relationships with other regional dictators, from Military Coup Musharraf with actual nukes on hand and many ties with Taliban under his command, to Saudi Princes and Persian Gulf Sheiks who are the current close allies, enjoying our support and backing in adding to their strength and hold on power until their date of use expires and our soldiers will be asked to pay with their lives to remove them.

The Rafsanjani part is from an earlier eyeranian post.

Ooops!

Like the Dead in Their Coffins

The new and complete Human Rights Watch (HRW) report on Iran should be out tomorrow, but some media sources have already published bits and pieces that gives an overall view of what can be expected. The Guardian reports on newspaper crackdowns, torture of reformers and the central role of judiciary in crushing any voices of dissent. Reuters has gone further and added HRW's apparent urging of European Union "to step up pressure on Iran" and reconsider its decision to engage Iran in dialogue until there are some improvements in the current dismal conditions. Other outlets have also covered the story, as you can see here.

Perhaps most telling of all though, is the title chosen for the report which speaks volumes about what lies within. It is called "Like the Dead in Their Coffins: Torture, Detention, and the Crushing of Dissent in Iran".

You can see a collection of HRW reports on Iran here.

Afghans of Iran

Unfortunately my earliest recollection of an example of prejudice and bigotry is forever associated with memories of my beloved late grandfather. He was a typical introvert who did not communicate much and with many, nonetheless he once opened up to tell me a few stories about his childhood.

His stories went back to what is now 85 to 100 years ago (since his son, my father is now 74) and happened in a Tehran that in no way resembles the current metropolis that is home to 11-14 million people. He grew up in what was and still is considered southern most parts of the city, in a modest working class upbringing. He had to work from the age of 6 to help the family and eventually found moderate success in opening a dry cleaning business, a newly imported concept for Iran at the time.

Amongst his stories of small city Tehran, with mostly unpaved streets and gangs that robbed passersby on certain idle streets, one is forever etched in my mind. This was the memory of kids in the neighborhood (he said he was always too busy working to participate himself) going to the city's Jewish neighborhoods to disturb the residents. Rainy days were a particular event in this undertaking as some Mullah had declared that non-Muslims should not leave their homes while it is raining, as drops of rain might reflect off their impure -Najess- bodies and land on a Muslim!

They'd scour the area for hours and beat up anyone who had dared to come outside.

He also talked of garbage-men declining to pick up in the same neighborhood, so the refuse would often pile-up on a street corner and rot, covering the entire area with a bitter stench that would enforce the whole concept of resident's impurity.

Christians (mostly Armenian refugees) were also subjected to similar treatment, although maybe not with the same intensity.

Iran is one of the more multi-cultural countries in the world. Despite what you may hear from an Iranian in California, we aren't all Persians. In fact, few of us are. Aside from Medes, Parthians, Babylonians, Assyrians and others who originally formed the Persian Empire, immigrants such as Turkmans (Mongolian descendents) along with other small and large communities make up a complex combination of diverse cultures and races that is Iran now. Kurds, Baluchis, Arabs, Lors and Azeris, along with religious minorities like Christians (everything from the Greek Orthodox to Armenian to Catholic to even Jesuits and Mormons), Jews, Baha'is and others are just some of the various communities who make-up today's Iran.

Like most of the world, prejudice and bigotry has found its way into Iranian psyche as well. This is even further enhanced with outside influences such as popularity of Nazism during WWII and that day's governments tolerance or even embracing of a certain vision of purity of our supposed "Aryan" heritage and the threat others pose to this fictional sense of identity.

There are also happy stories too. Armenians for example, who have immigrated to Iran escaping the Russian invasion or even Turkish genocide, are now an inseparable part of Iranian society. I found it refreshing when the first three speakers at a Nowruz Iranian New Year gathering recently were Armenian-Iranians who were avidly congratulating their "country men and women" on the occasion. But this has not been the rule, unfortunately.

According to the U.N., Iran is host to the largest community of refugees in the world. This for most part is due to millions of Afghani refugees who have spent parts or all of last 20-some years in Iran, predating even the invasion of their homeland by the Soviet army. Afghans have never been fully accepted into Iranian community. They have always suffered as second-class guests (not even citizens) who are offered jobs nobody else would take at pay no one else would accept. Marriages or even relationships between largely male Afghani population and Iranian women is rare and they are often accused of theft, rapes and other criminal charges as the most obvious first choice for anyone investigating misconducts.

Now with the Taliban regime removed from Afghanistan, the Iranian regime is forcing many of these refugees (even those born and raised in Iran) to return to Afghanistan. The deportation, sadly, has very little public opposition and you would be hard-pressed to even find any mention of it in main-stream media. Bloggers have had some success in raising the issue, but uninspired petitions and funky buttons (almost all of the in Farsi) aren't enough to bring the necessary attention to this issue.

I wish I had the answer, but I am basically asking for your input. I wish we could take these fake borders away and start treating people as human beings and not labeled with a nationality or race, but that is at least a long time away and tonight many Afghan families are in danger of being returned to be ruled by of one warlord or another who control various parts of Afghanistan (outside Kabul) and we need to find ways to stop that. Let me know what do you think and how we could best raise the profile of this topic.

Beverly Hills' Poor Persians

Before moving to Los Angeles, I was also guilty of stereo-typing the "LA Persians" as a shallow, over-indulged, insular group from previledged backgrounds or at least living in the fantasy of certain heritage and lineage.

As I get more exposure to my surrounding though, it's easy to see how LA (being such a huge metropolis) and the Iranian community here (the largest outside Iran) are too diverse to be stereo-typed as such and I was obviously wrong.

However, one can't help but to still laugh at that small minority who indeed live in a paralel universe here and are almost totally insulated from the rest of the city, particularly their fellow countrymen and women.

This story from yesterday's LA Times highlights the miserable life (yes, I'm being sarcastic) such people live.

I think this summarizes my point very accurately: "The biggest issue is the ornate architecture Persians favor when remodeling their homes. Some residents believe the soaring columns and grand entryways favored by some Iranians are too garish and ruin the vintage aesthetics of the surrounding community. The city has drafted new architectural guidelines that some Iranians say target them unfairly."

Ahhhh, don't you just feel really bad for them???

Source

Councilman Plays Role of Cultural Mediator
By Azadeh Moaveni
Times Staff Writer

April 19, 2004

Jimmy Delshad was recently moderating a breakfast meeting to plan the annual fundraiser for a Beverly Hills Iranian American charity.

The event draws mostly members of the city's Iranian community. But Delshad had other ideas.

"Let's invite Larry King! … Dennis Ross? Paul Anka?" he said, waving a Montblanc pen in the air, searching the skeptical faces around the table. "Let's reserve tables for Americans up front … get a lively MC … hire a band?"

Delshad is Beverly Hills' first Iranian American councilman. And since his election last year, he has emerged as an unlikely ambassador between the traditionally insular Persian community, which makes up about a fifth of the city's population of 36,000 residents, and the rest of Beverly Hills.

His election was considered a milestone for Beverly Hills' Persians, who until recently had played a relatively small role in civic affairs. But many residents now see him as a mediator in several long-simmering cultural conflicts between Persians and non-Persians.

The biggest issue is the ornate architecture Persians favor when remodeling their homes. Some residents believe the soaring columns and grand entryways favored by some Iranians are too garish and ruin the vintage aesthetics of the surrounding community. The city has drafted new architectural guidelines that some Iranians say target them unfairly.

*

Taking the Lead

Delshad is the most prominent face among Persians of a new generation, who are assuming leadership roles in civic life. In doing so, they are attempting to reverse the clinging impression that Iranians refuse to assimilate.

A working mother of three, Nooshin Meshkati, who is co-president of the El Rodeo PTA, is typical of a younger generation of involved mothers. She arrived in Beverly Hills as a high school student, when her family transplanted itself to the city before the Iranian Revolution in 1979. When her children started school, getting involved in their education came naturally to her.

A computer scientist by profession, Meshkati's first goal was to get more computers into classrooms. "I started to get active in the PTA, and then everything just grew out of the school, extending to the city, the state like a chain reaction," she said. "You realize immediately — to do more, you need a bigger body involved."

In coordination with other Persian mothers, Meshkati put on multicultural dinners at El Rodeo and got the school board to make "Nowruz" — the Persian new year — a school holiday.

There is a marked contrast between the community today, Meshkati said, and in the early 1980s, when parents like her own rarely set foot in PTA meetings. "It doesn't feel separate anymore, like the pot has melted," she said.

Energized by their effect on schools, Meshkati and others stepped forward to help Delshad in his campaign for City Council. The candidate and his supporters quickly discovered that they were teaching American government as much as running a campaign.

At the outset of Delshad's run for City Council, only 1,500 of the city's 8,000 Persians were registered to vote. When encouraged to register, many were reluctant, afraid their names would end up on government lists, that they would be forced into jury duty. By registering, many thought they had actually voted, and had to be summoned to the polls on election day by Delshad campaign staff.

Meshkati went door to door with a sample ballot to explain the concept of absentee voting.

Delshad appointed two campaign managers: one for non-Persian residents and one for Persians. Soraya Nazarian, a local philanthropist, ran the Persian campaign; she set up countless informal meetings, called doreh in Persian, in Persian living rooms across the city, and instructed the community in the very concept of rights.

"They had to be awakened to the idea, and how they could profit, rather than be afraid," she said.

Persians began migrating to Beverly Hills in 1978, on the eve of the Islamic Revolution.

The wealthiest scrambled out of Iran with suitcases full of cash, and bought property.

The influx changed the aesthetic appearance of Beverly Hills. Some Persians razed European-revival homes, built with Tuscan and Mediterranean influences and colors, and erected towering white flat-front mansions, with imposing columns. Such homes were referred to disdainfully as "Persian palaces."

Following traditions from Iran, some residents threw weekly parties for 50 or more people, where dinner was served at 11 p.m. and dancing and loud music continued late into the night.

Some city residents enjoyed the cultural diversity that Iranians brought to town. The decades before they arrived "were a glamour-less time. It was all jeans, T-shirts, and everything brown," said Greta Furst, who has lived in the city since childhood. "When the Persians came, with their women in wardrobes from Paris, wearing makeup, we regained glamour."

But more than a few residents had different feelings. They considered the homes out of place and disrespectful toward Beverly Hills' architectural history.

Ellen Stern-Harris, a third generation resident, is among the most vocal critics. The first "monster home" in the city, she said, was built next door to her peach-colored French Normandy style cottage in the flats. "They just knock it off and build a huge Persian palace," she said.

*

Architectural Styles

To address the clash over the homes, the city's planning commission has crafted an ordinance creating a catalog of five architectural styles. To be approved for construction, single-family homes must fall into one of the styles. The five styles are American colonial, European revival, Spanish colonial, contemporary and period revival.

Under the ordinance, construction plans for houses that do not abide by the five categories must go before a design committee appointed by the City Council for revision and approval. The ordinance also would scale back the maximum size of houses, allowing them more square footage only if mass-reducing features such as porches or recess areas are included.

When the rules were first discussed, some in the Persian community considered the move an attack on them. But as details became public, some of those concerns dissipated.

Beverly Hills architect Hamid Gabbay, who is on the commission and worked on the proposed code, is a supporter of the review process.

"Some people wanted to make it sound like a controversial issue," said Gabbay. "But it's nonsense. It has nothing to do with minority issues. It's architectural issues."

Seeking to defuse the issue, Delshad has been explaining the cultural need for large homes — three generations under one roof, big gatherings — to colleagues on the City Council.

He envisions a Beverly Hills where Persian culture coexists gracefully with the city's heritage. He also wants to set up a sister city relationship in Iran.

Delshad said blending cultures has been his passion for decades, ever since he settled in L.A. after college and married an American, Lonnie Gerstein.

He grew up in Shiraz, an Iranian city fabled for its springtime orange blossoms, and came to America three decades ago as part of the generation of Iranian students who intended to acquire technical education abroad and return to industrialize their nation.

He began attending Sinai Temple with his wife and in-laws and later became one of its leaders. When the rise in Persian immigration began in the late 1970s, he had a special perspective.

"I saw how we were intimidating to others, by creating the impression we were here temporarily, that we were rich and didn't need you, that we selected separation," he said.

He wanted Persians to feel their culture was respected and Beverly Hills residents to feel their new neighbors had a stake in the community. He became president of Sinai Temple in 1999 and worked to get Persian families involved in the temple activities. His election to the City Council, he said, accomplished a mission.

"I wanted to prove that the community is ready."

Norouz Greetings

No Big News!

khatami admitting he has failed is no big news. He is just barely admitting to something the entire universe already knew. What may be a topic of discussion howeverm is if his so called 'reform' were genuine and actually had any hope in hell of ever achieving anything substantial.

Never having joined the "reformer" camp and not ever believing Khatami or his buddies ever had any genuine interest in succeeding at what they were promising, I would not be the most unbiased person to answer this. However, millions who bought in to the argument will need a chance to review the events of the last 7 years and formulating their own conclusions.

Barbara & Farah

Not that I believe she'd have anything new or groundbreaking to say, but Farah Pahlavi will be interviewed by ABC's Barbara Walters on one of her last 2/20 shows on Friday. In case you want to watch.

Thanks A.

Tehran Travels Anyone?

While looking at Business Travel News' annual corporate index (don't ask, I know I read way too much, even if its junk I don't need to read but get in the mail regularly), something caught my eye. In their Top 100 International Per Diems, Tehran ranks 82. In plain English, this is the list of what you can expect to spend per day as an international business traveler in various cities around the globe. If you were assigned overseas, this is what you use to charge your employer your "per diem" money. The data comes from an outfit out of Manhattan called Organization Resources Counselors Inc. and they have calculated their numbers based on a night's accommodation for "a standard room in upscale chain hotels flying such flags as Marriott, Sheraton, Hilton and Hyatt", three average meals (no alcohol), cost of two taxi rides, laundering of one shirt, plus a newspaper, a bottle of water and a magazine.

Monte Carlo is the most expensive at $737 per day, followed by expected usual spots Paris, Tokyo and London. Dubai ranks 10th at just over $500 and Toronto occupies the 47th spot. Tehran is one of the least expensive, only more expensive than places like Port-Au-Prince (you probably want to delay that trip), Havana, Guatemala City and Kuala Lumpur.

That did not surprise me until I looked closer at numbers. According to these guys, the per diem cost of items I described above in Tehran is over $288 USD. That can't be, can it? I asked myself. Even with the "official" exchange rate of 1,745 Rials to $1 USD they have used, 504,000 Rials a day sounds rather expensive. So I dig deeper...

According to these guys, the cost of the room is $138 in Tehran. I can buy that. Every hotel in Iran displays two very different price lists; one in English and a much more reasonable one in Persian. So I can see them trying to charge the unaware business traveler the high "rack rate" of $100+ a night, while the same room can be had for a fraction of that figure. What got me though, is their cost of food: $45 for dinner, $42 for lunch and ready for this? $38 for breakfast! In fact, Tehran shoots right up the chart, being the 23rd most expensive city for food out of 100. I don't know who is charging these guys $40 for breakfast in Tehran, but even the fanciest places will only need one of these travelers a day to carry all their overhead! At $124 USD a day for food in Tehran, it's probably much cheaper to buy your own restaurant!

Now imagine all these figures if instead of going to the bank or tourist offices to exchange your money, you'd just ask the hotel concierge or the cab driver taking you to your hotel and getting close to the real value of your foreign currency! Suddenly at 8,000+ Rials for your greenbacks, paying normal rates for the hotel and eating at places not run by the bandits, your per diem costs in Tehran will not come close to that $288.

So, if you want to pocket some dough, get an overseas assignment there for like a year (more, if possible), charge them according to "annual corporate index" and you can save enough to buy a small condo in Buffalo.

Now you know anybody hiring for that position?

Beam Me There Too, Please!

I'm convinced there IS a parallel universe out there. This is the one where the ones who have blood that is a darker shade of burgundy, compared to our weak measly red version. Such is the case with former queen, Farah Pahlavi it seems. As I had warned you earlier about her book coming out soon, now she is suddenly participating in interviews and I assume will be more and more visible over the next few weeks.

She obviously lives in a parallel universe and if I was in her shoes, I'd invest some of the $200,000 advance she received for the book (something she considers to be not a large amount) in hiring a PR consultant to filter some of her answers. In this interview for example, she shows how out of touch with reality she is:

"At my office in the palace in Tehran I had 60 people helping me. Here I have two people. I have a lady who cooks for me and cleans up and also a driver. It is difficult for me. Sometimes I have asked friends for money."

Poor little thing! Finds life so difficult because she only now has ONE chauffer and ONE cook. Breaks your heart, I'm sure! Check out this answer about why "Persians" view America differently than Arabs do:

"For the majority of Iranians, there has never been anti-American or anti-Western sentiment, because we have never been a colony of Europe. The Iranian people understand that progress and modernity come from the West. And now we have an Iranian actress nominated for the Oscars for her role in House of Sand and Fog."

And how does the Oscar fit into that analysis? Does she believe no actor from former colonized countries has ever been nominated for one? or perhaps this nomination somehow separates us from those low-lives we love to hate?

There are parts of the interview that makes me wonder if she was under influence of some medication while answering. For example the half-hearted admission of her husband really being a CIA installed puppet or at least not challenging the suggestion, or this bit that just puzzles me:

"Q - How do you feel about the American invasion of Iraq?

A - When Iran was stable, we had good relations with the rest of the world, and after the Iranian Revolution happened, look what happened in that area -- the Iran-Iraq war, the Taliban, the gulf war and now the war in Iraq."

And that relates to the price of tea in China how??? Oh I forgot, it DOES indeed, but in that parallel universe.

Interview link via "Ediotor:Myself"

What does a number mean?

I find it amusing in reading Iranian blogs, web sites and email lists to see how obsessed some otherwise intellectual people are with the game of percentages being played in Iran. Particularly what percentage of eligible voters participated in last Friday's erroneous elections. There were no international observers, so the actual number you'd accept as fact depends on your point of view. They range from 10 to 15 percent offered by some opposition groups, to Interior Ministry's "official" 50.57% and the regime loyalists who talk of "massive turnouts".

Why it matters little is many folds; firstly and as stated, there's no way to know the actual number. Even if you accept any of the above figures, how do you account for the large expected fraudulent numbers never released? Putting those aside also, how would one figure in all the voters who participate not because they endorse the sham, but because they have to. This includes members of armed forces (including drafted soldiers), all government employees, those working with various official and semi-official "foundations" who own much of Iran's major industries, students attending state subsidized universities, many of the people receiving pensions or other government financial assistance (such as war veterans, etc.) and finally residents of small towns and villages where almost all their daily affairs are closely administered by the local mosque or mullah and would not dare causing any souring of that relationship.

In short, even if 80% take part in the next fake election, it won't prove anything. It will not be a sign of approval for the regime or the process in any way or shape. What is clear, is that the majority of Iranians do not approve of this regime. If they did, there would be no reason for the establishment to deny the demand of its various inside and outside opposition to hold a binding and monitored referendum and either silence all the critics once and for all, or accept their policies of the past 25 ears have been a major disaster and accept the consequences. Only if that vote is internationally supervised and accepted binding by all sides will we be able and justified to argue about what the numbers actually mean or how it'll effect the future of Iran.

Here's something I translated for Iran Filter last week. Originally posted on Persian weblog of Z8UN, it may reflect on what goes on in the minds of some Iranians as the election approached and an example of worries that will bring many to the ballot boxes, in this case in fear of a lost pension check:

"Yesterday at the public swimming pool, two middle-aged ladies were chatting by the shallow end... I had also gone to that area... Near where the filtered water is returned to the pool... People like to stand around there... It feels a bit like a Jacuzzi... The older woman who was also a bit heavier was saying; "I'll be forced to vote on Friday... because I'm a retiree... I'm worried that if my ID card doesn't show the election stamp, they may stop my retirement pension... And my daughter is also a university student and it my affect her too..." The other woman who was wearing way too much make-up replied somewhat irritably; "What is all this talk? I'm on a pension too but the section on my card for election stamps, is cleaner than a Mullah's rear-end" ...

The way she talked, did not suit her grace... and although the past two or three years on the Internet my eyes and ears have been opened to so much, I still have not had the privilege of a pilgrimage to any Mullah's rear-end to judge it's cleanliness.

She then said that she has a son who is an MD, another son that is an engineer and her daughter has studied law and neither one has ever voted without having suffered from it. Then the heavier lady said; "Yes, but then if they want to leave the country or become somebody here, you'll understand!" The other woman replied "In fact, they traveled abroad too and one is an assistant professor in university and attends seminars all over the world regularly...They make up these stories to get us to vote"

I didn't stay longer to see if the chubby lady was finally convinced or not... I could see some doubt on her face... Had I stayed longer, they would have known I was eavesdropping. But this time, even the religious studies teachers have instructed their kids to ask their parents to not vote! This time, people are not as scared... Particularly after the Bam earthquake, the little respect some had for these guys (regime) is gone."

Only If...

Cartoon

It's "Election" Day in Iran

More than one source describe how empty Tehran streets are compared to normal, on this day the regime has advertised as the day the nation will come out to vote for their appointed parliament. The pictures above confirm that. One foreign reporter has also reported that an informal protest has been planned for the hour when the voting stations are officially closed. People will come out only then and honk their car's horns to demonstrate their disapproval of the entire process.

Over the last two days, there has been many reports of truckloads of fake Iranian ID booklets being intercepted by various local police around the country, suggesting an attempt to inflate the number of total votes and issuing multiple ballots to trusted friends. The revolutionary guard is also on full alert, to defuse any possible protest effort.

The charade of elections this regime orchestrates occasionally has reached a particular low-point this time and their frustration has never been more evident.

Hoder is going to stay up all night to monitor and edit Iran Filter. Check it out for the latest news as well as translation of Persian blogs. I'll update if there are new developments in the morning.

UPDATE - There were no major incidents. The voter turn-out has been light with estimates ranging from 15 to 30 percent of eligible voters participating. With no foreign independent observers, there is no way to say for certain. Almost every journalist has reported on the large presence of armed forces at most cities, perhaps expecting some disturbance. Polls closed as much as 2 hours later than originally planned, supposedly to maximize the number of votes and also maybe to nullify plans of holding demonstrations afterwards. There was also various reports of cheating, in one case having the culprits caught transporting voters by bus to various polling stations to vote again and again. The radio station funded by U.S. government, Radio Farda (or Tomorrow) seems to have the largest team and most comprehensive coverage of election reports in Persian. One of the best sources of news is still Iran Filter with various volunteers translating what the bloggers are writing as their own first-hand observations.

My take; Who Cares? Illegal and illegitimate selection of one band of friends over another band to keep the world and your nation pre-occupied with whether its best to select hard-line conservative religious radicals over fundamentalist Islamic extremists does not interest me at all.

CLARIFICATION - I don't care which side "wins" or how they gesture towards one another. I DO however care very deeply about how Iranians have now seen first hand that there are no "reformers" within the limited choices available in Iran and have showed it by boycotting the supposed "election" all together.

UPDATE II - With the last of somewhat more liberal press shut down for the election, Iranians are using the Internet more and more to get their news. Gooya, perhaps the most widely portal and news site in Farsi reported over 80,000 visitors yesterday. People are also using new tools like camera phones to send pictures of empty polling stations, this one is a local mosque in Tehran. Ayatollah Jannati, head of the Guardian Council led the Friday prayers in Tehran and resorted to even threatening people into voting. He proclaimed that whoever even whispers of not voting is a traitor to the country and Islamic regime. He went on with the other usual regime mantras like Rushdie fatwa being irrevocable and the concept of "religious democracy" that has made elections in Iran more successful than any other nation on earth. blah, blah, blah...

On a rather complimentary note; Yas-e-No newspaper (with red BANNED across its page) had what is perhaps the most clever cover to never be published. I'll try to translate and explain it, hoping it is communicated properly; the big headline reads "Freedom Game With No Spectators". The accompanying picture is of empty stands at the previous day's soccer game between Iran and Qatar, where Iran was penalized by the Asian soccer federation for a previous incident and no spectators were allowed in. The game was held in Tehran's Azadi (Freedom) stadium, thus the "Freedom Game" reference in the headline. With an election looming within 24 hours that not many were allowed to participate to run in and not many actually cared to take part in, the cover was just a very witty way of using something with double meanings to stress a point otherwise not possible.

Hundreds of years of dealing with one dictator or another, nobody is better in using every little opening to express a dissenting point of view than Iranians.

The Full Monty

Don't Waste Your Vote!

It seems that suddenly every so-called “reformist” in Iran is up in arms about elections becoming based on appointments and basically a “selection” now that they have been excluded from participating. I’ve got news for you friends; this is the way it has been for 25 years.

First prominent example of excluding candidates based on their opinion and political stand happened very early in the revolution days. When most of the nationalist, socialist, communist and generally left-leaning organizations backed the candidacy of MKO’s presidential candidate Massoud Rajavi to become the first president of Iran (I know, a scary synopsis on its own right), it took an edict from Ayatollah Khomeini himself to exclude him from the ballots. His reasoning was Rajavi’s non-approval vote on the newly drafted constitution.

This process of eliminating candidates based on their beliefs is then the tradition of Great Leader himself and has been practiced time and time again in every election held since. You don’t sincerely believe Iranians would vote even for a “reformer” like Khatami if they were free to choose from a wide selection of candidates who represent their society more effectively, do you? They just have been forced between either completely avoiding the shows referred to as “elections” or participate and choose between the lesser of the evils allowed to be on the ballot. This explains Khatami.

But now, the process of separating “us” from “them” has gone one step further and has included banning some of the most loyal and foot-soldiers of the “us” team. Thus the attempt to make a big hoopla about all of it.

To show what a non-issue this all is, let’s try to imagine this; even if you managed to elect a parliament full of very progressive socialists tomorrow and chose a communist president tomorrow, will it make an iota of difference in the way this country is run? Will they be able to initiate or implement one single piece of legislature that could be considered significant or valuable? Not a chance.

So, I’ll be staying away from this election, like every other “selection” held by this regime this far. The change will not come through the ballot boxes in Iran, as the issue is not with the people who may or may not get elected. The challenge is how to put the larger dilemma on the table without providing an opportunity for the fanatics on both sides to start the expected bloodshed.

Tehraminator

Sweet Onion

Spoiled Brats of Politics

Here's the non-story: Prince Laurent of Belgium has a baby and he wants to name a Godfather of Islamic persuasion for the child. As he is an old buddy of Reza Pahlavi, it is speculated that he may be the one Laurent has in mind. This is all fine, except for the small matter that Belgium has rather cordial relationship with the current government of Iran and the Belgian FM is worried about how this will be perceived in that context.

Maybe it's time for the man who up to recently wanted to be called "Exiled Shah of Iran" to pass on the honor and sit this one out. Baby Louise Sophie Mary has already issued a statement to say she'll understand.

Iran not in Middle East???

I recently learned that some "Persian" had given a prominent blogger a hard time about including Iran in his definition of "Middle East". I guess trying hard to escape reality and the self-hatred includes geographical delusions too.

Let me attempt to clarify things. Dictionary definition of Middle East reads as follows: "the area around the eastern Mediterranean; from Turkey to North Africa and eastward to Iran; the site of such ancient civilizations as Phoenicia and Babylon and Egypt and the birthplace of Judaism and Christianity and Islam; the Middle East is the cradle of Western civilization".

The map above is also what is generally accepted as geographical representation of Middle East. Now I know there are some who include a couple of other countries in there (usually Sudan, Libya, Pakistan and Afghanistan for most parts) and others who subtract a few (Cyprus, Egypt , Georgia, Armenia and even Turkey!) and I suppose one is free to make up one's own imaginary world, but you've read the definition and here is the visual help (again).

Any questions?

The Dancing Ritual

If you are eyeranian, one of the things your parents bring with them for you to enjoy is video tapes sent by family and friends from overseas. People you haven't seen in ages in various weddings, birthday parties, family get-togethers and gatherings. Here's my summary of what I have so far watched, in hours of videos;

I do not know another culture, where middle-aged adults go visit a relative or friend and within minutes the stereo is blasting and all participants present are in the middle of the room dancing! There seems to be very little or no conversation and the only social interaction is through gyrating your hips, sometimes very suggestively I may add.

I know this is part of the region's culture and having dated people of Arabic, Kurdish, Jewish and other middle-eastern backgrounds in the past, I have witnessed various versions of the same phenomena. However, the current Iranian version takes the cake by far, in both quantity and intensity of the whole ritual. I say current, as this was not the norm even 25 years ago. But as the "Islamic Republic" banned social dancing, the entire experience became a must-do at every opportune time the same way gambling or alcohol or satellite foreign programming is practiced at a frequency unheard of anywhere else.

I once wrote how Iranians are so reactionary lately, they are hardly FOR anything but are certainly AGAINST it if this government is for it or at least pretends to be. Israel-Palestine conflict is a good example of how the regime has alienated the Palestinian cause with many Iranians by supporting the wrong elements within that struggle. The same goes for anything regime is against. If they ban it, it must be practiced at capacities beyond anything resembling norms.

This government can come out tomorrow heavily against fishing and the next day there'll be line-ups for people trying to get on boats to go fishing. Sad, but true.

Farah's Book

I guess Farah Pahlavi has found the time in what must be a very hectic schedule for a former dictator's wife to write a book. Or most likely have someone write a book for her. I used to think that she was perhaps monarchists only salvation (don't jump on me yet, let me explain).

Wife of Shah always had this mostly false aura of being a commoner amongst the royalty. She came across as more approachable and friendly, with plenty of strategically picked publicity shots of her talking to the nomads or farmers or dejected women seeking help. I remember at the height of street protest in 1978 an elderly neighbor of ours explaining to me how all the royal family is so corrupt and he quickly said "except for Shahbanoo", that being Farah's official title. He even went as far as saying he'd be happy if Shah abdicated the throne to her. This always remained with me, how one person could have saved face with a portion of the population, while being amongst a family of hated monarchs.

Of course all this quickly changed as she not only chose to remain mostly silent while the country was going through such horrible ordeal, but chose to become a major defender of her husband's criminal regime, while in exile.

Now, 25 years has gone, her husband is long gone and at best is plant food for the past couple of decades and she will have the opportunity to confront the past and come clean, once and for all. Will she do it in this book? I wouldn't bid to find out two months before everyone else, but I am not holding my breath.

Anybody left to speak out for me?

I'm not sure where exactly this originated from but a famous French proverb says 'a revolution eats its children'. This has certainly been the case with the Iranian revolution, and more. The process started almost immediately after Shah's statues were taken off the major squares in cities across the country, Ayatollah Khomeini returned home after close to a quarter of a century and still felt "nothing" (a famous moment in the history Iranian revolution was a single question asked of him on the plane heading to Tehran, where the interviewer asked what does he feel about returning to his homeland after the long exile and he replied "nothing, I feel nothing"!) and the stamp ink had not dried on the referendum ballots marked with a big YES to establish the form of government as an unknown entity called "Islamic Republic".

The first group of 'children' to be had were the original radicals. Primarily the Marxist and Maoist groups who paid the price despite being very active during the anti-Shah movement. With an all out war breaking out in Kurdistan, Baluchestan and Turkmen Sahara areas of Iran shortly after the revolution, many of them volunteered to join the opposition forces such as PDKI and Komala to fight regime's military or what had remained of it. While these guys were being slaughtered, most other left and left-leaning organizations in Iran were either silent or occasionally even cheered their demise. In fact, this became the normal routine of every wave of tyranny that followed from here on, with the future victims not supporting the current ones, time after time after time after time.

Next group was what may have been seen as some of the seemingly random (and mostly unknown) authorities of the new regime who were assassinated by a mysterious religious entity called Forghan (they are apparently back and even have a blog now). The list of victims included Col. Gharanei, head of the new armed forces and two prominent Ayatollahs; Mohammad Mofatteh and Morteza Mottaheri, the latter being the man Khomeini had called "fruit of his life endeavors" and a likely successor of his. Ayatollah Rafsanjani however survived the attempt on his life by Forghan inexplicably, and there are some unanswered questions still lingering about that incident. As Forghan was primarily an anti-clergy movement and religious figures remained their main targets, most of the leftist groups again chose to not speak against or condemn the assassinations.

It was only a matter of months after that when a bunch of hooligans climbed the walls of U.S. embassy in Tehran, kept 52 of the diplomats as hostages (women and African-Americans were released almost immediately) and derailed the course of the revolution forever. The only organized group to stand against the move was the original cabinet of the revolution who were immediately pushed aside (the government resigned in unison) and were jeered on by all the others whose turns were about to come. None of their members of that original cabinet was ever allowed near a position of power or influence again and some were/are jailed (example: Amir-Entezam was that cabinet's spokesperson) or even murdered (example: Darioush Forouhar was Minister of Labor).

Banisadr came next. The first president of the new Islamic Republic was fired from his elected seat and then came the big crackdown on yet another set of revolution's children; People's Mojahedin. This was perhaps the deadliest phase of them all with thousands killed after brief trials and immediate executions with thousands more suffering in harsh prisons and torture chambers. The onslaught quickly extended to many other leftist groups, people such as Fadaeian Marxist group, yet another active and vital part of the anti-Shah movement. Meanwhile, others who actively participated in this round of slaughter included the current "reformists" around President Khatami (including Behzad Nabavi and Armin's imitation "Mojahedin" group) as well as Iran's Communist Party, Tudeh. Just read this quote about MKO and other leftists from Kar (No. 132, Pg. 5, 1981), the newspaper of Tudeh's sister organization, Aksariyat: "the relentless onslaught of the political organizations who have set out to defeat the blood-spattered revolution of Iranian people is a fundamental pillar of defending this revolution. "

Needless to say, Tudeh, Aksariyat and their partners became the victims a short few years later. This time. many of the intellectuals, writers and others who always detested Tudeh Party going back to Mossadegh era and beyond, remained silent while these "children" were eaten by the rolling "revolution". The same writers, poets and journalists themselves filled the same prisons, were tied to the same torture beds and filled the same cemeteries next, while not many of today's supposed opposition was heard from.

During the same phase, Khomeini's appointed successor, Montazeri and others around him faced political eradication. Others including Khomeini's own son Ahmad, were not as lucky and died under mysterious circumstances later on and after dad has passed on. Of course the players suspected of managing the attack on intellectuals and extermination of Ahmad and others also found themselves committed to the same fate after they were thrown out of regime's intelligence apparatus, ending with yet another mysterious death, this time of their leader Saeed Emami.

This process has continued repeatedly and now another set of "revolution's children", this time the embassy wall climbers and those who were actively pursuing the demise of other activists are now being chased out of the parliament and are on the verge of political isolation.

Makes you wonder what may have happened had this progression been stopped at its infancy. What if we all had risen to condemn the Kurdish intrusion, then Forghan actions, Banisadr's replacement, etc. Would there even be a "Guardian Council" so powerful, it can write off an election with a single stroke? Wasn't it Martin Niemoeller who said about the Nazis:

First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out-- because I was not a communist; Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out-- because I was not a socialist; Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out-- because I was not a trade unionist; Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out-- because I was not a Jew; Then they came for me-- and there was no one left to speak out for me.

Isn't that exactly what the children of Iranian revolution did one group after another?

Aghast

I am thoroughly disgusted at this. One of the less formal and most feared detention centers during the reign of Pahlavi dynasty in Iran, was a small facility in central Tehran. It was known mostly as "Committee Jail" named after the "Anti-Subversion Committee", a component of Shah's intelligence formation that operated the facility. The place has been cleaned up now, rebuilt to resemble the pre-revolution set-up, includes wax figures of some prisoners and interrogators and is going to be open to public. Khatami just took a tour.

This part does not disgust me at all. In fact, I wish all such prisons are turned into places where the atrocities committed there are exposed, displayed and discussed. Unfortunately, Tehran's Qasr prison has already been turned over to a private entity and there is talk of turning the infamous Evin grounds to a university or other learning facility. What I find repulsive though is the way the most recent history of the place is not only ignored, but is deliberately concealed as if it never existed.

You see, "Committee Jail" was revamped and renamed to "Tohid Prison" once before, around 1981. It actually served as one of the most terrifying secret prisons of the new regime for well over a decade. Tohid was known as the place where unspeakable crimes were routine, and as it was not an "official" facility, it housed many of the regimes foes that were considered missing and disappeared, freeing the regime to do as they wish with zero accountability. It was so secret, when U.N.'s Special Representative inquired about it in 1992, he was told the building was demolished after being torched during the revolution, and it no longer existed (see UN Doc. E/CN.4/1992/34).

That was obviously a lie as I personally know about a dozen people who have spent time there. As for it being destroyed during the 1979 uprising, many Iranians remember it being open to visitors after the revolution, so it couldn't have been destroyed (when my uncle took me to see it, I remember there was a "guide" telling us the prominent "S's" in the circular hallways around the courtyard, were a reminder of the building's Nazi connection as it was originally built by some sympathizers within the Iranian government to house the German headquarters in anticipation of an invasion during WWII and that design was incorporated to honor the Nazi SS force. I have no idea if there's any truth to that story.) So the fact that even back then they'd try to deny its existence, is a clue to what kind of facility it must have been.

Now the "reformer" President, who is well aware how only a few short years ago people were held there, tortured and murdered, tours the facility to witness the atrocities of the previous regime, with not a single word about anything recent. This is just disgusting to me.

Link via Another Irani Online

Pay The Spy, Damnit!

Despite what I said before, I am starting to like this Zakeri guy somewhat. For a "high-ranking intelligence official", he can't get a single one of his stories right and more interestingly, he can't keep his mouth shut.

He is in Germany trying to convince a court that Iranian officials told him about Al-Qaeda secret meetings in Iran and even predicted the terrorist attack will happen on "September 10th or 12th". It doesn't end there though. He also claims he contacted his CIA handler and warned him of the imminent dangers. You heard right, I said CIA handler. You see, Zakeri has now decided that he was a "double agent" and is actually asking for $1.2 million CIA owes him for his services, going as far back as 1992.

That is just a wonderful way to establish your credibility, isn't it. Particularly in a court of law. To admit to being a "double agent" and establishing that you are indeed a professional liar to have managed such a lifestyle for over a decade.

Amazingly, there's still a small number of Iranians who believe this creature!

Can We Talk?

It's official. Senator Arlen Specter has confirmed that while having a formal dinner with Iranian ambassador to the UN, Mr. Javad Zarif last week, both sides have agreed to finally hold official "government-to-government" meetings and as such a delegation of US congressional aides will travel to Iran next month. I'd be the last person on earth to condemn dialogue. Conducted in a healthy environment and with proper perspectives on both sides, sitting across a table and discussion of even most complicated topics is the only true way of achieving a just and lasting solution to any problem, even if it follows years of hostility and mistrust.

Having said that, this sudden turn of fortunes, along with other recent signs and rumors (Iran's involvement in Saddam's capture, relative soft new stand by the administration towards Iran, the "reform" movement's official demise and a hopeless attempt by MP's to involve people) are rather suspect and my distrustful Iranian mind has a hard time digesting it all so easily.

The "Guardian Council" has already reversed a bunch of disqualifications. I suspect the "leader" will speak over the next couple of days and describes the sit-in as an immature over-reaction and threatens that its continuation will be seen as endangering the regime (a charge that carries automatic death-penalty). With that, a bunch of disqualified candidates will give-up and the rest will go home with their tails between their legs. Legitimacy of the regime will come under a big question mark if only 10% of eligible voters bother to come out for the upcoming parliamentary elections. A life-saving shot needs to revive this corpse again, even if it means making good with "Great Satan".

The only remaining question will be, who the new figurehead will be to be in charge of this new distraction. Who knows? maybe the soft-spoken, smiling, bilingual and charismatic Zarif himself is already selected for the role. Maybe its a certain Rafsanjani off-spring. Most likely, it'll be someone we couldn't possibly guess. Let's see.

Inside Iran

I don't know how many of you were able to watch tonight's Nightline but Ted Koppel (the guy who wouldn't have the show if it wasn't for Iran and those foolish hostage-takers) hosted a half-hour program titled Inside Iran and it was one of the most realistic, non-sensational, balanced reports I have seen on Iran in a while. I couldn't help but to think of how effective Jane Kokan could have been, had she also approached her subject as Nightline producers did.

I have had no success in finding a transcript of the show, but if you do, please leave it in comments. Here are some of the ponts made I can recall:

- Improvements in Iran have largely stayed limited to non-political issues.

- Student movement and its leaders have lost faith in "reformers".

- The sit-in by MP's has very little public support.

- There isn't a clear alternative yet.

Now only if I could find more details...

Mystic Iran

I just finished watching Aryana Farshad's Mystic Iran and quite honestly am not sure how I feel about it yet. It is shot nicely enough, although I don't know why she'd be so short of footage to use repeated frames of teenagers in the park for example. The editing is above par but I wish she had used more added effects, like the last shot of Dervish's white hair flipping in front of the lens. Narrations by Shohreh Aghdashloo are a plus, but my non-Farsi speaking friend had a really hard time catching the Farsi names she so quickly goes over without annunciating them properly: Ahuramazda, Dashte Kavir Desert, etc.

Then there's the attempt to use the traditional shot of camera moving over the map to show the upcoming locations, but it feels inadequate as realistically only a couple of spots on Iranian map are covered, leaving the viewer wanting for more of the map to be explored. Perhaps that is the primary shortcoming of the movie; too little is covered. I think to explore the topic of Iranian mysticism, investigating Zoroastrian practices and one Sufi order may be a good start, but is hardly adequate or reasonable. I was left yearning for more, tell me about other Muslim divisions, Jewish customs, Baha'i traditions, various Christian sects as well as non-mainstream faiths practicing their version of mysticism in Iran today.

But maybe that is a positive aspect for the work. To leave you wanting more.

Prince of Darkness & MKO

I am sure you all know who Richard Perle is by now. The man often referred to as "Prince of Darkness" is credited as the head Neo-Conservative in charge of Whitehouse' foreign policy and Middle East in particular. He was recently accused of being more concerned with what benefits the state of Israel ahead of taking care of his own country's interest. Although some may argue those two are the same, I subscribe to a different point of view.

As far as Iran is concerned, it is rumored for a long time that he has been the prime supporter of Mojahedine-Khalq Organization (MKO or MEK) within the administration, but now the support seems less clandestine. On January 24th, he was a speaker at "A Night of Solidarity", a fundraiser for "the Iranian Resistance" (one of pseudonyms for MKO) combined with a concert by the Gypsy Kings and Iranian performers. Notice the clever way of using "Earthquake Victims" in the official program brochure. You could be forgiven for thinking perhaps some of the events proceeds will be helping the Bam sufferers, but that's another story for another time.

In the past, I have expressed my position on MKO and its leadership, as well as their tactics, even their links to the Neo-Cons. However, as a supposedly leftist and progressive entity, the original founders of the organization must be turning in their graves when Ashcroft is your main endorser and Perle a guest of honor at your events. After all, aren't we often judged by the company we keep? And all of it despite the "terrorist" label put on the group by U.S. government too.

Spy's Credibility Problem

The misinformation this Hamid Reza Zakeri guy comes up with, is just unbelievable. For those unfamiliar with him, this guy supposedly left Iran last year after serving many years as a top official within the regime's security/intelligence establishment and was immediately received by a portion of exiled opposition. He was first introduced to the general public by Alireza Meybodi's California-based AFN Radio and as a caller to the live broadcast. His credentials were later confirmed by exiled journalist Nourizadeh out of London, although "Zakeri" is still a pseudonym.

Some of his original revelations were intriguing for most within the opposition. Then he went off the deep end, first by proclaiming the magnitude of the fictitious support organization Reza Pahlavi has inside Iran and then using highly questionable timing to offer tidbits of information, just as certain subjects would come up or there was a need for the Washington's NeoCon machine to re-start their regime-change mantra or offer their alligator tears about how bad things are inside Iran. If Michael Ledeen was adamant about Iran's secret weapons program, Zakeri would offer new maps and even pictures. If there was a concern about the fate of MKO personnel inside Iraq, he had first hand accounts of Iran's revolutionary guards entering Iraq to engage them. He even produced fake letters to establish the double agent status of journalists during the Iraq invasion.

Now, all of these may or may not be true. However, his timing, methods and the way he suddenly comes up with new evidence, is suspect at best. This, along with the fact that nobody else who has served time in the prisons he was supposedly working at, families of his supposed victims or others he must have had contact with is able to confirm or deny his genuine identity, has made him a mere joke and a disgrace amongst those who oppose the government of Iran on credible and legitimate bases (watch for his fans to come out swinging now!).

His latest offering involves a supposed secret meeting and deal made between Al-Qaeda and Iranian officials to co-operate on what was to become the 9/11 tragedy. He offers no proof, very little verifiable detail (as usual) and one must wonder why he hasn't exposed this information before and over the past year or so he has lived in Europe and U.S.

I wonder what else he is going to come up with at the most opportune time, but I wish if he was legitimate to come up with whatever he knows once and for all and enlighten us maybe in a book or lengthy series of interviews, etc. So far, the way he does this is highly suspect at best.

You Are Amazing!

I have reluctantly closed the comments section of my Thank You! post. Over 1,000 of you added your names and brief messages to that post (1,049 to be exact, but there are some duplicates and others). At this point, the page is getting just too long, killing bandwidth like crazy and I honestly think all the great comments and heartfelt notes have already made the point. It was something that needed to be said and everyone came together to honor those who came to our rescue when it was most needed.

All the credit goes to you, the bloggers out there who successfully spread the word. I'm still discovering new links to that post on sites in Iran I had never heard of before. That is just wonderful. A very well known U.S. blogger wrote me a couple of days ago to say in his opinion, the number of comments must be some sort of a record for any blog. Of course, there's no way to confirm that but I have never seen anything like it myself.

Now the task is to get it to those it was meant for. One blogger from inside Iran wrote me to say he/she has collected a list of all those organizations who were there, many of them with personal emails and contact information. Although I hope he/she will be successful in relaying the messages to as many of those folks as possible, I really don't want to rely on one person who may or may not succeed in this venture. I have already forwarded it to the only people I have direct contact with, the Mercy Corps folks, so I need your help to get it to others as well.

Please write anyone you know within all the organizations from around the globe who sent people or aid to Bam and offer them our messages of gratitude and appreciation. You can email a link to:

or print out all the pages and offer them a paper version. Either way, they need to get all the messages as they are obviously from the heart.

Write me if I can be of any assistance.

Future of Iran

What is going on in Iran these days has largely remained below radars with limited coverage in mainstream media. Perhaps rightly so. The fictional or real struggle between the "hardliners" and "reformers" is way past its expiry date and is neither news nor even interesting anymore.

Sadly so, it's not only the media that feels this way. Majority of Iranians are also tired of the games and have no patience for another round of the same back and forth contest played over the last 7 years.

The faction considered to be more liberal, came to power with a large movement of popular support. Of course, with the present structure, "power" is not the appropriate term as most of that is ceded to one unelected person with the title of "Supreme Leader".

Iranians elected President Khatami (twice) and then a new Parliament in challenging the wishes of this exact "leader". What they wanted was change and a vote for so-called "reformers" was more a vote against what they had as oppose to what they wanted.

There has been little doubt that what they ultimately want, is far beyond what these "moderates" are willing or able to deliver. And they have had over 7 years to prove it over and over again. In every mass movement towards more freedoms in these years, people have been abandoned by their elected representatives.

In the student uprising and then again in multiple nights of unrest in Tehran, these "reformers" chose the wrong side. Khatami was mostly absent in both occasions and even classified the protestors as "hooligans".

So, now that it's their turn to be scolded by the same "extremists", they seek a popular support that is non-existent. I am sure images of a velvet revolution went through the heads of many protesting MP's as they started their sit-in. But as they kept a lookout for the masses that will come in, take over the building and carry them on their shoulders to victory, nobody showed up.

They are too late. Their credibility with the masses evaporated the minute they chose to hang on to their offices, instead of backing the popular dissent movement. Iranians trusted yet another group one more time and once again they were defrauded.

Where will this go now is unclear. An old Persian proverb says "give them death, so they'll be happy with a fever." This may just be the strategy chosen by the leader's team. Disqualify everyone, then bend a bit and allow some in to keep everyone quiet. On the other hand, If reformers boycott the upcoming elections, the provincial governors resign and no changes are made, it may also cause some cabinet members and the President himself to also resign. Something he should?ve done the minute it became apparent his office is without any real power, years ago. This may create an opening for the great savior to enter the foyer once again with his own team and take over with the image of the great conciliator. This will of course be the role of former president Rafsanjani, the man many believe is still the real source of influence in Iran.

Regardless of the outcome, it is safe to expect that in the short-term, no major changes will be delivered by either side of this current tussle. This will only be yet another step, another experience in the long road to the destination most Iranians have chosen as their final objective; a free and democratic Iran.

Humor

You may have heard already that the Iranian government is considering moving the capital from Tehran, due to the high probability of an earthquake in the city of 12+ million. This is nothing new and there has been various proposals for the move circling around for at least 30 years. Maybe the devastation of Bam earthquake will finally make it a reality though. But looking at the global map below and where the earthquake belt is, there aren't many places in Iran that is much safer, so I have come up with a better solution:

Instead of moving Tehran, let's move Iran! I have studied various options available (East Coast of Australia, Western Europe, Brazil, etc.) and already selected the area depicted in the map; U.S.'s south eastern corner as most suitable. Here are some of the benefits of such move:

1. If we flip the current map of Iran, it will fit perfectly in that corner and still retain the "resting cat" shape, although this time it will be facing east which can be explained as "having an eye on the past", making it easier to sell the idea to the masses.

2. No earthquakes in Iran ever again.

3. The current location of Iran will be handed over to U.S. to connect the 51st state (Afghanistan) with the 52nd (Iraq) and finally get all the oil they ever wanted. Historical sites will be destroyed to fit the new history that this area was "discovered" by the Europeans and no civilized people ever lived there.

4. Carl Rove and company can appoint Reza Pahlavi as the new king there, returning him to his father's palace along with his 200 supporters who already carry U.S. citizenship anyways.

5. U.S. will finally get rid of most of the troubled "south", including all of Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Florida Panhandle (no more election issues, we'll leave the rest of Florida for future "New Cuba") and South Carolina, plus parts of Louisiana (we'll get Baton Rouge and New Orleans, they keep Lafayette), Kentucky and North Carolina.

6. We'll gain plenty of golf courses in Carolinas and beaches on Gulf of Mexico which allows us to rename it Gulf of Persia, as Arab countries have done for years with renaming Persian Gulf arbitrary.

7. KFC will stand for Kurdish Fried Chicken, will enjoy partial autonomy and expands its menu to include savory lamb and veal dishes.

8. Tennessee's Al Gore will officially become Iranian. We'll teach him dancing baba-karam to loosen him up.

9. U.S. will not lose any cities that actually matter in keeping DC and everything north of there, while Atlanta will be renamed New Tehran.

10. Coca-Cola will become a subsidiary of ZamZam-Cola.

11. We'll rename Mardi-Gras to Mameh-Gah (like Namayeshgah), a place to showcase bare breasts of men and women.

12. We'll own CNN! (and immediately fire Amanpour for her Khatami interview.)

13. U.S. will still retain enough states/land suitable for development of more trailer parks for displaced former south residents with dark-pink behind the ears regions. They include, Arkansas, Oklahoma and of course W's home state of Texas.

In order to achieve this, we need immediate plans for relocation. Atlanta already has a good base of Iranians and those in Houston, Dallas and Oklahoma should move to the new Iran immediately. Then it's time for California Iranians (all 20 of them, because the rest of a few hundred thousands are no longer Iranian and are officially "Persian") to move there. In the third phase of great exodus, U.S. will open a consulate on Kish Island, so all Iranian citizens can obtain a 3 year work visa (as per W's new ridiculous plan) on their next trip to the island in order buy garments made in Karaj but labeled as Italian. Within 10 years, a complete transfer of people has taken place and many problems are solved for both sides. What do you think?

UPDATE - I just realized that if we keep the rest of Florida, we'll still have a resting but very vulgar cat! :o)

Showdown at Majlis

Courtesy of Haditoons

The facade of another democratic principal, namely a parliamentary election, is once again being set up in Iran. A system that has sought internal and international legitimacy by conducting charades by that name and at the same time remain at the farthest reaches of dictatorship, is trying once again to repeat the exercise.

In order to participate in these "elections" as a candidate, you must first be amongst a very tiny minority in Iran. You must be at least 30 years old, in a country that as much as 70% are not. You must also hold a bachelor's degree or higher, something not as widely spread again, particularly amongst the 30+ crowd. Then you must declare your total devotion to the system and its constitution, including absolute loyalty to the supreme leader and his powers.

Just when you think you are done with all that is above, an unelected ultra-conservative council will review your credentials and decides if you are allowed to run. Their decisions are mainly based on what they call "dedication to the Islamic Republic" or lack of it. This is done completely arbitrary and with little or no explanation. For example, Ali-Hosseini, a current member of parliament (Majlis) from Hamadan who has been disqualified by this council states that he was amongst the anti-shah activists from years previous to the revolution, was arrested and jailed for promoting Ayatollah Khomeini's views back then, at one point was even the cell-mate of the current "supreme leader" Ayatollah Khamenei, was a 5 year veteran of Iran-Iraq war where he was injured and is currently disabled as a result, has served in the highest offices in the land including its parliament and is yet judged to be not loyal enough to the principals of the Islamic Republic.

In fact, over 80 of the current members of parliament are also disqualified. They include president Khatami's brother as well as the leader's brother! Others disqualified include current deputy speaker and two of the activist female members; Koolaei and Haghighatjoo. This is why they have chosen to conduct an open ended sit-in at parliament starting today.

Now remember, all these members, plus others who even attempted to run, are all from that narrowest of the narrow sliver of the society that qualified to register to begin with. In case of current members, they also passed the same "loyalty" test once before or they wouldn't be able to run last time. Yet, now they are pushed aside in favor of those seemingly more loyal.

This is not an election. This is an exercise in forgery, a fake, a sham, a big national simulation to fool the world. The Islamic Republic of Iran is a badly ailing member of this global community that requires immediate and radical surgery to remove more than one tumors eating away at its vital organs, and the cosmetic surgery most often recommended by the current horde of "reformists" will not save it.

follow up the latest developments on this topic here.

On Ebrahim Nabavi

For those who are interested and can read Persian (my apologies to the rest), I recently had a virtual exchange with great Iranian writer and our premier political satirist Ebrahim Nabavi you can follow on-line. Nabavi's original article was about the upcoming parliamentary elections in Iran (along with a historical view of reformist print media over the past decade) and his opinion that participation is necessary for all those who oppose the current structure. Although I disagree, I was more offended with his assertion that those who aren't living in Iran (such as myself, or Nabavi for that matter) have a distorted view of what is needed to be done in Iran and therefore should not be listened to on this or other topics. I responded to his article with a short note and then he answered me (as well as a couple of other readers) in his next article, and basically accepted that he was wrong in stereotyping and bunching of all Iranians in exile together. I hope this brief attempt at translation and summarizing of this discussion was fair and accurate. I look forward to your feedback also.

Forbidden Iran II

Okay, here's my take on Forbidden Iran:

As it has become the unfortunate norm in certain journalistic circles, sensationalism and Hollywood drama got in the way of the real story. There was obviously a story there, actually two. One was the "Student Movement", in specific the suppression of students and then Zahra Kazemi's story and what actually happened to her. What in reality became the main topic in this documentary was Jane Kokan's brave endangerment of her life (real or imagined) as well as dramatic and almost fake poses, shots and commentary to add to the drama.

Was Kokan's life in danger? Nobody could say for certain. But anyone who has even traveled through Iran over the past decade could tell you that Iran is not 1975 Soviet Union, 1985 China or 1995 North Korea. Journalists are in fact restricted in their access, but even at worst cases their footage in confiscated and they are tossed out of the country. Kazemi was the exception of course, but that's because they treated her like an Iranian and not a Canadian journalist.

Then there was all the drama; Iman Samizadeh spectacularly proclaims the Iranian government is very dangerous, then demonstrates his website containing pictures of jailed "student leaders", including himself, from his London flat. "Arjang" has an office but is shot mostly moving through dangerous traffic. His name isn't shared but he has no fear of showing his face. Considering we are told he is arrested now, obviously "they" know who he is particularly with a tape of this show now, so who is he (or Kokan) concealing his identity from? Amir Fakravar's very dramatic speech, complete with close ups of his misty-eyed mom is somehow captured on broadcast quality video and then he is able to make a mysterious call from a horrific prison. The unidentified source in Isfahan (who appears a bit older than most average students) feels sitting on a park bench and talking is more dangerous than inviting a foreign woman into his cheap hotel room at night.

I won't say any of these is not true, but there's just way too much fluff and not enough meat. If you want to tell the story of the student uprising, that should be the focus. Do a bit of research to see what the roots of the protest were, what triggered the original protest, provide some factual details for the viewer to absorb, then get some perspective from authorities, and from activists as to where they see this going from here.

If you wish to discuss the murder of Zahra Kazemi, then give us some background on her, other stories she has worked on, maybe samples of her pictures. Interview her colleagues and those who knew her best. Try to get as many different versions of what may have actually happened to her, talk to some experts; forensics people, legal authorities, those who may have been through a similar ordeal. Then tell us what is going to happen next. What steps have been taken, what can be done.

As it is, I got the following from the show; - Iranian government (at least the non-smiling faction) is VERY DANGEROUS. - Students want freedom, but Iranian police is fascist (not much on non-police vigilante types) - Kianoosh who has been arrested four times can use his full name and speak with no disguise, but a foreign journalist must shred her notes on the bus or she may be harmed. - Zahra Kazemi is buried in a holy shrine's cemetery, in an area that is regularly locked up. Anything new or useful? You tell me.

Cold war mentality and this cloak and dagger attitude to journalism has killed enough legitimate stories. I hope the chronicle of Iranians struggle towards democracy and the different obstacles they face in that road is not fallen victim to fast cut, overly dramatic, sensationalist treatment Jane Kokan employed in this way-too-short documentary.

If you haven't seen the program yet, the complete show should be on their site next week, but here's a teaser available now.

Lost Treasures

A few years back, when I was involved with some import/export business, I received a fax from an auction house (I think they were based in London) about upcoming items for sale and they included a few cars owned by the Shah, including his Rolls Royce and a couple of other rare cars. However, it was obvious that some of the better known and more rare cars rumored to have been owned by him, including his rare Mercedes-Benz Gull Wing were not included and presumably stayed in Iran. I inquired about the collection and never went any further but a couple of years later came close to purchasing another car owned by former Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. It was a Peykan (reportedly the very first built in Iran, although most Iranians believe that first car was owned by Prime Minister Hoveyda) given to Ceausescu by the Shah. I digressed...

What reminded me of all this is the news about Francis Bacon's Two figures lying on a bed with attendants possibly leaving Iran for a show in UK. The piece, in reality three paintings as seen above, has been in storage for about 25 years as even the distorted nude figures of Bacon have been too risque for show during all this time. Makes you wonder what else may still be in some damp storage room or corner of someone's closet in Iran that is of historical, artistic or cultural significance.

Writing this reminded me of a few other things. One was this group that was professionally cleaning out the palaces, resorts and residences of Kish Island right after the revolution and selling them at this semi-secret location in Tehran. They would have all new "inventory" (read freshly looted items) every week and this is when there was absolutely no commercial flights to the island and local vigilantes were in charge all over Iran, including Kish I'm sure. It was rumored that they even sold handguns and other unique items with engravings to indicate they were presents from various former governments and officials (including one from an unnamed U.S. president) to the Shah.

The other one was visiting Niavaran Palace 17 years after Pahlavi family had left it, with a few missing paintings on the walls, and in Shah's private theatre there is a large wall display full of pottery, statues and other relics from the Inca, Aztec and other ancient people/cultures of Americas. I asked anyone I could find there, but nobody had any idea what they were, where they came from, how valuable the collection was or even seemingly cared much about the bunch of old pots on the shelves. I could scream, but didn't and again wonder now as to what else may be there that its value or importance is not known or appreciated.

Painting story from: Iran Filter.

A Reminder

Iran & Earthquakes

As most international teams leave Iran and there are rumors that other agencies and organizations are forced to pull out, it may be time to start discussing what may need to be done now that no more recovery is expected, relief is already in place and options for reconstruction are being considered.

A good starting point may be what MIT's Iranian Studies Group has put forward in form of a report on earthquake management strategies and options for Iran. The report features opinions by various experts and also points to other studies and documents on this topic. You can view or download a pdf version of the entire document here.

Thanks YK.

They Need More Help!

It is easy to forget, but as you are reading this, they are still recovering bodies from under the rubble in Bam. They are still trying to add up all the unofficial burials to add to the casualties total that passed 30,000 days before. Finding a 97 year old lady alive has been described as a miracle, as no other survivors have been or are expected. Now the battle is to save those who survived the catastrophe. Tens of thousands are living in tents, with little or no heating and other life necessities. Orphans are organized in make-shift classrooms to divert their focus from what has happened in their lives. The injured are facing shortages of medical supplies and drugs they need. In short, they need more help.

Mercy Corps has collected almost $320,000 in donations so far. As they "work through a growing, global network of partnerships with outstanding public, private and humanitarian organizations, and the generosity of forward thinking foundations and benefactors", they are able to obtain grants, contracts and donated goods from their partners and turn every single dollar donated to $12.72. With an easy calculation, that means they will be able to send over $4 Million in supplies and other help to the earthquake victims in Bam already. That means that if you can only afford to send them $5, in reality you have contributed over $60 and a $110 donation is almost $1,400 in goods sent over.

Please click here and donate $2, $5, $20, $100, whatever you can afford. I have no doubt somebody with great need will appreciate it on the other end of the globe and since he/she can't thank you directly, I offer you my most sincere gratitude.

Can We Make Yet Another Effort?

The amount raised by Mercy Corps has stalled at just under $300,000 for the past day almost. I know the new year and holidays are partially responsible, and fundraising after the sense of emergency for a situation has diminished is hard, I also know at times I may sound like a broken record that sounds like PBS fundraising drive people (not sure if that is bad thing though). However, there is plenty of work that still needs funds in Bam and I would like to ask all of you to give it one more push to see if we can buy a few more tents and space heaters for those who survived the disaster.

Please ask everyone you know, send an email to people in your email contact list, make a plea on your blogs and web sites and in short whatever we need to do to give Mercy Corps that extra final push to maximize their ability to work on behalf of the victims.

Also, if you work for a large corporation, either approach the powers-to-be or let me know and I'll go begging, as we are looking for good-hearted corporations (there must be one out there) that would offer to match funds raised towards this effort.

Since a couple of people have asked, let me make something clear too. I don't work for Mercy Corps, have never met anyone that works for them, don't know any of their executives or in short have any connection to them. On the morning of hearing the disaster had struck, not trusting Red Crescent bosses, I wrote to a few friends asking if we could raise some funds via our blogs and websites and have trusted friends in Iran spend the money directly in helping the victims. I quickly discovered the sanctions make that impossible to do legally so my next aim was to find a U.S. charity (as required by law) that would be able to deliver direct aid and called or emailed about a dozen or more I knew of. Mercy Corps were the first people who responded, provided some solid details and announced their first team had just left Pakistan for Iranian city of Zahedan. I liked their forward approach and quick action and passed that information along to everyone I knew, including some Iranian-American organizations and media types. Are they the best, most efficient, greatest experts to handle this task? We will see. For now I have no reason to think otherwise and looking at their history, I trust they wont let us down. But at this point, there's no time to sit back and contemplate some of those questions. Help is needed now and somebody must collect it. Between an arm of the Iranian government with no public accountability requirement and an international well-established charity dealing with these types of matters, I choose the latter.

Hope you agree too and join me in making this one last push before we start re-focusing our thoughts on reconstruction and not relief. I'll be sending out my emails and make my calls shortly. Thanks!

UPDATE I - Their total just passed $300,000. You think we could get to $350,000?

UPDATE II - Life must go on. It always does.

UPDATE III - Elizabeth Dole and a Bush to go to Iran?

Please Don't Stop Now!

Mercy Corps reached the $250,000 mark earlier today, thanks to all the web site and phone donations overnight. I thank all of those who have sent them a donation. Also we all need to thank all the sites and blogs who display their banners and link to their site.

Please don't stop, as help is still badly needed.

Mercy Corps' site now has pictures of their supplies being shipped to (above) and then used in (below) Iran. I also volunteered to translate a brief page for them to Farsi (since they had one in Arabic already) that should be up soon. Forgive my poor Farsi as it has been over three years since I have written anything that is not in English and my skills are rusty at best. Please consider linking to that page if you have a Farsi blog/site.

UPDATE - Yet another reason why I won't donate to Red Cross, who has stated they will hand all funds directly over to Red Crescent in Iran: Azar Nafisi reports "Red Crescent... banned female doctors and volunteers who tried to go to Bam."

Chariots of Gods

It was shortly after the Iranian revolution of 1979 when I first got my hands on the Farsi version of Erich Von Daniken's Chariots of God. The Swiss scientist's book was intriguing, fresh and downright radical. The flow of information was limited on both sides of the argument, so we never got to watch his "In Search of Ancient Astronauts" television show or received many of the arguments and evidence against his theories. In this situation, most of his assertions were taken as gospel and accepted without much critical debate.

I think Daniken was and is greatly instrumental in the way many Iranians of newer generation feel about religion, God and the universe. Perhaps it is also the reason certain cults have found an eager audience amongst young Iranians.

While I am not trying to argue for or against Daniken's theories here, I believe the lesson about limiting flow of information is a valuable one we should pay attention to. Limiting exchange of ideas has currently created a vacuum atmosphere, ready for any idea that may come across as legible and credible to spread like wildfire, be it Rev. Moon's church, Jesuit missionaries, Hare Krishnas or Islamist Cults.

Daniken may be busy at his park, but we will have a long way to go in breaking down the barriers set up by cultural, religious and governmental forces that will plague us for years to come.

Your Donations

We came pretty close. At midnight (my time), we were at just over $225,000 and less than $25,000 short of my personal goal of collecting $250,000 for Mercy Corps' relief effort in Iran. We are far from done though and still much more is needed. So I ask all of you once again to please pledge what you can and ask all those around you to also contribute what they are capable of. There should be no reason why tens of thousands who survived the original tragedy, are now battling the inadequate life conditions and suffer from lack of medication or cold. Click here to help.

The Reform Movement

Looking at the list of the latest hopeful candidates in the simulation exercise of parliamentary elections in Iran, it is obvious to me at least that the so called "reform movement" is officially dead.

What was essentially fired up by election of an insider who smiled often, promised a lot and made positive gestures towards the world, has died down so badly even some of its most prominent members have decided to step aside. They include brother of supreme leader, former mayor of Tehran, former minister of interior as well as minister of culture and Islamic guidance, plus a barrage of known political figures, popular journalists, academia and experts.

Instead, many of the "hard-liner" bigwigs are back on the scene and will probably win their seats for their side. They include the original vigilante Hadi Ghaffari, hated former information minister Fallahian, plus Badamchian, Parvaresh and Asgaroladi, the head hard-liners of Moetalefeh gang with others who have joined the list along with a few "opposition" figures who will probably be disqualified before even making the ballot.

Over 8,000 people have put their names up, of which only 806 are women. In some provinces, only 1, 2 or 7 women are on the list and only one woman from a religious minority has registered. This is all before a large majority of registered applicants are vetted by the conservative body that overlooks the elections.

Why the "movement" died takes a much deeper review and analysis but the major weakness of its head can be summarized in the inability or unwillingness (depending on your point of view) to keep up with the demand of the masses behind them and essentially falling behind the general public.

In short, their solution and extend of expertise for a severely ailing system was some plastic surgery, while a major operation involving amputations, exchange of primary organs and a complete blood transfusion is the only factor that may have saved this patient. The smile was a good start, but hardly enough to amount to anything.

The roots of this so called movement go actually further back, although the new wave was officially born in 1997. Right after the revolution of 1979, Iranian Communist Party (Tudeh) took a very similar position and even as late as mid-80's, when mass arrests and executions were in full force, still advocated a pattern of supporting the system, in hope of making gradual changes towards a goal more suitable to their agenda. Interestingly enough, some key members of the new wave have strong Tudeh connections from that era.

I am still not advocating a "revolution" and believe a long and steady movement towards democracy is the only long term solution Iran has to achieve freedom. I just hope we don't repeatedly get side-tracked by any weasel claiming to deliver us to the moon, but is only equipped with a paper plane and some big words.

URGENT!

Iran quake toll may hit 50,000; calls for more aid

The news continues to get worst and we need to do the little we are capable of doing to help out.

As many as 30,000 people may still be buried and there's an immediate need to offer help to those who have survived the catastrophe, but are injured and need urgent care or are homeless and in need of shelter and basic means to survive the upcoming weeks.

Mercy Corps just announced they have passed the $185,000 mark for donations sent by individuals, many of them from the Iranian-American community. Lets make an effort to bring that number up to $250,000 by the end of the day. That is only an extra $65,000 and can easily be achieved.

I urge all of you to please call them and send your $20 (thanks Chad), $50, $100 or $1,000 donations during this period. Please also use the banners below and link them to http://www.mercycorps.org?source=1702 on your sites and blogs and beg (yes, there's nothing wrong with begging if it isn't for yourself and to help in a humanitarian effort) everyone you know to send in a few dollars and make this mini-drive work.

Please help! Please!

More on Earthquake

When 30,000 lives come to an end in a mere 30 second window, does anybody hear?

Here are some facts I concede to:

The U.S. administration should be applauded for putting aside pity issues and offer help for the Bam earthquake victims. I hope they do more.

Enforcing sanctions in the midst of a colossal human tragedy is just asinine.

It is irrational to not accept humanitarian aid when it is most needed, even if it comes from an apartheid state.

Iranian government deserves much blame for the extent of damage and loss of life in this disaster.

It is great to see some countries donate millions in aid and disappointing to see others only make token contributions.

I have not asked a single Iranian for donation so far (if I run into you anywhere, be sure you'd be asked) who has refused to dig in his/her pockets or purse immediately.

Non-Iranians I have encountered have no idea help in form of donations and more are needed (thanks to the inept mass media). Please tell them.

We all need to learn first aid.

Earthquakes can not be stopped.

Buildings can be built to resist the destructive force of an earthquake to a great degree.

Structures can be built in ways to maximize the opportunity of occupants to survive, in the event of a collapse.

Governments can prepare better for the eventual disasters their people will face.

Bam's population; less than 200,000. Imagine when (not IF) Tehran is hit, with a population of 12 Million, plus.

We'll have plenty of time to discuss each of these topics and many more. For now, could you make a call to three friends, send an email to five, and make a little notice for your workplace's bulletin board or grocery store's community announcement wall to pass along Mercy Corps' information and ask for their help too?

I spoke to them earlier and they will gladly not add your name to a mailing list or sell/rent the information to others, if you only ask. Please do it now. Thanks!

UPDATE - Iran Quake Death Toll May Reach 50,000!!??!!

How to help?

Some of this information may sound repetitive, but here are some of the ways you can make a donation to help the victims of Bam earthquake:

If you live in USA:

The U.S. sanctions against Iran, make it rather difficult to be choosy about the way you help. In short, you can only donate to a U.S. charity that has applied and received special permits to transfer funds and/or supplies to Iran. Sending money directly, wiring it to a local charity with more direct control or transmitting funds to a relative to make the donation on your behalf can all be interpreted as violation of U.S. law and are subject to prosecution. Will all who may do this be charged? nobody knows. But you CAN be and who knows where it may be used against somebody. So, you basically don't have many choices as to how you wish your money be spent. I know this may be ridicules and unfair, but this is not the time to fight the system as urgent help is needed. My first choice still remain Mercy Corps. You can make a donation on-line, call them at 1.800.292.3355 ext. 250 and use a credit card to make a contribution, or send a check to: Mercy Corps, Iran Earthquake, Dept. W., PO Box 2669, Portland, OR 97208-266

Nobel peace prize winner Shirin Ebadi has accepted the task of collection of donations and overlooking its distribution. There has never been a doubt in her integrity and you can feel confident she will make the right choices when it comes to how the funds are best allocated. You can wire funds directly to her (even small amounts are important and welcomed) from any bank in your country by using the following transfer information: Name: Shirin Ebadi , Account No. 8080, Name of financial institution: Saderat Bank of Iran, Branch: Yousef-abad Ave, Kalantary square Branch, Location: Tehran, Iran.

I am told there are collection boxes and fundraising drives at many street corners, offices and other public places. Once again, I personally would not donate to Red Crescent (you make your own decision) as I have personal doubts about the sincerity and trustworthiness of those at the top that have control of the funds. If you can find a way to get money to those directly involved with the everyday rescue and medical tasks, I am certain chances of fraud are much lower.

Whatever you choose to do, please give generously and put aside your own political or personal feelings. The children who have lost their parents or the mother who lost all her kids don't have anything to do with whatever it is you may or may not like about the government of Iran and those in charge. Tonight in the freezing temperatures of desert night, they need a heating source and a blanket and our donations can buy both. I trust you will do the right thing.

Nothing To Say!

What is there to say when most experts are now stating that limiting the number of casualties to 20,000 is being overly optimistic?

I suppose we could discuss why Iran has never been able to effectively make a major change in the way structures are built, although most of the country is prone to experience strong earthquakes. We could disagree on if not accepting donations from Israel makes any sense. We could elaborate on the Armitage-Zarif conversation that led to rescuers being sent there from US. We could wonder why a certain country with such huge GDP would donate less than half a million dollars to help the victims. We could also argue about our choice of charities and the most effective way to help. But I beg all of you to not do it.

Let us just focus on one issue for now: maximize our donations, period.

Please find it in your heart to send $20, $50, $100 or $1,000, whatever you can afford, to Mercy Corps Now! Please.

I thank you in advance for all your help. Thanks.

Please Help!!!

the eyeranian pleads for your generosity as a devastating earthquake has killed thousands and destroyed many homes in Iran and donations are badly needed to help in this humanitarian effort. Recommended method of sending donations is through Mercy Corps and they can be reached via their web site mercycorps.org or by calling 1.800.292.3355 ext. 250

Mailing address to send your checks is:

Mercy Corps
Iran Earthquake
Dept. W
PO Box 2669
Portland, OR 97208-266

Please mark your checks with “Iran Earthquake” so the funds are directed towards this effort. Thank you.

UPDATE - Another spot for your donations:

Natasha Behbahany of Relief International assures me that "there is a specific RI team on the ground currently offering humanitarian services to the victims." Also, they have some experience in this area, having "had on-going representation in Iran that has been working on long-term reconstruction efforts from the 2002 Qazvin earthquake and the 2001 Golestan flood".

They are accepting donations on-line right here. Options are good.

Arg-e Bam Pictures

I traveled to Bam with my family when I was 13. These 15 pictures were taken during that trip. I was being artistic thinking everyone has already done those pictures of the citadel from outside, I'll take my pictures from inside out. I don't know how successful that attempt was.

I hope the reports of the complete complex being destroyed are exaggerated.

UPDATE - Pictures collected by IranMania shows extensive damage to the citadel and of course seeing some of the victims is not easy. Please give generously.

Earthquake in Iran

The estimate for casualties range from 5,000 to 20,000. So far over 4,000 deaths are confirmed but numbers are escalating rapidly. A relatively strong earthquake devastated southeastern province of Kerman last night, destroying the historical city of Bam in the process. This isn't the right time and place to discuss why isn't enough done to prepare building across Iran for the inevitable earthquakes. After all, the California shake of last week was almost as powerful and caused only limited damage and 2 deaths. We will have plenty of time to argue about those points. For now what is badly needed is emergency relief.

Lat time I was in Iran in mid 90's, you could still BUY tents with Red Cross stencil on them that was sent to Iran for the last large earthquake earlier in that decade. They were brand new and sold at private stores. Obviously they were never used for their intended purpose and now someone was making money from them. This only highlights the serious concerns some have about the integrity of Iranian Red Crescent society, Red Cross's cousin organization that is unfortunately run under governmental influence.

A few bloggers are right now searching for other ways to collect some donations and send them via means, where it actually gets directly to he victims and doesn't line-up pockets of another connected fat cat. I will keep you updated on that effort within the next day or so.

Meanwhile, prey if you are religious, meditate if you're spiritual, send positive vibes if you are neither. Whatever you do, keep these victims from one of the most underprivileged and deprived region of Iran in your thoughts today and think of ways to send them some help.

UPDATE - I personally would not give a penny to Red Cross. Nothing against them, but their functioning arm in Iran is the Red Crescent Society which is known for corruption and fraud, just as most governmental organizations in Iran are. We will find other ways.

UPDATE - Aside from the human casualties, the old structure of Arg-e Bam, one of heritage sites recognized by the UN, an old city on the ancient Silk Road and the oldest mud structure surviving in the world has been completley destroyed as the early reports indicate. Very sad indeed.... I have some personal pictures of Bam I will try to put up somewhere, here is more on it's history.

UPDATE - Have been doing some more research on this as a few bloggers wanted to start a fund and were busy finding suitable NGO's inside Iran to give the money to, but apparently for those of us in USA to attempt to send donations through other means may be a violation of sanctions and subject to prosecution. In short, we aren't free to decide how our donations are spent. Red Cross (unfortunately) may be our only choice, although I have already contacted other charities such as Doctors Without Borders to see if they are able to handle the aid directly and not hand all the donations over to the Iranian government. Just in case I wasn't clear already, let me state that I have nothing negative to say about Red Cross and believe most of the Red Crescent people are also honest, compassionate people. But as a government entity, those with the influence and power to control the collected funds, are naturally proven cohorts of a corrupt and fraud-plagued system, and as an example of their misdeeds, you can look at my tent story above.

UPDATE - Some sources are reporting death tolls as high as 40,000 but so far it appears that about 20,000 are confirmed. The pictures are just heart wrenching. I am contacting more people regarding donations including Mercy Corps who appear to have their own presence in Iran. Will let you know.

UPDATE - I have it confirmed. Just spoke to the program director at Mercy Corps and she read me the confirmations straight from their VP that their own team of five has already landed in the Iranian city of Zahedan and they will be overlooking the job of spending all the donations, everything from distributing blankets, medicine and more all the way to allocating rebuilding money directly and no money will be transfered to any agent or employees of the Iranian government. I am sending my own donation through them and hope you do too.

Celebrating Yalda

Yalda is the ancient Iranian observance of the longest night of the year or Winter Solstice. Perhaps the birthplace of old European celebration of Yule, Yalda is still observed by most Iranian families, regardless of religion or ethnic background.

Growing up, typically this would be the evening we would all gather at home of family elders and honor the night with music, watching television specials and the ever so important; distinctive foods, snacks and fruits prepared for the experience. Most notably Pomegranates would be featured plus dried fruits/nuts mix and my grandparents always made Fava Beans we would have with lemon juice and a sprinkled with a mixture of herbs and spices called Golpar. Some years somehow someone would manage to find a decent watermelon that was not exactly in season and add to the flavors of the night. On certain years they would have a Korsee set up. This is a very short square table at the center of the room with a heating device (electrical, coal or otherwise) installed underneath. It was covered with a super sized comforter covering the whole set up plus most of the room and everyone would sit around it under the cover and enjoy the cozy, warm experience with my grandma reciting poetry or telling us kids an old story.

I started my elementary school in Jamshid Jam, an exclusive Zoroastrian school and If I remember correctly, my Zoroastrian friends also light candles and bonfires on this night too, although that could have been a family practice and not faith based. I am certain someone here will validate the actual tradition.

Years later, I have lived by myself for so long that all of these wonderful customs have become a distant memory more than anything actually paid attention to. I just hope my other countrymen and women will not let them be forgotten and practice all the silly traditions and cultural tales we all carry, as life is nothing but just a bunch of silly traditions that dictates our way of life and who we are as a community and individuals.

Enjoy Yalda!

Forbidden Iran

Mark your calendars from now. On January 8, at 9 p.m. FrontLine on PBS will show Forbidden Iran, a documentary by award winning Canadian journalist Jane Kokan. Already shown in Europe, the documentary has been the center of much discussion about human rights and Iranian government's horrendous record on that topic. I will reserve judgment on fairness and accuracy of the film 'til I've had a chance to see it.

Meet Your New Savior!

Michael Ledeen is at it again, trying to clean up the tarnished image of his Iran-Contra partner and known spy Manucher Ghorbanifar and present him as the new savior of Iran. This time, Ghorbanifar wants to be the hero who knows people who know where Saddam has hidden $340 Million in cash and would help us find it, if half of it is put at his disposal to topple the Iranian regime. To just show what kind of information this genius has access to he claims Usama Bin Laden is hiding in Iran and also says: "You won't be surprised if you find that Saddam Hussein is on one of the Iranian islands." Of course as we now know, the day after this article was published, Saddam managed to find an underground tunnel to take him all the way from his "Iranian Island" to the outskirts of Tikrit.

Other valuable intelligence the Iran-Contra team wants to share with us (but only vaguely, no concrete details) is about "Iranian nukes in Canada". You tell me what kind of a person would have access to information about money stolen from Iraqi people but will not share it with those who the money belongs to, and I'll show you someone who supposedly knows illegal nuclear weapons are at the heart of North American civilian population but holds back details! These guys are just pathetic.

Ledeen has tried once before to clear up the image of other friends who were caught with him in their illegal dealings. His Perilous Statecraft book was essentially just that; an attempt to exonerate criminal buddies. He even tried separately to cover Ghorbanifar's behind with more lies, all with little or no success of course. Now even the CIA won't trust the information generated from theses guys.

So, they try with the gullible media and this time, it's "Iran's Chalabi" and his "Secret Plan". Gods help us if these Demons are our saviors.

My Makarenko Story

few months ago I heard from an old friend. This has probably been the best part of this weblog experience as a few people I had lost contact with, somehow found me here and we reconnected. This friend was one of the most important ones.

I say important for various reasons but most notably because he was a friend from that period of a couple of years in my life, that I had completely disassociated myself from and have very few connections to. If you have been reading the eyeranian regularly, you have read references to that period before.  

I was almost 12 when the Iranian revolution came to realization. Let me correct that; I was 12 when yet another chapter of the ongoing Iranian revolution came to an end in 1979. Between then and 1981, when I was forced to re-birth myself after the major crack-downs began, and then involuntarily leaving Iran in 1983 may all seem like a rather short window, but to me it lasted forever and has continued to be the most influential part of my life. 

This particular friend was from those first two years of that experience. What was amazing to me was how vividly he also remembered the period. He originally wrote me asking if I knew a “Pedram Moallemian” that went to Hadaf School, etc. To which I replied; “How many Pedram Moallemians do you think are out there?” stressing the fact that my name is rather unique even amongst Iranians. Shortly after that we were talking on the phone and he said that he was surprised I remembered him, to which I replied of course I did, after all didn’t HE remember me?. He said something that has been on my mind for months now and this post is part of my own self-directed therapy session about that. He said “EVERYBODY, remembers YOU. Just most would not expect you to still be alive.” 

The second part of that comment did not trouble me too much. I am often wondering about that myself and besides, trying to completely disassociate myself from certain circles and friends was by design and it would be natural for some of them to fear the worst. However, the first part was something I was completely unaware of myself. EVERYBODY would remember tiny, unnoticeable and unimportant me? 

To me, I was just another kid going to school everyday. Yes, I had two wall-newspapers going on at the same time and yes I did participate in military style workouts every morning often leading it too, and yes I did organize the biggest lunch cooperative ever, sometimes having hundreds of students participate in the daily exercise of sharing a humble lunch of Sangak bread with feta cheese and fresh dates, but other kids had their own stuff too and I never realized mine was so noticed. Well, apparently it was.
 
I am now more determined than ever to one day write a book. To include some of those memories and share the experiences. I don’t know yet if I am old enough to write an autobiography, I’m not even sure if the book will be all non-fiction. But I’ve promised myself to do it, if time and life-span allows it.

Consider this a brief sub-chapter:

y the start of the school year in fall of 1980, the brief period of social and political freedoms was quickly coming to an end. Although the government was not yet directly involved in large-number of arrests and eventual mass executions that were to begin within the next 9 months, the various pressure groups had made it impossible for any voices of dissent to function freely. The first few political prisoners had already been jailed, many of opposition publications were banned and official warrants had been issues for certain political figures.  

The main intensity of the onslaught was carried by vigilante groups. Known primarily as Falange (named after the Spanish Fascists) or Chomagh-Dar (stick-handlers, because of their weapon of choice), these were small groups of extremists who would attack bookstores, information tables, women who did not cover themselves to their standards and flyer-distributing teenagers and often severely beat them to the point of causing several deaths in various cities. It was a brutal and effective way, as by then there was an atmosphere of fear taking over the earlier euphoria we had all experienced.

At the time, I was between relationships. Meaning I was between supporting one group and going to another. Did this a couple of times back then. There was virtually no music on radio, movie-theaters only showed movies from 50 years ago and all of the chopped up by the censors, and television only showed religious teachings, Koran lessons and occasional reports from the warfronts, so what was a teenager supposed to do? Politics was our only entertainment and just as kids today would switch between being a fan of X rock/pop group to follow Z, we were all trying various ideas. 

More importantly though, I was suffering from a severe case of withdrawal. Before that, there were mini political debates in every corner, often literally blocking traffic as the crowds would gather to hear some lively discussions. There were also tables set up by various groups on busy intersections, where you could browse their latest flyers, buy a book or listen to a recorded speech on loud speakers. People of the “Chomagh” had already ended all of that. In search of an intellectual environment, I found a temporary but interesting refuge;

The Boulevard movie theater on Tehran's elegant Keshavarz Boulevard was showing a Russian movie called "Manzoomeye Pedagojiki". I have no idea what the original title of the movie is or who made it, but it was based on the teachings and theories of Soviet educator Anton Semyonovich Makarenko. The movie was mainly about Makarenko's experience in establishing the Gorky Colony, a home for children left homeless by the Russian Revolution and then Dzerzhinsky Commune, an institution for juvenile offenders. Makarenko who became a staunch Stalinist, focused on the importance of physical labor and discipline in education.

The theatre had become a favorite hangout of Iranian Communist Party (Tudeh) members and then the faction of Fadaeian Organization they had managed to separate from the rest of the group and now after they had all seen the movie, other intellectual types were hanging out there too. Most, like me, were not even communists, but had found a place to be relatively safe from the daily harassments and hung out after the movie to discuss Soviets, revolutions, education systems, freedom of ideas, etc.

After seeing the movie a couple of times, I started this new venture. Everyday, I would gather a bunch of kids from school, bribe the doorman to let us out, take the bus all the way down and spend a few hours in the Boulevard area before and after watching the movie. Sometimes there were only 2 or 3 of us, other times close to 20. I think I watched that movie at least 30 times, with no exaggeration. Most of the kids were just participating because of my talent in smuggling them out of school, then taking them down there and back, but a few actually wanted to see something intellectual. I didn't care. Everyone was welcomed and a mundane movie on Makarenko provided that needed refuge, the atmosphere to converse and think freely in that small theatre and much more.

I really enjoyed those visits, but more importantly made friends with a caretaker of one of the buildings nearby. He had let me use his gardening hose to wash up one time and the next day I brought him a sandwich from this shop close to nearby Val-Asr Square.

A few years later, I was to meet a friend at Laleh Park in close proximity. A meeting gone wrong as we both walked into a trap and within minutes there were foot chases, sound of gun shots and blacked-out Benzes swarming the area. I ran non-stop, without looking back and suddenly found myself in front of that very building with a friend's face poking through the cracked door, wondering what the commotion was all about. Without saying a word he let me in, hide me really well in this rather large commercial building and helped me sneak out later that night.

Watching Makarenko saved my life.

Guess I'm an "Irani-Looking Arab"

Prejudice and intolerance is a global nuisance. Iranians are no exception. For many Iranians, one of the primary targets of this version of narrow-mindedness is anything Arab or Arabic. The historical backdrops are rather obvious. There has been a tradition of hostility between people living in the Iranian plateau and their Arab neighbors for centuries. In particular, the invasion by the Muslim armies that led to Iran becoming a predominantly Muslim nation in the 7th century, has left such deep scars, it is still talked about as if it was yesterday.

Add to that the current situation: most Iranians dislike the current regime so much, the opposite of anything it does or says is accepted as the absolute fact. In this case, their strict adherence to certain Arabic traits and customs, plus their loyalty to Arabic language, Arab holy figures and a religion that is seen by many as foreign and "Arabic", has caused a further blind-hatred of Arabs by more than a few Iranians. As an example, Palestine and Palestinians are seen as a "regime issue" and as the regime is always wrong, then damn those Palestinian Arabs!. Israel's state-run radio is now officially claiming to be the most listened to foreign broadcaster of Persian programming.

With this background, it has been peculiar to watch the current debates about Iran's application to participate in The League of Arab States more commonly known as the Arab League as an observer member. This has caused a certain sense of paranoia in some Iranian circles. I got the original news story by an email with this subject line: "IR (Islamic Republic) want us to become Arabs?!". Then another individual emailed an interview by an Iranian "strategic issues specialist" that is the epitome of the word paranoia; "We are not Arabs, Why should we step on our personality, identity and nationality and become member of an organization that deals with issues of Arab nations...". A popular web log pointed to some comments by Iranian politicians in favor of the move by this belittling title: "Identify the Irani-lookig Arabs".

If this is not when paranoia crosses into predisposition and even hatred, I can't think of a better example.

Now let's get a few facts straight;

- Iran could not possibly become an actual member even if it tried, since the membership is open only to "Arab States" and none of the current 22 members or anyone else for that matter (with the exception of some people with a gun rack in their pickups) considers Iran a part of that category.

- "Observer members" of any organization have a very different role and obligation as opposed to full fledge "members" as the title essentially allows for participation in certain discussions with no member privileges or voting power.

- Two out of the three officially non-Arab nations in the middle-east, Iran and Turkey (the third being Israel) have both applied for the same arrangement. I doubt many Turks are suddenly worried about their country becoming an Arab state!

- For hundreds and thousands of years, Iranians have retained their unique culture, language and customs, despite various cultural and military invasions and attacks by foreign powers. Now sitting in a few meetings will not suddenly make us "become Arabs" or Turks or Polynesian.

Let's call a spade a spade. There would be not a single outcry of we are not Europeans or god forbid "becoming European" if Iran had applied to become an observer member of EU. So, why the big fuss with the Arab League? What other than the fact that "Ay-Rabs" are involved?

Get over it! In fact, go look at yourself in the mirror and bow your head in disgust. This is the same prejudice we suffer from ourselves and it is unacceptable no matter if it is directed towards us or is practiced by us.

Iran joining the Arab League or any other international organization is a very clever way to promote dialogue and co-operation. I wish we'd join every single regional and cultural organization globally. Particularly if they involve a whole bunch of our immediate neighbors where our own fate is also in the balance with the decisions made.

Yes, the Arab League does not have a very bright history. It was created during the height of the Pan-Arab movement with certain hostility by some towards certain nations and people, including Iran. It has also been dominated by certain repulsive forces in the past, like Saddam Hossein's stretch, the man who was fond of saying "God made two mistakes in creation by making two creatures who serve no worthy purpose in life; Flies and Iranians." So what? Iran is a country that has had its own share of prejudice attitudes and lousy leaders. Do we now hide from our neighbors because we don't like their race, heritage or language? puhleeease!

Let's go to as many meetings as they allow us to attend. Let's join any organization that welcomes us into their midst and wants to hear our opinion and provide us with theirs. Let's expand our dialogue with the world. Let's learn from others and offer our own views for others to learn from. Let's get rid of these old stupid prejudices some of us hold, as they only stop us from moving forward.

Now you wanna call me an Irani-Looking Arab? Go for it. Unlike you, I don't consider that an insult. Hundreds of thousands of Iranian Arabs, plus millions of other Iranians who have broken free of their bigotry will still know me as just a concerned Iranian.

IranFreeElection.com

So we had a long discussion about this today. Hossein Derakhshan has to be different in everything he does. He doesn't leave a comment for those who criticize him, he calls them. What we came up with, should be a very interesting project. Here's some generalities:

As I am writing this, Hoder is busy designing yet another web site. This one will be different. It's not about him, it's about you. You as in you, the Iranians who have been "left out" by this regime. This is what I mean; in the upcoming parliamentary elections, you can run as a candidate IF amongst other things, you pledge allegiance to Velayate Faghih (supreme leader) clause of the constitution, have a bachelor's degree or higher, are at least 30 years old (and not older than 75), and be able to see, speak and hear.

In other words, nobody with a different opinion, nobody from lower classes or smaller towns and villages who have little access to higher education, nobody from the 60% of the population that is born after 1979 and no person with disabilities can even apply. Not to mention that if you still fit into the narrow category above, then an ultra-conservative council will review your qualifications and decides if you are allowed to run or not. In summary, only the narrowest of the a very narrow portion of Iranians are even allowed to consider the option.

So, the question is not whether Hoder should or could run or not. It is basically to stress the fact that choice does not really exists in any election held under these circumstances.

The site being developed, is a symbolic response to just that issue. Since none of us can (yet) grant that chance to run for office to millions of "left out" Iranians, at least in cyber-space we can keep that choice alive. On this site, you will be encouraged to "run", as it is your basic human and political right to do so. Nobody will care what your stand is; you can be pro regime, anti god, in exile, zionist, certainly "differently-abled", semi-illiterate, 19 years old, liberal, anarchist, you get the idea. ALL Iranians can be nominated, just as if it was a proper and democratic election happening inside Iran. You will have YOUR own page to post YOUR platform and present YOUR ideas.

Let us show the "conservatives", the "reformers", the "progressives" and the "extremists" inside the Iranian regime, what they are missing. Let them see how wonderful the idea of diversity is. Let's look at the wild and crazy platforms, the insane and impractical. Let's experience what it's like to say "I believe I have a point of view that needs to be heard in the circle of power in Iran and I am willing to put my opinions and name up for people to decide if they'd like to choose me as their representative".

Can anyone think of a way to actually hold a mock election too?

Hossein Derakhshan, MP?

As someone who has also ran for office before, let me start by telling you what I think are the different types of people who actually put their names up for an election of this type. I divide them in 6 distinct categories:

- Those who only run to make a statement or take a stand and don't care if they are elected (or are even allowed to run as is the case here).

- Those who run for the publicity it generates, for a future project.

- Those who want to get elected to use the celebrity for other uses.

- Those who want the power being elected brings.

- Those who want the money or position associated with the office.

- Those who want to get elected to push forward an agenda.

Considering what I know of Hossein, I'm guessing he is of the first group, as I was. But there are some key differences and they are the reasons I could never do as he is. Take the following for example:

Like it or not, even applying to be considered, carries a certain baggage with it. By applying, you acknowledge at least two things: 1) This regime is legitimate. I think it is fair to believe the Islamic Republic is certainly not a Republic and there are serious questions about it being Islamic too. Also, as most important positions are held by unelected individuals who are not subject to public scrutiny and accountability, they are not the legitimate representatives of Iranian people and can't stand for the nation. In short, illegitimate to the bone. 2) Consider the election process to be justified and legal. Hey, even the "moderate" President says only those who agree with the regime have the right to be in the parliament (Farsi link courtesy of ZaneIrani blog). When the process is so flawed that only a small fraction of population is even allowed to run, participating in the charade only adds to the credibility of a fraud.

For those two reasons alone, I believe Hossein is making a mistake but still like do acknowledge that his running or the possible rejection of his candidacy, will certainly provide a podium for him to raise some important issues and I hope he is clever enough to use that to its maximum potential.

Longest Serving Prisoner

Having the title of "Iran's longest serving political prisoner" is a unique achievement by itself as many of Iran's political prisoners were executed within days and weeks of arrest. However Abbas Amir Entezam is still in custody, serving out his second sentence, this one for an unknown length and for expressing his opinion. Here's his latest statement, but you may also want to look at the background of his imprisonment here.

Tehran Intersections

Iran Filter has been an interesting project to watch in its early days. Although it would be nice if more people participated and provided links they find interesting, there are already plenty of useful information passed along between registered users and visitors. One that I have truly enjoyed and try to visit sometimes several times a day is the web site for Tehran Traffic Control Company, TTCC. They post a new picture every 2 minutes of various Tehran intersections and for someone with an perpetual case of homesickness, this is a welcome site.

As for Iran Filter, you only need to register to be able to add your own links, otherwise any visitor can stop by and enjoy what is being linked by others.

Another Velvet Revolution

Being in touch with Iranian activists of different stripes, I can tell you that what took place over the last few days in the one-time Iranian region known now as Republic of Georgia (Commonwealth of Independent States) is significant beyond the borders of this little-known Caucasian country.

What is being labeled as a "Velvet Revolution" was exactly that, a revolution. A public uprising against what they perceived to be a corrupt government, ending in the overthrow of a regime. There was some overtures for Shevardnadze to keep his post until a new government is put in place, perhaps resembling more of a reformist transition than a revolution, but the peaceful (although forceful) invasion of parliament by masses ended such speculations and the President resigned today.

This has suddenly put a third option in front of many activists in the region, particularly in Iran. The Iranian opposition has so far been divided in two primary camps; those who wish to take the country through a transitional period of slow reforms to eventually lead into a more democratic system, and others who advocate a ferocious revolution, at times with friendly overtures towards foreign "help" by some. Tbilisi presents a new option, where people force the hand of the regime, counting on the security forces to stay off violence and allowing for a change of government within hours, not days or even years. There has already been a few that have suggested this to be possible in Iran, citing examples such as Shah's army crumbling under the public pressure.

I am not yet convinced if that option applies to Iran. I believe the missing factor and what has not been an issue in Georgia or other examples of this peaceful transition of power, is religious fundamentalism. Despite the damage this regime has inflicted to the foundation of religion in Iran, we still have a sizeable portion of our population who are deeply religious. Within this segment, there are a smaller group who can only be described as fundamentalists. Although their numbers are limited their shear brutality and sense of dedication, plus access to weapons provides this fraction formidable power. Unlike the Georgian internal police, this group when cornered like a rat, will fight with every ounce of strength to preserve the system that has nourished it so well. A single act of aggression by these people, will bring about the bloodshed and carnage that this entire process is suppose to avert and could even cause an escalation of the violence on both sides to a regretful outcome.

So far, I'm still in the camp that believes the non-violence long-haul change routine is our best course of action and although the process is long and wearisome, the long-term results will be more mature, steady and long-lasting. Even the fundamentalists need to reach a stage where they will not be blowing themselves up in every government building in tomorrow's free Iran and that can only be achieved through the rule of law and a slow transition towards respecting the wishes of masses.

Is this even possible? yes. If we fail to consider this as a real and viable possibility, the road down to asking U.S. paratroopers to land in Tehran is not that far. Many fundamentalists (on the governments side or opposition) of the past twenty-odd years are now flag-bearers of a non-violent democratic approach to government. Why would it be impossible to expand upon that progress and achieve our ultimate goals independently?

Neocons & MKO (again)

Amir Taheri is one of the "experts" of Benador Associates. The group also includes other notables such as Prince of Darkness Richard Perle and Iran's Enemy #1; Michael Ledeen. Taheri is the guy who recently claimed Hijab did not exist in Iran until 1977 and praised "W" on one of his biggest endorsements of the clerical tyranny in Iran, when he publicly applauded the student movement for democracy. So, his political leaning and affiliation is clear.

In his latest article he makes two allegations that may require further inquiry; one is that France bombed Bushehr in 1983, number two and more importantly; U.S. has made a deal with Massoud Rajavi's Mojahedin to commit acts of sabotage inside Iran, followed by another attack on nuclear plants to cause an uprising against the regime following its destabilization.

The first one is one of those accusations nobody can prove or reject, so talk is cheap. Second one though, is straight out of the mind of Ledeen, the man obsessed with interfering with the natural progress of Iranian people towards democracy. A friend recently objected to me labeling Ledeen as Iran's #1 enemy, suggesting that someone like Khamenei is more deserving of the title. Perhaps she's right. To me, the 1979 revolution had three main goals reflected in people's chants and list of demands: abolition of monarchy and establishment of a republic, independence and freedom. The first one is done with and will never ever be reversed. Between the other two, at least Khamenei shows some basic commitment to the independence part, while Ledeen is so keen on destroying that too. As for freedom, Khamenei doesn't even believe in it and Ledeen's version isn't that much better.

Michael Ledeen, congratulations! You still retain the #1 position in my books.

ACI Survey

ACI, a forum and think-tank of Iranian academics and activists has introduced a survey (link in Farsi) to measure some of the viewpoints and concerns of Iranians, particularly the enormous percentage that is currently under 40. I don't believe there's enough of this type of work done and since such endeavors could not possibly be held inside Iran and with a more accurate and encompassing fashion (door to door or even by phone, etc.), the Internet may be the only way to try to gather such data.

The questions, aside from general demographic inquiries, focus on past participation in various elections, and opinions of what the participants see as conditions and obstacles for the future of the country. If you run an Iranian weblog, I hope you can link to it ion order to get the survey most exposure possible.

Iran Filter

Hossein Derakhshan (Hoder) has launched his newest project. Iran Filter is a community news and links site, dedicated to providing information on a wide variety of topics about Iran and Iranians. All registered members are encouraged to submit links and news items that are displayed for use by visitors. Similar to his Persian version of a similar idea in Sobhaneh (breakfast), there are some basic rules for what is allowed to be posted and they are as follows:

*Posts should:

- be directly related to Iran.

- Have news value.

- Accompany a brief description or summary in English, as well as a clear, informative, and self-explanatory title. This excludes personal opinions or judgment about the link provided or it’s content.

*Self-promotion, in any form is not allowed. Therefore linking to own work (article, blog, art, photo, etc.) is forbidden.

*All posts are subject to editing or removal by site administrator.

*Copyrights for all material, articles, links and artwork remains the property of their creator.

I think this is another great idea by Hoder. If utilized properly, Iran Filter can serve as a great tool for all those who are interested in news related to Iran, particularly items not generally covered by the mainstream media. Take a look for yourself and become a registered member. The broader participation will add to the variety of what will be available to all of us.

Love & Yearning

I obviously have not seen this Smithsonian exhibition yet, but if the interactive web site is any indication, it looks fantastic. I don't believe I have ever come across such a professionally done and beautiful display. Enjoy a brief look into Love & Yearning. Thanks S.

Hossein Amanat

Cyber Architect introduced me to Hossein Amanat today. Amanat is the designer of Tehran's famous Azadi (freedom) monument, formerly known as Shahyad. He also designed the wonderful Bahai' buildings in Haifa, plus a very impressive residential building I recently went to a cocktail party at but had no idea it had such a strong Iranian connection. Obviously a brilliant architect, Amanat now practices his craft out of Vancouver, with projects all over the globe.

False Pride

Not many things turn me off more than this sense of false pride some of my countrymen and women hold over some of the most bizarre ideas they feel what a sense of national and cultural pride should be. Granted, this is probably not unique to Iranians but I only get pissed off a lot when it hits so close to home. An example of such, appeared in pages of iranian.com recently, which appropriately enough was featured in their "anyway" section (there are variations of the same text in heavy e-mail circulation also). Anyway should be my reply to this apparent proud Iranian lawyer from Sydney who believes aside from fire and pomegranate juice (I won't let go, will I?), all other wonderful stuff on earth came from "Persia" or is downright "Persian".

I was going to write a reply to him when I got a message from Siamak Farah about the same and explaining how his nephew who has never been to Iran, but "knows more about Iran than any other 10 Iranians I know" has done a bit of research on the topic and prepared a reply that should knock the socks off anyone who wants to be a proud Iranian, based on false data and facts.

So, with his permission, here are the original points with comments added by Mahyar Farahbakhshian:

Who are the Iranians?

1. Twelve thousand years ago, they invented irrigated farming.

Sumerians/Elamites, not Iranians. Iranians entered that area about four thousand years ago.

2. They invented writing.

Ditto. Sumerians invented cuneiform.

3. They figured out how to tell time.

Babylonans. A semitic people.

4. They founded modern mathematics.

This is true. See Al-khwarizmi.

5. In the Code of Hammurabi, they invented the first legal system that protects the weak, the widow and the orphan.

Babylonians. Cyrus let the law stand.

6. Five thousand years ago, they had philosophers who attempted to list every known thing in the world.

Twenty five hundred, and the philosophers themselves were Greek.

7. They were using Pythagoras' theorem 1,700 years before Pythagoras.

Untrue.

8. They invented artificial building materials, some kind of pre-fab-crete stuff used to construct high-rise towers.

Buildings in that area are made of mud.

9. Northern Iran, is assumed to be the place we're all descended from.

Define 'we all'. Indo-Europeans spread out in all directions from points a little north and a little west. Think Kazakhstan today.

10. They were the first people to build cities and live in them.

Sumerians are not Iranian.

11. For thousands of years, they wrote the greatest poetry, history and "sagas" in the world and they still do.

That's subjective.

12. Because they were great horse breeders, they invented the cavalry in war, Knights of the King originate in Ancient Persia, and they invented other things like the Game of Polo (Cho-gun).

This is true.

13. They invented the postal system.

Also true.

14. Emperor Darius the conqueror invented and built the Suez Canal giving access to the Persian Navy to the Mediterranean Sea (Infact that is precisely how the Moslem armies went as far as Spain some thousand years later)

Cambyses did it. It failed and he ordered the waters whipped. Darius did a slightly better job. There is a thirty meter difference in the sea level of the Red and Mediterranean. Only the phoenecian engineers seemed to get it right. In any case, the canals crumbled later.

15. The Iranian Museum in Tehran contains some of the most outstanding stone, metal and clay sculptures and inscriptions created in the history of the world. Some of them are more than 7,000 years old. If a bomb hits this place, art lovers around the world will go into mourning.

The British museum has a lot of the same work. If any museum is bombed, art lovers will go into mourning.

16. The first school for astronomers was established by Iranians. This is how the "wise men" got to be so wise. They knew how to follow the stars.

True.

17. Beginning around 200 A.D., the Iranians founded universities that exported teachers throughout the civilized world to teach medicine, mathematics, philosophy, theology, literature and poetry inter alia...

This is not so impressive. The Romans had universities of this scale for Five hundred years. The Greeks for nearly a thousand.

18. Abraham, the father of Israel, was from Persia.

He was from Ur, which is at the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates in Iraq. He also was not Persian.

19. Abraham, the father of Islam, was from Persia (Which means Abraham was Persian)

See above. The comments "(Which means Abraham was Persian)" is fallacious because it does not address the concept that the same lands can be occupied by different people at different times.

20. Abraham, the father and "model" of Christian faith, was from Persia.

See above.

Dariush Zahedi

Dr. Dariush Zahedi's case does not seem to get enough publicity unfortunately. Except for yet another on-line petition, the only other significant step I've seen about him is Human Rights Watch's press release to demand his freedom. I wish there was some way to get more people to pay attention to his dire situation.

At home in Evin.

Pictures of Akbar Ganji and other prisoners held in the "General Population" section of Evin prison on Gooya News although sad and still disheartening, it also makes others who occupied the facility wonder if the luxuries seen are offered to all inmates. Of course I use the word "luxuries" while admitting the relative nature of what it may mean. But just as an example, these are some of the items glaringly different with images etched in so many memories;

It appears at least in this bright "cell" detainees have their own space with basic bedding material, storage space and yes drapes. The floors are carpeted, electrical lamps are plenty and exposed, room has what appears to be a television set (and other electronics?) and even a kitchenette. It also appears the drapes on top are covering what may be windows to the outside.

Now compare that to this image; a similar size room filled with 30-40 and sometimes 50 "inmates" with a hard cement floor, no beddings or covering of any type and the only light allowed in through tiny windows about 20 feet up near the ceiling that only contained one small well-covered light fixture.

I hope this is now the new norm in Evin, but listening to others who have "visited" the facility as early as months ago, I see this as an orchestrated photo op. Too bad Ganji that is respected by many has become part of it.

Link via Come to my Garden. Pictures courtesy of ISNA.

Let Kids Be Kids!

BBC reports (Link in Farsi) that Tehran city council is considering passing new regulations to allow young women to shed their veils while at school. Up to last year, when the policy was relaxed so primary schools can loosen the mandatory hijab guidelines, girls as young as 6 and 7 were forced to wear veils, in schools and classes where all other students, the teachers, support staff and everyone else is all females and male visitors aren't even allowed in. Apparently the new plan is to extend that "privilege" to all students, as long as the public areas of their school is not visible to outsiders. Regardless of how you feel about the principals of hijab and your religious beliefs, this has been one of the most backwards policies of this government forced upon the majority of the population and any move to give women their choice is a welcome positive step. In this case a small step and hardly enough, but positive nonetheless.

He Was Loved...

One of Iran's most popular singers over the past 50 years, and the person mostly credited as the father of Iranian pop music, Vigen Derderian passed away this last weekend in Los Angeles. I can't imagine many Iranians not having at least one memory associated in some way to one of his many hits. The picture above and this collection of some of his songs are courtesy of iranian.com. I wish his family and close associates strength and will always remember him fondly. He was certainly loved.

Khavaran Cemetery

I had written before about Khavaran Cemetery, where some of the "undesirables", the victims of mass executions in Iran, mostly from leftist political leanings are buried. This includes the victims of mass murders in Summer of 1988. I recently came across another group of pictures from the same cemetery, showing families visiting the graves of their loved ones, where no markers or headstones are allowed and often only a single flower or a picture points to where the remains of their son, daughter, husband or mother was buried. The larger plots hide the mass graves, where even the dignity of a separate burial was denied the victims.

Their memories will live forever in the hearts of many Iranians.

The Glass

Just a reminder...

NO MORE FLIRT

While the foreign ministers from three major European powers were negotiating the treaty just signed in Tehran, a small group of about 200 "hard-liners" oppose to any negotiations with a foreign entity protested the talks outside of gates of Sa'ad-Abad Palace. This of course is their democratic right to oppose whatever they don't like in a peaceful and legal manner.

Looking at pictures of their demonstration at Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) web sites, what I found rather amusing was their signs though. I know in translation, you lose some meanings and change others, but as someone who speaks both English and Farsi almost fluently, I still had a hard time understanding some signs. This one in particular I believe takes the cake:

Notice the beard-less guy in the back with his "NO MORE FLIRT" sign (no, not the "abhorrence" dude)? No more flirt??? No more of "to make playfully romantic or sexual overtures"??? Oh boy, romance is now officially dead in the Islamic Republic of Iran as even in a amorous gathering such as the one above (no emails please, yes I'm being sarcastic), people are opposing any and all flirting! If you are one of the millions of Iranians forced to live abroad by this regime and forgot why, this should be a reminder. Now go enjoy life in exile and flirt all you want, unless your spouse objects to that sort of thing.

Nuclear Iran

This topic has been on my mind for weeks now. With all the warnings, accusations, inspections and denials in the news lately, it's been hard to ignore. Now Iran's number one enemy, Michael Ledeen is back making rather outrageous claims. Nothing has worked in his mind, "W" still won't commit to sending troops to Iran, and before Israel attacks locations inside the country, he is trying one last time and the lies are getting bigger by the day. This time, the lie is so huge, even the CIA has a hard time believing it, and his only "witness"? a notorious character with a shady past and soiled reputation.

We are of course talking about the assumed undertaking by the Iranian government to obtain nuclear weapons.

I don't think it is much of a secret that I detest the current regime in Iran. Call it excessive, but it must be just a natural reaction to the torment they've caused me personally, plus what I have witnessed they put others I care about through. I once counted the number of people I knew who were killed by this government and had to stop at 37 because it was too painful. Astoundingly, every single one was between 15 and 25 at the time. Just way too young to die.

However, I would like to think that somehow I have managed to keep a rather subjective view of those events, the people on both sides and how it all has impacted myself, my fellow countrymen and my nation. With that view, I have been thinking about this question: "what if Iran actually manages to successfully build one or two nuclear bombs". My answer to that question may surprise some, but here it is: so what if they did? In fact, why not?

Let's look at the facts without much predisposition: Iran is geographically situated in an important junction. This is where east and west meet, where Europe connects to much of Asia, where subcontinent of India links up to much of the world through, where most former Soviet states of Central Asia link to international waterways, where a large portion of world's primary source of energy is drilled out and shipped by and where much hostility has lived both openly and covertly for thousands of years.

Many of the areas players are already equipped with nuclear weapons: to the east, Pakistan owns a growing arsenal. To the north, there are many weapons of the Soviet era still unaccounted for and at least two regional countries are believed to possess some type of nuclear capability. To the west, Israel holds the area's largest arsenal and has the delivery capability to target any part of Iran. I wont even mention the country with the largest arsenal of them all, the U.S. present to the south, east and west. Hopefully none of these players ever use their armaments or even threaten to use them against Iran, but what if they did? What if the next government of Pakistan puts claims on Iranian province of Baluchestan for example? What is to stop them?

Besides, let's assume Iran has one, even two nuclear bombs today. What will they do with it? Despite Likud propaganda, not even Rafsanjani has ever claimed to bomb Israel if they had a nuke. Why would they? There will be as many Palestinian casualties as Israeli ones. Besides, what will it accomplish? Look at this scenario: Iran drops a nuclear bomb in the center of Jerusalem and one in Tel Aviv, killing millions of Jewish, Christian and Muslim residents. In retaliation, Israel shoots 30 rockets with nuclear warheads into every major city in Iran and exterminates a whole generation. Even if you were as nutty as Rafsanjani, would you do it? Why? What will be in it for him?

Despite the perception, these guys aren't blind fanatics some of us like to paint them as. If they were, they'd volunteer for suicide bombings themselves. They are dictators, they love the power, they love the wealth that brings them even more power, they live in very fancy palaces, own very expensive cars and furnishings, send their children to best universities abroad, not because they are preparing them for martyrdom. Because they enjoy this life too much. Because they want more of it, not less. Why now give it all up for a brief moment of glory, before it all ends?

You think they'd do it if they see their end is near? doubt it. There are two scenarios for their end: the one seemingly most Iranians prefer is a gradual foundation of legal principals, establishment of democratic entities and a measured transfer of power. In this scenario, there would be no worry of anyone seeing an "imminent end". The other scenario favored by hawks in Washington and a limited but certain circle of Iranians, involves military action and a forceful overthrow, which would guarantee any facility housing such weapons will be the premier first target for capture, eliminating any fear of retaliation.

In short, I fail to see the relevance of this issue. I hope no country ever has nuclear weapons, but as long as many do, why shouldn't Iran? This is assuming they are even interested to, as I have not seen any concrete proof of that either. Ledeen can try to use this bogeyman to frighten a nation into another unnecessary and deadly war. For me, it's a non-issue.

The Petition

Sign This Petition!!!

I know by now we're all a bit tired of this on-line petition business. Somebody recently asked me if I thought they actually work, I said in fact I think they do. If by "working" you mean do the oppressors free political prisoners, Secretary General of the UN intervenes in an execution or closed newspapers get re-opened because somebody put their name and comment on a web site that resembles an actual petition, the answer is probably no. But do they raise issues that need publicity, get people involved in a low commitment but important way that is easy to handle, spreads quickly and basically puts an issue in front of a whole bunch of people very quickly, then they sure do work.

With that, I want you to sign another petition and this time forward the address to a couple of friends who would also do he same! This one is about Ahmad Batebi. Quite honestly, every time I look at this kid's picture (and he truly is, or at least was, just a kid) tears fill my eyes. His story is part of the petition put forward by a friend. Please 'sign' it here.

Human Rights, Not Politics!

I wasn't the only one who used the name of Shirin Ebadi in the same sentence with the words; future President of Iran. However, some did not use another word I also used there in referring to a President coming from a FREE future presidential election. Most recently, Hoder picked up the cause for example, advocating she should be a candidate in this very upcoming elections. Yes, this next term, coming up shortly. This to me is a futile and destructive exercise. Here's why;

Let's just assume for a minute that by some miracle she is allowed by the conservative body that vets candidates to run and of course she will then win. What she has achieved in short will be:

1 . Adding to the legitimacy of the charade that is the process of elections in Iran.

2 . Obligating her to upholding a constitution that recognizes the ultimate power remains with not the people but an unelected figure, selected from within a very specific religious dogma.

3 . To hand over all her newly-found influence and muscle to an arrangement where President is essentially a powerless figurehead.

4 . Eliminating her credibility by becoming head of a government already condemned by most international bodies as a leader in violating the most basic human rights of its citizens.

I imagine Shirin will make a great candidate one day. That will be when being a President will actually mean something in Iran. The first step for that is to have her win the mandate in a free and democratic campaign. Also to have her actually gain some power, not lose it by winning.

The best role for her right now is not as a President, not even a political leader. I believe she will be far more effective continuing a role as a human rights advocate. In that role, her demands will be mainly political anyways, but not sectarian or divisive. A political leader needs to take positions that will not be accepted by all and will naturally divide people, based on their outlook and opinion. This natural divisiveness is the least desirable factor Iranians need right now.

Shirin Ebadi is in a very unique position to unite many generations and ranks of Iranians. Her human rights platform provides her with this ability, and to be the strong yet loving mother figure a nation needs to heal its wounds and find its new path.

Welcome Home!

They came in thousands. Most women wore white scarves and men white shirts. many brought a single or sometimes a bouquet of roses, many of them white. Several observers reported how all freeways leading to the airport were closed due to heavy traffic as many Tehranis gathered at the airport earlier today to welcome their hometown hero. They were chanting, singing and making noise as Shirin Ebadi appeared briefly trying to speak. She managed to say "the award belongs to all Iranians" before she broke down and couldn't continue.

The slogans included mocking government officials (Rafsanjani and Khatami in particular, asking both to resign), demanding freedom for political prisoners and encouraging their "lady of international peace" to continue her struggle. Some of the noteworthy public figures reportedly present included members of parliament (Majlis), writers, thinkers, filmmakers, sports stars and even Sina Motallebi.

A few of her opponents came too. They were unshaved and wore black, as if casting and costumes were done by a Hollywood studio. Held a single sign, it read: "When the enemy applauds you, it's because you've scored into your own net". How appropriate since their team is so unpopular, the home crowd doesn't applaud them even when they rarely get it right. On this day, even the "moderate" President got it wrong though, by saying the peace prize is not that significant and the only important Nobel prizes are in science. He was quiet about the long essay he wrote applauding Nelson Mandela when he won the same award in 1993.

It was yet another amazing day in Tehran. Wish I was there.

For those of you who can read Farsi, here are personal accounts of some of the bloggers who were there:

Zeitoon Shabah Osyan Shiva KhorshidKhanoom Man-o-Sara

Evin Wasn't That Bad

I was also personally offended (no kidding) by the site of the little kabob-house built on a corner backing into the corner wall, on the road heading towards Shahrak-Gharb. It may or may not be there now, but to think of the atrocities that happened and is still happening within a stone-throw of that corner, and sitting down with your family for a hearty mean of Kabobs and more is just outrageous.

Before & After...

Mohsen Sazgara was another recent well-known Evin prison tenants. He spent less than four months there and after suffering under physical and mental torture, plus a hunger-strike that led to his release, you can witness what captivity there does to you in comparing the pictures above.

Prison Memories...

In the prison in the city of Babol, there was an inmate who had done nothing. He was arrested in 1981 when there were many street confrontations. He was later asked to come to the Friday prayers to declare his position against Mojahedin along with others who had confessed and asked for forgiveness, but his ego was hurt and he didn't accept. He was saying he had done nothing, so why should he confess to anything. He was finally executed too, just over nothing.

While in prison he would say, in jest;

I was sitting, they said it was a sit-in protest...

I got up, they said you are raising against us...

I walked, they called it a demonstration...

I ran, they said you are a fugitive...

I crawled in a corner, they said I was hiding...

I laughed, they said you are laughing at us?..

I cried, they said you have been planted...

I said I only wanted to live, they said you don't believe in the hereafter.

From: AsgharAgha Magazine, New Run, Issue One. Farsi Source: GilehMard

Eyeranian of the Year!

Funny Picture!

Opinions

Juan Cole believes in the Seven War Theory. While there are reports that certain factions within the U.S. administration (did you say Likud?) with their Israeli counterparts (L.I.K.U.D, right?) is still planning and dreaming of an attack on Iran. Some even have certain hallucinations that only strong fiction writers could come up with.

Meanwhile, Brazil is also enriching uranium. Why do I have a feeling IAEA will not be that concerned about this or issue ultimatums for compliance?

Plesae Help!!!

The campaign to raise awareness about the death sentence issued against Afsaneh Noroozi picked up some high ranking women lawmaker advocates raising its profile and bringing in much needed publicity. If you do not live in Iran, please take a moment and join Amnesty International to demand justice for Afsaneh by clicking on the logo below. For those of you inside Iran, we understand using your information is this fashion may endanger your own safety, so we'll just work harder on your behalf as well.

Iran's Planes Increasing?

Remember during "Persian Gulf War I" Saddam was so desperate in protecting what was left of his air force, he sent over 100 of his planes to hide in Iran, the country he had ravaged by starting an unnecessary and illegal war for 8 years and ending just a couple of years earlier?

Look at this flyer the coalition forces (American, Saudi, English, Canadian, Australian, etc.) were dropping on Iraq at the time to encourage the Iraqi pilots to fly to Saudi Arabia instead. The word jumping right at me in that flyer is "the shore" Saddam has allegedly already returned to Iranians. What shore are they referring to? This isn't the strip of land between Arvand River and Faw Peninsula/Bubiyan, is it? That was never really "returned" to Iran. Or maybe it's more aggressive and is going east along the Persian Gulf "shores" and talking about Khuzistani shores? I'm somewhat confused and don't know why, but don't like the connotations of this seemingly innocent flyer and wondering if it is yet another example of the way foreigners have tried hard to put distance between people of that region, in particular Iranians and their Arab neighbors.

Petition To Sign

A friend is spearheading a petition in defense of Afsane Noroozi, the Iranian woman facing death for killing the man who tried to rape her. Click here to sign the petition addressed to Secretary General of UN.

UPDATE - As Faramin points out, Afsane may be at most a couple of days away from going to the gallows. Even a bit of international pressure may delay carrying out her sentence. Please take a minute and do what you can.

Credibility Issue?

Michael Ledeen invited Hossein Khomeini to address a gathering of mostly monarchist Iranians as if this new guru had some great insight to what is ailing Iran and to offer solutions. Of course, the man isolated most of his life living in Iraq and then in seclusion of the leader's compound and finally remoteness of a seminary in Qom, is so out of touch with most Iranians, he often uses news broadcast by the Farsi program of Radio Israel as his source of information.

He was recently interviewed by the CIA funded Radio Farda (Tomorrow) and here are the gems he came up with:

- On his charges of Iran being behind most of the unrest in Iraq, his only "evidence" is Iranian television's coverage before the invasion in what he saw as "support of Saddam". When pressed for any evidence of Iran's meddling, he concedes he has none but Iraqis must have some!

- On terror of Ayatollah Hakim, he says only Iran and Saudis benefited from it and therefore they must be behind it, then admits there were many others who also gained by his departure (like Ba'ath party loyalist) so there could be many other culprits and there are no legitimate proofs available.

- On his assertions against Iran acquiring nuclear weapons, he acknowledges he has no verification that they do.

He then goes sideways and up and down trying unsuccessfully to justify his position that American military intervention in Iran is not a good thing, but may be necessary and finally the contradiction of that position with his earlier assertion that Iraqi invasion was a "divine act". And then another contradiction in his comment that "revolutions are not a desirable event" but the 1979 evolution was with "holy goals".

Lastly, the grandson of Ayatollah Khomeini who still refuses to criticize the conduct or result of his grandfather's regime, acknowledges the ultra-right think tank of Michael Ledeen's as people who "support freedom", just like him.

Save A Life, Today.

Faramin posted an urgent appeal from Amnesty International to stop execution of Afsaneh Noroozi who apparently killed the Head of Police Intelligence in Kish Island to defend herself against rape. Hope you can take a few minutes to send a note, a fax or email in her defense.

Women's Soccer

I watched a soccer game today. It was Sweden's 3-0 victory over Nigeria, eliminating that team from 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup (and later be eliminated themselves with USA's win over N. Korea). It wasn't a first for me. I'm lucky that now defunct San Diego Spirit used to play nearby. Perhaps the only professional soccer team outside Iran with a (male) Iranian coach; Omid Namazi.

But during the game, all I could think of was how wonderful it would be for Iranian women to get involved in the sport one day. We all know how men, especially young men use sports to build self-confidence, to learn team work, to set personal goals and have aspirations in something constructive and positive. All those, are ingredients badly needed for the young generation of Iranian women raised under the brutality of a totalitarian regime that has spent the last twenty odd years quashing their aspirations, belittling their efforts, limiting their choices and ignoring their rights.

With that, I hope to see an effort to build interest, to organize local events, to invite foreign teams and eventually formally organizing a league where the sport (along with other sports) can be introduced, cultivated and spread amongst our young women, as soon as the current discriminations are abolished and the long road towards freedom gets past it's present-day barrier.

Any nominations for who will be Iran's Mia Hamm?

Enemy #1, Meet #2

Guess who is in the same bed with the Michael Ledeen gang? Only a very imaginative fiction writer could come up with scenarios like these, if it wasn't in fact true. Ledeen's short on substance but well funded and often relied on by certain people American Enterprise Institute is playing host to none other that one-time MKO/Bani-Sadr supporter grandson of the late dictator; Mr. Hossein Khomeini.

Here's where it gets even funnier; the Reza Pahlavi avid supporters are summoned to DC to attend the speech by the name bearer of their archenemy. Strange times we live in.

Revenge or ...

The first and only time I saw him, it was through the little 'window' on the cell door. Assadollah Lajevrdi was appointed by Ayatollah Khomeini to head the revolutionary court inside Tehran's infamous Evin prison. By that title, he instantaneously became the head of prison as well. There has been much speculation as to why he was chosen for that position. One of the more intriguing was about his background as a political prisoner in Shah's regime and how he had stood up to the main Muslim group inside the prison; the People's Mojahedin (MKO). Now a most prominent member of Mojahedin's upper leadership was in Evin and his one-time cellmate he shared a lot of history with, was none other than Lajevardi. The ex-prisoner turned interrogator Lajevardi was supposedly brought in to break Sa'adati.

Seyed Mohammad-Reza Sa'adati was a legend outside those walls, but nowhere nearly as notable as he was inside. He had endured years of imprisonment, torture and hardship under Shah's security police SAVAK, then essentially became the first political prisoner of post-revolution era when he was arrested on uncertain charges of espionage. He had been kept almost exclusively in a solitary cell, away from all other prisoners and except for a few second footage of him when a TV reporter was allowed to sneak in his ward and caught 'Seyed' poking his head briefly out of his cell, nobody from outside ever saw him.

'Seyed' was eventually sentenced to a prison term but that sentence was swiftly interrupted when he was put to death by Lajevardi a couple of years later, on charges of "organizing terror" from inside his little cell. Lajevardi had obviously failed to break Seyed.

There was an awful sound when the door's small metal opening was pushed aside. It always managed to straddle the 15 or 20 already scared "inmates", wondering who will be peeking through or whose name will be called to come for further "guidance". This time, all we saw was a pair of eyes mounted on top of a large eagle-like nose. They were these menacing eyes that infused terror and freight. It was as if he had been selected for the job by a great casting director, right out of Hollywood's biggest production houses.

The unforgettable "visit" only lasted a few seconds. He looked around, appraising everyone inside and then that noise again and the little door closed again. Immediately somebody in the back of the room said "that's Lajevardi" and upon my inquiry I find out who he was. I like to think he was on his way to see 'Seyed' again. Not sure why. Maybe it makes me feel good inside to be connected in this way to a man I had spent so many of my late afternoons with, in distributing "Free Sa'adati" pamphlets or in perfecting the art of spray painting his name on so many walls all over Tehran.

Over the next few years, Lajevardi rightly earned the "butcher of Evin" title by presiding over thousands of interrogations, issuing brisk sentences and sending wave after wave of his prisoners to face the firing squad. He later retired, going back to his old profession as a merchant in Tehran's famous big Bazaar. This is also where he met his destiny. 17 years after our only brief meeting, in the summer of 1998, Assadollah Lajevardi was assassinated at his store. Mojahedin immediately claimed responsibility. Although there are also rumors of this being carried out as a revenge by a father who had lost his two sons to the Lajevardi brand of justice. I suppose it really doesn't matter much who did it, but why.

When I heard the news, I was truly saddened. I remember actually saying something to that affect a couple of days later during a phone interview with a Persian radio program. The show's host was clearly upset by my comment and immediately asked what would I have done if I had been put in charge of deciding Lajevardi's fate. I said something along this; let's suppose we have a free and democratic Iran tomorrow where the rule of law is in place and I am appointed as a judge or prosecutor for his case, I'd offer him a million dollars, a blank passport and a one-way ticket to any destination in the world, in exchange for just one thing. He must sit down, write, speak and record and videotape ALL his memories, from the most mundane to the secret executions and gory details of each torture session involving rapes, murder under severe beatings and massive loss of blood. I'd want EVERYTHING to be recorded. Recorded for all the future generations to come. For them to not ever forget what happened in the last part of the 20th century, on this planet we call home. With his death, all of that is forever gone and buried with so many details he'd be the only witness to. We will simply never know.

Revenge may indeed be a sweet dish. But the pleasure only lasts so long before the reality sinks in. Before it becomes clear that violence only breeds further violence and this vicious circle needs to be stopped somewhere. Lajevardi, a one-time victim of unjust imprisonment and torture becomes the purveyor of more violence almost overnight. Where does it all end? If our generation doesn't stop this, our kids will pay the price.

It Happened Today...

It was the last day of our summer school holidays and I had gone to the Tehran International Fair with a friend. We had spent the morning going from one pavilion to another, looking at everything from tractors to household electronics, to some of the latest cars on display. Tehran's fair is rather unique in that sense as it brings a collage of participating presenters, showing everything from heavy machinery to everyday home products. The 1980 fair was one of the worst ever, as the hostage crisis had made many foreign companies stay away.

Early in the afternoon we started heading towards home, but as we got close to the exit gates, there was a convoy of various military vehicles rushing in and dispersing all over the fairgrounds. At first we were baffled but soon enough people around us started murmuring something about "Iraq has attacked". By the time we made it to the gates, there was a radio in the exit booth turned up loudly, announcing the military advance of Iraqi army in the southwest and western provinces of Iran. There was also a warning of possible air raids on Tehran, plus a few messages from various authorities. As we walked towards home we watched the soldiers set-up one anti-air cannon on one corner of the fairgrounds and further down watched another group set up on top of the building of former Hilton Hotel.

This was the beginning of the one of the bloodiest wars in the century of big wars. A war that has left some deep wounds even today. As millions lost their lives or were severely harmed, lost their homes and livelihood, were displaced and suffered great hardship and will forever carry the emotional scars of daily rocket attacks on civilian areas, sometimes peppered with weapons of mass destruction. When the world had learned that Saddam Hussein was busy bombing western Iran with his chemical arsenal, Mr. Rumsfeld flew in to Baghdad to meet with him, shake his hand and assure him of continued Reagan administration support. Towards the end of the war, when Saddam used the same weapons to murder thousands of Kurds in cities like Halabja, Collin Powell was the National Security Adviser to President and chose to not say a single word of protest or criticism. Yet he visits the same area today, not to remind the world of his government's support of such awful actions, but to use it to justify yet another ugly war.

My thoughts tonight are with all those Iranians who made the ultimate sacrifice in defending their country, along with Iraqi casualties that fell into the trap of a sadistic murderer tyrant, supported by the evil-doers in other countries around the world. May all the responsible parties for atrocities during the unnecessary 8 year Iran-Iraq war be brought to justice one day.

Women & Universities

My last post on women was written out of anger. Don't get me wrong, I'm not apologizing for it. Meant everything I said. It is actually a good thing to get angry once in a while when faced with so much ignorance and stupidity. Reading Meshkini's comments should make all of us angry. It certainly did that to me.

By contrast, these comments just made me shake my head. I will just let you decide by translating a few lines from an article by an "expert", talking about women and their need of higher education and other related matters:

Dr. Hossein-Rava says:

"an increase in the number of women in universities causes marriages in older ages and the loss of opportunities for marriage amongst women. In the long run, this will cause social crisis and destruction of society. It causes a diversion in the natural path of life for women, taking their attention away from marriage and life to university subjects which has no benefit for the community other than wasting their time and funds and encouraging them to get fixated on degrees".

"unfortunately to prove existence of freedom and the equality of men and women, we make decisions that in the long term endangers bases of social life..." and then "girls at the natural age for matrimony, which is 18, have lower expectations and possess more feelings and emotions which causes most marriages that take place during these years to be filled with love and affection and last a long time..."

He then goes on to explain how women entering the workforce also has severe social consequences as with shortage of employment, they'd be taking jobs away from men. An employed man means an employed family but employed women only provide themselves with financial independence.

His solution?

- Limit the subjects women are allowed to study in university and graduate from.

- Do not allow them to attend universities outside their city of residence to avoid "immorality".

- Require that only married women are admitted.

NO COMMENTS FROM ME!

Ayatollah & Women

akhbare-rooz (Daily News) an Iranian site out of Germany has published a group of selected quotes from Ayatollah Ali Meshkini's book called Nasayeh (Advices) on the topic of women. As an introduction, Meshkini is the chairman of the 70+ member Assembly of Experts. This is the outfit that appoints and can remove the highest authority of the Iranian regime; the Supreme Leader. He is also a member of The Guardian Council and the current Friday prayers leader for Tehran. Needless to say, this is a man in positions of significant prestige and authority. As such, what the Ayatollah thinks of almost 52% of people he represents is of extreme importance. Here are a select number of those quotes translated:

☼ "Women are not loyal, they possess inferior morals. The most respectable amongst them is still disreputable and the disreputable ones are scandalous, except for the few who under the refuge of god have been saved from corruption. Whatever secrets you share with them, they will reveal (to others), consequently in life befriend them but don't fall in love with them..." [page 142]

☼ "Depravity comes with three things: women, animals and houses. Woman's corruption is in her seeking a sizeable "marriage gift" and not getting along with her husband. Animal's wickedness is in acting unruly and not allowing people to ride them. A wicked house is too small, has bad neighbors and too many problems." [page 143]

☼ "Those who believe in God and the day of judgment would never allow their wives to go to a bathhouse". It is then added in brackets: "(the special bathhouses that cause moral corruption)" (!!) [page 135]

☼ "A woman becomes available to a man in three ways: permanent matrimony, temporary nuptials and slavery." [page 138]

I really and honestly do not know what to add to that. I can tell you this much; when after so many years I finally got a chance to visit Iran, I genuinely started to feel like I was suffocating after a couple of weeks. Not because of anything else, but only for the way women are treated, viewed and endure inhumanity, nastiness and malice in every step of their normal daily life. Just one look at the way those at the top view them (as seen above), explains where all this cruelty comes from.

Yet, the women of Iran have managed to shine through the sludge surrounding them and have been at the forefront of resisting the advances of a vicious regime, intent on squashing every basic and fundamental rights they merit. The future of Iran undoubtedly belongs to its women and they will lead the way to a free and fair society for all Iranians.

Agha-Zadeh

Mehdi is so blatant he even represents his dad's bloc in talks with U.S. representatives. This time he apparently took $15.5M from the Norwegian oil company in exchange for arranging lucrative contracts for them in Iran. The accusations have become so serious, at least one of Statoil's directors has already resigned over the revelations. This is nothing new for this gang, but it may be the first time a foreign news media became aware of the details and published them to expose both sides.

So sad for a regime that came to power with promises of ending years of corruption by Shah's regime and within two short decades managed to outperform Shah's most productive thieves many times over. But then again, look where all that got Shah and his cronies. Aghazadeh-ha's turn is coming.

Woman under the skirt

I have talked about my love of photography before. If there was one skill or talent I wish I had, it is that certain 'eye' great photographers have. I actually used to think I was a half-decent photographer myself until I dated one that actually was and I quickly realized I was only wasting film.

So, one of my favorite types of web sites to visit is naturally photography ones. I sometimes sit for hours and follow various links and admire various artists. A couple of days ago, I came across this site and really liked the series of pictures called "Woman under the skirt" (see sample above). I was actually thinking that it would be interesting if someone did the same theme by replacing the "skirt" with "Hijab" or even "Chador". I wasn't really paying any attention to the text on the site, particularly since it was in French. Then I noticed this title "Nazak Photographe Iranienne" and even with my limited French I knew what that meant.

It turns out the artist is Nazak Pahlavi (pictured below), daughter of Shah's youngest of 10 siblings; Hamid Reza Pahlavi. 'Princess' Nazak (the way she is referred to on this and other sites) as it turns out is a photographer who has lived in Southern California and France, not unlike most of her cousins.

I certainly wish her all the best and hope that through photography or other means, she is a working and self-supporting 'Princess', very unlike most of her cousins. Maybe one of those cousins who reads this blog regularly passes this post along and she'll be inspired to do my "women under chador" project after all.

Internet Survey

A dear friend and a Stanford University student (same person, two roles in life. Niki Karimi watch out!) is studying "the use and role of the Internet in Iran". As part of the research for this, an anonymous survey has been set up to gather data "for statistical use". If you are connecting from Iran right now, or have in the past, your participation will be vital and is desperately needed. Please take a few minutes and answer the questions completely and truthfully. You will find the survey here.

Hidden Half

Many of you have asked for me to write about some of my memories and I most certainly will, little by little. Many of such memories belong to a very unforgettable short period between 1979 and 1981 when there was this brief period of relative freedom for political parties and various organizations, before the bloodbath began.

Last night, I finally got a chance to watch Hidden Half. An interesting movie that caused the filmmaker much adversity but is now available at your local Blockbuster or other video store. If you want a glimpse of what the general atmosphere was like during those days, you may want to check this movie out. I couldn't help relating in so many ways to Fereshteh, the young idealistic heroin in the movie and many of the scenes felt just too familiar. I can't begin to tell you how many of the experiences were recognizable, bringing back many memories.

One of the scenes of a friend's arrest for example, was a Deja Vu all over again and an experience I know way too well. Also the chase scene seemed like a daily event for that time. I wont ruin the movie for you, in case you want to actually watch it but highly recommend it, if the topic is of interest.

Now I must find Two Women.

Fereydoun Hoveyda

Mr. Fereydoun Hoveyda has written a piece for iranian.com titled Mossadegh saved the Shah. There's very little I can agree with him on about this topic. I wrote a reply to the article you can read below. Let me know what do you think:

I would normally respect the writings of Fereydoun Hoveyda. Even if the content is at times skewed, he manages to present his point of view in a manner that is pleasant to read and open to one's interpretation. However his latest "Mossadegh Saved the Shah" is so far off base, it brings even his previous opinion pieces under question.

Pedram Moallemian

Summer of 1988

There are certain topics I find extremely difficult to write about. Perhaps part of the reason for starting this blog (although subconsciously) was to force myself to write about them and through it, work on some of these emotions and sensitivities.

I wrestled all weekend with this one, for example (thus no posts for 2 days). The struggle actually started about a months ago, but I kept putting it off for as long as possible. Just another way of escaping the urge to deal with it I suppose. I re-wrote it several times and deleted it entirely even more. Wasn't sure how best to approach it; make some general comments or the more personal way it has touched me. I think it came out somewhere in between.

I have more to say about this, but there will be other occasions, anniversaries and opportunities to expand further. For now, this is all I can manage:

Spring and summer of 1988 is a period of great significance for those interested in Iran's modern history. Three sequential and important events took place during this time, starting with a cease-fire after an 8 year war with Iraq.

Saddam Hussein had started a war with Iran in 1980, with full support of the West and with fantasies of an easy victory over a non-existent army battered by dismissals, executions and escape of most of its upper decision-makers following the Iranian revolution of 1979. His dream and the dream of his backers were quickly shattered when untrained and often unarmed grassroots resistance forces of largely ordinary Iranians stopped the invasion headed by his advanced and well-armed army. The first two years of the war is full of heroic and incredible stories of battles that eventually led to pushing the Iraqi army all the way behind the international borders.

However, Khomeini, Rafsanjani and others at the top, refused to stop the war at this point, despite several offers by Saddam and his supporting neighbors to pay restitution, accepting culpability for the war and advice of top military experts. They announced that the war shall continue until the fall of Saddam and thus pulled the country into an additional 6 years of unnecessary and disastrous war costing billions with over a million dead and injured. The war was now an ideological and religious campaign and not a nationalistic and defensive effort of Iranian people. Finally in 1988, Khomeini accepted that his pursuit of “regime change” was unrealistic and as he put it; he drank the “goblet of poison” by accepting the ceasefire.

This prompted the second event of that period. Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) who had spent the last few years under the protection of Saddam’s regime, saw the end of the war as either their opportunity to deliver a knockout blow to the battered Iranian regime, or felt their existence may now be in jeopardy without the cover of the war. For whatever reason, they started a massive campaign by gathering their full force at the Iranian border and in a military strike that lasted several days, tried to advance towards Tehran. MKO’s forces only managed to seize a small parcel of Iranian land and were severely beaten, suffering heavy casualties and major embarrassment for their foolish plan.

However, what came next was the event I have such a difficult time writing about. Whether the MKO offensive was the catalyst for a long overdue revenge, the fear of political prisoners still in custody becoming a resistance force in the future, or an excuse had been created to implement a previous plan, the regime decided to clean up its prisons after quashing the MKO offensive.

The number of political prisoners in Iranian prisons had exploded right after the MKO and other left organizations became targets of the regime in 1981. As the number of prisoners decreased, mostly due to nightly mass executions, regime found new enemies to supply a fresh crop all the time. Prisoners were tortured regularly and would at one point be granted a “trial” at which no lawyer defended them, prosecutor was also the judge and juries were never invited. Those who had proven connections to now outlawed groups were almost definitely sent to the firing squads. Others were given long sentences, usually between 10 to 30 years and often for no evidence but having a banned book, being related to “an infidel” or just being accused by a trusted friend of the system.

In the last two months of the summer of 1988, these “convicted” prisoners became the new targets again. A committee of three clergy was selected by a direct order of Khomeini to review all cases and decide once and for all as to the fate of each prisoner. There was no due process, no appeals and no defense council. All decisions would be final and carried out immediately.

The “judges” had three standard questions for each group or organization the prisoner was accused of helping. Basic questions like “are you Muslim?”, “do you practice your religious chores regularly?” and “do you accept the rule of the Supreme Leader?”. Answering negatively to any of the 3 questions asked would result in an automatic death sentence. Even positive answers caused a “judgment call” as to see if the clergy present believe the accused and even if they did what should the new sentence be.

There are no definitive numbers, but all evidence point to thousands, maybe even tens of thousands of executions within those two short months. The volume became so heavy, new executioners had to be recruited and then instructed to not use bullets, as the costs associated with buying ammunition through black market was too high. Places like the large prayer hall in dreaded Evin Prison were transformed into hanging galleries.

Mass executions were not new to this government, but two factors sets this particular set aside: 1) For the first time, the injustice evident to most opponents was clearly displayed to the world by executing prisoners already convicted and while serving their sentences where no new “crime” could have been committed and none presented a threat to the regime. 2) The executions went across all opinion and ideological barriers and included almost all groups present at the recent political landscape of Iran.

I lost many friends that summer. In fact of the group of about 30-something student activists functioning within my high school, I only know of 2 others who have survived past the summer of 1988.

Buried in unmarked spots and unknown mass graves, the victims of 1988 massacres won’t be forgotten and will always serve as a reminder of how low we humans can sink and how hate and fundamentalist view of the world based on ideologies and religions can divide people and portray us as anything but similar creatures only separated by ideas, cultures and geography.

Rex Abadan

25 years ago, on August 19th, 1978 in the city of Abadan, the oil production capital of Iran, another horrific event took place. Over 400 patrons of Rex movie theater were charcoaled to death when still nameless culprits locked all entrances to the theatre and set the building on fire. Although the tragic disaster was originally blamed on the Shah's regime, faced at the time with an expanding protest movement across Iran, recent years have brought on accusations and evidence pointing to a conspiracy by the religious fanatics as the primary perpetrators of the Rex disaster. Incidentally, the theater-goers were watching Gavaznha (antelopes), a movie seen as critical of the Shah by portraying the lives of country's disfranchised poor and the plague of illicit drugs crippling their communities.

August 19, 1953

50 years ago today, operatives of the Central Intelligence Agency, along with their Iranian agents and followers, put in to action an operation under the codename Ajax. By the end of the day, the popular government of Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh had been removed and a military replacement was put in charge. The Shah who had been forced to leave the country a few days earlier returned shortly after and re-instated as head of the Iranian state.

To most Iranians, this days marks the anniversary of a shameful act of direct aggression, where foreign powers decided to ignore the will of the Iranian people and pursue their own interest, even if it meant further casualties and suffering for them, plus raiding of their natural resources. The military coup of August 19, 1953 will not be forgotten easily and unless there's a sense of eventual justice, in addition to restoration of basic freedoms and democracy in Iran, most Iranians will perceive their elongated affliction to be the on-going results of the war that was declared upon them by the aggressors abroad.

There are various events and commemorations across the globe today and this week to mark the anniversary of the coup, as Iranians honor the memory of their fallen leader, the Great Mossadegh.

 

CIA Documents on the Coup

Iranian.com's collection of Mossadegh pictures

What Democracy?

Mr. Ali Akbar Nateq-Nouri (no relations to Michael of Flash Dance fame or Abdollah, formerly of Evin Prison posse) the "conservative" bigwig, one time presidential appointee of that faction and current member of Rafsanjani's powerful Expediency Council has just announced that he will not be running in future elections because of their unfair nature.

The reasons offered by his holiness presents a limited glimpse into the mindset of a certain crowd and may be a good indication as to why democracy, even in its most basic and limited form, is not possible as long as this mindset is anywhere near Tehran's corridors of power. Mr. Nateq-Nouri says (Farsi Link): "Our electoral system is defective, because the vote of a 15 year old is equal to the vote of a high-ranking religious scholar or the highest authority in the land. I will (therefore) not participate in this or any future elections...".

You see what I mean? In his mentality, there is no way he could ever accept submitting his future to the votes of an "ordinary" 15 or 17 or 20 year old as he believes there's only a limited number of people capable and qualified to "select" the leaders of tomorrow or the way they should govern. In his system, a limited council of "experts" would forever decide all things of importance and even that will have an unelected "leader" overseer to avoid possible "corruptions".

Now you tell me this group will even understand, not to mention accept democracy? Seriously doubt it!

Link via Shadi Shaeraneh

Cartoon

Share Everything

Shadi Sadr reports (in Farsi) that female demonstrators who took to the streets of Qom recently to protest parliament's decision about Iran joining the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women were told that if Iran joins the convention, they'll be forced to share their public baths (and swimming pools) with men. You can imagine the reaction this would have caused in the very religious city of Qom. This of course is not surprising or strange to most leftist activists in Iran, as we all remember how some uneducated men were once agitated and provoked in to attacking any leftist gatherings by simply suggesting that communists believe in sharing everything, including their wives. I recently read somewhere that in Afghanistan there is a very real and widely-accepted rumor about how the wrap-around sunglasses worn by some foreign soldiers are equipped with x-ray vision, allowing them to ogle Afghani wives and daughters. See a common thread in all three stories?

Iran's Nuclear Ambitions

One of this blog's regular readers recently wrote me to suggest a topic and more specifically ask for my viewpoint (I'll leave it to him to divulge his identity, only if he wishes to). His topic or question(s) is as follows: "Are you for or against Iran developing and testing its own nuclear weapon. And if so, do you think Iran should build an arsenal of Nukes and embark on developing delivery systems? And if so, what should be the max range of such a delivery system. Should it reach the US?"

Here's my reply, in brief: Should Iran have nuclear weapons? No!. I don't believe ANY country should. In can't think of a single positive development brought to this planet by "Oppenheimer's deadly toy". Atomic and Hydrogen bombs have absolutely no purpose but to devastate and annihilate life. There is nothing of nice nature that can be said about that. I am all for banning ALL such weapons, globally.

If you want to argue for "democratic" countries having them, just look at Florida in 2000 as how vulnerable these "democracies" are in nature and how easily elections are hijacked. Do not give me the "deterrent" argument either, there is no Warsaw pact anymore and I doubt Usama types are too worried about "mass-martyrdom" by Enola Gay II.

But back to real life, I don't see why we should have different sets of standards for different countries. Just look at the immediate neighborhood Iran is in and see the examples galore; A military dictatorship with a government that came to power by a coup, is home to various fundamentalist religious groups, many of them with plenty of power and a history of active terrorism is next door and admits or even brags about it's nuclear capabilities. Yet you never hear anyone (not at least in these parts of the world) question Pakistan's nuclear ambitions or how realistically it can fall into the hands of terrorists. Why? Can any rationale and unbiased soul out there argue against the fact that some of the fundamentalists within the Israeli government and/or power structure are just as dangerous as their fundamentalist counterparts within the Iranian government? Then why isn't the danger posed by the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in the region in Israel never a concern? If you need more examples, look at former Soviet states of Central Asia.

Permitted that anything to empower the dictatorship in Iran is not positive, I still can't buy the argument that so blatantly discriminates between countries. So, I am all for a new international standard banning nuclear weapons, period. Until we have that, arguing about which countries should have them and why, the range of their delivery system and restrictions needed to avoid a global disaster, are just secondary arguments that need to be examined along with political and cultural biased imposed by a certain mindset over all others.

Hope this short post has begun to answer your question and provide a starting point to argue various points of view on this. Thanks for your suggestion.

Truh or...

Inspired by the great stirical works of Ibrahim Nabavi, I'll be attaching a beeping lie detector to various historical and current characters to measure their honesty. This is part of a continuing regular feature of this blog (1 - 2), under the title of "Truth or ...?"

Tehran's chief prosecutor Said Mortazavi : "Thanks to the Islamic revolution (beep) and the country's constitution (beep) (beep), the Iranian press and media enjoy the highest degree of freedom (beep) (beep) (beep), matched by only a few Western countries (beep) (beep),... In other words, the freedom of the Iranian press (beep) (beep) (beep) (beep) (beep) (beep) can not be compared with those in neighboring countries and the Middle East. (beep) (beep)"

[On the same day, in the news:] TEHRAN, Iran - More than 200 pro-reform journalists held a vigil in Iran, saying they were protesting a continuing media crackdown and a lack press freedoms. The journalists lit candles on Friday to mourn the anniversary of the death of Mahmoud Saremi, a reporter of the official Islamic Republic News Agency who was killed in 1988 by the former Taliban rulers in Afghanistan, and the death of Iranian-Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi, who died in Iranian police custody last month.

Day of Journalists

Some Iranian bloggers have decided to "hang their keyboards" for today (day of journalists) and not write anything in protesting the arrest of their colleagues. Journalists are prosecuted, arrested, tortured and sentenced everyday in Iran for only expressing their opinions. As is the case with Zahra Kazemi, many pay the ultimate price for just merely doing their job. This is why Reporters without borders has called Iran "the biggest prison for journalists in the Middle East ". Let us not forget them and work even harder to bring freedom and democracy to Iran.

How Distasteful

This administration has shown an incredible knack for resurrecting some of the most despised characters in Iran by either holding official and semi-official talks with them, or create a larger-than-life persona for them in their spin factory news making machine. Chehregani is an example of the latter and now Manucher Ghorbanifar becomes another example of the former. as the story demonstrates, Mr. Ledeen may have stopped what we all felt was a productive direct exchange with Iranians, particularly Iranian bloggers, but he is certainly still busy weaving his tangled web and finding more and more reasons for us to not only not trust him, but to not trust the administration he so proudly served and continues to have a close relationship with. I suppose he prefers to limit his contact to arms dealers, separatists and monarchists along with close buddies like Rob Sobhani and Pejman Yousefzadeh, not to mention those involved in talks from the other side; Mohsen Rezaei and his despised boss Rafsanjani.

If In Toronto

Shia' Theology

Glenn Frazier has started an interesting conversation about Hossein Khomeini's reported comments and expanding the conversation to Shia' theology.

Glen writes: "I find the theological approach here (which I had not heard, before) fascinating. I'd love if anyone more schooled in Islamic theology could give me some more background on this whole position. Just drop a note and some links in the comment section, here, or write me an email. I'd much appreciate it!

It would be great for the readers of this blog to also offer their opinions and participate in the discussion, as I just did by leaving a lenghty comment there (years of religious teachings didn't allow me to shut up).

Let me (and Glen) know what you think.

What If...

Just one post today, something to possibly think about over the next day or two:

Let's just play with historical facts a bit and see what could have probably happened if the CIA didn't topple the popular government of Mohammad Mossadegh in 1953 and The Shah had remained in exile or at least out of work. I know there are tons of other factors this notion can not take into account and there are also all those unpredictable events that may have popped up here and there (hey, one crazy man with a single bullet can alter the course) but this is perhaps the most likely scenario:

- Iran would have practiced and learned democracy over the past 50 years, starting with the nationalist government of Dr. Mossadegh and declaring a Republic, then going through various other types of governments and seeing some of the diverse beliefs in assorted posts and governments and eventually becoming that example of freedom in middle-east that others now try to import there by force. No political oppression, prisoners of conscience, torture, Shah's secret police (SAVAK) or IRI's myriad of security outfits and mass executions.

- With all ideologies and political parties present and active, the clergy would have never been able to ride the wave of a popular movement to power, there would have been no revolution in 1979 and the "Islamic Republic" (which in my opinion is neither Islamic or a Republic) would not have existed. There would have been no oil embargo, no hostage crisis, no October surprise Reagan can exploit to win and then obviously no Bush Sr., or Bush Jr.

- USSR would not have feared the "Green Belt" tighten around it's southern borders and would not have invaded Afghanistan. This of course would've meant no help to a "resistance" faction by the U.S., translation: No Afghani Mojahideen, No Taliban, No Al-Qaeda, No Usama (proper spelling), no 9/11, no war on terror and no invasion of Afghanistan.

- Saddam would not have started the Iran-Iraq war and as such there would have been no backing of him by the west, no providing him with biological weapons and other support, no expansion of his army, no bombing of Iranian cities or chemical attacks against its soldiers, no invasion of Kuwait, no desert storm, no massacre of the kyrds, no illegal invasion of Iraq.

Add to this the fact that Iran being the most politically influential country in the region becoming a full fledge democracy would have undoubtedly serve as a model for many of the people of the neighborhood (Iraq, Kuwait, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, etc.) to get rid of their dictators and build democracies of their own, bringing peace and stability to a volatile region and prospering culturally and economically as a result.

But no, the Central Intelligence Agency took the order to finance, plan and execute a coup to bring down the government of Mossadegh and re-instate the Shah. Now 50 years later, we still need to justify why we are obsessed about what happened 50 years ago and how such an evil act has changed our lives in most negative way.

Do we forgive? Probably. I am sure once we are convinced our past enemies have changed their ways and now have nothing but good intentions at heart (something we haven't obviously seen yet), we can surely forgive their past indiscretions. Do we forget? Doubt it.

PS : Almost forgot: - No Farah Diba or her son Reza Pahlavi, or maybe Reza Pahlavi actually holding a job and working for a living like the rest of us mortals.

Juat a mistake, I'm sure.

Somebody should write to North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and maybe provide them with a better map of Iran. The mustard one below is from their website. Notice what is missing compared to a more realistic one beside it in blue? Wait a minute...now that I look at it more closely, the "ears" part omitted from their image is almost all of Iranian provinces of Azarbaijan. First these guys create a new "opposition figure" in the name of Chehregani who is obsessed with the idea of separation of Azarbaijan from Iran, then you start feeding the world images of Iran that is already missing that big chunk of land. Hmmmm. All this time we were looking at Texas as the source of stench that has taken over Washington DC, while the answer was in North Carolina. Sneaky guys!

Iran Deal

NBC had an "exclusive" report tonight concerning a secret deal between the Whitehouse and Iran that involves exchange of Al-Qaeda terrorists with MKO members. You can read about it here and watch the television version too.

Despite my serious grievances with MKO and the obvious lack of sympathy for Al-Qaeda lunatics we all share, I can't possibly support a deal that will send anyone to face the "justice" that will be awaiting them in Iran. This is yet another bad move by this administration that will only cause more suffering, widens the gaps of mistrust even further and in short will help a terrorist regime to stay in power longer at the price of arresting some other terrorists.

Although this "deal" may seem like a positive move in the short run, perhaps it is a great opportunity for all of us to start thinking a bit beyond the immediate urgency and not sacrifice our long term goals in exchange for immediate satisfaction.

All The Shah's Men

Attention all those who wonder why many Iranians are still "obsessed" with the 50 year old CIA coup that brought Shah back to power:

National Public Radio's Terry Gross interviews New York Times Correspondent Stephen Kinzer, author of the new book, "All The Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror". The book is about the 1953 CIA coup in Iran that put an end to democratic rule, and in turn led the way for the Islamic Revolution of 1979. He writes, "It was the first time the United States overthrew a foreign government. It set a pattern for years to come and shaped the way millions of people view the United States."

Listen to the hour long program.

Read sample pages of the book on amazon.

To read more about the single event that started the mess we are in today, read this.

Zahra Kazemi

Those of you who read this blog regularly (and I certainly appreciate you all) may have noticed that one Iran-related topic has been noticeably absent from my posts. Up to this point, I have not commented on or discussed the murder of Iranian-Canadian journalist Zahra Kazemi. At least 3 of you actually bothered to write me about it and inquire as to the reasons. I will explain why I did it as the silence is now over.

When the news of Kazemi's brutal and unnecessary murder was first published, I was in Toronto. I thought I should try to use some of my fading clout to see if anything can be done about it. As the first Iranian-Canadian nominated for a seat in the Canadian Parliament, ex-President of Iranian Community Association of Ontario, Director of Canadian Iranian Centre for Liberty & Equality (CIRCLE) and extensive involvement in numerous other campaigns, organizations and events, I figured somebody may listen to me. Well they did, but I am not sure if it made much of a difference.

My main goal was to try to get to the truth of what actually happened to her. The original explanations of "brain hemorrhage" or "stroke" didn't make any sense and there was an urgent need to find out more. I contacted a few of my friends (meaning those who'd know me on first name basis, but not close enough to invite me to private cocktail parties) who still occupy a seat in Parliament Hills. I was also careful not to make this a partisan effort (hey, I am not residing in Canada and therefore have no current and active membership in any party up there anyways), so I tried anyone who would listen from any political stripe. For my American readers, Canada isn't restricted to a choice of Pepsi or Coke when it comes to political representation and there is a presence of Mountain Dew and Orange Soda too with rumors of occasional glimpses of a few Labatt's Blues here and there.

My proposal to these distinguished members was simple; let's form a parliamentary committee, add experts from various fields (medical, human rights, international law, etc.) and go conduct our own investigation. We'll start with the crime scene, ask to speak to witnesses, question her captors, inquire the opinion of the physicians who treated her, examine the body and basically whatever we will be allowed to do to shed some light on the truth. I was sure at least a faction of Iranian government would co-operate and open some doors, plus we could carry so much information with us through the community of Iranians abroad, including details of secret cells and prisons, identity of interrogators and in short whatever may help putting the pieces of this puzzle together.

Well, I'm sorry to say that after almost three weeks I received the final reply to my proposal today and couldn't find a single MP to either have the balls (excuse my French) or interest to pursue the matter further. It was such a disappointing experience I am truly humiliated of even bothering to ask.

Now I had stayed away from saying anything because I truly wanted to remain neutral. Since I had volunteered to go with the group as translator or guide or whatever, I did not want to put their neutrality in question by already stating how I felt about the matter and keeping a completely open mind to not jeopardize their investigation. Well, since that is now all dead, here's my opinion:

This is a blatant murder of a journalist that was only doing her job by covering a public event. She was killed by her interrogators and while in their custody by what appears to be severe blows to her head.

This type of torture is common in prisons of Iranian regime. Most prisoners are trampled severely during the original interrogations, many die under such brutal beatings. The treatment is so savage, many usual "interrogation rooms" have a floor covered in a mixture of blood, other bodily fluids plus small and large parts of skin or other body parts. I remember passing out in one such room once, only to came to again by a bucket of water thrown on my face and looking at the floor my head was laying on and in the midst of this burgundy-grey-purple semi-hardened liquid there was a complete and in tact large finger nail. I learned later of this one interrogator's favorite torture where he would stick long needles under your nails and if that wasn't painful enough, he would then hold a lighter to the part still sticking out and as the needle got hot you'd eventually lose nails one after another.

I don't know what types of torture Zahra was exposed to. We may never know as her body is now buried and will probably never be examined properly. However, it is easy to imagine the kind of suffering she had to endure and unless an independent international body is ever allowed to investigate the matter fully, the truth will never be known. I tried in my own small way to get a start on such issue and failed to find any attentive ears. I hope others will not let the matter drop.

While I am at it, let me say how disgusted I am at the attempted diversion the Iranian government is trying to pull by coming out against the death of an Iranian teenager in a Vancouver suburb. Keyvan Tabesh's case is not even remotely close to what Kazemi went through. Whether Keyvan was a danger to the officers, or if being shot 5 times was necessary or if race played a part in that event is all questions that can and must be addressed by proper authorities and by way of suitable resources available to his family. However a teenage shot after a car chase and a journalist being detained, tortured and then murdered are in no way comparable events and it is a shame for a regime that has never been interested in murder of many Iranians around the globe to suddenly use this event as retaliation.

Lastly, on July 18th I had written an op-ed piece for The Toronto Star but their opinions page editor Jim Atkins decided not to publish it. Although some of the information is now dated, you can read it by clicking on the "continue" link below:

Team Canada should travel to Tehran

by; Pedram Moallemian

July 18, 2003

Days turn into weeks and soon it will be months. The brutal death of a Canadian by torture will be forgotten before long and we will all go back to wondering if the Jays can put a winning streak together or how long would it take for Eves to decide the atmosphere is suitable to call an election he could win. Or will it?

Zahra Kazemi a Montreal based Iranian-Canadian journalist was arrested in Tehran on June 23, while taking pictures around the menacing compound of Evin prison. She was photographing demonstrators protesting the arrest of their loved-ones during the latest crack down on student demonstrations for Camera Press Journal. What happens after that is still unclear but weeks later and while still in detention, she dies from injuries to the head area. French newspaper Libération recently accused the head prosecutor of Tehran's revolutionary court, Saeed Mortazavi of delivering a fatal kick to Kazemi's head. This is Iran, where prosecutors are also interrogators and interrogations normally involve physical torture.

Saeed Mortazavi is notorious already for his actions in closure of over 100 publications and detention of their journalists. The special press court is where he earned his stripes to get a promotion to the higher echelons of a corrupt and infamous judiciary system.

Canadian government was quick to make a strong statement abut this brutal and unwarranted murder. Ottawa demanded return of kazemi's body for an autopsy in Canada and warned of diplomatic measures if Tehran fails to co-operate. Later on, Prime Minister Chrétien told reporters that "We are very keen on having the truth ... and if crimes have been committed, we will demand (the perpetrators) face justice."

President Khatami responded to the call from Ottawa by ordering a special committee to investigate the murder. On Wednesday Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi, fearing further diplomatic isolation, assured his Canadian counterpart Bill Graham in a telephone conversation of a rapid resolution to the probe into her death but followed with a statement that "everybody has to wait until the real cause of Mrs. Kazemi's death is clarified." Kharazi then demonstrated the typical arrogance typically shown by some Iranian officials by stating ""In our view, no foreign government has the right to make any special comment in this regard."

Meanwhile Tehran has refused the request of Kazemi's son for return of his mother's body. The coroners report in Iran has not been released to the public but passed on to the "committee" set up by Khatami. It should be noted that Kazemi was arrested by the Intelligence Ministry, a body reporting directly to and under responsibility of Khatami. Having the cabinet and their advisors investigate other members of the cabinet and their establishment is curious if not corrupt. One member of the committee, Health Minister Massoud Pezeshkian has already acknowledged that he has personally examined the body and found no "bruises or cuts on the face", typical of a tortured prisoner. He then reportedly got angry at the suggestion of allowing Canadians to also examine the body, stating "We are knowledgeable enough to examine the body and find out the cause of her death, so we will not allow foreign teams to investigate." If there's nothing to hide, why so much secrecy?

As for the special committee, the last time a similar endeavor was put into practice (although more aggressively and with special courts and prosecutors also involved) was to investigate the brutal treatment of the demonstrators arrested, tortured, detained and killed by the police in 1999. At the end, only one drafted soldier was convicted of any crime. He received a minimal sentence for stealing an electric shaver from student's dormitory. In contrast, one student received a 10 year sentence for being photographed while holding a bloody shirt of an injured friend.

Are we going to allow this system to now bring to light the truth behind the fate of a fellow Canadian? We must take action and take action immediately.

I put forward the notion of creating our own "committee". This "Team Canada" should include one MP from all parties in parliament, plus physicians, human rights authorities and other experts to travel to Iran, survey the "crime scene", interview the accused, and examine the evidence. Thousands of former Iranian political prisoners currently living in Canada and elsewhere can provide all the details of covert prisons, interrogator's identities and other vital data to assist in this effort.

Only then we can once and for all find out what actually happened to Zahra Kazemi and finding out what happened to her is not only to the benefit of Iranian-Canadians, but every Canadian of every heritage, political or religious beliefs and profession needs the assurance that if ever faced with brutal, animalistic and cruel oppression in any corner of this globe, Canadian people and their government will not forget them and will do everything possible to restore their rights, protect their interest and stand up for what is just, honorable and fair.

Set Our Blogs Free!

Editor: Myself, particularly the Persian version is often called the godfather of all Iranian blogs. It was the first bog I regularly read and when I was ready to start my own, I got hold of it again for it's blog making instruction pages. Since then, I have also built a friendship with Hossein Derakhshan, but this post is not personal.

Hossein's Editor: Myself is one of the blogs currently "filtered" in Iran by the powers to be. His isn't the only one; the eyeranian for example, has not had a single visitor from Iran in nearly a month now. Since my blog isn't really geared towards readers inside Iran, this isn't as important for me. However E:M has been instrumental in a great way not only to spread the usage of blogs in Iran, but it has also served as an effective tool to educate and illuminate many Iranians on some of the taboo subjects banned by the current regime. This is a fact despite your opinion of the blog or if you agree with his point of view.

Filtering blogs and other web sites based on their content is yet another method of oppression and limiting freedom of speech, and this time I want to ask the community of bloggers and blog readers to join me in protesting such practices.

Let's join one another and flood the offices of the Iranian ministry responsible for telecommunications with protest letters, calls, faxes and emails. I am asking all of you to make Editor: Myself the focal point of this protest and as a way of focusing our efforts not only for the removal of filters on E:M, but all blogs and sites currently under such restrictions.

Please take a few moments and write a short note demanding the restrictions must be removed.

You can fax the Minister of Post, Telegraph and Telephone, Mr. Ahmad Moetamedi's at; (9821) 864-015. Add -001- at the beginning if you are faxing from U.S. or Canada. His phone numbers are (9821) 843-1516 & (9821) 811-3306. His assistant is Mr. Davari-Nejad and can be reached at (9821) 831-9478 and (9821) 811-3897. The main switchboard is (9821) 8111 and fax : (9821) 860-1697. Mailing address: Ministry of Post, Telegraph, and Telephone, After Choddosi Cross Rd, Dr. Shariati Ave, Tehran, Iran. Their web site was just hacked (or is being filtered by my server, LOL) but I'll work on getting an email address somehow.

Parade

PARADE magazine, the freebie that comes with the Sunday paper in many U.S. cities had a short article this week titled "America Reaches Out To Radicals In Iran". Unfortunately I couldn't find the piece on their web site but the "radicals" are allegedly the student movement and the most interesting part is this allegation:

"There already are unconfirmed reports of American-backed covert operations inside Iran in support of the anti-government protesters."

Is this just a baseless assertion or does Parade know something I don't? Could it be involving the MKO's out of work volunteers in Iraq? Maybe Reza Pahlavi's newest best buddy, Mr. Tabarzadi is getting some of this "backing"? Maybe it's the faction that recently left the intelligence ministry and has a very public spokesperson in California? Maybe the Azeri separatists are being encouraged again? Then again, maybe it's nothing, made-up by a rather bubble-gum Sunday magazine. Maybe.

This Democratic Country

The Farsi pages of BBC are a popular destination for many Iranian surfers. One of the features often used by many, is the ability to add comments on the same page as the original article. You've got all types of visitors coming to the site, most of them from inside Iran and as such the comments are seldom boring. This is the latest example, courtesy of Omid Bamdad, a blogger on the group blog Khakestari (Grey);

Left on an article about the attraction of chat rooms for youth and dangers involved with it, "Mustafa Emami" writes:

"Our country is free and democratic and people enjoy complete social freedoms. The internet is a scientific phenomena and if used properly, it is a noble element. This regime is not against science. Mr. Khamenei himself owns several sites. The important factor is how it is used. In my opinion, if chat rooms are divided into separate men and ladies rooms it will be better and could prevent spread of moral corruption."

What To Do (Part II)

So, I am sitting with Hossein Derakhshan at this restaurant/bar in Toronto and we chat for a couple of hours. He had the Schnitzel (left) and I had a "Chocolate Volcano" (right) as I had already had lunch.

This topic came up and I am sharing it with you; let's assume you wake up tomorrow morning to the sound of your radio announcer reading the news of Khamenei, Rafsanjani and the rest of the gang packing up the night before and taking refuge in Syria or North Korea or Burkina Faso. Iran is free. Now what? I mean let us assume Mojahedin didn't capture the national TV, Radio buildings, important ministries, bank vaults, etc. and we actually had some sort of a parliamentary democratic republic in place tomorrow. How do we run it? I don't mean what constitution we write or who collects unpaid parking tickets but what experience do we have in functioning within a democracy? How many of us have ever actually had to sit down and think about this or more importantly, how many of us have had the opportunity to practice it?

This new generation of Iranians, currently a large majority and without a doubt the people who will get a chance to elect and be elected, is highly individualistic. That by itself is not necessary such a bad thing. What is bad is that this generation shows no desire or inclination of working within the confines of a group structure or god forbid a political/societal party. So, who will introduce platforms, present candidates in national capacity and run campaigns or seek command? Even if they wanted to, do they know how? Do we import foreign experts to teach us basic principals of a party structure or democratic exchange of ideas within an organization? I'm primarily speaking to the millions of Iranians who have lived abroad, many of them with the desire to return when their country is free. How many of them have bothered to learn in the countries they live in?

A conservative figure would be 2 million Iranians living in U.S., Canada, Australia and Europe. Another cautious guess would be half of them will (or might) one day go back. That's ONE MILLION Iranians who have lived in some sort of a democracy, some of them for decades or longer. How many of them have actively participated in the political lives of their adopted home, practiced and learned democracy and can help in establishing such values back home? 100? 1,000? 5,000? Isn't that just sad? We were all given this golden opportunity to learn from this great experience of humanity in person, namely the current western style democracy structure, and only a very small percentage of us bothered to take advantage of it. Disheartening, no?

One of the best and most educational experiences of my life was the years I spent as a member of Canada's New Democratic Party. I never forget the first general party council meeting I attended where the leader of the party sat in front of about 500 party activist to answer questions. One of the far-left members got up and spent about 10 minutes (it felt like an hour) saying anything negative he wanted, short of announcing he had just had a three-some with the leader's mother and sister while his father watched. At the end, he puts a motion on the floor for leader's removal, gets rejected by all present (except two), the leader answered his questions and the party business moves on. There's me, one frightened Iranian spectator who had only seen one style of politics, expecting a massive bloodshed. No such thing happens. Later I catch the rebel chatting with the leader outside, while munching on some fund-raising Samosas.

Over the years I got a chance to see and experience the party, and a working component of democracy, from different positions and functions; activist, volunteer, campaign worker, federal candidate, member of various committees and teams. I learned a lot and regret not being able to continue my "education". I hope to use this exerience one day in a more productive capacity.

If you live in a country that allows you such an opportunity, what are you waiting for? If not for involvement in the political life of your new home, at least as a learning experience for the future of Iran, get involved. Doesn't matter what political stripes best match yours or at what level you want to be involved, but do something. Learn a bit and use what you learn in a practical environment. Maybe your experience becomes fundamental in transferring such knowledge to other Iranians. Maybe you get to influence a friend, a relative, a small gathering, a future political organization. Maybe you'll get to take part in shaping of your country's future. Just maybe, and all it takes is a few hours a week, every other week, a month or even every few months. Small investment for such huge possible payoff. Wouldn't you say?

Chameleonesque

I had to wait a few days before jumping into this one with both feet. To be quite frank, I really wanted to see if the original writer would offer some worthy explanation or a defense for what appears to be just absurd commentary.

The writer is Pejman Yousefzadeh. He recently wrote a piece for Tech Central Station, titled “Meet Iran's Future Leaders.” Pejman lists five people “who might increasingly be found at the head of the reform movement as protests against the regime continue”.

Hoder originally pointed to the article, concluding that the list “proves that Pejman knows nothing about Iranian political situation and its important figures.” A few days later he followed up on the same post with an explanation as to why he thinks Pejman’s list is just hilarious.

Before I get to the list, let’s look at who Pejman Yousefzadeh is;

M. H. MohammadShahi recently provided some background on Pejman. According to him, Pejman is a 31 year old Philadelphia -born Iranian of Jewish faith, currently practicing law in California. Pejman has never lived in Iran, except for a few short months prior to the revolution of 1979 and has a limited command of Farsi.

Pejman started blogging at PejmanPundit and later graduated to Pejmanesque, the only Iranian blog I know with a “I’m a proud friend of Israel” button. MohammadShahi believes that during the recent months, the tone of Pejman’s posts have noticeably shifted from “a center right position (like Glen Reynolds and Jeff Jarvis) to more of the extreme right (like Michael Ledeen)”. He also claims Pejman himself has drastically moved his views from a liberal Democrat and avid Clinton fan, to his current position.

According to MohammadShahi, an invitation from Tech Central Station to write Iran related articles (something Pejman had rarely done before), completed the turnaround in Pejman’s views as he tries hard to be the “Michael Ledeen of Tech Central Station, whose deceiving Persian name will provide a more credible podium for his opinions”.

Now the list; Pejman’s list of potential heads for “the reform movement” includes 1- current speaker of Majlis (Parliament) Mehdi Kahrubi, 2- Reformist MP Hossein Loghmanian, 3- University Professor Hashem Aghajari, 4- Azeri autonomy advocate M. A. Chehregani and finally 5- Reza Pahlavi. The list has problems right away as the last two names don’t have any interest in “the reform movement”, never mind a desire to “lead” it. They both advocate an overthrow of the regime, not reforming it.

Even a brief overview of the list proves what a humorous tale it is; 1- Kahrubi has very little popularity with Iranians or the two camps present in the Parliament. He only became speaker as a compromise candidate to avoid further rift between the two factions after Rafsanjani decided to not accept his seat. 2- Loghmanian is a low ranking, not very significant Member of Parliament that only became famous as the first MP ever arrested. He has never shown any leadership abilities or aspirations. 3- Aghajari is an academic and not a politician or leader. He was only forced into the spotlight after giving a speech about the role of clergy in Islam, as up to that point he had always prefered to stay in the shadows and continue his scholarly work. 4- Chehregani is a non-existent entity, only recently pulled from under his rock by the Bush administration and has never expressed any interest in leading Iran or Iranians. His goal is to separate the Azerbaijan section of Iran and create a new country. 5- Puhleaseeee! Even Pejman acknowledges the unlikely event of Reza sitting on the Peacock Throne in his lifetime.

So, why the list and where did it come from? I figure it’s one of three scenarios;

A – Pejman is completely out of touch with what is going on in Iran. Probably picked the names off newswire reports over the last months and wanted to pretend as if he had some insight into the inner workings of the two opposing camps within the Iranian government.

B – There is some behind the scene dealings with Kahrubi or Loghmanian types (unlikely) and this is part of an attempt to somehow bring them into the foray and include them in future considerations.

C – It’s a trial balloon of sort, orchestrated by Ledeen-Sobhani spin masters to measure the reactions a name like Chehregani arouses. With MKO out of the picture for now, and the prospect of creating a coalition between Monarchists and Nationalists or Leftists becoming a non-starter, the “regime change” hawks need new tools and weapons to push their agenda. Pressing a social hot button like separation, will surely provide more propaganda, a cause to set aside some differences and the possibility of new ways to derail the people’s movement once again.

This game gets uglier by the minute and in the process, Pejman type characters who can change colors so easily to fit the mold set by others, or appear one way on the outside but carry a different agenda underneath are used by he enemies of Iran and Iranians to deliver their message of doom.

July 9th

About the middle of last month I got this email. It was from one of the more prominent bloggers, one of the guys that has more hits on his site during an average bathroom visit than my blog gets for a week. I will not use his name as our exchanges were private and I do not have his permission to do so, but I am sure he will read this and he might like to do that himself. We have had some exchanges in the past and had found some common grounds to build a cordial relationship on. He wanted to talk about July 9th. At first I wasn't sure where he was going with it, but he ultimately wanted to co-ordinate an effort around what is expected to take place that day.

Risking the possibility that I may come across just way out of touch, I dared to ask what exactly is it that he was expecting to happen? I received three separate e-mails right away, each of them warning of upcoming "mass protests", "general strike" , "student uprising" and other mind-boggling things that was to happen that day. I wrote back to in essence state that I don't know where he gets his information from, but no such thing is expected to take place. He obviously didn't like that and replied with some rather harsh words that basically conveyed that I don't know what the hell I am talking about.

During the original student demonstrations in summer of 1989, I had served as one of the outside media contact points for a group of the students, so I decided to speak to some of them just in case I had been left way out of loop and I was about to miss this critical incident. After reassurance by friends that I was right to begin with, I wrote my blogger friend again and ultimately said that although nobody wishes for an end to this regime more than myself and I want to be wrong on this badly, but he has been had and he can safely assume noting of significance is planned or expected on that date.

This got me forwards of all these e-mails from some prominent monarchists along with Ledeen-Sobhani teammates written to him that essentially provided very detailed explanation of this day of Armageddon that was about to end the tyranny of ruling few in Iran and with one calculated, organized and monstrous move send them to the trash bin of history. There was even castle in the sky promises of "action committees" and "resistance cells" organized all over Iran, ready to deliver the knock-out punch and take over the country from sea (North) to gulf (South) and from U.S.'s 51st state (East) to its 52nd state (West).

I really didn't want to argue, so I let it just go but proposed a small wager that since neither one of us truly knows what may or may not happen, we'll both write down our predictions and the loser ultimately is forced to eat his words publicly. He got out of that by some swift maneuvering and going as far as saying things may happen as late as a week after the date, which is why I waited 'till today to write this.

A couple of weeks later, I get another email. This time it is another popular blogger, very upset at me for not displaying the banners/buttons/links they had made "in support of democracy in Iran" pointing to that date. Once again I presented my opinion and in essence received the same reply that I don't know what I'm talking about.

Now that date has come and gone. As predicted, not much was planned or took place. Outside the minds of a few LA based monarchist types that have even less support inside Iran than the hated regime, along with their TV/Radio apparatus and finally their connected buddies in high-places, July 9th was the honorable anniversary of a day when the forces of darkness managed to use terror and violence (their favorite tools), to suppress, maim and temporarily derail the peaceful movement of Iranian people towards democracy and freedom. Anniversary of a day where ordinary unarmed students stood up to the mighty regime and as such paid a hefty price for it. This was also the day regime had hoped to find an excuse to use the same tools to once again inflict further pain and suffering on the body of this frail but popular movement.

As I surfed around for the last few weeks, I saw more than a few blogs displaying buttons or banners with similar message of solidarity. I want to thank you all for having Iran and Iranians on your minds. However I couldn't help but notice that only a very limited number of Iranian sites and blogs (actually one blog only, as far as I can remember) displayed such buttons. Is it because they don't care? far from it. Maybe it's because they know the sources of such bogus information and organization of these "events" is suspicious to say the least. Maybe their opinions more closely reflects the opinion of larger Iranian community that not only detests such tactics, it considers them to be detrimental towards their ultimate goals. Maybe they are tired of a few outsiders trying to dictate to us how we should fight our battles.

In short, we DO want your help, your solidarity, your sympathy. But if you want to lend a hand, let us be the ones deciding what help we may want or need. Talk to us, as a community and as individuals, find out about our aspirations and our objectives. Then assist us in our endeavor, if you see fit. Under our banner, carrying our message.

Is that too much to ask for?

Khalkhali & Hoveyda

Kayhan daily, the primary mouthpiece of the "hardliners" in Iran has just published an interview with Ayatollah Khalkhali, the original special prosecutor/judge/jury in charge of the revolutionary courts set up immediately after the revolution of 1979. Khalkhali quickly gained the "butcher" title by Iranian people and foreign media due to his brief and unfair "courts" followed by immediate execution of many of last regime's ministers, army officers and all others with any connections to the Shah or system. Many have argued that while most of those responsible for oppression, imprisonment, torture and executions during regime's reign were never arrested and fled with the Shah or shortly after, Khalkhali insisted on execution of everyone, even those whose "crimes" were limited to serving as an education minister for the Shah for example or were merely accused of collaborating with SAVAK, his security police.

One of the controversial figures executed by Khalkhali was Shah's long time Prime Minister Amir-Abbas Hoveyda. The controversy has further increased since Abbas Milani, himself a political prisoner during Hoveyda's government wrote and published a biography on him titled The Persian Sphinx. Milani's well researched and detailed study on the life of Hoveyda fails to find any controversial or precarious aspects to a man that comes across as more of a delusional social democrat, arts lover, intellectual, with little authority as opposed to a murderer, bandit, corrupt head of government. He was even naive enough to believe that since he had done nothing wrong, he had nothing to fear and passed on the opportunity to run and instead turned himself in stating that Islamic justice will judge him fairly and set him free. The image above, stills taken from a French crew videotape, is last images of Hoveyda, days before his execution.

Khalkhali who is apparently suffering from severe stages of Parkinson's disease and is now a "moderate", was so ill that the reporter's 26 question, one-page interview was conducted in several sessions over a month's period. The result is a unique but brief look into the mind of someone deeply engulfed in religious fundamentalism and is a must read for all those involved with a struggle against such thinking. If someone cares to translate the entire interview, I would love to post it or provide a link to it. Here are a few selected points;

He considers his rulings as the "judgment and conscience of a 35 million people" (referring to the population of Iran in 1979) when he suggests Milani should re-think his position. This is typical of his type, hiding behind this imaginary population who approves of all they do and therefore they are the sole representative of the masses by default.

Khalkhali tries to discredit any dissenter's opinions by snide remarks such as calling them "escapees" suggesting that they couldn't possibly have a valid point if they had to leave the country to save their lives. Somebody tell him that if they hadn't escaped, they wouldn't be able to make a remark or have an opinion as his "court" and others like it would have made them vanish quickly.

He acknowledges he was appointed by Khomeini but takes full responsibility for his decisions personally. But he also concedes that when his harsh stand was faced with resistance from the temporary revolution cabinet, "Imam" grabbed his collar and told him to go grab them by the collar the same way. What a constructive approach to conflict resolutions. He further admits to his Imam's extended interference in government's affairs when he claims he was disqualified from holding a seat in the 3rd parliament but Imam sent his son to the "council of experts" to overrule their decision.

Khalkhali repeatedly claims both him and Khomeini wanted Hoveyda and others to have a fair trial, then he admits that he refused to allow him to obtain a lawyer and even when the National Front (Shah's long-time nemesis) offered Dr. Matin-Daftari, Mossadegh's grandson to defend Hoveyda, he says that he was suspicious of "him and his types" and would not allow him into the court. He also confirms Milani's account that Hoveyda was awakened at midnight and brought into court immediately, without an opportunity to prepare his defense. This is where it gets scary, he then actually suggests that in the Islamic justice system, Hoveyda didn't need a lawyer as Khalkhali himself was not only the prosecutor, judge and jury, but he was in fact acting as the defense lawyer as well (!!!). So much for the fair trial illusion.

Perhaps most telling of unfairness of this system of injustice, is his assertion that in his version of "science of law" there is a concept called "obvious guilt" where the accused is presumed and considered guilty if his/her "crimes" are "very clear" prior to the trial.

This is just a short glimpse into the system that has ruled Iran for over 23 years. This stain on the conscience of humanity needs to be removed and replaced with freedom, justice and peace. Iranian people will eventually get there, in their own way and using their own channels.

Interview link courtesy of Gooya News

Laleh & Ladan

Forbes Article

The ruling mob in Iran keeps getting richer by the day while the working class finds it even more difficult to make ends meet in the wake of double digit inflation and sky high unemployment. Forbes offers the story they titled "Millionaire Mullahs".

Forbes.com - Millionaire Mullahs

Millionaire Mullahs

Paul Klebnikov, 07.21.03

A nuclear threat to the rest of the world, Iran is robbing its own people of prosperity. But the men at the top are getting extremely rich.
It's rumble time in Tehran. At dozens of intersections in the capital of Iran thousands of students are protesting on a recent Friday around midnight, as they do nearly every night, chanting pro-democracy slogans and lighting bonfires on street corners. Residents of the surrounding middle-class neighborhoods converge in their cars, honking their horns in raucous support.

Suddenly there's thunder in the air. A gang of 30 motorcyclists, brandishing iron bars and clubs as big as baseball bats, roars through the stalled traffic. They glare at the drivers, yell threats, thump cars. Burly and bearded, the bikers yank two men from their auto and pummel them. Most protesters scatter. Uniformed policemen watch impassively as the thugs beat the last stragglers.

These Hell's Angels are part of the Hezbollah militia, recruited mostly from the countryside. Iran's ruling mullahs roll them out whenever they need to intimidate their opponents. The Islamic Republic is a strange dictatorship. As it moves to repress growing opposition to clerical rule, the regime relies not on soldiers or uniformed police (many of whom sympathize with the protesters) but on the bullies of Hezbollah and the equally thuggish Revolutionary Guards. The powers that be claim to derive legitimacy from Allah but remain on top with gangsterlike methods of intimidation, violence and murder.

Who controls today's Iran? Certainly not Mohammad Khatami, the twice-elected moderate president, or the reformist parliament. Not even the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a stridently anti-American but unremarkable cleric plucked from the religious ranks 14 years ago to fill the shoes of his giant predecessor, Ayatollah Khomeini, is fully in control. The real power is a handful of clerics and their associates who call the shots behind the curtain and have gotten very rich in the process.

The economy bears more than a little resemblance to the crony capitalism that sprouted from the wreck of the Soviet Union. The 1979 revolution expropriated the assets of foreign investors and the nation's wealthiest families; oil had long been nationalized, but the mullahs seized virtually everything else of value--banks, hotels, car and chemical companies, makers of drugs and consumer goods. What distinguishes Iran is that many of these assets were given to Islamic charitable foundations, controlled by the clerics. According to businessmen and former foundation executives, the charities now serve as slush funds for the mullahs and their supporters.

Iran has other lethal secrets besides its nuclear program, now the subject of prying international eyes. Dozens of interviews with businessmen, merchants, economists and former ministers and other top government officials reveal a picture of a dictatorship run by a shadow government that--the U.S. State Department suspects--finances terrorist groups abroad through a shadow foreign policy. Its economy is dominated by shadow business empires and its power is protected by a shadow army of enforcers.

Ironically, the man most adept at manipulating this hidden power structure is one of Iran's best-known characters--Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who has been named an ayatollah, or religious leader. He was the speaker of parliament and Khomeini's right-hand man in the 1980s, president of Iran from 1989 to 1997 and is now chairman of the powerful Expediency Council, which resolves disputes between the clerical establishment and parliament. Rafsanjani has more or less run the Islamic Republic for the past 24 years.

He played it smart, aligning himself in the 1960s with factions led by Ayatollah Khomeini, then becoming the go-to guy after the revolution. A hard-liner ideologically, Rafsanjani nonetheless has a pragmatic streak. He convinced Khomeini to end the Iran-Iraq war and broke Iran's international isolation by establishing trade relations with the Soviet Union, China, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. In the 1990s he restarted Iran's nuclear program. He is also the father of Iran's "privatization" program. During his presidency the stock market was revived, some government companies were sold to insiders, foreign trade was liberalized and the oil sector was opened up to private companies. Most of the good properties and contracts, say dissident members of Iran's Chamber of Commerce, ended up in the hands of mullahs, their associates and, not least, Rafsanjani's own family, who rose from modest origins as small-scale pistachio farmers.

"They were not rich people, so they worked hard and always tried to help their relatives get ahead," remembers Reza, a historian who declines to use his last name and who studied with one of Rafsanjani's brothers at Tehran University in the early 1970s. "When they were in university, two brothers earned money on the side tutoring theological students and preparing their exam papers."

Discontent Unveiled

Disaffected, denied opportunity and just plain bored, Iran's youth have taken their frustrations with the clerics' regime to the streets.


Population : Iran 67 million U.S. 283 million
Percent under 25 : Iran 65% U.S. 35%
GDP per capita : Iran $1,800 U.S. $37,000
Inflation : Iran 25% U.S. 2%
Unemployment : Iran 18% U.S. 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau; U.S. Department of Labor; Atieh Bahar Consulting; Forbes estimates.

The 1979 revolution transformed the Rafsanjani clan into commercial pashas. One brother headed the country's largest copper mine; another took control of the state-owned TV network; a brother-in-law became governor of Kerman province, while a cousin runs an outfit that dominates Iran's $400 million pistachio export business; a nephew and one of Rafsanjani's sons took key positions in the Ministry of Oil; another son heads the Tehran Metro construction project (an estimated $700 million spent so far). Today, operating through various foundations and front companies, the family is also believed to control one of Iran's biggest oil engineering companies, a plant assembling Daewoo automobiles, and Iran's best private airline (though the Rafsanjanis insist they do not own these assets).

None of this sits well with the populace, whose per capita income is $1,800 a year. The gossip on the street, going well beyond the observable facts, has the Rafsanjanis stashing billions of dollars in bank accounts in Switzerland and Luxembourg; controlling huge swaths of waterfront in Iran's free economic zones on the Persian Gulf; and owning whole vacation resorts on the idyllic beaches of Dubai, Goa and Thailand.

But not much of the criticism makes its way into print. One journalist who dared to investigate Rafsanjani's secret dealings and his alleged role in extrajudicial killings of dissidents is now languishing in jail. He's lucky. Iranian politics can be deadly. Five years ago Tehran was rocked by murders of journalists and anticorruption activists; some were beheaded, others mutilated.

Some of the family's wealth is out there for all to see. Rafsanjani's youngest son, Yaser, owns a 30-acre horse farm in the super-fashionable Lavasan neighborhood of north Tehran, where land goes for over $4 million an acre. Just where did Yaser get his money? A Belgian-educated businessman, he runs a large export-import firm that includes baby food, bottled water and industrial machinery.

Until a few years ago the simplest way to get rich quick was through foreign-currency trades. Easy, if you could get greenbacks at the subsidized import rate of 1,750 rials to the dollar and resell them at the market rate of 8,000 to the dollar. You needed only the right connections for an import license. "I estimate that, over a period of ten years, Iran lost $3 billion to $5 billion annually from this kind of exchange-rate fraud," says Saeed Laylaz, an economist, now with Iran's biggest carmaker. "And the lion's share of that went to about 50 families."

One of the families benefiting from the foreign trade system was the Asgaroladis, an old Jewish clan of bazaar traders, who converted to Islam several generations ago. Asadollah Asgaroladi exports pistachios, cumin, dried fruit, shrimp and caviar, and imports sugar and home appliances; his fortune is estimated by Iranian bankers to be some $400 million. Asgaroladi had a little help from his older brother, Habibollah, who, as minister of commerce in the 1980s, was in charge of distributing lucrative foreign-trade licenses. (He was also a counterparty to commodities trader and then-fugitive Marc Rich, who helped Iran bypass U.S.-backed sanctions.)

The other side of Iran's economy belongs to the Islamic foundations, which account for 10% to 20% of the nation's GDP--$115 billion last year. Known as bonyads, the best-known of these outfits were established from seized property and enterprises by order of Ayatollah Khomeini in the first weeks of his regime. Their mission was to redistribute to the impoverished masses the "illegitimate" wealth accumulated before the revolution by "apostates" and "blood-sucking capitalists." And, for a decade or so, the foundations shelled out money to build low-income housing and health clinics. But since Khomeini's death in 1989 they have increasingly forsaken their social welfare functions for straightforward commercial activities.

Until recently they were exempt from taxes, import duties and most government regulation. They had access to subsidized foreign currency and low-interest loans from state-owned banks. And they were not accountable to the Central Bank, the Ministry of Finance or any other government institution. Formally, they are under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Leader; effectively, they operate without any oversight at all, answerable only to Allah.

According to Shiite Muslim tradition, devout businessmen are expected to donate 20% of profits to their local mosques, which use the money to help the poor. By contrast, many bonyads seem like straightforward rackets, extorting money from entrepreneurs. Besides the biggest national outfits, almost every Iranian town has its own bonyad, affiliated with local mullahs. "Many small businessmen complain that as soon as you start to make some money, the leading mullah will come to you and ask for a contribution to his local charity," says an opposition economist, who declines to give his name. "If you refuse, you will be accused of not being a good Muslim. Some witnesses will turn up to testify that they heard you insult the Prophet Mohammad, and you will be thrown in jail." The Cosa Nostra meets fundamentalism.

Other charities resemble multinational conglomerates. The Mostazafan & Jambazan Foundation (Foundation for the Oppressed and War Invalids) is the second-largest commercial enterprise in the country, behind the state-owned National Iranian Oil Co. Until recently it was run by a man named Mohsen Rafiqdoost. The son of a vegetable-and-fruit merchant at the Tehran bazaar, Rafiqdoost got his big break in 1979, when he was chosen to drive Ayatollah Khomeini from the airport after his triumphal return from exile in Paris.

Khomeini made him Minister of the Revolutionary Guards to quash internal dissent and smuggle in weapons for the Iran-Iraq war. In 1989, when Rafsanjani became president, Rafiqdoost gained control of the Mostazafan Foundation, which employs up to 400,000 workers and has assets that in all probability exceed $10 billion. Among its holdings: the former Hyatt and Hilton hotels in Tehran; the highly successful Zam-Zam soft drink company (once Pepsi); an international shipping line; companies producing oil products and cement; swaths of farmland and urban real estate.

Theoretically the Mostazafan Foundation is a social welfare organization. By 1996 it began taking government funds to cover welfare disbursements; soon it plans to spin off its social responsibilities altogether, leaving behind a purely commercial conglomerate owned by--whom? That is not clear. Why does this foundation exist? "I don't know--ask Mr. Rafiqdoost," says Abbas Maleki, a foreign policy adviser to Ayatollah Rafsanjani.

A picture emerges from one Iranian businessman who used to handle the foreign trade deals for one of the big foundations. Organizations like the Mostazafan serve as giant cash boxes, he says, to pay off supporters of the mullahs, whether they're thousands of peasants bused in to attend religious demonstrations in Tehran or Hezbollah thugs who beat up students. And, not least, the foundations serve as cash cows for their managers.

"It usually works like this," explains this businessman. "Some foreigner comes in, proposes a deal to the foundation head. The big boss says: ‘Fine. I agree. Work out the details with my administrator.' So the foreigner goes to see the administrator, who tells him: ‘You know that we have two economies here--official and unofficial. You have to be part of the unofficial economy if you want to be successful. So, you have to deposit the following amount into the following bank account abroad and then the deal will go forward.'"

Today Rafiqdoost heads up the Noor Foundation, which owns apartment blocks and makes an estimated $200 million importing pharmaceuticals, sugar and construction materials. He is quick to downplay his personal wealth. "I am just a normal person, with normal wealth," he says. Then, striking a Napoleonic pose, he adds: "But if Islam is threatened, I will become big again."

Implication: that he has access to a secret reservoir of money that can be tapped when the need arises. That may have been what Ayatollah Rafsanjani had in mind when he declared recently that the Islamic Republic needed to keep large funds in reserve. But who is to determine when Islam is in danger?

As minister of the Revolutionary Guards in the 1980s, Rafiqdoost played a key role in sponsoring Hezbollah in Lebanon--which kidnapped foreigners, hijacked airplanes, set off car bombs, trafficked in heroin and pioneered the use of suicide bombers. According to Gregory Sullivan, spokesman for the Near Eastern Affairs Bureau at the U.S. State Department, the foundations are the perfect vehicles to carry out Iran's shadow foreign policy. (One of them offered the $2.8 million bounty to anyone who carried out Ayatollah Khomeini's fatwa to kill British author Salman Rushdie.) Whenever suspicion of complicity in a terrorist incident--in Saudi Arabia, Israel, Argentina--turns to Iran, the Tehran government has denied involvement. State Department officials suspect that such operations may be sponsored by one of the foundations and semiautonomous units of the Revolutionary Guards. If anyone in Iran is aiding al Qaeda, that may be the best place to look.

Iran's foundations are a law unto themselves. The largest "charity" (at least in terms of real estate holdings) is the centuries-old Razavi Foundation, charged with caring for Iran's most revered shrine--the tomb of Reza, the Eighth Shiite Imam, in the northern city of Mashhad. It is run by one of Iran's leading hard-line mullahs, Ayatollah Vaez-Tabasi, who prefers to stay out of the public eye but emerges occasionally to urge death to apostates and other opponents of the clerical regime.

The Razavi Foundation owns vast tracts of urban real estate all across Iran, as well as hotels, factories, farms and quarries. Its assets are impossible to value with any precision, since the foundation has never released an inventory of its holdings, but Iranian economists speak of a net asset value of $15 billion or more. The foundation also receives generous contributions from the millions of pilgrims who visit the Mashhad shrine each year.

What happens to annual revenues estimated in the hundreds of millions--perhaps billions--of dollars? Not all of it goes to cover the maintenance costs of mosques, cemeteries, religious schools and libraries. Over the past decade the foundation has bought new businesses and properties, established investment banks (together with investors from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates), funded real estate projects and financed big foreign trade deals.

The driving force behind the commercialization of the Razavi Foundation is Ayatollah Tabasi's son, Naser, who was put in charge of the Sarakhs Free Trade Zone, on the border with the former Soviet republic of Turkmenistan. In the 1990s the foundation poured hundreds of millions of dollars into this project, funding a rail link between Iran and Turkmenistan, new highways, an international airport, a hotel and office buildings. It even paid $2.3 million to a Swiss firm to erect a huge tent for the ceremonies inaugurating the Iran-Turkmenistan rail link.

Then it all went wrong. In July 2001 Naser Tabasi was dismissed as director of the Free Trade Zone. Two months later he was arrested and charged with fraud in connection with a Dubai-based company called Al-Makasib. The details of the case remain murky, but four months ago the General Court of Tehran concluded that Naser Tabasi had not known that he was breaking the law and acquitted him.

Few receive even a slap on the wrist. A rare exception: Hard-line cleric Hadi Ghaffari, who specialized in seizing expropriated properties, like Star Stockings (maker of sexy lingerie), and reselling them at a nice profit. He was convicted of embezzlement in the early 1990s.

Iran's most distinguished senior clerics are disgusted by the mullahcrats. Ayatollah Taheri, Friday prayer leader of the city of Isfahan, resigned in protest earlier this year. "When I hear that some of the privileged progeny and special people, some of whom even don cloaks and turbans, are competing amongst themselves to amass the most wealth," he said, "I am drenched with the sweat of shame."

Meanwhile the clerical elite has mismanaged the nation into senseless poverty. With 9% of the world's oil and 15% of its natural gas, Iran should be a very rich country. It has a young, educated population and a long tradition of craftsmanship and international commerce. But per capita income today is actually 7% below what it was before the revolution. Iranian economists estimate capital flight (to Dubai and other safe havens) at up to $3 billion a year.

No wonder so many students turn to the streets in protest. The dictatorship tells them what to think, what to wear, and what to eat and drink. It has also been robbing them of their future.

Hoder Speaks!

Hoder (not unlike myself) took a few days off from writing but came back with a couple of gems;

The first is his post "If you really want to support us, try to know more about us."

Then he asks for 5 suggestions as to "How can a non-Iranian person know more about iran".

I think both discussions are worthy and critical at this point and look forward to your ideas, comments and suggestions.

Very Inclusive

The guys who are going to bring democracy to us, have a new outfit and web site. Iran Almanac is so democratic, inclusive and respectful of other people's opinions and points of view, it has chosen this lofty slogan:

"The one and only Iranian information website based on facts"

I guess all the other thousands of weblogs, news sites and e-zines are all based on lies and fiction. Not surprisingly, the first two featured articles are by 1 - "unbiased non-monarchist" Michael Ledeen and 2 - "crown prince" Reza Pahlavi.

Ask an Iranian friend to explain the Persian proverb of "do we believe the rooster's tail or the pledge of innocence, vowed to holy hazrat abbas".

Oh Michael!

Michael Ledeen left a comment on BuzzMachine which included this line:

"Did you see the latest poll, conducted by the mullahs themselves, in which 45% of the people said they wanted regime change even if it required foreign invasion?"

Michael, I did not. Could you please provide a link or reference to this poll "conducted by the mullahs themselves" that would show "45% of the people said they wanted regime change even if it required foreign invasion"?

Anxiously awaiting your reply.

Wise Hostage!

The "hostage crisis" and the ensuing 444 days of illegal imprisonment of U.S. embassy staff in Tehran was a national and international tragedy that will have ripple effects for years, both in Iran as well as abroad. For one thing, their release or "October Surprise" mess helped revive a whole new generation right-wing ideologues under both Reagan administrations, as well as Bush Sr. and now Jr. reign.

I have only met two of the actual hostages in person so far and found them to be at total opposite points of view regarding the entire ordeal. One was deeply bitter and eventually sued the Iranian government and won. The other had a very interesting philosophical view towards the whole personal nightmare he was part of, not holding any grudges, somewhat sympathetic and still very gracious towards Iran and Iranians.

Today I came across this article by yet another one, via a link on BuzzMachine. I do not know Bruce Laingen but it is obvious that he did not waste his years of being stationed in Tehran and shows a very insightful grasp of the politics there. I wish more westerners, particularly U.S. citizens and administration people would listen to reasonable voices such as Laingen's, instead of hawks like Karl Rove, Michael Ledeen and Rob Sobhani. Here's an excerpt from his article:

Regime change in Tehran is inevitable. But it must come from within. Iran is not Iraq. It is big; it is populous: 70 million and counting. It is overwhelmingly Shiite. Its people are culture-proud and intensely nationalistic. The current student unrest is symptomatic, but there is little evidence of a burgeoning public movement sufficient to press revolutionary change. A quasidemocratic process and an evolving civil society work to keep political agitation largely under control, with the Basij and other militants put on the streets to curb student unrest. After the climactic events of the revolution and the eight years of devastating war with Iraq, there is little public readiness for institutional upheaval. Nor is there any evident alternative leadership of any stature among the students or other opposition. Change will come, but it can and should be "soft" change. Playing our cards wisely, there are ways we can encourage it.

The Convention

Thank you all for being generally positive towards the idea of Iranian National Convention. Just a couple of notes:

- As much as I may like to, I think it is foolish to consider the old blood of Iranian politics dead and irrelevant. Particularly since some of them are still held in high regards by people. Example? Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan is as old school as it gets in Iranian politics, yet they still have substantial support amongst the Kurds and to ignore them is ignoring probably one of only two voices of Kurds (along with Komala) that could be present. Another example is certain National Front figures who despite their own faults (and perhaps solely based on the eternal popularity of Dr. Mossadegh) just could not be ignored. I think the groups that ARE in fact irrelevant need to be present more than others. Let people see and hear them and decide once and for all who they are dealing with.

- Yes, some may refuse to attend. So what? If they refuse a free tribune to speak directly to their people after 20 years of hiding, they are either stupid, have nothing to say or are afraid their hidden agendas will be out in the open. Exposing all and every one of the three would be a good thing. Wouldn't you love to see free journalists question Massoud Rajavi about his reasons for marrying Bani-Sadr's daughter? Yes, it may seem like a small issue, but I think you can tell a lot about how you value human beings, their relationships and especially women by repeating the answers he has offered in the past. He won't come? His loss.

- I can't control what happens inside Iran. I don't know what movements/leaders may or may not emerge from there either. I can advocate/try to organize/push for this here and not there, and to not do it because of what may or may not be going on inside Iran would be unwise.

- Let's not be so negative people. What has negativity gotten us over the last two decades? If you don't feel it is a worthy cause or is a waste of time, please have the courtesy of not trying to talk others out of doing something either.

What to do. I

One of the major hurdles for Iranian opposition groups abroad is an atmosphere of mistrust and caution that prevents them from even having a discussion, never mind co-operating on any common goals. There are many valid and false reasons for this phenomenon and this will not be the proper forum to properly address those. However it is even more clear now that without building bridges between various factions and starting a constructive and plural environment of at least limited collaboration, building a true united front against the tyranny of the regime is impossible.

Having said that, I don’t believe we are at that stage yet. Before providing the conditions for each group and personality to talk to one another, we need to provide a situation for each to talk alone. This may sound silly but over the last 20 years, most groups, organizations and individual activists within the political spectrum in Iran, have had very little opportunity to simply talk, present a platform, paint a picture, and address their constituents. Most, if any work in this area has been limited to small gatherings of mostly die-hard fans, plus articles and announcements in partisan newsletters and publications, and with almost no reflection and coverage in the main stream media.

The situation is so bad that even political activists within the community have a difficult time discussing various factions’ positions at any particular time. This is even more relevant during the dynamic periods of critical change or when a spirited new event is taking place. In short, we need a more accurate picture of where each outfit is standing and what their current view entails to use that information in making some calculated decisions about our future actions.

I believe this is also important from a historical documentation perspective. One of the major problems with the revolution of 1979 was this lack of having solid plans and commitments by various “leaders” to hold them accountable to at a future date. This was particularly key as it related to Ayatollah Khomeini’s positions and platform. Most such statements were only transferred to the masses on very poor quality audio-tapes of his speeches in Paris. Almost no record of most of those speeches are widely available today and I am even told that people have been harassed for having such material in their possession. We all remember Ayatollah’s promise to not interfere in politics, return to seminary, turn the future of the country to the votes of its people, provide utilities for free and even deliver a monthly stipend to each citizen for their share of oil revenues. However, very little historical documentation of such commitments are available today.

This time we need some solid answers and particular plans. Nothing like the hodge-podge answers of “we’ll let the people decide” or “let’s unite for now and plan later” that we hear often. Solid commitments to critical questions; type of government, women’s rights, rights of ownership, separation of government and religion, and many more. These statements can also be the building blocks of a democratic coalition, based on transparency and complete disclosure. A, B and C may agree on issues 1, 2, 5, 6 and 7 but wish to compromise on 3 and decide that 4 is not significant enough to hinder further collaborations. Or decide once and for all that their views are too diverse to ever merge on certain points and be forced to find other partners or work in isolation.

In that front, I propose a monthly or bi-monthly convention type of gathering, with ALL parties invited. Let’s call it Iranian National Convention for now, held each time in a center, resort or gathering place in various parts of the globe. A weekend of speeches and Q&A periods, with particular questions for each gathering. Each group sends delegates to deliver their agenda and answer media questions. Public is not invited as security is a major concern. However, every minute of the meetings is recorded and “democratic” TV stations can broadcast the events live to Iran and abroad, with print media following with their versions. Let them all come and record their answers, the monarchist, MKO, national front, anarchists of the left, small and large parties, important and not-so-important personalities.

First one is held in a small hotel in Northern Ontario. The topic is “It is ten years after the fall of this regime and you are elected president, what are your plans?” The next one is at a small chalet in Black Forest area of Germany and the topic is “Your views on the most fundamental points of Iran’s last 100 year history”. Then comes the meeting at a resort outside Sidney and the discussions turn to “Women’s Rights” and so on.

It is vital to have the meetings in one place and within a short period in diverse locations for multiple reasons;

1- Focuses media’s attention to one event, maximizing coverage. 2- Mobilizes Iranians of various corners of the globe in their local “event” and it’s side effects 3- Gives everyone a chance to see other’s presentations live and unfiltered, 4- Causes further publicity and coverage by non-Irani media. 5- Introduces various personalities to one another and 6- Who knows if X and Y may meet in the hallway between two meetings and strike up a conversation that may lead to much more.

The “conventions” must be sponsored by an entity such as the European Union or even some member parties and coalitions. U.S. sponsorship will cause further negative reactions and the U.N. has no mandate to facilitate the fall of it’s member governments. The process continues for the next year or until other steps are taken by majority of participants to decide on collaborating on some common ambitions. After the original series and if need be, other sets of meetings to facilitate “dialogue” are planned. This time inviting different parties to sit around the table and debate certain issues.

This may all seem simplistic in approach. I agree. However we need answers to some very simple needs at this point and simple solutions are better than no solutions. What do you think?

Ledeen Speaks!

My last post on Michael Ledeen caused much discussion. However, one of the comments left was by non other than Michael Ledeen himself.

As my own internet identity had been hijacked and misused in the past, I did not reply to the post considering that it may have been faked. Yesterday I forwarded the post and other information to a known address of Mr. Ledeen to ensure it was in fact written by him.

Michael Ledeen replied today to confirm that it was indeed he who wrote the comment.

I sincerely welcome this opportunity for exchange of ideas, even if I have called him our enemy #1 in the past. I hope his effort to reach out to myself as well as other Iranians (bloggers or otherwise) can provide him with a more accurate image of what needs to be done to help in our struggle for freedom.

I also hope this can be the start of a healthy and contructive dialogue, where both sides can learn from one another and perhaps common grounds can be explored to achieve some of the mutual goals.

My reply can be read by clicking on "Click here to read..." link below. I look forward to your replies and comments, including those by Michael Ledeen and others in his camp.

Dear Mr. Ledeen;

Thank you for taking the time to leave a reply to my original post and other comments on my web log at eyeranian.net.

Your attempt to build bridges of contact and dialogue is commendable, particularly with those in widely opposing points of view. It is also refreshing to see your attempt to engage and exchange ideas with other segments of Iranians society, as in the past this circle has arguably been very limited. Perhaps the “utterly false” premise of your support and preference for one group over all others also stems from this perception of your non-inclusive approach.

I respectfully enclose a brief reply to some of your comments;

• Separation of religion and government is a fundamental step towards democracy. I agree with you on that point wholeheartedly. This is a universal issue and needs to be addressed not only in Iran or even middle-east, but globally. For example, I have been accused of being anti-Israel in the past for advocating such separation for that country also. I do not believe the concept of a “Jewish State” or even “Promised Land” which bases it’s legitimacy of a government or political entity on religious belief and teachings of a particular faith is any more justifiable than the concept of “velayate faqih” and supremacy of a cleric as the indirect divine representative on earth. The same principal also applies to this country where certain “Christian” circles, mostly from a narrow section of that faith, have tried for years to impose their religious belief and practices on various aspects of its citizen’s lives, from reproductive rights, prayer in schools, equality of all before the law and even official holidays.

• I am glad you support “all the radios”, which I assume includes all TV broadcasters also. However, since there are no other TV programs (for example) currently in operation, your support would only benefit the current crop and their limited agenda and points of view. Perhaps a more equitable approach would be to support establishment of new entities committed to diversity of ideas and opinions, or initiating guidelines and checks and balances, backed by an ombudsman/board of review set up for the current bunch to guarantee a democratic and fair representation. After all, if they want my tax money, they should be held accountable to certain minimum requirements.

• As for your support of the “revolutionaries” against what “Khamenei and Rafsanjani want”, we disagree fundamentally. In my opinion, tyrants reign and flourish in fear and an atmosphere of violence and terror. They thrive in situations where they can dominate by instigating panic and anxiety, while they use force to quash the disgruntled, often using security concerns as an excuse. This has been the pattern of dictators and oppressors world-wide, be it by exploiting the potential affects of a foreign or domestic foe. Khamenei and Rafsanjanis of the world love the violence, chaos and hostility. What they fear and are without a weapon against is a non-violent movement based on logic and careful planning, instead of the disorder and anarchy of a revolution.

Current history of Iran is a prime example for this argument. Regime has had little trouble overwhelming “revolutionary” types who advocate an uprising or arms struggle (or both) in the past 20 years. Meanwhile the non-violent movement of the masses has steadily grown, using strategic goals and causes – sometimes even temporary leaders – to make gains, while creating appropriate institutions and grounds to build a positive and permanent evolution into a democracy. This is a point people like Tabarzadi do not understand and as a result fall behind the masses in its steady movement. You recall his unsuccessful but passionate pleas for the students to use his “referendum” slogans during the recent conflicts, not realizing he was the leader past his expiry date and new demands and agendas where being sought as he was insistent on old ones.

In short, most Iranians have arrived at a common conclusion, violence and the kind of revolution they orchestrated repeatedly over the last century, only caused further restrictions and a turmoil that enabled the unsavory elements to gain power and even steal their movement. This time they want to experience a movement similar to all other successful non-violent campaigns globally and by preparing the groundwork and establishing of a foundation of democratic ideas and principals. That is why you do not see “Molotov Cocktails and other weapons” used by the students and any improvised weapon is only used in a defensive fashion and to prevent further bloodshed.

• Do I think most Iranian people are “fundamentally pro-American”? No I do not. Much more needs to be achieved to arrive there, besides there is no need for any sovereign nation and people to be “pro” another nation or people. I would never expect Americans to be pro-Iran either. However, do I think they would “want to be our friends and allies”? I’d say yes. I think a mutually respectful relationship, where both sides are committed to and struggle for the common good of the larger global community, based on appreciation, recognition and comprehension of our differences as well as our common values is beneficial to both parties.

• As for differences and similarities between you and myself pointed to in your note, I believe what we fight AGAINST is probably similar. The primary differences are what we fight FOR as well as how we plan to get there. My Experience Living during the last great revolution of the 20th century, and its following 20 years aftermath has taught me to not look for or advocate “revolutions”. This position, however difficult for someone in your situation to understand, does not advocate “stability” for the regime either. Gandhi didn’t stabilize British rule in India, he shook it fundamentally and eventually uprooted it not by a “revolution”, but by more peaceful means of negative resistance. Same can be said for Mandela and ANC or Martin Luther King Jr.

Although there’s always room for and the need to have Malcolm X’s in any struggle, it’s the Luther Kings who are immortalized based on their overall success and ability to achieve their goals not by way of violence and bloodshed, but through more civilized methods.

• You are correct in that I do not know your sources. That is why I used the facts you had used and presented (plus many more this space would not allow me to offer) to make it obvious to any unbiased observer that these sources are not very accurate. This of course does not mean that you are not occasionally correct on some issues, but weighting the right versus bogus, sometimes ridicules items you have presented as facts (half million demonstration in Tehran, source of recent uprising, most of Isfahan demonstrating, etc.) it is hard to not wonder where this information comes from or how reliable it is. Perhaps your current attempt to communicate with Iranians of different backgrounds, like myself and this blog’s other readers, could remedy this situation in the future.

• I do acknowledge that you were one of very few people who assessed the current situation in Iran as pre-revolutionary crisis. However, I also believe you are wrong and for the sake of my people, I hope until the day democratic alternatives are put in place and some fundamental questions are answered, an immature revolution does not cause the freedom and liberty of Iranians to be postponed by years or decades again.

We may both be seeing the same tumor growing within and taking over the body of a patient that is Iran today. Your solution is to cut open, dig deep and remove it at earliest possible chance. Others like me see how the tumor has attached itself to other vital organs and effectively controls parts of the brain, heart and other essential appendages. We believe its sudden removal is not only unhealthy, but may in fact put the patient’s life at risk. Other remedies and precautions, including major lifestyle changes need to be in place, before the knife is used.

In conclusion, if my posts make it seem like I am full of venom towards yourself or others, I apologize. I am highly passionate about the freedom of my people and that passion may at times come across as personal and even hateful. I assure you that is not the case and I believe through a process of healthy dialogue, some common grounds can be found.

Mr. Ledeen, your harsh language of “regime change”, particularly in the aftermath of war and destruction in Iran’s two neighboring countries, portrays a violent image that a new generation of Iranians has worked hard to avoid. I urge you to perhaps justify and clarify your points in the future as some who have no good intentions will use this vocabulary to bring further devastations to our homeland.

As to what you can do to help, this is a great start. I hope you continue to listen more also. As you pointed out, it is OUR future we need to and are working hard to build. Our list of wants is extensive and even diverse, but some of what we do not want is;

1 - Any direct and indirect foreign interference, period.
2 – Others hijacking our issues. We are well capable of presenting our own points of views. Perhaps give us the opportunity or demand that our voices are also included.
3 – The monarchy! As someone suggested recently; this is a system our people were force-fed but managed to throw up. Nobody should be subjected to consuming his/her own vomit.
4 – More deaths, violence and anarchy. Let us try it our way, for once.

I thank you in advance for your offer of assistance. There are plenty you could do to help. I’ll be writing a series of posts on what I believe needs to be done to help promote democracy in Iran. Please do not hesitate to comment and/or get involved in the discussions. Your point of view, even if fundamentally opposed to my own, is welcomed and wanted. I already look forward to them.

I thank you again for taking the time to get involved in this way.

Sincerely,

Pedram Moallemian

FT Article

From Financial Times

Iran could yet be a model for the Mideast

By Cameron Kamran

Iran could yet be a model for the Mideast
By Cameron Kamran
Published: June 19 2003 20:22 | Last Updated: June 19 2003 20:22

Continued civil disorder and mismanagement in Iraq have disappointed those who hoped the country would quickly become a beacon of secular democracy in the Middle East. Battered by 20 years of war, despotism and sanctions, Iraq is a shell of a nation that will have difficulty holding itself together in the coming months.

The key to a bright future for the Middle East lies not with Iraq but with its larger and more vibrant neighbour to the east. Iranians elect most of their leaders in free and fair elections for the president, parliament and thousands of local village councils. Iran is the only Muslim nation whose people successfully staged a popular revolution against a brutal dictator. This revolution has often been characterised as "Islamic". This is inaccurate. While Ayatollah Khomeini did become the symbol of the 1979 revolution, Iranians were united more by their opposition to the Shah than by any shared religious devotion. As often happens with popular revolutions, after the Shah's regime fell the mullahs outmanoeuvred other opposition groups to impose their authoritarian theocracy on Iranians.

It is this long experience with imposed Islamic governance that makes Iran unique in the Islamic world. After decades of corruption, mismanagement and repression by a clerical ruling elite, "mullah" is a dirty word for most Iranians. Islam has failed to live up to the ideals of the 1979 revolution and Iranians are poorer and less free today than they were under the Shah. Even respected members of the Iranian clerical establishment are openly calling for a retreat from politics and a return to the mosque.

Strip away clerical authority in Iran and what you have left is secular democracy. What is more, you have democracy based on institutions that, unlike in Iraq, are considered indigenous and established by popular mandate, instead of by an occupying power. Iran could be the paradigm for religious reformation and democratic renewal across the Muslim world.

The Iranian experience contrasts sharply with the situation in Arab countries, where political Islam has never ruled and has never been tested and de-clawed. Repressive secular regimes in countries such as Egypt and Jordan ensure that fundamentalism will remain a potent force of popular opposition. While much of the Muslim world still clings to vague promises by Islamic groups of a return to the ideal community of the Prophet in seventh-century Arabia, Iranians look at their situation and know better.

So how do we harness Iran for positive change in the region? The US administration has recently resorted to tough talk to dissuade Iran from supporting terrorism, developing nuclear weapons and meddling in Iraq. But threats alone will probably backfire, forcing moderates to close ranks with hardliners - as happened after President George W. Bush included Iran in his infamous "axis of evil" last year - or giving the mullahs the excuse to crush an emerging civil society.

A more sophisticated strategy of subtle but continued pressure on the Islamic regime, combined with a vociferous effort to encourage the overwhelming opposition to clerical rule, could work. Indeed, the Bush administration has openly applauded the recent wave of student-led protests across Iran. Some maintain that such a strategy will endanger Iranian moderates by associating them with the US, a nation Iranians have mistrusted ever since the coup in 1953, directed by the Central Intelligence Agency, that removed an elected government. But Iranian moderates have been in danger for some time as the ruling clerics have perfected the art of branding proponents of freedom as foreign stooges and rounding them up. The time to fear guilt by association has passed and the US will lose little by increasing its support for Iranian civil society as a whole. But it should do so openly, for the world to see.

If the US believes its troops fought for any worthwhile ideals in Iraq, it should pursue those ideals in Iran, albeit by peaceful means. After all, the country is poised for radical change. Seventy per cent of Iranians are under 30; they have more in common with the MTV generation than with their clerical rulers. They are among the more pro-American populations in the Muslim world and the US needs them if it is to rehabilitate its image in the region. For the sake of their future - and the emergence of pluralist civil societies in the Middle East - the US must act now.

The writer is an Iranian-American commentator on Middle Eastern affairs

Very Sad

Two regular visitors have written me complaining about my comment on Massoud Rajavi being "epitome of a cult leader". I normally would not have responded this way, but I think I need to this time.

Just look at the above picture. What other than a cult would drive people to such extremes? Your leader has been arrested by the judiciary of a democratic country that has a pretty good reputation for both protecting refugees, as well as observing basic human rights as it relates to the rights of the accused. Your response is not to gather support for her, lobby powerful allies, collect signatures, hold vigils, and in general keep the spotlight on her situation to guarantee a fair and equitable solution to her predicament. You pour lighter fluid over yourself and light it. If this is not the ultimate act of sensationalism and mind-control to the point that nothing logical makes sense, I don't know what is.

I feel very sorry for them. For them, along with others still in bases in Iraq and elsewhere in the world. They are some of Iran's most loyal and dedicated children, trapped in a cult without any sense of self worth or power to choose a different path. My thoughts are with them and I hope at the end, all is fine for them.

Ringo!

I honestly am not trying to make fun here, but just want to know for personal reasons. As a bald/balding person nearing middle-age I'm weighting my options and need to know this:

If I get $4M plus the possibility of another $50M to come soon, all to sit in beautiful Santa Monica and broadcast a TV show, then follow Reza Pahlavi wherever he flies to and put together cheesy reports of his speeches and be promised much loftier situations in a possible future, could I possibly buy/order/find a better hair piece than the one employed by Mr. Zia Atabay, the owner of Iranian National Television NITV?

Just curious.

President-in-exile in jail

French police have stormed the bases of MKO in that country and arrested about 165 people, including Maryam Rajavi, Massoud’s spouse and their President-in-exile, along with his brother Saleh Rajavi. The larger compound raided in Vincent van Gogh’s town of Auvers-sur-Oise is about 2 acres (or 9,600 square yards) large and houses 30 buildings. Not even “K” members of the organization are housed here and everyone at the compound holds a high ranking position. (Mojahedin members are ranked based on several levels, K stands for Kandid or “Candidate” members, those who have been principally accepted as members but are awaiting formal initiation.)

Considering the fact that the group is run by only a very limited number of senior members, arrest of 150+ such members is certainly a blow to their ability to function normally. However the key will remain as to the conclusion awaiting Massoud Rajavi. He IS the organization and without him there is no MKO, but the opposite is also true that as long as he is in charge (and he is always in charge, regardless of other organizational formalities), MKO will remain a factor and in its current format, minus some members or in a different size and/or set-up.

I first met Massoud Rajavi as a young kid shortly after the revolution of 1979. In their building in central Tehran, when they were still called Jonbesh (movement) as Rajavi had declared they can not use “organization” until formal structures were in place, they had a dining room in the basement. The upper floors were all classified by their floor numbers and the higher in the organizational charts you were, the higher you could move up leaving the very top floor (I believe 4th) for the members of “central committee” and their entourage. I was so young and small that after hanging around for days, nobody cared where I went, but I still had not built the courage to go to that top floor.

Finally I gathered enough nerve to consider climbing that final flight of stairs one day but as I started my ascent, I looked up and coming down the stairs was a group of 6 to 8 people following Massoud and his second in command Mousa Khiabani (later killed in a heavy battle with the regime). He was very nice to me, jokingly wondering how I had gotten to the upper floors as I joined them going down the stairs ending in the lunch room and eating a meal of bread, feta cheese and black fresh dates. After that day my nickname was “bacheye markaziat” or “central committee’s kid” and I got even more access to do as I wanted around that building, including being there on the day Yasser Arafat paid a visit. A few short months later, they evacuated that building and that arrangement was dead forever.

Anyone who has ever met him will tell you about Rajavi’s piercing eyes. He constantly watches every little detail happening around him and never misses even a single point. He is the epitome of a cult leader, taking away your sense of who you are and replacing it with his own “trance” almost instantly. A friend once joked that if you ever gave him a 2 hour television spot, he could hypnotize the entire nation of Iran and as much as I hate to admit it, he may have had a point. After all, "brother Massoud" single handedly rebuilt an organization that was at most about 100 member strong to seriously contesting the presidency of the country within a short year or so, before being banned by Ayatollah Khomeini and built a large following after that unseen by other organizations within Iranian left.

I have had my own issues with the MKO. I started categorizing them as a “terrorist organization” after another incident; I was being “interviewed” by an agent of Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) as my life was threatened again. He turned the conversation to MKO (the threat was by supporters/agents of the government and nothing to do with them) knowing of my connections to various leftist organization. I insisted he doesn’t need to worry about them but then he asked “suppose Massoud orders all their supporters tomorrow to attack certain targets all over the world, do you think they’ll do it?” I said “without a doubt” then hesitated for a second and continued “I guess that’s why you need to keep an eye on them” he just nodded. The truth is if he orders them, they are well proficient in doing anything, including acts of terror and violence. One member has already set himself on fire in protest to Maryam’s arrest. Who knows what may be next.

But despite my problems with the group, it’s ideology, structure, leadership and methods, I certainly hope this isn’t used to strengthen the position of Iranian government in any way. Furthermore, it would be a sin and a crime if any of it’s rank and file members are forced to or are handed over to Iran. Let the leadership as well as others suspected of crimes or support of any misconduct be tried in a fair and open forum and if convicted, the guilty must serve their sentence in a place other than where the obvious and only penalty is death.

UPDATE - As of now, June 18th @ 4:20 PM PST, all those arrested except 26 people have been released and at least 4 other people have set themselves on fire with the possibility of one being dead and others seriously injured. I suspect the demonstrations will get even more aggressive if the stuation isn't somehow resolved.

Michael Ledeen Again

I know by now some of you are probably getting tired of hearing about Michael Ledeen. The man I called ”Iranian people’s number one enemy” is not a weightless writer or some idealist trying to sell his notion of “Liberation, American Style” for Iran and I don’t think he should be ignored. Understanding his huge influence, the Washington Post recently identified him as “one of only four political advisers” to White House’ ideologue Karl Rove. But you can also look at what Ledeen himself thinks of his importance:

In a recent interview with his buddy Rush Limbaugh, Ledeen answers the question of if the White House listens to him or not, this way: “Whether or not the White House listens, it seems that they’ve listened to a lot of things about Iran, that I will say. I mean, some of the language and some of the speech is very familiar to me, and really reflects the sort of thing that I’ve been pushing for.”

Having said that, looking at what he preaches, it is hard not to see him as a dim-witted often deceitful mouth-piece with no real knowledge of Iran or how the system and society works there. His main source of information is always second-hand reports published by various media, plus some dubious facts he is probably fed by a limited circle of biased and predisposed people.

I’ll give you some examples; Look at his explanation of what brought on the current student demonstrations in an interview with Fox News (yeah, them!): “What happened here, if you remember late in the Cold War, Gorbachev sent troops into Lithuania to put down some uppity people and Vilnius. And he sent in at the time, he just misjudged it entirely, he sent in just enough troops to enrage the people and not enough to really put them down. So there were these originally small-scale students demonstrations exactly a week ago in Tehran. And he sent -- the regime sent security forces in to try to put it down. But they weren't enough to put it down. And so, there started to be fights in the campus area and then they spread into various streets and allies around the university. And by now, there is open fighting going on night after night. I mean people are being killed. The regime is using everything from acid to guns to knives and chains and clubs and so forth, and the students are throwing the usual Molotov cocktails and they have some weapons of their own.”

All I can say is HUH? uppity people in Lithuania? What happened to the letter by MP’s that started the original move? weapons and Molotov Cocktails? This analysis could have been written by an 8 year old.

Look at how he answers to where Isfahan is: “Isfahan is central Iran. And it is the place from which most revolutionary movements have started in Iran. So people watch it with particular attention. And there, most of the town turned out to demonstrate.”

What the heck is he talking about? I mean don’t get me wrong, I love Isfahan and next to Tehran it is my favorite Iranian city, but how is demonstrations there more important than in Shiraz, Abadan, Yazd or Kerman? I can see somebody saying demonstration in Qom are significant because of the religious background and being a government stronghold, or Tabriz is so important because let’s face it Azeris are he political engine of Iranian society, or Mashad because of it’s role as capital of Astan-Qods mafia, but Isfahan? “Most revolutionary movements have started” in Isfahan? I must be redaing the wrong history books, I guess. And then "most of the town turned out to demonstrate"? That would certainly mean more than a million as Isfahan is not a "town" but a large city!

But what can you say about a man who last November claimed "something like half a million" Iranians had demonstrated in Tehran. Later, Christopher de Bellaigue, correspondent for Economist who had witnessed the event in person put the number at about five thousand.

Speaking of foreign correspondents, this seems to be the only source he ever uses for his facts. Never talking to any Iranians or attempting to build a dialogue with either activist or even ordinary people there, his current center-piece editorial on Iran uses two sources, both quoted in it’s first paragraph; France’ Le Monde and Canada’s Maclean's magazines.

In the same Fox interview, he labels the students demonstrating as “Wildly pro-American” and then claims one of the ways Iranians watch the satellite televisions broadcasting from LA is: “I'm told that they can just cut up Coke cans and put them on the roofs and they get some kind of signal”. He then estimates that demonstrators are “as low as 10 to 15 percent students and 85 to 90 percent just families turning out on the streets”.

In the Limbaugh interview he claims his source of such questionable facts this way; "I get a lot of the stuff from Iranians by e-mail” and then goes on a limb, stating “If we could have an accurate public opinion poll in Iran, we would find that upwards of 80% of Iranians are against the regime.” I guess he gets e-mails from all villages and small towns, where majority of Iranians live, to be able to come up with such solid figures.

However the scary part is his prescription for what he advises Iranians to do: “What’s necessary is to put millions of bodies in the central squares of the country and demand an end to the regime, knowing that a certain number of them will die in the enterprise.” Somebody please inform him that Iranians tried it that way more than once in the last century and still didn’t get what they wanted, this time they have chosen a different path. Now wake up and get on with the program. 70’s prescription is way past it’s expiry date and new methods are needed. Of course it won’t matter to him as the “certain number” who “will die” will not be his brothers, sisters, cousins, mothers, sons and daughters anyways.

In another column, he recently had some advice for what the U.S. needs to do to “spread freedom to the heartland of the terror masters in Iran”. His three step plan includes:

1- Support the Monarchist Radio and TV stations in LA
2- Build up “Iraqi Shiite clerics” against Iranian ones
3- “We need to get tangible support to the brave people who have called for a general strike”... in other words: support Reza Pahlavi’s group.
(Is somebody still confused about his support of the Monarchist?)

In conclusion, this man with his limited knowledge and biased approach currently yields way too much power and influence where it matters a lot. His skewed vision has very little to do with giving Iranians what they want and struggle for and more to do with what he sees as what they SHOULD do. He is without a doubt the current number one enemy of Iranian people imbedded inside the inner circles of world’s only superpower, and we will not let him forget that for a second.

Leave Iran free ...

For those still confused with as to why foreign intervention is not welcomed, needed or appropriate in Iranian people's struggle for freedom, Goudarz Eghtedari offers an insightful take in his op-ed piece published today in the Oregonian.

U.S. should support Iran's reform movement, but from a distance

by; Goudarz Eghtedari

A week of demonstrations has passed in Iran with students expressing the people's desire for freedom and democracy. The protests look a lot like those that occurred four years ago. Then students for the first time staged demonstrations in the streets of Tehran in support of the reform movement and freedom of the press, which was under attack by the theocratic regime's hard-line judiciary.

Today however, things have changed tremendously. Two neighboring authoritarian regimes have been toppled through the intervention by the United States. That by itself has created lots of anxiety in Iran, especially for the hard-liners among the clergy, who control the judiciary, military, intelligence and practically all the other power strongholds. This time around, student demonstrations are focused on fundamental changes in the country's constitution, including the call for the removal of the position of supreme leader. This change enjoys the support of internal reformists and opposition forces, including a surprising majority of elected representatives. It promises to reform the system toward becoming a democratic republic with separation of religion and state. This call is also endorsed by a solid majority of Iranian expatriates abroad, several thousands of whom, like me, have found their home in Oregon.

Two camps in our administration in the United States also support democratization in Iran. The State Department favors a less intrusive approach, allowing for a leadership to emerge from within the movement, while negotiating issues of interest with the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

On the other hand, a group of neoconservatives, lead by Michael Ledeen and Daniel Pipe, are calling for a rapid regime change, even if military intervention is deemed necessary. This latter group surprisingly has support of Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. It appears to endorse the return to power of Reza Pahlavi, the son of the shah, the last monarch of Iran. Although as freedom-loving Americans it is our duty to support the reform and democracy movement inside Iran, I think we have to act very delicately in this endeavor. The people of Iran are working hard to create change from within the country, and we need to tread carefully to ensure that our good intentions do not end up hurting the domestic movement for democracy.

Iranians are independent-minded and still have the bad memory of U.S. intervention back in 1953, when a CIA-led coup d'etat overthrew the democratically elected government and brought back 25 more years of the shah's authoritarian regime.

The Iranian population's level of political sophistication is astonishing, and a sustainable and viable democracy in Iran can come into being only if it is homegrown and independent from outside forces. America's support for democracy is best expressed from a distance, and getting too close to the movement will only end up undermining the people's tireless efforts, as can excessive external pressure to speed up the process of political evolution in Iran. A more physical U.S. presence, including any military involvement, will strengthen the hard-liner's positions and negatively affect the democracy movement by appealing to the nationalistic sensitivities of the people.

The United States should stand with the people of Iran by expressing support for their democratic aspirations, but without backing any political faction or specific form of government and by making it clear that only the people of Iran should decide the future of their country.

Goudarz Eghtedari of Portland is a writer, commentator and radio producer. He has served on the board of the Oregon Peace Institute and is a guest lecturer at Portland State University, where he is a Ph.D. candidate in systems science.

His original article appears here and he believes his commentary also caused the paper's editorial board to add an editorial endorsing his position.

Graphist

Graphic/Web Designer Wanted!

Reading your comments and the level of wisdom offered by most of eyeranian readers, I can't help but to think that perhaps it is time to have them all gathered in one place, writing the fabulous stuff they write and create a source we could all look at for inspiration and insight. I don't like the group blog idea, it seems too unstructured and often becomes the foray of a very limited crowd. On the other hand, web based magazines usually succeed in developing a following and providing bridges and connections otherwise impossible to realize.

So, I want to start one! Already paid for the domain/hosting/etc. and now need someone help me design the graphics and a template that can be used for a long time with minimal know-how. This is a not-for-profit venture, so no money is available (sorry) but I think a lot of good can come out of it and will be a rewarding experience for all those involved.

If you'd like to offer some help, please email me directly at pedram(at)eyeranian(dot)net and I'll share with you what I have in mind.

Couple of Links

Jonbesh.org offers pictures of the torched university dormitory in city of Isfahan.

Some interesting comments left on BBC's website

Cartoon

Thanks Faramin

Exclusive Video

Exclusive video footage of nightly demonstrations, courtesy of Mehdi.

(Right click on the link and hit "Save Target As..." for best results.)

The video is shot from inside a car (by a girl named Sara) and is dark and in parts very hard to decipher but some of the more clear images shows various items on fire, the security police with their crowd control shields, cars blowing their horns in solidarity and of course student protestors with two of them waving a flag of Iran minus the emblem of the Islamic Republic cut from it's center.

Probably closest thing for those of us sitting hundreds and thousadnds of miles away in front of our monitors to try to get a real feel for what has been going on for close to a week in Tehran.

Stuff

My apologies, I'm just exhausted.

A very busy day and I won't even have time to return a reporter's e-mail, asking for comments about the student's protest.

Did get a chance to do some exchanges with a few "friends" in Tehran and communicate about stuff. Here are my brief observations:

- Tabarzadi, Student-Leader-Wannabe in Tehran is an egotestical idiot.

- The current Monarchist crop are even bigger idiots (and I'm being very diplomatic).

- Iranians are amazing people times ten (and I'm trying hard to be impartial here).

- If it wasn't for Tehran police, much worst would have happened. THANK YOU!

- An "associate" tells me that the eyeranian has gained the attention of one certain large enemy, to the point that he prints out every post at his office and brings it up in various conversations. To that enemy; No! we have never met in person so I couldn't have asked for an autographed version of your book, please do not lie! When I asked to interview you a few years back, you refused to reply. If you want specifics, I've got 'em. AND respond directly if you've got the chutzpah, I don't talk behind your back, I post it where millions can read it, why don't you do the same? (Hey, how 'bout that interview now???)

- Elbow is doing very well. Thanks for the emails and other inquiries.

Enemy # One!

Iranian people's number one enemy, Mr. Michael Ledeen is at it again. This time in The Wall Street Journal.

Stupid Us!

I guess they feel the need to teach us:

"The United States is considering setting up Farsi-language Web sites to promote democracy in Iran, a senior U.S. official said on Friday."

Reported by Reuters

Iran Youth

NPR's morning edition had this report about Iranian youth on their show. There are more than one interesting point in the report, but I think one worth mentioning is the young man trying to hide a guitar and singing and dancing during a climb of mountains around Tehran, so tired of the government and obviously wanting a change (the type Monarchists claim support them and are anxiously awaiting the arrival of foreign troops to return their "king") making it very clear how he feels about foreign troops invading Iran. When asked what he thinks of Americans attacking Iran, he daringly says "if they are brave enough, we are ready".

Who's Meddling Who?

Who's Meddling Who?

"L. Paul Bremer, head of the provisional US authority in Iraq, has accused Iran of meddling. There may be a certain irony to the head of an occupying authority from the United States accusing Iraq's Shiite Muslim neighbor of meddling... but if there is, it's escaping Bremer. He, along with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, is worried that the Iranians are stirring up Iraq's Shiite majority in support of an Iranian-style theocracy."

Student Protests

For the third day in a row, Tehran is in the midst of random student protests, nightly vigils and occasional confrontations based primarily around it's main university. My thoughts are with all those who will face violence and hope it all ends without unnecessary bloodshed and hostility.

Meanwhile, I love this amusing part of an interview with one of the plain clothes vigilantes arrested by the students and eventually handed over to authorities:

"Majid Bijanloo was carrying a Walkie-Talkie and tear gas (!!!) at the time of his arrest, he told ISNA reporter: "A few of the students arrested me at 6 AM in front of the university".... He added that he does not belong to any military or police organization and any employee of the city now carries a Walkie-Talkie, he also said that he is not an employee of the city(!)... He then claimed that all physicians are allowed to carry tear gas (!!!) and it can be bought in certain areas of the city...he also acknowledged that he is not a physician either(!!!)".

You can see more pictures of the protests, including the vigils, closed-down highways, anti-riot police in full gear and aftermath of night's clashes at Gooya's News site: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)

UPDATE - Here are some of the latest pictures (8) (9)

Regime Change, How?

Remember a few days ago I warned about attempts to patch up relations between the Bush people and MKO? Not that the feud was anything but superficial. After all, MKO's biggest supporter in Washington has been the current Attorney General Ashcroft. But there is still this public opinion thing about cozying up to a group you declared "terrorist" to worry about and that needs some "massaging" by the spin masters who are already hard at work.

Placing op-ed pieces and letters to editors of major and local newspapers has always been one of the ways MKO has managed to push their agenda and they are at it again.

One such item recently appeared in the San Diego Union Tribune. The full text is only available for sale on-line, but you can read a very incomplete section here.

I just finished writing a reply to it and since I am not certain it will get published, you can read it here:

Regime Change, How?
by; Pedram Moallemian

On May 30th, San Diego Union-Tribune, in its sincere effort to provide a voice to those normally excluded by the main stream media and offer a prospective on Middle Eastern affairs by a member of that community, fell victim to a propaganda machine known internationally for fabrication of information and pushing a very narrow and questionable agenda. Furthermore, the space provided by the Tribune, was specifically used to promote a group linked to international terrorism and currently on both State Department as well as European Union’s list of “terrorist organizations”.

In an op-ed piece titled “Iranian people want regime change”, Massoud Taheri, director of the "Society of Iranian-American Scholars and Professionals-San Diego” –more on that group later- mixed some facts with an overdose of fiction to portray a violent image of Iranian people’s desires, in their struggle to bring democracy and justice to their homeland and end the tyranny of a theocratic government.

The general premise of the article in describing how a large majority of Iranians want “regime change” is indisputably bona fide. What is at question is how to get there, who will do it and what will replace it. Taheri presents some dubious facts such as Iran’s WMD’s “including a nuclear bomb” and concludes that the best way for us to achieve peace and freedom in the region is to support People’s Mojahedin, a group most western governments consider a terrorist organization.

He applauds Reps. Susan Davis and Bob Filner for endorsing the organization as a “legitimate resistance (movement)” and believes that “some quarters in the Bush administration” are ready to “remove the terror tag against the Mojahedin”.

Taheri repeatedly refers to “mullah’s” (clergy) regime or even “turbaned tyrants”. I will not use such language, as I do not believe the issue at hand is the difficulty people of Iran have with the clothes their rulers wear, be it a traditional clergy outfit or a suit and tie, but what policies those rulers follow and how committed they are to freedom and democracy. In a liberated and independent Iran of tomorrow, there will be room for mullahs and turban wearers, along with all other sectors of the population to participate in the political and social process and maybe even get elected, if that is a reflection of people’s desires.

Now for some facts; I looked unsuccessfully for “Society of Iranian-American Scholars and Professionals – San Diego” and found no phone listing, street address, web site or other forms of communication. How could other Iranian-American Scholars and Professionals join it, I wondered. It turns out the “society” is yet another front name for People’s Mojahedin organization and does not exist outside imaginations of a close circuit of similar minded “revolutionaries”. The organization also uses other fictitious names such as “Iranian-American Lawyers' Association” and “Moslem Iranian Student Society” to lobby congress, raise funds or as in this case, write op-ed pieces for western media.

“Iranian National Council of Resistance” (NCR) which has a fashionable “coalition” added to its name by Taheri, is far from a “broad spectrum of Iranian political parties and individuals” as claimed by him. In fact, over the last two decades, the “council” has lost more members than gained to the point that over 200 Mojahedin members and supporters were “appointed” in 1987 to maintain an image of a “parliament in exile”. Aside from those, the rest of the membership is as follows: Organization of Iranian People’s Fadaian Guerilla’s with 3 active members, Association to Defend Iran’s Independence and Democracy (DAD), Towhidi Merchants Guild, Committed Professors of Iran’s Universities and Schools of Higher Education, each with one member. So in short, the council is a “coalition” of 200+ Mojahedin members and supporters, along with 6 of their friends. In other words, NCR and its “National Liberation Army of Iran” are yet other names for People’s Mojahedin.

Mojahedin were always proud of their “terrorist” activities. That is up to early 90’s when “the tag” became much more of a burden and not an asset anymore. Suddenly they claimed others had assassinated the American military attaches in Iran in the early 70’s, although only a few short months ago they were bragging about doing it. Some of the explosions that killed current regime’s top officials were labeled as work of the same government and yet mortar attacks on office buildings in a very crowded downtown Tehran are claimed as legitimate “resistance” strategies.

As I look at my handy dictionary, terrorism is defined as; the systematic use of violence as a means to intimidate or coerce societies or governments. Even forgetting assassinations and other hostile tactics, the mortar attacks alone should qualify the group as a “terrorist” organization.

Now let’s get to what Iranian people really want. After years of struggle and organizing a number of uprisings and three revolutions in the 20th century alone, Iranians are still denied their ultimate goal of freedom, justice and independence. What they have learned in this tumultuous process is that violence and social upheaval only results in more destruction and instability.

As such, the new generation of Iranians has chosen a new path, the path of peaceful resistance and a deliberate movement towards establishment of democratic ideas and institutions that can build a long-lasting and enduring political system. This system will be based on principals of individual and social freedoms, separation of religion and government, self governance and the rule of law.

In that front they have and will refuse these basic factors:

• Direct or indirect interference by any foreign governments, including efforts by the current U.S. administration in forcing a “regime change”
• Return of monarchy, a system rejected twice by Iranians.
• Violent and immature overthrow of the regime, as championed by Mojahedin.
• An attempt to re-sell the current regime under the guise of “reform” or by groups advocating such tactics.

Any group or individual committed to these basic principals is welcomed by the Iranian people to join their struggle in bringing democracy to their homeland.

Long Live Iran

I wish I had a chance to write about this more extensively, but I only wanted to say that I am worried, disappointed and even somewhat angry as a result of what is happening in Tehran.

One of the major flaws in the revolution of 1979 and the main reason for it's ultimate failure to deliver on it's goals, was the way it blossomed and came to fruition immaturely, leaving many stones unturned and missing some vital steps. Close to a quarter of a century later, some questionable entities are forcing their way, causing unnecessary reactions by the regime and ultimately heading towards a similar outcome.

Let me state that as much as I disapprove of the current regime in Iran and as much as I would like the suffering of my countrymen (and women of course) to come to an end at the earliest possible time, another immature "revolution" would be a tremendous disaster that will set the pace of progress towards freedom and rule of the people back by years if not decades.

As Iranians, we have managed to take some fundamental steps towards a proper and legitimate development of our nation over the past two decades. This is just the start of a long road towards the goals championed by at least four generations of Iranian people, instigating 3 revolutions plus many more attempts to achieve them over the past 100 years. We are currently on the right track and any attempt to divert us towards an inappropriate path, can only be described as a catastrophe.

Long live Iran. Long live democracy and freedom for Iranians. Down with the current dictatorship in Iran. Down with those who (knowingly or unknowingly) intend to deny Iranians of their ultimate aspirations.

Pressing Iran

From Financial Times

Dangers of an aggressive US approach to Iran
By Anatol Lieven

As the Bush administration seeks international support for increased pressure on Iran, US politicians and foreign governments need to take a close look at the dangers of this course. If the US commits itself both to regime change and to preventing Iran's acquisition of nuclear weapons by all means, including strikes on Iran's nuclear sites, a vicious circle of pressure and retaliation may develop, ending in full-scale war.

The danger is all the greater because if the US wants to stop Iran developing a nuclear deterrent, it must hurry. European intelligence sources agree that Iran may be within two years of developing a nuclear deterrent, and may be past the point where even an end to Russian assistance to Iran's civilian programme would make much difference.

For the moment, not even America's neoconservatives support an invasion of Iran. Pentagon analysts regard the idea as a dangerous fantasy. However, according to media reports, plans have been advanced for the armed destabilisation of the regime in Tehran by US-backed forces. And there are plenty of historical examples to demonstrate how insurgency in support of regime change can easily lead to full-scale war.

Iran also has the ability to retaliate by reactivating Hezbollah's international terrorist potential or by stirring up the Shias of Iraq. If the US does try to destroy the regime in Tehran, Iran will do all it can to destroy US authority in Iraq. The extent of Iranian influence among the Iraqi Shias is unclear; but Islamist groups among them have ambitions totally at odds with US aims, and a tremendous capacity for mass mobilisation. Combined with guerrilla attacks on US and allied forces in Iraq, this could be all too effective. For by occupying Iraq and destroying the Iraqi state, the US and Britain have laid themselves open to challenge by the one enemy to which they have no effective response - unarmed crowds.

Unrest in Iraq might then encourage a more aggressive US policy towards Iran. If US plans for Iraq collapse, Washington will be sorely tempted to blame outside intervention (read Iran). The temptation will be especially strong in the run-up to next year's US presidential election. Until now, the Bush administration has used military victory and American nationalism with brilliant success against the Democrats. But if a year from now the US is bogged down in an ugly quagmire in Iraq, while terrorist attacks elsewhere continue, this will give the Democrats a chance to turn the tables. In these circumstances, there would be an in- centive for the administration to play up the threat and strike a more jingoistic tone for its political advantage.

That is all the more reason for America's allies to respond with great reserve to US demands for support. Above all, this is a time for the British government to use its influence in the US to avoid being sucked step by step into a repeat of the Iraq war. This time, Tony Blair should categorically and publicly oppose a strategy of regime change disguised as a response to an alleged nuclear threat.

The possibility of a US destabilisation of Iran can only increase Tehran's desire for a deterrent. Britain and other states should certainly seek to dissuade Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. They should do this through engagement, incentives and promises of integration into the world economy as well as through economic pressure. They should also highlight the flaw in Bush administration thinking on the whole issue of nuclear proliferation. For in their obsession with the supposed threat from states, Washington's hawks have neglected the much greater threat from terrorist groups and the societies that spawn them.

States that possess nuclear weapons can be deterred from using them or giving them to terrorists by the certainty of catastrophic retaliation. Suicidal terrorists cannot. Indeed, while terrorists desire such weapons in order to use them, states desire them not in order to use them but as a deterrent against attack. To destroy Moslem regimes may well therefore, far from contributing to the defeat of terrorist groups, actually strengthen them by spreading state arsenals into society.

The most scandalous example of the US administration's inability to understand this danger was its failure immediately to secure Iraq's known civilian nuclear sites, leaving nuclear materials open to looting for almost a week after Baghdad fell.

That an administration supposedly obsessed with the nuclear threat from terrorist groups could have made such an error points to a warped sense of priorities. Saner voices in the US, Britain and Europe need to point this out, loudly and urgently.

The writer is a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington DC.

Pensive Persian

Reza, also known as the Pensive Persian is an Iranian blogger with one of the most unusual blog names ever. His very interesting and well-written blog is titled (ready?): "Musing over the ontological status of a boiled egg".

Well, he is on his way to Iran and hopes to continue posting during his trip. I'll be checking out his blog regularly to see what fascinating new stuff he may post from there. We may even get a new bling bling picture of him standing in front of the Azadi Square, who knows?

Go check him out now!

Warning!

Look for a very concerted yet concealed effort to remake the image of National Council of Resistance (NCRI) and it's main - some argue only - member People's Mojahedin Organization (MKO) and an eventual backing by this administration for both. I'll write more as to why I think that is in the next few days, but for now keep your eyes open for well placed commentaries in your local conservative papers along with stories like this to set up the openings of a new public opinion disinformation campaign. This is despite many warnings by those in the know, but you wouldn't expect NeoCons to actually value others' opinions, do you?

Ugly Games

The game is getting dirty and the W administration is showing it can get VERY VERY UGLY. Now they are bringing seperatists into the picture. This is not only ugly, it can also get VERY dangerous. Sad and unfortunate.

No Kingmakers

International Herald Tribune: "Iranians don't need American kingmakers" by; Cameron Kamran

Targeting Iran

Folks at The Blanket, my favorite Irish on-line publication, have published a fascinating piece on their today's issue called Targeting Iran. It is a well researched collection of facts and numbers, primarily on Iran's relationships with it's neighbors, mostly based on oil exports and it's consequences. Although the article falls short on many fronts, it is nonetheless a great read for anyone interested in politics of energy in that part of the world. Highly recommend it, a must read!

آ مرتضی

Ignore this. It's a callenge to myself to see if I can still write in Farsi. If you can't see Farsi fonts, switch your browser encoding settings to Unicode

بالاخره �رصتی شد چند خط هم �ارسی بنویسم �کر نکنید یکوقت مثل بعضی هموطنان گرامی "من �ارسی کیلی کوب حر� نزد".

این عکس یارو بالای این ص�حه با سبیل خیلی شیکش یکهو منو یاد آقا مرتضی انداخت ( برای اون دسته عزیزان که این را بعدا مطالعه می�رمایند و عکس بالا تا آن موقع عوض شده، �قط لط� کنید و تجسمی حال کنید). !

آقا مرتضی - یا بقول ما تهرونیا "آمرتضی" که همیشه لب جوق بغل سولاخ تی�ال همساده ها میشست - یکی از کاسبان محل بود و ظاهری شبیه همین آقا شاید یکذره لاغرتر داشت. بچه های محله هم همیشه دور و بر آمرتضی جمع بودند چون بهشون تاس انداختن، بیخ دیواری یا لیس پس لیس یاد میداد و گهگاهی هم کلی سیخ جیگر س�ید میخرید (سیاهش گرون بود) و بچه ها با دستای کثی� و روی سینی کثی�تر میریختند میزدند به رگ. آ مرتضی بچه باز محل هم بود.

"حاج آقا" که شریک دکون آمرتضی بود، هر چند روزی یک وردست یا پادوئی بین ۱۰ تا ۱۵ ساله برای در مغازه جور میکرد. آ مرتضی هم در کمال ا�تخار با دیدن طر� به همه مغازه های دور و بر ندا میداد و زمانی خاص را اعلام میکرد. مثلا میگ�ت "۲ ساعت" یا "تا ناهار" یا "قبل اینکه بریم خونه" و غیره. این معمولا پیش بینی زمانی بود که او احتیاج داشت تا طر� رو خام کنه و اجازه بده آمرتضی با غرور بیاد در دکون رو از تو ق�ل کنه و بره انبار طبقه دوم و "سوار" پسر بدبخت مردم بشه.

این داستان هر ماه چند باری ات�اق می ا�تاد و تا آمرتضی از طر� خسته میشد یه جوری جوابش میکرد و به حاج آقا هم میگ�ت که یارو بدرد نمیخرد یا تنبل بود و خر�ت بود و غیره، اونهم به درو محل میسپرد که اگه کس دیگری را سراغ دارند خبر کنند و بزودی "قربانی" جدیدی را نادانسته برای شریکش پیدا میکرد. جالب اینکه تقریبا همه محل هم میدونستند و اغلب براشون بیشتر منبع ت�ریح و شوخی بود و هیچوقت یادم نمیاد بزرگتری حر�ی من�ی راجع به "عملیات" آمرتضی چه تو روش یا پشت سرش زده باشه. ماهم که خیلی بچه بودیم و �قط شانس آورده بودیم بخاطر موقعیت اقتصادی و اجتماعی خانوادگی هیچوقت مجبور نشدیم برای شاگردی بریم پیش آمرتضی کار کنیم.

چند سال بعد از این داستانها یکبار دیگه یاد آمرتضی ا�تادم. چشم بند زده توی حیاط محوطه ورودی یکی از بازداشتگاههای اطرا� تهران ساعتها بود با حدود ۳۰ ن�ر دیگه روی زمین نشسته بودیم تا بیان تقسیممان کنند. هر چند وقتی یک پوتین به پا میامد از وسطمون میگذشت و متلکی میگ�ت یا یکی رو زیر لگد میگر�ت که چرا چشم بندت پائین اومده و غیره. ولی یکبار دو تا اومدند که انگار ماموریت خاصی داشتند. چند بار از بین همه گذشتند و یکهو احساس کردم بغل من وایسادن. یهو یکیشون داد زد "برادر، بیاین این یکی رو سوا کنین واسه حاج ------ ، حاجی با این خوشگل مشگلا خیلی حال میکنه". یکهو تو کمتر از ۱۰ ثانیه شاید یک هزار �کر مختل� بسرعت از تو ذهنم گذشت، شاید وقتی میگن قبل از مرگ همه زندگیت جلو چشات میاد هم از همین نوع احساسها باشه. بهرحال یکی از اون �کرها آمرتضی بود و شاید ن�رت نهانی که علیرغم ظاهر دوستانه با هم از او داشتم. یادمه ب�کرم رسید که این حاجی باید از نوع آمرتضای خودمون باشه که حالا از بخت روزگار مسئول و مراقب هزاران بچه و نوجوان اسیر و بی د�اع شده. دیگر هم لازم نیست وقتهای "تا ظهر" یا "۲ ساعتی" اعلام کنه و �قط نوچه هاش رو می�رسته خوباش رو براش "سوا" کنند.

این بار هم (برای من) به خیر گذشت چرا که معلوم شد منظور بازداشتی سمت راست من بود و تازه یادم ا�تاد که خودم در جریان دستگیری (بخاطر پخش نشریه) حسابی خاکی و خونی و کثی� شده بودم و مطمئنا در چنین شمایلی مورد پسند حاجی قرار نمیگر�تم.

البته اینها رو نوشتم نه �قط بخاطر یادآوری آنچه در اون بازداشتگاهها گذشته و شاید میگذرد بلکه برای همه آمرتضاهای دیگه که تو هر محله و شهرک و شهرستانی نمونه هاشون حتما هست و در �قدان سیستم قضائی و اجرائی کارا و اطلاعات عمومی لازم و �رهنگ غلط بعضی از ما، هر روز آینده و حرمت پسرها و دخترای ایران رو به بازی میگیرند و بعضا شاید ا�تخار هم میکنند.

شرم بر آنها.

ببین یه عکس کارتونی کوچولو یهو باعث زنده شدن چه احساسات قوی تو آدم میشه. حالا برگردیم سر مسائل دیگر به زبان شیرین مادریمون : انجلیسی

Sina Update

Hoder reports in his Persian weblog (I'm sure he will post it on the English one as well) that he was finally able to speak to Sina Mottalebi on the phone. Apparently he is doing well and is trying to get over his ordeal. This is despite the fact that he is still facing a possible trial at some point. Sina has said that he has no plans to re-start his blog in the immediate future, but may write as a "guest" on Hoder's. I wish him all the best and look forward to the day he and all others in Iran can say and write what they wish without fear.

Feminist Troops

"Dr Rice said the White House wanted to see an elected government in Tehran that met Iranians' demands for "a regime which protects the rights of women, which is forward looking and modern".

Isn't Condoleezza so nice to think of our women so much? Now that we've liberated Afghani women, why not the Iranians too? Oh, I forgot. Does this "protection of rights" also apply to let's say Saudi women? Or are "allies" excluded from our concern for women's rights? Here I go again, asking way too many silly questions.

Meanwhile, maybe we'll send our troops to help those poor Iranian women. As Arundhati Roy said of Afghan invasion recently: "...It's being made out that the whole point of the war was to topple the Taliban regime and liberate Afghan women from their burqas, we are being asked to believe that the U.S. marines are actually on a feminist mission [laughter, applause]."

If you are interested in reading more from Arundhati Roy, I suggest you start with this interview.

While there, also read Chomsky's latest.

Links A Lot!

1 - The CIA in Iran, The Oily Business of Regime Change

2 - The Iran Debate, Pentagon Eyes Massive Covert Attack on Iran

3 - 'Crude' US rhetoric could boost Iran's hard-liners

4 - An Osirak in the offing

5 - Next act in America's grand imperial drama set to unfold in Iran

6 - No weapons in Iraq? We'll find them in Iran

Shark Sightings

Mr. Rafsanjani, the main man behind the scenes at the Islamic Republic of Iran is at it again. After having his close ally Mohsen Rezaei meet with the high ranking U.S. delegation in Greece (and then reportedly in Geneva), he is already creating a replacement figure for Khatami, the "moderate" president. Khatami will not resign as expected by some circles in Iran, but does not have much left of his last term at the helm anyway and this time Rafsanjani is planning another coup.

Reportedly, there are two candidates being prepared so far. First the most obvious, a darling of some intellectual sets, former minister of guidance A. Mohajerani. The other one is a familiar face being brought back into service after a few years of mostly quiet operation. Former MP and one time trail-blazing "moderate" Faezeh Hashemi, Rafsanjani's own daughter may become the first female president of Iran. She is currently in London, where a friend suggests she is in intense English training to prepare her for a more visible international presence.

It seems in both cases, he is going with a person with an even more "moderate" image both in Iran and abroad suggesting he plans to continue ruling with the carrot and stick approach. Basij, Ansar and other tools of oppression will be busy limiting personal and social freedoms, while a new figurehead will attempt to keep the masses at bay with empty promises that will also fool the governments abroad.

Why try to re-invent the wheel if the current situation is working so well for him and his cohorts?

I Agree

I finally came across a report by a western journalist that makes the point I have been thinking of and was planning to write about over the next few days. De-politicization of Iranians after voting for Khatami's second term is at a stage not seen in years. Only after the mass executions of the 80's and regime's obsession with continuing a useless and damaging war with Iraq do I remember seeing Iranians so uninterested in anything political. This is a factor totally ignored by the NewCons who advocate "regime change" in Iran through encouraging the masses to rise up and overthrow the government. One must be so out of touch with he current situation in Iran to even think of such ridiculous notion. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. They ARE clearly out of touch with Iran and Iranians. After all, their American-born "expert" on Iran, Mr. Rob Sobhani's only obsession about Iran seems to be based on three key principals: 1 - Finding an easier way for the "resources of Caspian basin" to reach the free markets 2 - To keep the strait of Hormuz free of any crisis for the passage of oil out of Persian Gulf and 3 - Safety of Israel. As for what Iranians want or what may be best for them, he and his cronies do not have a clue.

Iranians, normally a highly political population, conducted three major revolutions in one century, they also experienced many other uprisings and political conflicts in the same period, all in the name of freedom and to gain control over their own destiny. After suffering from corrupt leaders who betrayed their trust, foreign interference to crush their progress and loss of many lives and dreams, they are at an exhaustion point. Like an athlete hitting the wall at the end of a gruesome race, they are tired, out of breath and in desperate need of recovery. Who could blame them? Furthermore, there are no pressing issues or a charismatic leader that could change that in a hurry and start what will undoubtedly be the bloodiest unrest Iran - or perhaps the world - has ever seen.

Read Washington Post's article by clicking below.

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51233-2003May28.html?nav=hptop_ts

Iranian Apathy May Hinder U.S. Bid to Foment Unrest
Reformists Warn Against Destabilization Campaign

By Karl Vick
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, May 29, 2003; Page A14

ISTANBUL, May 28 -- Iranian analysts warn that any U.S. plan to foment popular unrest in Iran will run up against the same challenge that has stalled the country's struggling reform movement: The careworn Iranian public is steadily disengaging from politics.

"In the current situation, it's impossible," said Saeed Laylaz, a reformist journalist and businessman. "The people are going to their homes, not coming out into the streets. The atmosphere in Tehran and Iran is being de-politicized, step by step and day by day."

As U.S. policymakers debate what stance to adopt toward a country they accuse of sheltering senior members of al Qaeda and seeking to develop nuclear weapons, the assessment voiced by Laylaz and echoed by other reformists and foreign diplomats in telephone interviews this week suggests scant support for those urging destabilization of a government that remains largely under the control of unelected conservative clerics.

Iranian officials today dismissed Bush administration allegations regarding Iran's support of terrorism and its pursuit of nuclear armaments. Speaking at a conference of Muslim nations, Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said Iran abhorred the "fanatic and perverted beliefs" of al Qaeda, which Tehran worked to defeat, along with al Qaeda's Taliban patrons in Afghanistan, for years before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks drew the United States into war there.

A Foreign Ministry spokesman said several al Qaeda suspects had been held for questioning but that it was not clear whether they were senior operatives or more like the 500 foot soldiers Iran says it has arrested and shipped to their home countries since 2001.

In addition, Kharrazi denied reports by an Iranian opposition group that Iran had built two small nuclear plants as back-ups to a uranium enrichment facility that inspectors from the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency examined in February. He warned against preemptive military strikes against any of the facilities.

"Resorting to force, or directing unverified accusations . . . will only undermine the current international arrangements," Kharrazi said.

U.S. officials are watching Tehran's response closely as the Bush administration mulls shifting to a policy of destabilizing Iran. Senior U.S. officials were scheduled to discuss policy toward Iran on Tuesday, but the meeting was postponed until Thursday and specifics regarding any program to influence public sentiment within Iran have not emerged.

By many accounts, Iranians remain broadly dissatisfied with the conservative clerics who, almost a quarter-century after the 1979 Islamic revolution deposed a U.S.-backed monarchy, still control the government's most powerful institutions. But the reformist politicians who dominate the elective positions in Iran's government also have lost popular support for failing to deliver promised social freedoms and economic opportunities. Gone, analysts say, are the hopeful legions who twice in six years swept President Mohammad Khatami and a reformist parliament into office, both times with more than 70 percent of the vote.

"Because we're here on the ground, we see more shades than the U.S. does," said a foreign diplomat in Tehran, where the United States has had no diplomatic presence since militants seized the U.S. Embassy on Nov. 4, 1979, and held its diplomats hostage for 444 days. "We don't see a disaffected mass -- apathetic, yes, but not disaffected."

That public frustration, though widespread, is focused inward, according to Iranian observers and diplomats. When a few thousand students took to the streets last November, witnesses said the demonstrations were confined to campus of Tehran University both by security forces and the disinclination of bystanders to join in. And when municipal elections were held across Iran on Feb. 12, no city recorded more than a one-third voter turnout. Only 12 percent of those eligible to vote turned out in the capital.

"In the last few years, when the majority of people participated in elections, their experience was disappointment," said Davoud Hermidas Bavand, a law professor at the Supreme National Defense University. "Non-participation has become a kind of protest against the system as a whole."

Laylaz, an editor at the reformist newspaper Norooz, said hard-liners have mollified some segments of society, particularly Iran's youthful majority, by granting limited, marginal freedoms while keeping a tight hold on political power. Young couples hold hands in public now without apparent fear of admonishment from the religious police. Women in Tehran routinely wear head scarves well back on their head, and some don coats that hug their figures.

"This is very, very important to making the people relaxed," Laylaz said. "The atmosphere is not comparable with six years ago. The regime has changed."

Regardless of how they feel about their leaders, said another reformer, ordinary Iranians would likely resist any outside efforts to stir up dissent.

"If anybody took a look at Iranian history, the likelihood of fomenting mass popular uprising in the midst of foreign interference is naﶥ," said the reformer, an academic who spoke on condition he not be identified by name. "Right now it would result in the opposite, emboldening a sense of collective resentment against a superior outside power.

"This is at the popular level," the academic added. "At the elite level it would be even worse. You would have strong resentments and a closing together of various factions, reformers and conservatives."

One issue on which reformers and hard-liners already have closed ranks is development of a nuclear program -- which officials maintain is solely intended to meet energy needs -- that for them emphasizes both national pride and the existence of Israel's nuclear program.

Likewise, in interviews last month, reformers and hard-liners also warned that the United States should not ally itself with the Mujaheddin-e Khalq, or People's Mujaheddin. The Iranian opposition group, long based in Iraq and supported by Saddam Hussein, is on the State Department's list of terrorist organizations.

Because the group seeks to unseat the Tehran government, Pentagon officials last month made moves toward making it a U.S. client before amending that plan and demanding the group surrender its tanks and other heavy weapons. The back-and-forth sent mixed signals to the people of Iran, analysts and diplomats said, and today a Foreign Ministry spokesman, Hamid Reza Asefi, said "America is not serious about fighting terrorism. It adopts a double standard."

© 2003 The Washington Post Company

Next Target!

The stage is being set. Accusations grow by the day and the large scale attempt to pursuade the public opinion is under way. Iranians beware!

1 - Official: U.S. to consider destabilizing Iran

2 - Taking on Iran

3 - Will Iran be next U.S. target on 'axis of evil' list?

4 - Iran's predicament

5 - Iran: don’t fence it in

6 - US: Neo-cons Move Quickly on Iran

North Tehran

© Yalda Moaiery

Tehran's North and Northwestern parts are a world of their own. This is where the middle and upper class of capital's elite live and where government's restrict religious rules or their influence is minimal. Except for the ever-so-shrinking scarves women are obligated to wear over their head, you'd think you are in Ankara, Moscow, Paris or Chicago. This collection of pictures by Yalda Moaiery of mostly young female shoppers in a mall are proof of that and an example of how North Tehranis live. I am not going to judge this as being good or bad, or attempt to dissect the socio-political reasons behind such disparity between the haves and have-nots in today's Iran, just passing the link and let you be the judge. All I will say is that I hope one day all Iranians are in a situation to be able to choose how they wish to live, what to wear and which lifestyle to follow, with equal opportunities and access for all, regardless of their financial capacity.

Monarchist Meeting!

Our beloved monarchists, currently under strict order by their neocon masters to build a coalition, have gathered again in muggy south Florida this weekend to figure out how best to stab their people in the back and bring about the rule of their darling Knight, Prince Reza Pahlavi.

The rumor mill's "ears" at the event reports: our monarchists seem extremely excited about the "two antenna" television station they are promised with dual broadcasting ability from Iraq and Afghanistan (why don't we send some troops to invade Azarbaijan and give them a third antenna too?). They also listened to speaker after speaker telling them how the mullah's government is a "house of cards", ready to fall and how the Iranian people will rise and support their cause as soon as they emerge. Tabarzadi (leader of a student coalition inside Iran) is a hot topic in reference to "coalition building", so is the trio of former intelligence ministry officials recently defecting to the west and present at the gathering. A new declaration by Iranian opposition to support a republic (as opposed to a monarchy) has been brought up more than once or twice.

Supposedly there may have even been a rift between Rob Sobhani and some of Reza's close associates, I doubt "Rob" is even aware of the mess he has stepped into. Lastly, some "delegates" didn't show up at all, still upset at inviting some anti-monarchy activists to the last meeting in DC.

I wonder if I start checking my visitor's IP's I may find more than a few visitors with Miami connections this week. Then again, some of these guys are known to still live in a frozen time capsule, stuck somewhere around 25 years ago, so they may not be too familiar with the internet or web logs, not to mention cell phones, PDA's or reality television.

Amazing Picture

This is one of the most incredible and touching (for the Iranian nostalgic types) picture of a traditional tea house in south Tehran area. I'd love to join them for some tea and a turn at the water pipe. Courtesy of one of my favorite sites: Tehran24