Wednesday, September 30, 2009

2nd Day of Protests at Sharif University

Iranian students at Sharif university yesterday, singing the unofficial Iranian national anthem:




With the start of the new academic year, Iran's students need the support of their colleagues around the world more than ever, but look at these misguided American students dining and posing for a picture with the lying tyrant. Shame on them:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXNN4Hjo1Y0

Monday, September 28, 2009

Tehran University Students Stop Ahmadinejad

Despite all the threats and intimidation against Iran's students in the new academic year, more than 2000 protesting students made sure Ahamdinejad did not deliver his speech at Tehran university today. See Photos Here.

Ahmadinejad was scheduled to appear at Tehran University today but failed to show up after his security voiced concerns about student protests at Tehran university as the new school year began.

See the film footage:

American Students Meet and Dine with Ahmadinejad

I felt sick in the stomach when I watched a group of clueless American students who seem to have no conscience at all, meet and dine and take souvenir photographs with Ahamdienjad. Look at these morons in the footage below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXNN4Hjo1Y0

If anyone knows them please let me have their names, so we can name and shame them.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

An Objective Comparison

This is another footage from the Al-Quds day which was turned into Iran Day by the people of Iran. On the right you can see the official rent-a-crowd Ahmadinejad supporters, and on the left, the sea of people who want to have an Iranian government, an accountable government that represents them, a sea of people who want to live in a democratic country where they can oppose their government and not risk the consequences. A sea of people who want a government that takes care of the people of Iran first and foremost:



Or as former Saddam stooge, George Galloway would have described this on Press TV, rich North Tehran kids on the left versus the working class Ahmadinejad supporters :))))))))

Video of Neda's Killer

I am told this is a video footage of Neda's killer, after being apprehended by the people who took his ID card, which identified him as Abbas Kargar Javid, member of much hated Baseej militia thugs and hoodlums.

Deputy Guidance Minsiter Booed and Jeered

The footage shows Iman Khoshkhoo, Iran's deputy Guidance Minister in charge of artistic affairs, trying to make a speech during the funeral of Iranian musician, Parviz Meshkatian, who passed away a few days ago. Every time the minister tries to utter a word, the crowd either fast clap their hands or jeer him. Even the personal pleas by the man in charge of the ceremony who is asking the crowd to be silent and listen to the minister is not having an effect.

For the people of Iran anyone who is associated with the coup administration is an enemy of the nation.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

The Importance of Confidence in Bringing Change

I was at a conference last Thursday, it was organised by Henry Jackson Society and Legatum Institute but with so much to do in the last few days, I just haven't had time to write about it. There were lots of speakers and many panels. Larry Haas, former communications director and advisor to vice president Al Gore impressed me. When I heard he was an advisor to Al Gore, I thought he would have a wishy washy view of what the policy options regarding Ahmadienjad should be, he didn't offer a policy option as such, but Haas got my approval when he mentioned that every US administration has been under the impression that they know more about the regime in Iran than the previous administration and they will manage to create some kind of dialogue and understanding with them. Bit like how Roosevelt thought he could 'handle' Stalin and develop a personal relationship with him, I thought, a huge mistake which resulted in people of East Europe pay a heavy price for decades after.

The rest of the conference was just half baked policy options, with lots of ifs and buts coming from such speakers like Malcolm Rifkind. 'We will never get the Chinese and the Russians come along on this', 'This will hurt the people of Iran' , 'We will lose investment opportunities' and basically panel after panel showed why they can not decide on a concrete policy option towards the Iranian regime, even though the conference was summed up by saying 'the clock is ticking and something must be done before its too late'.

There was one nice suggestion from Dr. Emanuele Ottolenghi though, to name every street in European cities where there is an embassy of the Islamic Republic, after Neda.

I left the conference thinking, forget deciding a policy option, Western governments will discuss and discuss and have endless conferences and seminars and still not do anything. Every policy carries some risks and from what I have seen of these statesmen, they will carry on sitting on the fence forever.

So I came to the conclusion that we should stop wasting time discussing policy options. What matters more than anything to the people in a struggle against tyranny is confidence. If they feel confident that they can make a change nothing will stop them, and so every Iran related move the Western governments make should be tested against this bench mark, does it give the people of Iran confidence or does it take it away from them? What diplomatic rank from the embassy delegation you send to Ahmadinejad's endorsement ceremony may not seem that important to the UK government for example but to the Iranian people it is enormously symbolic and important.

If you re-name every street where IR embassies are to Neda Street, it won't need the Russian and Chinese to come on board and it won't hurt the Iranian people but it would be an enormous boost to the confidence of the Iranian people. In fact the regime in Iran does not hesitate to rename such streets after Bobby Sands and Khalid Islamboli.

Similarly today if they all leave when Ahmadinejad makes a speech at the UN, it will make the people of Iran confident that the world is with them.

Confidence that you can bring about change is the most important factor in a revolution or a democratic transition, it must not be underestimated.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

The Start of the Sacred Defence Week

Today is the anniversary of the Iraqi invasion of Iran. The depletion of the mighty Iranian army and the purges and executions of some of Iran's finest officers after the 1979 revolution had led the brutal Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein to believe that Iran will finally be a soft target for him.
I remember the horror with which we received the news, the air attacks on the airport and the onslaught on Khorramshahr. What will happen if they strike at the refineries in Abadan? I thought with despair and anxiety. Yet the invasion consolidated the unity of Iranian people and epic after epic of courage and sacrifice ensured that Saddam's ambitions remained only a dream.

People of Khorramshahr fought and resisted the Ba'athist troops with tooth and nail for 34 days, day and night, non stop and in Abadan as the Iraqi troops came over their makeshift bridges they repelled them by fighting with everything they had and inflicted the first shock defeat against the Iraqi troops.
The war was unnecessarily prolonged however, Iran missed the opportunity of the best deal there was on the table by a broken Saddam Hussein, but the clerics were eager to establish an Islamic Republic in Iraq and many more lives were lost and the war ended without any compensation for Iran.

All Iran's future generations will be in debt for the valour and patriotism of those who fell in this sacred defence and this week and we will rightly remember them alongside Iran's latest martyrs for freedom of Iran.

Watching Saddam's stooge, George Galloway on Islamic Republic funded Press TV this week however will be like putting salt on our wounds. To think this lackey of Saddam is earning his wages with Iranian people's money is beyond belief.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Ardeshir Ommani and Comprador Bourgeoisie

First time I ever heard the term 'Comprador Bourgeoisie' was thirty years ago during the 1979 revolution and since I left Iran for the last time, I have never come across it again until I read this piece of trash in Alarabiya.net by one of the Islamic regime's arch apologists, Ardeshir Ommani.

It took me a while to understand what Comprador Bourgeoisie meant back in 1979. It was finally explained to me by a Marxist class mate to mean the bourgeoisie class that was dependant on the imperialists as opposed to the national bourgeoisie which could be regarded as patriotic and nationalist. He also reiterated that National Bourgeoisie in Iran was dead because of the policies of the Pahlavi dynasty. That was the official Marxist line by most of Iran's Marxists except the Chinese backed Ranjbaran (Toilers) Party for some reason.

Comprador bourgeoisie was the worst enemy of the Marxists, worse than the evil bourgeoisie. A true Marxist couldn't utter the phrase without spitting on the floor after saying it. Within seconds I came up with a Persian equivalent for comprador bourgeoisie and asked my Marxist class mate again if that was a correct translation? To which he nodded uneasily and condescendingly giving the impression that it was somehow classier to say the original term which the plebs did not understand.




This was a marked distinction between the way Khomeini spoke and the way the Iranian Left spoke. Ayatollah Khomeini spoke bad Persian with bad grammar and overused the word 'nonetheless' in his badly constructed sentences but he spoke in a way ordinary Iranians understood.

'We say to you, Mr. General, we want you to be a master and not a servant, not the servant of the Americans, why do you want to be a servant?' is how Ayatollah Khomeini addressed the Iranian military officers when he made his first public speech after his return from exile. It was simple language but the message was understood by all. Yet the Left spoke in a condescending way with lots of borrowed and imported Marxist terminology which left the ordinary Iranians not having a clue what they were talking about and even irritated them by their intellectual snobbery. The Iranian Left was so immersed in reading Marx and Lenin, they had forgotten to read books about Iran or better still find out about the Iranian society itself and its limitations. It was mandatory for the Iranian Left to read the voluminous history of USSR's Communist Party which left them no time to read History of Iran's Constitutional Revolution. Had they done so they would have been better informed about the treacheries of the Iranian clergy and Russia and how they had kept Iran's society back from progress and modernity.

So when I saw the title of Ardeshir Ommani's crap article, 'Iran's Comprador Bourgeoisie: Down with Russia! Down with China!' it reminded me of those turbulent days and how the Iranian Marxists thought they knew better.

So what is it that has troubled this so called anti-imperialist activist? He is having sleepless nights because people in Iran are chanting 'Down with Russia' and 'Down with China', Islamic Republic's super power backers.

How dare do they? asks Ardeshir Ommani, for Russia and China have been the friends of the oppressed forever in Ommani's warped world. Those shouting such slogans must be the wretched Comprador Bourgeoisie! :)))

Although true to his nature, Ommani closes his eyes to the realities and tries to calm himself by referring to such 'comprador bourgeoisie' chants as a 'brief episode', but in fact this is not a brief episode at all, the ordinary plebs that Ommani despises so much, have understood and felt with their flesh and bones that Russia has been and is our historic enemy.

Ever since Peter the Great made a wish about Russia reaching the warm waters of the Persian Gulf and the Tsars backed the corrupt and incompetent Qajar dynasty and took away vast chunks of Iran to the time the Russians stood in the way of Iran's Constitutional revolution and bombed the new parliament building, to the time when they invaded North Iran, to the time when they tried to annex Iran's Azerbijan through their puppet Pishewari, to the time when they ordered their puppet Tudeh Party to demand Iran's oil in the north to belong to the Soviets and right until today when the Kremlin masters are backing Ahamdinejad and denying Iran's rightful share of the Caspian Sea, Russia has been the backer of despots and puppets in Iran as it has been all over the world.

Ommani should know better, had he not buried his head in the sand, that the chants of 'Down with Russia' is not a 'brief episode' it is chanted across Iran by all the people constantly these days. Of course the 'anti-war' activist hero never marches in the streets when Russia destroys Chechnya and its people, or when Russia invaded Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Afghanistan, this 'anti-war' activist has been very selective for the last 40 years when it comes to war and which war he should be anti.

Finally where does this anti-imperialist and 'anti-war' activist live? Does he live in Iran? No, there is no danger of him going back to Iran, in fact he travels there frequently but he decided to leave Iran in 1980. Does he live in his beloved Russia? No. China? Still No, our anti-imperialist stooge of the Iranian regime lives in New York, America :)))

Compilation of Qods Day Protests that Became Iran Day



Look at the sea of Green protesters holding pictures of Iran's post 'election' martyrs.
The green placards they are holding say 'Today is Iran Day' and 'Down with Russia' for Kremlin's backing of Ahmadinejad.

At 1:13 on the video people have surrounded an official float which is chanting official government slogans but the response from the people is entirely different and no one is chanting back the official slogans.

As the Baseej speakers chant 'Death to America' and 'Death to Israel' the people chant 'Down with Russia' . The Baseej then shouts 'Death to anti-Supreme Leader' and the crowds chant 'Death to the Dictator'.

At 2:16 the placard held by the Green movement supporter says 'The Oil Money is Missing, It has been spent on Palestine'. Then there are constant chants in support of the courageous Karroubi.

More chants of 'Down with Russia' at 3:09. At 4:26 as many people as possible hold the long green ribbon to say where their allegiance lies and chant 'Not Gaza, Not Lebanon - I Die Only for Iran' followed by chants in support of Moussavi.

4:43 with the courageous Karroubi in the middle of the crowd, people chant 'If Karroubi is Arrested, there will be mayhem in Iran'.

5:00 people chant in support of the Grand Ayatollahs Montazeri and Saneii who have stood up to the illegitimate coup administration.

5:13 Outside the state broadcasting, people chant 'State Broadcasting is a Disgrace'

5:48 More chants of 'Not Gaza, Not Lebanon - I Die Only for Iran' followed by more chants of 'Down with Russia'.

7:20 People show their disdain for the riot guards that can be seen by calling them 'Without Honour'.

7:37 'Coup Administration - Resign Resign'

7:58 More booing at the riot guards on motor bikes and chants of 'Honourless'. There is more here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/millionoillim#play/all/uploads-all/2/cu2nPK5m7pc

Ben Hur at O2

Just came back from watching a magnificent performance of Ben Hur at O2 with a breath taking live chariot race at the end. Wish I could spend more quality time like this with the family but I hope when my boys grow up, they will realise why I had to give up so much of my time with them. My biggest fear has always been that one day they would read about the dark days in Iran and ask me 'Dad in those terrible days that Iran was going through, what did you do?' and for me to say 'Nothing'. So hopefully they would then appreciate if I said I did what I could and they will be proud of their heritage and their roots.

Friday, September 18, 2009

The Day the Greens Encircled the Riot Guards


18th September, 2009, official Islamic Republic day for liberation of Jerusalem, the day the liberation of Jerusalem became the liberation of Iran. Look at the riot guards encircled by the people, they don't look so tough now do they?

Chants of Moussavi, Moussavi in the Metro

Message of Solidarity to the People of Iran by Mubarak Awad

My Dear People of Iran,

For the past thirty years, the Iranian regime has used the cause of the Palestinian people as a way to distract from its own oppressive rule. I thank the people of Iran for showing their support over the years with the people of Palestine, especially because on this day of Qods, the people of Iran suffer under the kind of unelected oppression that is comparable in some ways to that suffered by Palestinians.

As a Palestinian, life-long fighter for the freedom and independence of Palestine and a leader of the first Palestinian intifada, I strongly condemn the Iranian regime’s violations of human rights and repeated use of violence against the nonviolent Iranian protesters, activists and prisoners. I stand in complete solidarity with and support for the Iranian people and am confident that with their resilience, they will achieve a free and democratic Iran to raise their children in and have a good life.

In unity,
Mubarak Awad

Sohrab's Mother in Today's Protests

Sohrab's mother, holding a picture of her murderd son, chanting Down with the Dictator, in today's protests:




Mothers of Iran, soon you will have your day and the murderers of your children will be on trial.

Iran Protests Today

Today, for the first time in the last three decades, the official Al-Qods day turned into protests against the regime.

The Courageous Karroubi amongst the protesters today who are chanting in his support:


Tehran:
chants in support of Moussavi and Karroubi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbDUo9JdJVk&feature=player_embedded

chants in support of Montazeri and Saneii, dissident Grand Ayatollahs

Hafez Street: Tanks Rape and Baseej Have no Effect Any more

Dictator Dictator, This is our last warning, Iran's Green Movement is Ready for an Uprising

what Alireza Rownaghi of Aljazeera called a small crowd

Stop Killing the People in Gaza or Iran

Ahmadinejad supporters surrounded by Greens in Karimkhan, they chant Death to Israel and Greens reply 'Death to Russia'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1H3MUD6Y-6E&feature=player_embedded

Isfahan

Liar Liar Where is Your 63%?

A common theme amongst most of the protests today:
'Not Gaza, Not Lebanon - I Die Only for Iran'

Thursday, September 17, 2009

For Our Bravehearts Tomorrow

Another decisive day tomorrow for the freedom of Iran. The clip below is for all the bravehearts who will once again defy the coup administration and risk their lives to bring about freedom for Iran

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Hail the Brave Karroubi

Two brave Iranian youths writing 'Hail the Brave Karroubi' on the wall in broad day light.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

War Veteran Father of a Martyr Gets Slapped by Revolutionary Guard Commander

The civilian man who is taking on the Revolutionary Guard commander is a war veteran. He is categorised as 40% sufferer of injuries he received in defending Iran against Saddam's invading troops. The war veteran's son has been killed and he blames the Guard commander in uniform, General Araghi, head of the Rasool-Allah brigade,who was also recently made the Revolutionary Guards commander in charge of the Greater Tehran.

'Why should I stay silent? if your child was killed, would you remain silent?' the war veteran asks General Araghi, sitting next to the cleric, possibly ayatollah Movahedi Kermani(?),in the mosque. To which General Araghi replies condescendingly 'Go and complain to whoever you like, see if it gets you any where'
and the war veteran tells him 'At the end of the day there is a God and there is a prophet' and this too much for the guard commander to take, so he leaps towards the war veteran. Watch to the end to see the type of people who get promoted and are running the show in Iran today

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Protest in Support of Moussavi in Qom Last Night

This footage is from last night in Qom, one of the holiest nights in the Shiite calendar in the holiest city in Iran and amidst intense security measures. People have gathered in front of dissident Grand Ayatollah Sanei's office after his strong speech against the coup junta and are chanting in support of Mir Hussein Moussavi:

The Alqods March This Year

The annual Al-qods march is a publicity stunt by the Islamic Republic to rally support and credibility for the regime by exploiting the Palestine issue. It takes place across European cities on the last Sunday of Ramadan. In the last few years, Iranian expat supporters of the pro-democracy movement in Iran have staged counter demos with a clear message, 'A regime which represses its own people will not bring liberation for any other people including the Palestinians'.

The Alqods march however provokes other groups to stage their own counter protests too for their own reasons. Until last week's clashes at Birmingham and Harrow, I had not heard of the English Defence League. This year they too staged their counter demo to the Alqods march along with March for England and United British Alliance members amongst very heavy police presence which made sure the march went without incident and with no arrests. Much to the disappointment of the massive press presence I have to say, who were only interested in giving coverage to the EDL. Some even told me without any hesitation that they were hoping for violence to kick off, 'You have to bleed to lead', one of the reporters who said he was working freelance told me and another one told me 'if there is no juicy violence today, I won't get paid'.

Number of people who took part in the Alqods march this year was about a third of those who took part last year. Police estimated them to be between 350-500 people. Most of the marchers were non-Iranians who were probably not even aware of the coup government's hand and agenda in organising the annual march.

The English Lefties and the likes of Yvonne Ridley who always try hard to endear themselves to the Islamic extremists were calling the EDL and March for England members Fascists which made me laugh. Here they were taking part in a march organised by an illegitimate Fascist junta which is backed by the military revolutionary guards that controls 70% of Iran's economy, a Fascist junta which kills, tortures and rapes detainees who are arrested after taking part in peaceful protests in Iran, discriminates against Iran's citizens based on gender and religion, a Fascist junta which is even openly backed by the German Nazi NPD and DVU and they have the audacity to call others Fascists!! Case of the pot calling the kettle black or 'African American' as the politically correct trendies would prefer to say.

Amongst the UK Leftist speakers this year were Socialist Workers Party's John Rees, presumably eager to get yet another donation from unsavoury sources for his services.

Press TV Forum on Torture

I just got home and while channel hopping tuned into Press TV. It was Andrew Gilligan's Forum, which tonight debated torture. The guests included the London Director of Human Rights Watch, Tom Porteous and the executive director of Repreive, Clare Algar.
How absurd, actually how disgusting! It is the anniversary of the massacre of Iranian political prisoners in 1988 and the Television station where the program is aired from, is funded by a junta which is holding show trials and forced confessions on its state TV. Gilligan is presenting a program debating torture on a TV which is funded by a regime that gang rapes male and female detainees who have taken part in peaceful protests and the likes of Andrew Gilligan, Tom Porteous and Clare Algar not once mention any human rights abuse in the country where their paymasters are ruling with an iron fist.

Contact details for HRW London Office:

Address: 2nd Floor, 2-12 Pentonville Road
London N1 9HF, UK
Tel: +44-20-7713-1995 dial 1 and then 206 Mobile: 07983984982
Fax: +44-20-7713-1800
E-mail: hrwuk@hrw.org

Contact details for Clare Algar : clare.algar@reprieve.org.uk

Friday, September 11, 2009

Sermon of Death

"Confronting the system, confronting the tenets of the system, standing up to and drawing a sword against the system will get a harsh response."

To those who are familiar with the Supreme Leader's words, there is only one interpretation of the above statements. If you dare to use next Friday's annual pro-Palestinian protests in Tehran to oppose the coup, he will let loose his army of thugs and hoodlums once again to commit more murders and more rapes and more suffering on the people of Iran.

The Iranian government backed AlQods march is always on the last Friday of Ramadan in Iran but throughout Europe it is held on the last Sunday of Ramadan, which according to this lunar calendar will be this Sunday:
http://www.ihrc.org.uk/events/9048-the-annual-al-quds-day-demonstration-2009-in-support-of-palestine

Very few Iranians take part in this annual event throughout European cities and those who do usually have ties with the Islamic Republic. Most of the participants are non-Iranians who wrongly perceive the despot Supreme Leader as a champion of Palestine as well as a few self hating rich Socialist Workers Party members who want to endear themselves to the Islamists.
The guest speakers at Trafalgar Square are also usually the likes of Ridley and Galloway and few other suspect characters who want to trumpet up their own fame and fortune.

Anyone who takes part in the above march this Sunday in London, should know they will not be helping the cause of the Palestinian people but taking part in a propaganda stunt by the Supreme Leader. When the despot Supreme Leader treats his own people with such savagery, he will not bring liberation for any other people either.

Eternal Shame on Supporters of Ahmadinejad and the Supreme Leader

Another disturbing account of a raped detainee in Iran:

Raped and beaten for daring to question President Ahmadinejad’s election

Thursday, September 10, 2009

The Spiritual Awakening of Chavez in Mashad

For some reason Hugo Chavez was taken to Mashad to sign the latest agreements between the Islamic Republic and Venezuela and as part of his 'grab what you can from Iran' tour, he was taken into Shiite Islam's eighth Imam's holy shrine. To justify Chavez's presence inside the holy shrine, Ahmad Sobhani, the Director of the Latin America department in Iran's Foreign Ministry made the following statements:
'Mr. Chavez has time and time again declared he is a Christian monotheist [I thought Christians believed in the trinity] - he has always declared he is a believer and of the opinion that Jesus Christ along with Imam Mahdi will one day come to save the world, fill the earth with justice and both lead the world.'

Sobhani added 'When Mr. Chavez entered the shrine, he was overcome by a great holy experience' :))))

Perhaps Lindsey German of the Socialist Workers Party should be taken to the holy shrine next, I am sure the 'Monotheist Trotskist' will also be overcome with a spiritual experience when she receives her next pay check.

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

The Islamist Stalinists

They say history repeats itself and we come across this time and time again. Each repeat is similar but it has its own flavour to it. I am amazed at all the similarities between the 1979 revolution in Iran and the Bolshevik coup in Russia in 1917. In both cases power was hijacked by an idealist group of people who viewed their ideology as so great, so righteous and so above all else that any atrocity was justifiable for the sake of the 'ideology'. The ideologies between the 1979 revolution in Iran and the Bolshevik coup in 1917 are not the same of course, yet the patterns of behaviour are cast from the same die.

In the same way that it happened in the Soviet Union, the thirst for power turned the original founders against each other, criminal characters who had not even been part of the revolution, squeezed themselves to the top and in the name of the ideology started eliminating the very people who had formulated and fought for these ideals. Trotsky, Rykov, Bukharin, Kamenev, Zinoviev were the equivalents of today's Montazeri, Nabavi, Nouri, Hajjarian and now with the news of yesterday's arrests at Karroubi's office, even Ayatollah Beheshti's son. Some may say why are you so surprised with the arrest of Beheshti's son, they even killed Ayatollah Khomeini's son, Ahmad and none of Ayatollah Khomeini's children are siding with the new elite, but despite the hearsay nothing is proven for certain that Ahmad was murdered and none of Khomeini's children are incarcerated, even Hossein Khomeini was under house arrest and not officially in prison.

Ayatollah Beheshti was a pillar of the revolution, there is a university named after him, streets are named after him, he is mentioned all the time as the martyr of the revolution by the terror of the counter-revolutionaries, I seriously thought they would never dare arrest Baheshti's son, Alireza but they did yesterday.


The similarities with Stalin's takeover of power and reign of terror does not stop with just the show trials and assault on the founders of the revolution and former comrades however. The role of 'useful idiots' outside the country and the state propaganda against the opposition exiles is also bizarrely similar.

When the Polish government in exile called for investigations into the Katyn massacre of Polish officers, Stalin's propaganda machine accused the Polish government in exile of colluding with the Fascists against the Soviet government and workers and peasants. In the same way, Ahmadinejad's propaganda machine has accused the opposition of acting in the 'foreign led scenario' when they have called for an investigation into the terrible abuses against the post-election detainees.

For the useful idiots in the West, the 'interests' of the workers and peasants in the heroic Soviet Union was so above all else that any atrocity was justifiable and calls for such investigations was tantamount to siding with the capitalists and imperialists. Iran's useful idiots in the West also dare not push for such investigations against Human Rights abuses. As an SWP member in a meeting in SOAS told me 'For us what is paramount is not human rights abuses in Iran, its the anti-imperialist struggle'.

In the 1940s, Joseph Davies, a wealthy lawyer from Wisconsin, and a personal friend of President Roosevelt, was the equivalent of today's wealthy Flynt Leverett, Haleh Afshar and Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich type characters. Davies wrote a book about his experiences as ambassador, Mission to Moscow, which was later made into a Hollywood film in 1943. In the film, Stalin was portrayed as the father-figure for the Soviet Union and Stalin's human rights abuses were glossed over as necessary for the security of the state [how familiar does that sound?]. It took a decade for people in the West to see it as a crass pro-Soviet propaganda but it was sadly hugely influential at the time it was shown in the cinemas and Joseph Davies was a hero of the Western Communists who had told the 'truth' about what was really going on in the Soviet Union.

Another similarity is the appeasement of dictators by Western leaders. Aware of the terrible human tragedies, Western leaders usually see only their short term interests and decide to appease the likes of Stalin. In 1943, the British government swiftly tried to stifle the protests of the Polish government. Churchil even wrote to Stalin and promised to 'silence' the Polish papers about the Katyn massacres.
When the Iranian political prisoners were massacred in August/September 1988, Western leaders either remained silent or like the Tory Douglas Hague called it a 'necessity'.

There are tons of similarities but there is one major difference. The soviet propaganda machine at the time of Stalin was no way near as huge and sophisticated as Ahmadinejad's propaganda machine is now, nor was it so well funded.

Monday, September 07, 2009

In Sympathy with Bereaved Mothers in Iran

What a busy week it was last week for UK based supporters of the pro-democracy movement in Iran. Apart from the regular protests on Thursdays and Sundays outside the Islamic Republic Embassy in Kensington, there were also protests on Thursday eve outside the Islamic Centre of England - Supreme Leader's representative office in Maida Vale, protest outside the Syrian embassy on Friday, solidarity performances in Trafalgar Square and also letting up of hundreds of green balloons in Parliament Square in sympathy with the bereaved mothers of Iran who have either lost their children in the post election protests or their children are suffering intolerable tortures right now in Iran's many official and unofficial prisons.

See:


Saturday, September 05, 2009

Dictators in Middle East, Let Our People Live in Peace

Supporters of the pro-democracy movement in Iran staged a two hour demo on Friday, outside the Syrian Embassy in Belgrave Square, London. They were protesting against Bashar Assad's recent visit to Iran, where he was warmly received by Ahamdienjad's junta. Bashar Assad however went further to endear himself to his Iranian backers by stating that the recent protests in Iran were directed by 'foreign powers'.

































Protesters held placards written in Arabic and in English and placed pictures of the martyrs around the barricades.
Some of the slogans that were chanted on the day:

Dictators in Middle East - Let Our People Live in Peace
Down with Dictators - In Syria and Iran
Freedom and Peace - for the Middle East

Syrian People, We Love You
Syrian Regime, We Hate You
Bashar Assad, Shame on You

Murder No, Torture No, Bashar Assad Time You Go

Just before the protest started, a nervous Syrian Embassy official approached the police and said 'we were not expecting them today!' No one from the Syrian embassy opened the door at the end of the protest either when protesters asked an embassy official to receive their protest letter which explained why they were protesting.

Although Arab media gave coverage to the protest, See: [http://www.aaramnews.com/website/64783NewsArticle.html] once again I was dismayed by our Persian language media. VOA Persian reporter who was supposed to cover the protest rang and said she couldn't find the place and asked if one of the protesters could take her to Belgrave Square. When she did finally arrive, there was no cameraman with her. 'My camera man couldn't get a permit' she said. She ended up standing at a distance and just watching!

What on Earth is He on About?

The speaker is Rahim Mashaei, whose daughter is married to Ahmadinejad's son. He also occupies a series of important official posts from Ahmadienjad's Chief of Staff to various positions in important decision making bodies. May be its because I am not into esoteric mystic stuff, can someone please tell me what the hell this man is on about?



Below is the translation of his speech.The contradictions and incompatible assertions should not be blamed on the translation:

‘Humanity is reaching a high plateau but everything is becoming condensed. What does this mean? It means it is not possible for this trend to continue, it means a revolution is needed; it means an explosion is required, it wants an explosion. A huge and deep crack has to take place. This is not negative, this is positive, it is like sending arrows where you yourself will move faster than the arrows, if I am faster than my bullets then firing bullets doesn’t make sense, I am faster than the bullet myself, you yourself will be faster than your messages. It sounds strange; the language on the surface seems satire, no? But its real. I am not joking with you, it is very important. We are moving towards a huge explosion. In this explosion there is no bomb or such thing, I am not talking about politics, the human race is moving towards a massive explosion. To summarise, we are shelling our skins. I did not tell you any Hadith or read any Koran verses to say that I am performing an ideological sermon. No, the human race is shelling its skin, a huge change is taking shape, I cannot say that I know one day a huge change is about to come and say that he hidden Imam will come, the Human race has passed two units in science and 27 units are left, what is this occurrence? But that is merely the necessity of the bright life, it is the requirement of vastness, the post emergence world of the Hidden Imam is a very, very huge world, but what is interesting is that this very huge world, at the same time as being so vast and enormous, has also a very fast speed, in other words with two units of science, which is not certain at the moment that it is two units by the way, its two units to the emergence, with just two units we have gathered up this velocity, your velocity is increasing however, and if 27 further units is added, then just imagine what your velocity would become then’

another part of his weird speech, in the same meeting, while the chairperson himself looks uneasy and bemused:



‘the era of Islamism has come to an end. We did a revolution in 1979 to export the Islamic revolution. But I tell you here, the era of Islamism is finished. It does not mean that Islamism does not exist, no its era has ended, like the era of horse riding has ended but horses do still exist, the era of driving automobiles is ending too but there are still cars, what the era of Islamism is ending means, don’t misinterpret this, it means the trend of development in the world is heading towards, the end is Islam there is no doubt in it, but the trend of events is not that the human race has to become Muslim to reach the truth, this era is towards its end, it is not finished it is reaching its end, the human race’s understanding has heightened, its speed has increased, and it finds truths that it no longer requires him to reach it through the process of Islam, it is reaching a fundamental essence, and in that fundamental essence it understands, that in that vast structure, you remember the new world order? The new global world order? How often did you hear it? How often do you hear it now? Does anyone even talk about the new world order? No seriously, do you hear about it? what happened? It was talking about the next future years about the new world order. Now all have forgotten the new world order. Why? Because the change is happening so fast that it cannot even be understood what is happening. I was reading an article, in Information Technology, the prediction of the vanguards of IT in their analysis of the future is that the future world is an extremely religious world, where as they were saying hundreds of other things before. The world, we are not meant to go through this path any longer, that Christian, Jewish, Zoroastrian, Hinduism, Buddhism, I don’t know Brahmanism, have to first become Muslims and then go. Question was asked when the Hidden Imam emerges, what will he do with all these people, there aren’t that many Shiites, no one even refers to the Hidden Imam, he thought this chain of process has to be followed, but it is not like that, the Human race is getting to this point, that order itself is now changing, the very meaning of order is no longer describable’

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Iranians in London will Never Abandon You

We Deserve Better than This

Islamic Republic 'representative' to the parliament doing what he is probably best at doing. Watch the member of Islamic Consultative Assembly (parliament)sitting behind the speaker having a good dig up his hooter and then after a careful examination coupled with sheer admiration rubbing it all over his face, beard and eyebrows. George Galloway and the self hating rich kids at Socialist Workers Party may watch this and conclude that this is truly a working class assembly :)



On a serious note however, who can doubt that we Iranians deserve better than this lot?

Tuesday, September 01, 2009

This is What They Do with a War Veteran's Only Daughter

Saeedeh Pour Aghayee, was the only daughter of war veteran hero, Abbas Pour Aghayee. She was dragged down by the Baseej thugs from her roof top while she was chanting 'God is Great' and 'Down with the Dictator'.

After twenty days of not knowing where Saeedeh was taken to, her mother was called to identify Saeedeh's body amongst many that were kept in the make shift freezers used in South Tehran. But the authorities refused to hand over her body and so she is now buried in section 302 of Tehran's main cemetery amongst other unknown victims of the post election fraud protests.

Just like Taraneh Moussavi, it seems Saeedeh was also viciously gang raped by her captors. Her body was burned from knees up to her chest to cover up the hideous crimes that were committed against her.

A meagre mourning ceremony was held for Saeedeh by her bereaved mother and close family members, but it was also attended by Mir Hussein Moussavi.

Saeedeh's father, Abbas, was a victim of the chemical attacks on Iran by Saddam's forces. His injuries prevented him from running around and playing with his only daughter. All he could do was watch and admire her growing up and tell her about his memories of the courage and the sacrifices of those who protected Iran from falling into Saddam's henchmen. He died two years ago from his debilitating injuries that had made him a shadow of his former self. Perhaps it is best that he did not live to see what these murderers did with his only beloved daughter.

The tragic news of this war veteran's daughter was also reported on Iran's Parliament News site. The title said, 'Tonight Everyone Wept'.

A war veteran's daughter is murderered in this way, yet Saddam's former stooge, George Galloway gets his wages paid by these criminals.