Thursday, November 26, 2009

Kaveh Afrasiabi, the Stooge Scholar


Kaveh Afrasiabi is one of those 'academics' who has his fingers in every pie. Wikipedia introduces him as an Iranian born political scientist who teaches at Boston University, Bentley College, Harvard University, UC Berkeley and Binghamton University. Just like all other Islamic Republic affiliated 'academics' posted around the world to defend and to promote the regime, he has managed to get himself in all those numerous think tanks that have confused the hell out of the US policy makers on Iran and have resigned this super power to having a vague ambiguous policy on Iran.

Lets not forget the media, Kaveh Afrasiabi, is also a 'consultant' for CBS Television and a regular contributor to the New York Times, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle and the International Herald Tribune. Most important of all, Kaveh Afrasiabi is a stooge subordinate of the regime in Iran. He is in fact an even worse version of Baroness Haleh Afshar in the US. Kaveh Afrasiabi is the Supreme Leader of Islamic Republic apologists outside Iran.

Whenever the regime in Iran has totally screwed up, their faithful servant, Kaveh Afrasiabi, tries to come to their aid to clean up their image for the outside world. The most recent case being that of Neda. The regime has really dug a hole for itself with Neda's murder. First they said the video was a fake, then they said it was a plot by the CIA, then the BBC correspondent, Jon Leyne, was accused of having staged her death, then it was the MeK. Then they claimed the doctor who had gone to her help, Arash Hejazi, was wanted by the Interpol. Of course Interpol almost immediately denied Arash Hejazi was ever on their list, still Arash Hejazi became the most wanted man for Neda's murder by the regime.Then the regime incarcerated Neda's boyfriend, Caspian Makan in Evin prison. They tried to force him to publicly state his fiancée was killed by the MeK. Not only these were all outrageous attempts to whitewash their terrible crime, they were also inconsistent liars and no sane person with a shred of integrity could possibly stomach their contemptible lies.

When the BBC2 documentary about Neda was being made, the program makers went out of their way to make sure all sides were covered. They were keen also to present the pro-Ahamdinejad side. In fact Kaveh Afrasiabi was contacted to arrange for an interview with Ahamdinejad himself while he was in New York. Kaveh Afrasiabi first asked for $700 to arrange the interview, but his appetite for easy gained money grew further and he then asked for $2000. At the end, Ahmadinejad advisors decided it was too risky to let their man face such an interview with a British crew. These were not Larry King entertainment after all, it was serious investigative stuff that would have got Ahamdinejad in real trouble, the advisors decided.

Before the program was aired, the hardline daily, Kayhan, went on its usual type offensive. It called the documentary a pre-written MI6 scenario and it accused the program makers of being MI6 and British Intelligence agents. The Kayhan piece was of course for the 'internal consumption' as they call it. For the gullible pseudo Leftists outside Iran, more sophisticated apologists were needed. Kaveh Afrasiabi was commissioned for help.

In an article that must leave no doubts for anyone as to who lines up Afrasiabi's pockets, he lambasts the documentary as 80% propaganda. Yet this must have been Kaveh Afrasiabi's worst ever commissioned work for the Islamic Republic. All he can come up with is why didn't Dr. Hejazi accompany Neda all the way to the hospital?

Dr. Arash Hejazi is in fact a qualified doctor. In his interview he states that Neda died on the scene, on the street. In his medical opinion, the bleeding from her nose and mouth indicated that her aorta and lungs had been shot because of the extent of the bleeding, and that with an injury this serious death is very fast. Anyone who has seen the video footage and the extent of the bleeding can accept Dr. Hejazi's judgement on this.

Apart from the above scraping of the bottom of the barrel, Afrasiabi makes some more mistakes which clearly shows the confused state of the mind of a collaborator lackey.

In the fourth paragraph of his trash he starts with 'In the press release for A Death In America,..', the program is obviously called Death in Tehran and not Death in America. Afrasiabi must have totally lost his concentration, whether due to feeling the guilt for what he is doing or more probably for counting his Dollars, when he wrote this paragraph.

He also gets a post graduate philosophy scholarship for students mixed up with a 'Chair in Philosophy at non other than Oxford university...' Some academic!

Finally who is quick to publish this piece of trash? Yes friends and partners of the Socialist Workers?[Self Hating Rich Kids] Party, CASMII. Scum of the earth all of them.

55 comments:

Amir said...

Well done Potkin - really nicely written. It's funny that someone like Afrasiabi has the cheek to question the ethics of Dr Hejazi when his hand reaches out for an easy & sleazy dollar. He appears to be nothing more than a prostitute working for the IRI. The man has no dignity just like Baroness Afshar, Ansari in St Andrews Uni and the rest.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for this Post Potkin.
I think it truly shows the face of Casmii as well.

H.

Ali Mostofi said...

Ba Dorood

I have yet to see him get involved on the ground level in any of the forums. So he is a wimp really.

Winston said...

Shame on media outlets which give this asshole air time to peddle his hate and defend the fucking mullahs.

Ali Mostofi said...

And Winston, this is why I have for years said that it is the media to be blamed. The media and the main companies that advertise with them. The world media can get rid of these zombies in no time, if it can allocate space for the correct questions to be asked. Simple.

Arash said...

Nice work Potkin, this is a great exposé of yet another Islamic Republic stooge.

Arash

Anonymous said...

yes potkin, everyone who disagrees with you is a stooge, and you guys are not stooges at all. On the contrary, you are all honorable people who want nothingt but freedom for Iran.

Winston is a perfect example of this, he is a peace loving kind person.

Sarcasm off!

you're a fucking idiot if you really believe that the professor is a stooge. Just because he supports the Iranian government and his country doesn't mean he is a stooge. you dissidents are sick in the head and deserve to be executed one by one.

Sohrab said...

How can he lie so obviously? I wonder how he sleeps...

Winston said...

As long as greed is the overriding issue, the media scumbags won't stop doing what they are doing. But again, 99.99% of western Media outlets are run by leftists, liberals and morons who at times sympathize with the Iranian regime and want to have them on. The western world in general is in denial and is going down the toilet hole fast.

Winston said...

I posted this on twitter and digg.com

Neda Mehregan said...

Afrasiabi can't call himself an Iranian because Iranians are ashamed to be associated with him. However the Islamic Republic needs mercenaries to spread its poisonous propaganda and lies.
These mercenaries would do anything or say anything for the right price. So it doesn't surprise me that he asked for $2000.
What surprises me is the institutions that are harbouring him. These academic institutions are giving themselves a bad name by allowing someone like Afrasiabi to be working there.

Actually Potkin, if you post the name and e-mail of these institutions on your site, we can all write to show our disgust.

Azarmehr said...

anonymous (AG?)

This is bizarre, you have the same IP address as AG. You were all full of praise for me when you saw met at SOAS before the elections. I will kick the shit out of you next time I see you now.

Mehrdad said...

Kaveh Afrasiabi in fact sits on the board of CASMII

Anonymous said...

Hey Potkin. Why don't you actually read Kaveh's piece and, while you are at it read my own on the subject of the exploitation of Neda's death.

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/opinion/?id=35869

You have no right to insult an independent scholar based on your own ignorance and prejudice.

Btw, why do all comments here have to be "approved" by the supreme blogger, i.e. yourself?

Are you afraid of debate and criticism? I think you are.

REZA ESFANDIARI YOUSEF BOZORGMEHR

Azarmehr said...

REZA ESFANDIARI AND YOUSSEF BOZORGMEHR

I am not sure if you two are married, live in sin or have such delusions of grandeur that you think you are two people, that even when it comes to leaving a comment its always signed by two names but I have already read your junk in Middle East Online and its easy to say that what you say and what your master, Kaveh Afrasiabi, says all come from the same source.

When you know learn the difference between Death in American and Death in Tehran or what a graduate scholarship and a chair in philosophy is then think about having a debate with me.

Funny neither CASMII's website nor Middle East online allows for comments.

Anonymous said...

Appreciate the response, Potkin. I am a happily married man for your information (and to a woman).

After I read Kaveh's article, I decided to write my own. Middle East Online is one of the few independent sites which would allow me to publish.

So far noone has managed to actually dispute or refute anything in the article about Neda.
Its so obvious that Hejazi changed his story. That was the giveaway.

If you want to leave a comment on a pro-regime site, just try PRESSTV. They don't censor any comment.

REZA ESFANDIARI

Azarmehr said...

So what happened to Yussef this time? Did you divorce him? Did he cheat on you?

Educated comments that criticise the regime on Press TV site last few minutes at the most, don't use this space to advertise for your beloved Press TV which employs the former pro-Saddam stooge, George Galloway.

If you want to talk about changing stories, lets talk about how many times your beloved regime in Iran has changed its story about Neda.
http://azarmehr.blogspot.com/2009/10/nedas-mother-rejects-regimes-overtures.html

Go and read your article for the Baseej sisters that were protesting outside the British embassy in Tehran.

Amir said...

Actually Mr esfandiari, presstv do filter their comments. Just two days ago I commented in facebook that I had tried to comment on an article they posted Shirin Ebadi. The comment was removed within minutes. The comment did not include any swearing and merely went against the official line they were promoting. I presented a further comment on why my first was deleted and again that was removed too. Further attempts to leave a comment only bounced me back to the homepage. I have written to OFCOM to ask why this broadcaster is allowed to do this. As for comments on Potkin's blog, you have to give credit where credit is due. I have read many many comments from people that disagree with Potkin and other readers. Very often the language is abusive. Credit to Potkin he allows all commentary and if he disagrees with you he let's you know. Unlike Press TV or other organs of this regime who are a bunch of weak spineless uneducated morons.

Anonymous said...

Don't worry, Potkin: Yousef is closer to me than my jugular vein.

Yes, there have been many comments made about Neda and this is not coming from just the regime, but from conspiracy talkers on the Internet. Moreover, the panic reaction of the regime makes it ridiculous to suggest that someone in the Baseej or police ordered Neda's murder, as Makan has alleged, to silence her because she was some "natural leader" of the Green movement. Why would a Shia-led regime go out of its way to create a martyr for the opposition? That would be just plain stupidity.

And you cannot ignore the fact that Hejazi said that Neda was shot by a rooftop sniper and then a few days later claimed that it was some basiji on a motorcycle. You cannot ignore the fact that he arrived two days before Neda was killed from Britain and then left immediately afterwards to tell the media.

Hejazi is a liar and has ties to British academia and intelligence.

Azarmehr said...

'Why would a Shia-led regime go out of its way to create a martyr for the opposition?'

Stupidity and battiness just oozes from that silly statement of yours Reza Esfandiari. Neda is not the only martyr either, what do you think happened to Sohrab A'rabi, Kianoosh Assa, Ashkan Sohrabi and many others in the last 30 years? have you closed your eyes to all the footage that has come out of Iran? have you not seen enough of people being clubbed senselessly or shot at? you low life imbecile?

Everyone is a liar according to you, Neda's mother, Neda's fiancé, Dr. Hejazi, yet the whole world knows where boot lickers like you come from and who is lining up your pockets.

You say Middleeastonline is an independent publication. Get them to publish my response to your beloved Kaveh Afrasiabi or I have nothing else to say to you.

Azarmehr said...

Reza Esfandiari further to the response to you, below is a message I got from Iason after Afrasiabi's claims

'Fyi, Afrasiabi made up that statistic, something I've already pointed out in a letter of complaint to the Middle East editor who's responded by saying he's cached A's piece. It would be ludicrous for me to quantify something before I've even seen the film as I surely hadn't when I called up Afrasiabi to allay his fears after he sent me repeated angry (and panicked) emails complaining that he felt he had been manipulated.
As you may know, I have no reason to benice to him after the way in which he has treated me but did it out of a feeling that it would be right to explain to him some things. Again, he made up that I "resigned" from the doc. I explained to ihm that my shooting days were over and that I was not interested in the editorial direction the doc had taken, which was to be tightly focused on Neda rather than on the Iranian elections as a whole. But that does not mean I resigned from it, as indeed I didn't'

So who is the liar? you CASMII mob or everyone else? QED.

Amir said...

Potkin kudos for that e-mail from Iason!

Mr Esfandiari - if I was the IRI I would be asking for my money back. What a waste of money you people really are. Talentless stooges like you & Afrasiabi need to realise that everyone sees through your lies. You think your command of English is enough to fool everyone but everything you write is dissected and destroyed. Nothing is more powerful than the truth.

"It is inconceivable that an Islamic regime which understands the power of martyrdom in its own culture would sanction the cold-blooded murder of an innocent and ordinary young woman on the streets of Tehran. " - Khaak to saretoon - you do it in public and behind closed doors - what was Kahrizak? What happens daily in Evin?

"However it is every bit conceivable that those who thought the opposition movement needed a symbol and icon of resistance would have arranged this horrible murder and try and pin it on the Iranian authorities. " - you moron for the past thirty years the regime has been executing, murdering and assassinating many thousands. Neda wasn't needed as a symbol - the movement in the streets had already begun - the bloody history of this regime was already written. There are thousands of symbols. It just so happend your regime created another one.

And Mr Esfandiari, I wouldn’t rely too much on your brother-in-arms Youssef Bozorgmehr. Your regime & its stooges have a habit of turning on each other. One day you might just find that he’s not just closer than your jugular – but slicing it.

Unknown said...

Yes I believe the regime is due for a refund for services incompetently rendered by the Thompson and Thomson - remember the twin detectives from the Tintin cartoons?

Anonymous said...

Yes, the regime is due for a refund for services incompetently rendered by Thompson and Thomson - remember the twin detectives from Tintin?

Anonymous said...

Potkin, do you have an article I can send to Middle East online? If so, email me at esfandiarireza@ymail.com
and I will forward it to the editor and make sure it gets published.That goes for anyone else.

Unlike the others killed, Neda was not taking part in any demonstration at the time of her death- the incident happened in a sidestreet. That's why it doesn't make sense. She was also being filmed for 20 mins before the shooting! Why?

Hejazi DID lie! How else can you can claim that she was killed both by someone on a rooftop and on a motorbike!??? Was she such a threat to the regime that they sent not one but two assassins?

R ESFANDIARI

Azarmehr said...

Yes get middleastonline to publish this post in response to Kaveh Afrasiabi.

As you can see from Iason's reply, Kaveh Afrasiabi is the biggest liar of them all

Amir said...

Mr Esfandiari. I have been going over your article again and your assertions that as you put it "(a letter from the Iranian embassy) correctly states that Neda had a high-resolution camera trained on her for a full 20 minutes before the incident took place – this, along with other important observations."

I would like to know if this letter is your only source of evidence for the statement that a high resolution camera was trained on her and for 20 mins? Or are you referring to the general video clips of the crowds on that day that have appeared in which Neda was seen walking (& the only reason she was spotted was because of her teacher's distinctive striped top). You see, if there is evidence that one camera was trained on her for a full twenty minutes then it may help your argument but I think you're just spinning bullshit spouted by the regime as part of its ludicrous conspiracy theory and attempt to disassociate itself with her murder.

Also, you keep stating that Neda was not part of the demonstration and she was in a sidestreet. With the amount of teargas flying around, and random attacks by the Basiji on motorbikes do you not think that crowds dispersed into sidestreets to get away? Do you think it was impossible for two or three or twenty basij members on motorbikes to enter a side street or stop at either end of that street and shoot? There are clips on Youtube showing clashes in these sidestreets. Here is a clip showing basiji shooting in a street at protestors. At one point you see some of these protestors walk into a sidestreet to escape the shots.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txS5s9eJjX4

I know you know the truth about Neda. You know that the IRI murdered her just like they murdered the others. You're an idiot for trying to defend the IRI and their dirty tactics. Infact you are a complete disgrace.

Anonymous said...

Potkin,

I spoke to the editor at MEO. He said he would certainly consider your piece for publication but you need to send it across yourself.

alabbasi@middle-east-online.com

If that doesn't work, please send it to Iranian.com:

times@iranian.com

or to Persian journal:

iranian_ws@swbell.net

As someone whose views have been censored by your friends in The Times and The Guardian, I know the importance of freedom of speech. So does Kayhan newspaper which published the comments of Mahmoud Vahidnia that were critical of Khamenei and the system.

ESFANDIARI

Unknown said...

Amir,

No, I don't know the truth about Neda's death. I know she was not a polical activist because Makan initially said she was not - now and only now he claims she was a "leader" of the opposition movement. I also know she wasn't killed by a man on a motorbike because Hejazi initially said she was killed by a sharpshooter on a rooftop (who aimed straight at her heart). His words, not mine.

We know that the Baseej fired on rioters when they tried to storm a compound - which they later set ablaze. But stop trying to avoid the fact that Hejazi changed his account.

My guess: CIA/MEK targetted killing. We know that militants were on the streets of Tehran and 8 basijis were killed.

Azarmehr said...

I know all about you now Reza Esfandiari, I know you are a freelance statistician, I know Yussef Bozorgmehr does not even exist, I know you are in Manchester and try to endear yourself in the Islamic centre there. You are a nut case who seeks publicity and like to see your name here and there. Go and see a shrink and don't embarrass yourself any more.

Unknown said...

Potkin,

Yeah, its useful having contacts in The Times and the BBC who can divulge information about me. Unsurprisingly, as an Iranian nationalist, I try and avoid the British Establishment.

Who did you ask? Richard Al-Kerbaj or was it your close friend, Martin Fletcher? Btw, I have written to PCC to complain about their reporting.

The Times actually believes that you are the "leader" of the Iranian community in London. But that's impossible: How do you lead royalists, marxists, communists and liberals?

Sohrab said...

You are suffering from a bad case of Uncle Napoleon complex and need help fast. "It was MI6! No, it was the MEK! It was Dr. Hejazi! It was Oxford University! It was Michelle Obama! It was..."

Anonymous said...

Reza: Shameful Islamic Reublic of rapists lackey. The issue is not really Neda but to paint Neda's death as an abberation or anomaly in the Isalmic Republic of Rapists. We saw hundreds of sharpshooters on you tube on different locations in Iran who killed men an women just as precious as Neda. Do you think people are blind and retarded like the leadership in the Islamic Republic??

You people are eitehr milking the retards in IRI or are retarded yourself to deny the truth about the nature of the IRI.

Anonymous said...

SOHRAB.

You must be blind if you think that MEK and the CIA are not present in Iran. Who stands to gain from Neda's death? IRI? No. Only those who needed to put a face to a cause/movement.

MOTIVE, METHOD, OPPPORTUNITY.

Motive: Need for a martyr (preferably a pretty girl)

Method: A precision killing from a rooftop

Opportunity: A sidestreet where there were not many witnesses.

REZA

barmakid said...

Azarmehr the Mogol and Sohrab the NeoCon,

You guys do NOT have a monopoly on the truth. Neda is dead. Her death has galvanized the Iranian people. These are the facts.

Now understanding how she was killed, who killed her, etc. is IRRELEVANT. Her death has already impacted the "Green Movement" in a positive way. Done deal.

Now seeking the truth for one's own personal understanding is entirely different. YOU, Azarmehr, with all your zeal, have FAILED to explain why Dr. Hejazi has changed his account so many times. You have FAILED to explain the inconsistencies of how the widely accepted storyline goes.

And to be clear, you cannot explain an inconsistency by countering with an inconsistency in the regime's account of what happened.

This Reza individual has been respectful to you (and helped you try to get your "article" published) and all you have done is insulted him.

I wouldn't publish your "article" in my high school newspaper's gossip section. You see the world through emotional lenses, and thus, your analysis is GARBAGE. Hot, steaming garbage.

He brings up valid points that you have nothing to say about. The fact that Neda might not have been killed by the regime does not delegitimize the movement. Her death has been blatantly used as propaganda, there is no denying this. But in this case, I accept it. It helps the movement. But on the other hand, it's gone overboard; for example LA TV hosts putting up statues of her face and what not.

This movement is about more than Neda. Neda does not symbolize this movement. At first, her death jolted the movement. Now, her death is beginning to overshadow the real matters at stake here.

Throw insults my way, say what you wish, but if I was in the UK you wouldn't be my leader. The only people in the Iranian community you lead are people like yourself. And by that I mean people who show no respect for others' views, bigots, monarchists, retards, hobos, vagabonds, conservatives, etc.

And Sohrab, you are a natural distorter of facts. I think I will call you Joseph Goebells. You're statement in this thread reveals a blatant disregard for the truth and an obstinate pursuit of your ideology - no matter what.

You ARE an American Basiji. And Azarmehr, you are the worst kind of expat basiji.

PEace
barmakid,

p.s. Sohrab, please keep your snide remarks about the first lady to yourself.

Azarmehr said...

Barmakid,

May God help you because you really need help, badly. Never mind about all the points I have raised and this nutcase Reza who had made up a Yussef Bozorgmehr, hasn't answered, never mind about the inconsistencies in Kaveh Afrasiabi's article, never mind about the fact that he has lied by quoting Iason and Borzou, never mind about the number of times IRI has changed its story about Neda, never mind that if she really was killed by conspirators she should be revered, as usual you always revert back to supporting your beloved Islamic Republic, like you always did, and your beloved apologists in CASMII and NIAC.
First of all tell me where Arash Hejazi said it was a sniper on a roof top. You see because you spend all your time in a library, because you have never been in a street protest where any second you could lose your life, you have no idea how fast things happen around you. Only a retard like yourself and your CASMII friends and Baseeji sisters would think the most harmless man I have ever come across, Arash Hejazi, could have murdered Neda.

You make me sick, get lost.

Mehrtash said...

Reza Esfandiari -

"You have no right to insult an independent scholar based on your own ignorance and prejudice."

He has every right, and you know by which virtue he has the right? Let me educate you - by the virtue of the human right to freedom of expression, as guranteed by Articles 19 of both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966. Democracy secures this right, as it is a fundamental mechanism.

You seem to be no different to the IRI government, so you too are scum.

You are a keyboard warrior with nothing more than insults to share. I bet you are that skinny fool who can't put on any muscle no matter how much protein drinks you pour out of your backsides when you hit the toilet seat. You know why you cannot put on any muscle, it's because you have no intellectual muscle, so the whole body can't do better than your mind.

Barmakid & Esfandiari - It is not important how flawed Azarmehr's rebuttal of Neda article are - the fact is, the IRI regime have been slaughtering and violating international laws of human rights of the Iranian people. Neither of you two have addressed this point, but have chosen to distract all with your arguments concerning Afrasiabi, Neda, and Azarmehr's response.

What does that say about you two?

barmakid said...

Azarmehr the Mogol,

I don't even know who/what Casmii is, and as far as the NIAC goes you don't have the capacity to understand that they have given Iranian-Americans political power in mainstream America. Get that? Not everything gets analyzed through your emotionally-clouded, stuck in 1979 thought process.

You're depth of thought is soooo shallow that all you can revert to is calling me an Islamic Republic supporter. Haha. "The leader of Iranians in London." ajab maskhereyi toh. rahbar-e bachehatam nemishi namard. dige e-mail nafress be man agar mikhai fosh bedi madar jende. yekkam yad bigir mesle adam raftar koni, or your children are going to be the ones who need help.

barmakid

Sohrab said...

Barmakiri (yes -- I finally went there you made me!),

I'm in the middle of studying for first year law exmas so I really shouldn't be wasting time responding to you but I was insulted by your namecalling and once again saddened to see you revert to your reflexive ideological affinity for the IRI and its apologists, like this pathetic Reza figure here.

I accused him (and now you) of having Uncle Napoleon complexes because you have to wrangle yourselves into such logically-contorted and factually-challenged positions to defend the indefensible -- namely the cold blooded murder of a young Iranian woman who only sought to exercise her right to free assembly.

The preponderance of evidence (there I used some of my newly-learned legal vocab. -- go ahead make a joke) points to Neda's murder being a state killing:

1. Who has the overwhelming monopoly on armed force in Iran? The IRI and its henchmen. Try to dispute this and I will laugh you out of the blogosphere.

2. Who stands to gain from this senseless murder? No one. Certainly not the IRI. But that doesn't rule out the fact that they killed her you jackasses! The regime was in a panic. It had unleashed armed thugs into the streets to try to calm things down. Thanks to the Zionist apparatus called youtube, we have tons of footage of uniformed and plainclothes IRI agents wielding clubs, knives, and weapons. We have footage of said agents randomly shooting into crowds to disperse them. No need for a conspiratorial motive -- just random violence unleashed on our poor people and Neda was one victim among many.

3. Credibility deficit. Who suffers from it? The IRI -- because it's an illegitimate government that suppresses dissent, restricts access to information, shots down newspapers, clamps down on blogs, tortures and murders dissidents. Even before the uprising, the IRI had a massive credibility deficit and a horrific human rights record. This deficit was compounded after its brutal response to the uprising. The gap in itself doesn't foreclose them from providing a different account of this tragic incident, but combined with points #1 and #2 above, it's a pretty hard position to maintain. Hence again the humorous efforts of Afrasiabi and Reza here, who should refund the regime for being such awfully inept propagandists.

Now back to civil procedure for me bitches.

Azarmehr said...

There we have it. A NIAC supporter, insulting my mother because he couldn't explain all the inconsistencies and lies in Kaveh Afrasiabi's article.

But you know, CASMII and NIAC supporters can say what they want about me or even my family, they only show how low they are but what makes me sick about these stooges, is when through their lies, they try to cast doubts on people like Arash Hejazi, Caspain Makan and Neda's parents, people who have lost so much except their integrity.

Nader said...

Barmakiri

The only one here who is a jendeh seems to be you badbakht. You keep changing sides just like a jendeh drops her draws. Must be in your upbringing

Mehrtash said...

Kian Zare, AKA Barmakid -

It is so disconcerting that you stoop so low as to resort to undignified name calling such as 'Madar Jende' - for the benefit of non-Farsi readers, this means 'mother is a whore'.

Is this how far your intellect spans, that you would lay on a personal insult on the mother of a blogger, with such reprehensible expletives? Is that how you think you can further your ideas?

It just goes to show how lost you truly are; it makes me wonder what can of worms I would have opened had I not rejected your facebook friends request.

Sad.

Sohrab said...

Just a separate observations: notice, Azarmehr and Mehrtash, how the apologists are working double time right now and proliferating every corner of the web and mainstream media. Another sign that the regime continues to feel vulnerable internally and externally.

Amir said...

Barmy kid,

For a while now I have been trying to understand exactly where you base yourself politically and I couldn’t place you until now. In some comments you aligned your support with the green movement in others you sided with the IRI regime. Similarly the NIAC appear to do the same. It advocates negotiation with the regime & on the other hand condemns human rights abuses by the regime. How can one sit with the other? How can anyone negotiate any kind of fairness from a regime that does what it does to the people and what it has done for the past 30 years? You are whether you think it or not supporting the abhorrent policies of this regime when you defend those that speak on its behalf and when you attack those that fight its very existence.

But lets get back to the issue which is the bugbear of this blog at the moment and I refer to ‘seeking the truth for one’s own personal understanding’ as you put it. I keep reading both your and Esfandiari’s accusation that Arash Hejazi continually changed his story. As far as I am aware Dr Hejazi’s first original interview and account of what happened was given to the BBC – here is the clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96EOATTJKFw

In this clip he says quite clearly says “we hear the sound from infront of us, where we were, from where we were standing. We, we had the impression that it had come from a rooftop.”

About 20 seconds later he continues with the story of the crowd apprehending the basiji guy who had been hiding behind a car and who the crowd claimed to be responsible for the murder. He also says as the crowd marched down the Basiji he was saying he didn’t mean to kill her. At no point, did Dr Hejazi claim he saw someone shoot Neda from a rooftop, he only said at that time he had the impression a shot was fired from that direction. At no point does he even incriminate anyone – he only reiterates what the crowd were saying and what the basiji was saying. Now if you choose to source your information from other journalists who sometimes get their facts wrong then so be it. I prefer to use the original source – Dr Hejazi. Also in further videotaped interviews, he doesn’t even directly accuse the basiji guy in the ID card of being the same guy in the street but says that he very much looked like him physically.

So I hope this puts an end to the rather boring attempts at trying to discredit an honest and decent person. And if you continue to believe the unsubstantiated rumors which this regime spins then you are more of an idiot than Esfandiari and the rest of the stooges.

As for Potkin, I think he does a great job of discrediting all the bullshit the Islamic regime keeps pumping out for morons like you to lap up. If a journalist considers him a leader then it’s a great compliment to his good work. He has never claimed to be one or portrayed himself as one. I just think you are bitter and jealous. The world would be a better place without you and esfandiari.

Arash H said...

Islamic republic has paid money for 30 years buying people around the world, but they do not understand if they have invested the money for construction of Iran and developing the living level of Iranians, the regime could have had support of their own people and there would not be a need to buy hireling.

barmakid said...

This is the e-mail your beloved leader Azarmehr sent me:

bisharaf towi KOSKESH! You can say what you like about me but don't you ever fucking dare to cast doubt on the integrity of people like Arash Hejazi, Caspian Makan and Neda's parents. Koskeshe bisharafe bi khAyeh, tow midooni keh Arash Hejazi zendegisho too irAn az dast dAdeh? tow midooni keh pedar mAdare Caspian Makan khoonashoono az dast dAdan keh vasigheh bezAran pesareshoon az zendAn biAd biroon o az irAn farAr koneh? Koskeshe bisharaf tow midooni keh pedar mAdare nedA ro 13 Aban kotak zadan goftan chetor jor'at kardin biAin too khiAboon mageh nemidooonid bA dokhtaretoon chi kAr kardim?
tow midooni keh kasAyi mesle Caspian Makan yA delbar tavakoli alAn bA cheh badbakhti too torkiyeh dAran zendegi mikonan bacheh kooni? bejayi keh beh in AdamA komak koni miAyi sedAghteshoono zire so'Al mibari? tof beh oon pedar o mAdari keh bacheh kooni mesle tow ro bozorg kardand.

We'll see if he publishes it.

Azarmehr said...

Amir

In fact neither I, as you rightly say, nor any reporter has referred to me as the leader of the opposition in London. Reza Esfandiari, jealous that I was once quoted in an article, was furious about me being quoted and was screaming at the reporter 'Why are you quoting Azarmehr, he is not the leader of the opposition in London' Then in the warped minds of the likes of Kian Zare from Texas, aka Barmakid, this all gets twisted into me saying I was the leader of the opposition in London!!! and these guys claim they want to find out the truth!

Anonymous said...

KAVEH AFRASIABI

It is unfortunate that Iason has desperately tried to deny the content of his conversation with me and resort to outrageous lies. While admitting that he did contact me on phone two days prior to the airing of the documentary, I have several emails from him, Mr. Moshiri another producer at the film company, as well as professor Willam Beeman indicating clearly that Iason is a "producer." Indeed, that is the impression he gave me several times on the phone and then we met twice in New York for the interview, once at Tudor Hotel and second time at the UN headquaters outside the General Assembly Hall.
Afterward, Iason sent me a warm thank you letter and in a separate telephone conversation assured me that I would not be misrepresented in the program.

However, when I found out by reading the press release of BBC/PBS on the documentary that it is called "A Death In Tehran" and focused on Neda, contrary to all the assurances given to me by Iason that this will focus on "100 days after the elections" in Iran, that is, post-election political developments, I felt rather betrayed and immediately contacted Iason and the executive producer demanding an explanation. Again, I have emails from both Iason and Mr. Moshiri to confirm that that is how they procured the interview, by misleading me and a number of other interviewees by making them think the interview was about an entirely different subject, and now Iason instead of apologizing for his unethical role of bad-faith and duplicitous journalism, has the nerve to attack me for telling the world about his negative reaction after he saw the film.

Indeed, who can believe him that after all the effort -- he said he had done most of the interviews and had told them after seeing the documentary that "I don't want a part in it" since they had promised him an editorial contorl and they had reneged and had kept him out of it and he had agreed to simply allow them to use those interviews. I then found out that he is listed as a "consultant" -- certainly not how he represented himself to me and professor Beeman and others.

In his email cited above, Iason denies that he told me that he had seen the documentary and found it to be "60 percent propaganda." I swear these are his words and he kept insisting that we should keep the conversation "confidential." The entire conversation happened while I was in a car in the presence of a witness who heard me reply repeatedly I cannot since we are dealing with an important public issue. Iason probably feels the heat of reprisals by the mean British producers, who will likely blacklist him after this, and thus the context of his email to you.

Again, for Iason to deny that he had seen the program, while in the same breath admitting that he was not happy with "the editorial direction the documentary had taken" is beyond the pale of dishonesty. That is exactly what he told me in the course of our nearly hour long conversation, that after seeing the program he was "shocked and completely disappointed" and had objected that they had promised him -- and I remember him mentioning something about the terms of his contract with them as well -- and had decided not have any part in it save the interviews he had done as a result of their making a Neda story instead of a story about post-election Iran.


Kaveh L. Afrasiabi

Unknown said...

HEJAZI'S WORDS:

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2009/0624/1224249417475.html

“A young woman who was standing with her father watching the protests was shot by a basij [pro-government militia] member hiding on the rooftop of a civilian house. He had clear shot at the girl and could not miss her.

However, he aimed straight at her heart. I am a doctor, so I rushed to try to save her. But the impact of the gunshot was so fierce that the bullet had blasted inside the victim’s chest, and she died in less than two minutes.”

In other words, Neda was killed by a high-velocity rifle from a sharpshooter on a rooftop who must have seen that she was being filmed at the time.

Hejazi is telling the truth here. He is lying later on.

Sohrab said...

Kaveh L. Afrasiabi,

Does the "L" in your middle name stand for lackey (as in regime lackey)? Or is it lamprey, "a parasitic marine/aquatic animal with a toothed, funnel-like sucking mouth."

Unknown said...

THE REMAINDER OF KAVEH AFRASIABI'S LETTER TO MEO REGARDING IASON.

What is more, Iason repeatedly agreed with me after the interviews with me that I had raised legitimate questions about Dr. Hejazi's behavior worth looking into, and, again, I had done so after learning from a reporter with LA Times that Hejazi's account of Neda's instant death had been contradicted by Neda's music teacher and "others on the scene." Clearly, the British producers of A Death In Tehran were not interested in truth, only mythmaking, regime-bashing, and building the coward Hejazi into a hero, thus suppressing my interview with the lame excuse, by Monica Garnsey, that they had "researched" the points I had raised. I sure like to know how they "researched" this and why not one single question was asked of Hejazi in the course of their lengthy interview with him regarding this important matter -- that serves as a clue to Hejazi's self-serving promotion of himself in western media.

What is more, whereas the editorial of Middle East online have recently written to me that my article is in the archives, Iason claims that you have informed him that you have pulled the article.

I hasten to add that the British know how to strike back! Please look at the well-orchestrated internet campaign against me aimed at nothing short of character assassinating me since I exposed the hypocrisy of that sham documentary -- that in my opinion is a piece of a puzzle on relentless British effort at regime change in Iran. An article by an Iranian dissident in London has been "crossblogged" on hundreds of websites including New York Times, Harvard, etc., without any one asking what is behind this concerted Afrasiabi-bashing effort? The answer from my point of view is simple: I am the only one who has bothered to unmask the systematic British efforts to mythmaking and Hejazi hero-worship, and thus subjected to this vicious and malicious character assassination. I highly doubt that "Potkin" has ever read any of my books or scholarly articles and or bothered to watch my various interviews, including with Washington Post, where I have repeatedly supported democratic rights while at the same time refusing to be a sounding board, as so many other Iranian academics in the west have, for the allegations of "rigged elections" in Iran. Fortunately, I am not alone in this and a number of other US academics such as Flynt Leverett have come to the same conclusion as me and, yet, just because he is American and I am Iranian, no one has accused him of being a "stooge." The Orwellian or rather McCarthyite method of public defamation is rather well-known to me, a victim of rights abuse at Harvard (see my "Reading Kafka At Harvard": ) and, in fact, several weeks prior to Iason's interviews with me, I took him to task, on a principled basis given his past and present affiliations with Harvard, to look into my allegations against Harvard and speak just as so many notables such as professors Chomsky, Zinn, filmmaker David Mamet, and CBS' correspondent Mike Wallace have in the past, not to mention a number of Iranian academics such as professor Pirouz Mojtahedzadeh.

As a political scientist who has also studied theology and has devoted many years to the cause of dialogue among civilizations and interfaith dialogue, I am quite disappointed by the persistent manner in which people like Iason fall short of ethical principles and lose sight of the moral compass. Iason fails to mention that I made a serious effort to arrange an interview with him and president Ahmadinejad as a way of reaching out to him after his temporary detention in Iran after the elections which I found to be unjust. I repeatedly communicated that to him in my emails and he chose not to do the interview citing the difficulty of his crew staying in New York an extra day.

Nader said...

واکنش مادر ندا به نمایش بسیجیان: دخترم را کشتید، سیاه بازی را تمام کنید
می خواهم فریاد بزنم چه می خواهید از دخترم؛ تو را به خدا بس کنید، او را کشتید حالا سیاه بازی راه انداخته اید مقابل سفارت انگلیس برای چی؟

Neda's mother's reaction:
You have killed my daughter, stop these masquerades. I want to scream, what more do you want from my daughter? For God's sake stop it. You have killed her, so why are you running this theatre outside the British embassy?'

Feel very ashamed of yourselves Reza Esfandiari, Kaveh Afrasiabi, Barmakid and co. No one takes you lot seriously any more.

Unknown said...

Nader

Read this and weep.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/23617060/Kaveh-Afrasiabi-Vilification-of-a-Scholar

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