Friday, December 28, 2012

NIAC Profiteering from Deceit

When I first read the Guardian news about Manouchehr Esmaili-Liuisi, the young Iranian teenager dying as a result of sanctions denying the haemophiliac drugs to Iranians, I got very suspicious. There were no ambiguities in the title as to who was to blame for the tragedy; it read "Haemophiliac Iranian boy dies after sanctions disrupt medicine supplies"

There were many reasons for my suspicions about the news being accurate. First of all Marzieh Vahid-Dastjerdi, the Health Minister who was sacked yesterday by Ahamdinejad,  and many other Iranian health ministry officials have been going out of their way publicly saying that the medicine crisis is not because of the sanctions but because the government and the Central Bank have not given the promised allocated currency required to import the much needed drugs and medical equipments. Instead many Iranians, health ministry officials as well as Majlis deputies have been saying how luxury cars, cosmetics, horse saddles and other unnecessary goods have been imported with the subsidised currency that the Central Bank of Iran should have allocated for importing essential goods.
"We can circumvent the payment restrictions, the problem is not the sanctions, we haven't been given any currency by the Central Bank to buy the essential medicines" The Health Minister has been repeatedly saying before she got the sack yesterday.

Not only medicines are excluded from the Iran sanctions list but the German government has even made special provisions for banking transactions for medicine exports to Iran, this was even published in Iranian dailies.  On top of all of the above, it was only two years ago that amidst much pomp and ceremony, Islamic Republic declared that Iran has become self-sufficient in producing haemophiliac drugs - one of the rare good news that has recently come from Iran. Another Iranian website only today, has published a story on the satisfactory situation of the Haemophiliac medicines.

Guardian readers are a niche of their own however and they need to read the kind of news they like to think is true, but when I saw NIAC- whom many regard as an Islamic Republic lobby group in US, a sort of US equivalent of CASMII -  trying to cash in on the sanctions ignorance, I was even more disgusted.

Credit to the Times newspaper who investigated the news of the Iranian haemophiliac teenager and found out the real truth of the tragedy.  Sadly however, perhaps because of having been published over the festive period, the relevant article has gone largely unnoticed or at least not received the same publicity that the bogus Guardian news received.

Times investigations suggest that the unfortunate Iranian teenager, Manoucher Esmaili-Liuisi did not die because the hospital could not provide his medicine as a result of the sanctions against Iran, but because the unfortunate teenager suffered a cut during a hiking accident and he was too far from the nearest hospital in Dezful to be saved.

NIAC have also come up with an even more ridiculous story to emotionally blackmail Iranian-Americans. NIAC's gullible and naive supporters are not informed by NIAC about the real reasons for the medicine crisis in Iran, i.e. the corruption and mismanagement but are told that it is the sanctions which are killing innocent Iranians.

In an appeal for more donations from these out of touch Iranian ex-pats, NIAC have come up with a story of an unnamed "aunt of an American Iranian" who was taken to hospital and needed IV fluid but the hospital had run out of IV fluid and couldn't buy any more because of the bad bad sanctions. NIAC claimed he unnamed "aunt of an American Iranian" was instead given a water drip  and died as a result. So what can the super wealthy out of touch Iranian ex-pats living in America do to help their compatriots in Iran? Send IV fluids and medicine to them? No! Send money to NIAC!

I personally talked to at least ten hospitals throughout Iran and enquired about the possibility of something like this happening. All ten without exception laughed at me and confronted me with the question "Do you think we import IV fluid from the West? It is one of the most basic things we produce and even if it is badly required in remote parts; at a minimum we can produce a saline solution with common salt".

How sad is it that some people donate their hard earned money to this man?


  

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Einstein Was a Shiite Muslim

Javanoline said to be close to the Revolutionary Guards in Iran, has reported on information being circulated on the cyberspace that proves Eisntein had converted into Shia Islam. It claims that Einstein was corresponding with the late Ayatollah Boroujerdi and had admitted Shia Islam was the most scientific and just religion in the world.

Sadly because of fears that such information will cause a major international security threat that will come about as a result of a global religious conversion upheaval, Einstein's written correspondence with the late Ayatollah are kept in a safe box in London belonging to Professor Ebrahim Mahdavi. The article however publishes the special code for the safe box which is  B-۱۲-D.E/۱۷-V.A.E

The author then agonizes that if only Einstein's latest handwritings, known as Die Erklarung, be published, there would be a massive global "religious revolution" in the world.

In this secret correspondence between Ayatollah Boroujerdi and Einstein, which was clandestinely translated by a hand select number of translators appointed by the Shah, Eisntein confirms his relativity theory is mentioned in the holy Koran and some of the Hadith from the Shiite holy book, Nahjolbalagheh and the writings of the 16th century Shiite cleric, Alameh Majlisi. Einstein admits in his letters that only Shiite Islam provides the theological proof for relativity and no other religion does so.

Iran's equivalent of Youtube, Aparat, also has this interesting video about Einstein's conversion to Shia Islam:

http://www.aparat.com/v/dBZNM

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Gilad Atzmon, the Useful Idiot who Plays the Saxophone

Gilad Atzmon is a jazz saxophonist who describes himself as a "devoted political artist". Jazz gives me a headache and I know nothing about it, so this post is not about Atzmon's musical abilities.  I want to write about what he has become more famous for i.e. "political artistry".

Gilad, who is born Jewish, is one of those Jews who always condemns Israel, he is also known as a "holocaust revisionist", a quintessential Kevin Klein type from a Fish Called Wanda, who reads Nietzsche; he is therefore loved by the likes of Press TV. If Press TV want to make a propaganda point and sound "impartial" they will call Gilad and he will love the free publicity he will get for being controversial.

Last time Gilad was on Press TV, was when Eutelsat removed the Islamic Republic's TV channels from broadcasting on its Hotbird frequencies. Gilad Atzmon was unequivocal in his condemnation, he wanted to be the champion of free speech and play his windbag for the oppressed nations who were looking to him as their lead windpipe. "Freedom of Speech Enters Dark Age" was Atzmon's leading tune and Press TV was loving this useful idiot.

Of course the first time satellite TV stations faced signal jamming was when the Islamic Republic started jamming opposition TV satellites back in 2003. The regime embraced this new technology in two ways, either by sending local interference signals in selected districts in Iran which meant the target districts could not receive clear TV signals for the duration of the jamming or by disabling from the broadcasts from source which meant no one anywhere could watch the channels. The local jamming is said to carry huge health hazards for the residents. Many residents who frequently experience local jamming have reported headaches, nausea, fatigue and there have been many medical reports that describe the health risks from these signal interferences.

The jamming from source however, not only totally disables the targeted TV station but it also disables the other TV stations broadcasting from the same bouquet of frequencies. Eutelsat not only did not pay compensation for the Iranian TV stations the Islamic Republic disabled but also further punished the victim stations for the loss of airtime faced by other channels in the same bouquet of frequencies! A double victory for the Islamic Republic, silence the channel and make them pay for it too! Of course Gilad did not utter a word or play a note on his saxophone in protest to this blatant act against freedom of speech.

During the 2009 post-election protests in Iran, the Islamic Republic not only jammed opposition TV stations but also disabled news channels like the BBC Persian and VOA Persian as part of its campaign to cut off the lifeline of the Green Movement, i.e. free access to information. At the same time that all these contraventions of international broadcasting conventions were taking place, the Islamic Republic  TV channels continued unhindered on Eutelsat's Hotbird and other platforms, promoting violence, enticing people to riot by pure propaganda and spreading misinformation.
Of course Gilad did not utter a word or play a note on his saxophone in protest to this blatant act against freedom of speech.

In Iran, even having a satellite dish and satellite receiving equipment is illegal and carries consequences, but Gilad Atzmon never says a word on that. Not once has this "devoted political artist" spoken against the Iranian regime taking away the inalienable right of the Iranian people to choose what TV channel they want to watch.

For years Ofcom ignored legitimate complaints against Press TV. When people complained about how Press TV implicated innocent citizens for murder or claim they were wanted by Interpol even after Interpol had denied such claims, Ofcom never took any actions. When Press TV incited people to violence, When Iranian citizens were shown on Press TV confessing under duress, Ofcom never took any actions and Press TV continued unhindered. A slap on the wrist was the most Ofcom was prepared to do. Not once did Gilad Atzmon protest against Press TV slandering innocent citizens or parading Iranian victims of the regime making confessions under duress.

Ofcom finally had to act as a result of the persistence and courage of one man, Maziar Bahari, who had lodged a complaint against Press TV breaking the Ofcom rules. When Maziar Bahari was in prison in Iran, he was shown on Press TV as if he was conducting a normal interview in jail, making voluntary statements, while the Press TV presenter and cameramen knew full well a security agent, standing behind the curtain, was watching Maziar Bahari's every words and the "interview" was nothing more than forced confessions of a man under duress. Maziar Bahari's complaint went unheard by Ofcom for over two years, and at the end it wasn't even Bahari's complaint that struck Press TV off the Sky platform. Press TV did not bother to declare where its editorial was, whether in Tehran or in London. It did not matter where the editorial decisions were made, Press TV just had to declare it but Press TV chose to ignore this Ofcom request. Press TV also failed to pay a fine of £100,000 for broadcasting Maziar Bahari's interview from prison, otherwise it could have continued unhindered on Sky. Even after Ofcom had no choice but to strike Press TV off Sky, you could watch Press TV across 11 platforms, including Hotbird, internet and on your mobile phone. Hardly a comparison with actions against freedom of speech committed by the Iranian government. Useful idiot supporters of the Iranian government were mobilised everywhere to cry "Freedom of Speech! Freedom of Speech"; how utterly pathetic!

Finally Eutelsat surprised everyone and decided the jamming of its clients by the Iranian government was enough and decided to remove the IRIB channels and Press TV. The likes of Gilad Atzmon were furious, they just could not stay silent. Their concerns for "Europe Entering a Dark Age" and the erosion of freedom of speech touched the hearts of all tyrants everywhere. Gilad appeared on Press TV, not to play his saxophone of course for Jazz is not deemed very Islamic, but to defend press TV and the tyrannical regime of the Islamic Republic, this religious apartheid state.

Of course, the Iranian channels are back on Eutelsat's Hotbird again. We don't know what kind of a deal was made but they are nevertheless back. You can watch them on

Hotbird 13E
12015 
27500 H

But its best for Gilad Atzmon and his kind to keep quiet, after all such "devoted political artists" only become vocal when they are asked to do so by the repressive regimes.

Gilad Atzmon, this champion of the oppressed and this defender of political speech also refuses to meet me. Despite having asked to meet up with him for a coffee on several occasions, he chooses to ignore me. After all why listen to all sides of the story and then make up your mind?! Lets play the saxophone where there is more cheese and wine!






Friday, December 07, 2012

Ehsan Naraghi on Iran’s Clerics

Ehsan Naraghi, who died earlier this week at the age of 86, could trace his ancestry to prominent Iranian Shia clerics in the Qajar era.

His great grandfather, Molla Ahmad Naraghi was an influential cleric   during the reign of the Qajar King, Fathali Shah, who issued a fatwa for Jihad against the Tsarist Russian troops. Like many descendants of the clerics, Ehsan Naraghi too became one of the intellectuals of the Pahlavi era.

After studying law in Tehran university, his father sent him to Switzerland where he got a degree in Sociology from university of Geneva and won a scholarship to study for his PHD in Sorbonne university. During his student years, like many of the Iranian students who were sent to Europe in those years, he first developed Left wing tendencies and became a supporter of  the Tudeh Party, Iran’s Soviet puppet Communist Party.

His Communist tendencies didn’t stop him from marrying into money. He married the daughter of one of Shiraz’s biggest landlord feudals.

During the oil nationalisation movement of the 1950s, Naraghi developed strong ties with Ayatollah Kashani who was also related to him, [Ayatollah Kashani was his father’s nephew]. Ayatollah Kashani and his mob were instrumental in the overthrow of  Mossadeq after the US/UK coup to topple Mossadeq failed.

Naraghi was also related to the former Empress Farah and during the peak of the Shah’s rule, through his family connections with the Empress, Naraghi got his foot in the Imperial Court  as an advisor to both King and the Queen. The Imperial Court saw him as a useful person in countering the growing Left wing tendencies of the Iranian youth at the time.

Naraghi was appointed as the head of Institute of Social Research and Studies, the Office of Youth (part of UNESCO) and Head of the Institute of Research and Scientific Education Programming.

Some of the people who trained under him, like Abolhassan Bani Sadr, Sadegh Ghotbzadeh and Hassan Habibi, became important figures of the 1979 Islamic revolution.

After the 1979 revolution, he was imprisoned on three occasions. In one of his interviews I saw him mention himself that he was released after Ali Khamenei, the president of the Islamic Republic at the time, requested his release by writing a letter to Lajevardi, the butcher of Evin prison. How Ali Khamenei decided to release this former advisor of the Imperial Court, when teenage supporters of dissident groups were being executed at the time for handing out hand bills is a mystery to me. After this, he travelled freely back and forward to Iran. Those who disliked Naraghi described him as a man on a mission to make Islamic Republic look acceptable to the rest of the world.

Naraghi was a master of compromise and openly advocated compromise. He abhorred revolution saying “Revolution is an illusion and a damaging act, you never know who you are bringing to power” and openly boasted “I can work and survive with any regime”.

Nothing about Ehsan Naraghi was appealing to me, neither his background and upbringing, nor his 180 degrees turn arounds, nor his intellectual status and nor his advocacy of compromise, but more than his books and more than his research, I will remember him for what he is caught saying on this video:

Don’t be tricked by the clerics, the lowest form of man in the 20th century are the Shiite clerics, they will tell you all sorts of lies

And at another point when the person off the camera criticises the mixing of politics and religion and states how impossible it is for someone to be a politician and at the same time claim to 'represent God on earth', Naraghi interrupts in his usual brash manner and says
“One must fuck the mother and sister of that God who has appointed such a person as His representative on earth”

After all, because of his background and family connections, Ehsan Naraghi knew the clerics inside out and probably knew what an Iranian cleric is all about!