Khark Islanders at Ahmadinejad - You are a Liar

This Youtube footage of Ahmadinejad in Khark island, in some ways reminds me of the famous Ceausescu balcony speech where the crowd, against all expectations, turned against him.

It starts off with a woman crying out that so much wealth comes from the island yet there is nothing there for the people. The people are kept behind the fence like animals with Ahamdinejad surrounded by his bodyguards on the other side and when he rants on about his usual empty slogans, the people shout back 'Liar, Liar'.

Ahmadinejad then tries to calm down the crowds and says 'I guarantee that the governor as my representative will personally come to the island, sit down with each one of you individually and you can tell him about all your problems' - imagine how long that would take! - But again the people start shouting, 'Its a lie, its a lie'.

Some in the crowd remind him of all the promises in the past, Ahmadinejad replies the 'Past is in the past' and people still jeer him. Ahmadinejad then asks the crowd, 'So shall I go then?' This then brings a smile on the face of the crowd who reply 'yes go! go!'

And notice no one blames the sanctions :))

Honarbin's Speech at SOAS on Youtube by Adrian Cousins

Came across this footage of Mehri Honarbin's speech at SOAS on Youtube. The video is posted by someone called Adrian Cousins.

What interested me was, Adrian Cousins claims in this youtube video info, that the protetsters to Mehri Honarbin's speech were Iranian monarchists. How typical of the loony laa dee daa Lefties in UK who just accuse and do not want to find out the truth, talk or listen.

The young Iranian thrown out of the meeting to Baroness Haleh Afshar OBE's much enthusiasm, hysterical laughter and clapping is an Iranian dissident student who has spent time in Islamic Republic jails. He has been a refugee for many years, and has suffered intolerable and inhumane conditions in refugee camps and hideouts in Turkey and he is still under the threat of deportation by the UK authorities. He is also an ardent Mossadegh supporter.

Yet the Iranian pampered aristocrat, Haleh Afshar, who comes from a family background connected to the imperial court of the late Shah, is this laa dee daa Lefty's anti-imperialist icon!!

Well it wasn't hard to find out who this Adrian Cousins was. Click on his link at Youtube takes you to this site: http://www.youtube.com/user/adycousins where it shows he is a techie/designer who has read loads of books by Marx, Lenin, Engels and Trotsky and the rest of them who have influenced him greatly in the comfort of his armchair and of course he is a Socialist Workers Party member. A further click takes you to his own website which reveals his email: ady@mfaw.org.uk and his phone number: 0044 777 9628863

So I decided to call Adrian Cousins and see if he wants to listen to some facts. A kind of Mr. Bean voice answered as Adrian Cousins. As soon as I told him what I wished to talk to him about however, he put the phone down. In case the phone got cut off unwittingly, I called him again, and the Mr. Bean voice answered again 'I don't wish to speak to you'

Fine, I write about your ignorance on my blog then, Mr Cousins. How things are confused and twisted in this world, some techie/designer who is scared to debate thinks he is the hero of the working class and the oppressed people of the world, with his anti-imperialist icon as Baroness Haleh Afshar OBE
and poor Arash Mohajernejad, the real victim of imperialism is thrown out of the lecture hall while the bourgeois Left clap their hands and shout 'Out, out' in front of the Islamic Republic TV cameras!

Latest on May Day Arrests in Iran

More than 100 Iranian workers and trade unionists are now reported to have been arrested and sent to section 204 of the Evin prison by the repressive forces of the Islamic Republic, after attempting to hold rallies on 1St of May, marking Worker's Day in Iran.

Most of the workers arrested were denied food for the first 24 hours after their arrest.
Below are the names of more than 50 of those arrested, many of them women, at Laleh Park gathering which was smashed up before it even began.

Jafar Azimzadeh, Yunes Arzhang, Maryam Hosseini, Laleh Mohammadi, Sharifeh Mohammadi, Afsaneh Azimzadeh, Fatemeh Eghdami, Fatemeh Shah Nazari, Mohammad Lotfi, Massoud Loghman, A Saghafi, M Saghafi, Saeed Yoozi, Gholamreza Khani, Mansour Gheibi, Behnaz Farmanbar, Parvaneh Ghassemian, Behrooz Khabbaz, Jafar Nezhad, Amir Yaghoubali, Kaveh Mozafari, Jelveh Javaheri, Farhad Pour, Alireza Firoozi, Pouria Peeshtaz, Taha VAlizadeh, Homa Azhdarnia, Hamid Khademi, Einollah NAssiri, Omid Shafii, Owzhan PoorShariati, Mehran Yazdi, Meitham Jaafar Nezhad, Navid Yazdi, Gholamhussein Rajabi, Sajjad Sabzali-pour, Nassrin Alizadeh, Isan Zarfam, Khoshbakht,m Shapour Ehsanifar, Ahmad Davoodi, Mehdi Salimi, Behnam Ibrahimi, Mohammad Ehsani, Behram Abedini, Nikzad Zanganeh, Assadollah Pour Farhad, Sharifi, Zanyar Ahmadi, Hamid Malekzadeh, Maryam Yaminifar, Hossein MirBahari, Mehdi Amizesh, MAhmood Hosseini

For the sake of each of the above workers who remain imprisoned, wherever you see an Islamic Republic promoting apologist from Socialist Workers [read Wankers as I never see any workers in their ranks] Party, smash them up, roll up their rags and stuff it down their throats.

Zero Oil Income within 8 Years

Dr. Massoud Derakhshan is a prominent Iranian economist, previously the chief of the Centre for Oil Ministry’s International Studies in London, founder of the Economics faculty at Imam Sadegh university and former Oxford university lecturer.

Speaking at the Institute of Religion and Economics, he criticised the secretive nature of oil contracts in the Islamic Republic.

'the information about discovery of new oil resources; production and development of the oil fields etc. must be made available to the Iranian public who are the real owners of this resource.
Even if we assume that the government, as the representative of the people, should be trusted in supervising this information by itself, nevertheless the legislative and the judiciary should be in a position to closely scrutinise these contracts'

Derakhshan reminded his audience that before the revolution, all oil contracts had to be passed by the Majlis and experts in the field, including the media and the public had access to the information. After the revolution however, the community of experts and the media have been deprived of contributing useful comments and suggestions in this field.

Derakhshan said according to the information that was available to him and the studies he has carried out for some "friends", it shows that within 20 years Iran's crude oil exports income will be reduced to zero. He said this conclusion was reached on an optimistic basis that all the predicted plans for expanding oil fields and further excavation will be carried out successfully, otherwise the timescale for Iran’s total loss of oil income can be as early as 8 years.

He criticised the buyback deals with foreign companies carried out in the recent years, saying serious mistakes in drawing up these contracts were made and these mistakes were made partly due to the secretive nature of the deals which prevented experts from reviewing or making any input into them.

What do Iranian People Want?

What do Iranian people want? If you listen to someone like Ali Ansari, the director of the Islamic Republic funded Iranian Institute at University of St. Andrews, he seems to think the Iranian people are most concerned about the threat of the US neo-cons and hawks. If Ahmadinejad became president, according to Ansari, it was the Iranian public's reaction to the threatening policies of the hawks and neo-cons.

If you go along to meetings organised by the Islamic Republic funded CASMII group, then you would hear them claim what Iranian people want more than anything else is to get rid of sanctions. All of Iran's socio-economic and political problems are due to sanctions according to CASMII, and nothing to do with the plunder of Iran by a greedy and powerful clerical oligarchy.

If you talk to a journalist who has been to Iran, they will base their claim on a couple of interviews they carried out with some suspicious passer by, who was aware of the possible consequences of his words, and then anecdotes become a scientific poll. Like when Simon Tisdall claimed Ahmadinejad's popularity had soared to 70% after having interviewed Ahmadinejad's class mate :)

If you talk to a disgruntled Iranian exile, he or she will surely give you yet another view. The truth is what the above will claim is never a true representation of what the Iranian people want, it is an expression of what their own agenda is which they then try to present as what the Iranian population wants.

A more realistic study of listing what people in Iran really want however is actually to follow the presidential campaigns of Karrubi and Moussavi Khamenei.

If we consider the three main candidates for presidency, who will not be disqualified next week by the Guardian Council, to be Ahmadinejad, Mir Hossein Moussavi Khamenei and Mehdi Karrubi, [Mohsen Rezaii only came on board yestrday] then there is a lot we can learn from their promises to the people and what people demand from them in the meetings. More so with Mir Hossein Moussavi Khamenei and Mehdi Karrubi, since Ahamdinejad sees his chances of winning more in handing out freebies in election rallies, sudden pay rises for government workers and pensioners and of course the help of the Baseej, armed forces and the interior ministry which will do their best to manipulate the votes in his favour.

The other two however are going out of their way to appeal to the public and prevent a boycott of the elections. It is likely that around half of the eligible voters will decide to boycott an election which only allows approved candidates to stand and still cheats in the ballot boxes.

So lets look at the promises made by Karrubi and Mir Hossein Moussavi Khameneii and deduce what the Iranian people want and what their priorities will be. By no means am I saying that these two candidates will deliver on their promises, if they became the president, I am just saying to appeal to the Iranian public, below is a short list of what they have been promising to the public and it is a better gauge for what people in Iran want:

1) Improving the mis-managed economic situation and more accountability in state financial expenditure
2) More personal freedom for the youth and tolerance of the dissident civil and student movement
3) An end to morality patrols
4) An end to the widespread corruption at the very top.
5) Better relations with the rest of the world and getting back into the mainstream world rather than being allies of Sudan, North Korea, Syria etc.
6) An end to Guardian Council vetoing of election candidates
7) Enough of promoting Palestinian issues before Iranian interests

From what is said at the election rallies and interviews, one can also clearly see the red boundaries, that the candidates will not cross or even dare suggest that it is within the scope of a president's choices in Iran, these are for example nuclear energy and restoring relations with the United States.

With regards to restoring relations with the US for example, Mir Hossein Moussavi Khamaneii, in his interview with Timesonline, hints at his wish to talk to Obama, but also clearly spells out
' it is not up to the president to take strategic foreign policy decisions, which under Iran’s constitution are decided by the national security council'.

At the end of the day, no matter who becomes the next Iranian president and how they become the next president, the promises made on the above list, will remain promises just as we have seen in the past. To achieve the above promises and deliver what the Iranian people want, what is needed is to dismantle the theocracy and the rule by the clergy and move towards a democratic and secular state.

Press TV Clip of the Campaign Iran Meeting at SOAS

Here is the Press TV clip about the meeting at SOAS :

Press TV Clip

mms://217.218.67.244/presstv/20090428/OUTPUT_21-00-00-SNG-UZMA-LONDON.wmv

covered in the previous post.

See how the Islamic Republic funded television uses these meetings for its propaganda purposes?

Notice also Jon Snow, the arch 'useful idiot', and how he equates the greatness of the Iranian nation and its long history with that of the present ruling regime in Iran?

Still have any doubts that CASMII is funded and used by the Islamic Republic?

Obama and Iran by Campaign Iran

Went along to a public meeting at SOAS tonight organised by Campaign Iran. The speakers were :

Jon Snow former Trotskyst and current Channel 4 News reader, Mehri Honarbin-Holliday, leading member of Campaign Iran, Ali Fathollah-Nejad, CASMII 'Political Scientist' and councillor and John Rees from Stop the War Coalition.

The meeting was chaired by none other than the silver spoon fed Iranian born aristocrat ex-public school girl, turned Marxist-Leninist, turned Shiite Muslim feminist and now referred to as People's Peer in the House of Lords, Haleh Afshar.

If you have been to any of these CASMII or Campaign Iran or any similar meetings with Haleh Afshar, the script by the speakers is quite predictable and it is along these lines:
The Islamic Republic is a victim state of American arrogance, imperialism and sanctions and if only the West found a way to accept and come to terms with the Islamic revolution and guaranteed the security of the Islamic Republic then everything would be honky dory, all will live in peace and prosperity, no one will pay taxes and all will live happily ever after.

So according to the script, Ali Fathollahi-Nejad spoke first about his version of US
history of arrogance towards the Islamic Republic and how the US should come to terms with the Islamic Republic and that although there are some optimistic signs in the Obama administration, the Neo-con elements are still at large and are hampering the efforts to normalise relations between US and the Islamic Republic.

Most preposterous speech however was by Mehri Honarbin-Holliday. She went through all the malaise in the current Iranian economy and claimed to have spoken to representative samples of all layers of the Iranian society during her regular trips to Iran. From the wealthy Bazaaris, to the unemployed workers, the teachers, student activists, private sector businessmen, state owned enterprise managers and all had suggested everything bad in the economy was due to the US sanctions!! No mention of widespread nepotism in delegating illiterate managers, complete mismanagement of the economy, corruption, unaccountability, complete squandering of the $270 Billion Petro-Dollars or any of the things the current candidates for presidency like Mir Hossein Moussavi or Karrubi are bringing up to appeal to the public but no according to this woman, all our problems were due to US sanctions! and we had to believe her extensive sampling of opinions in Iran.

Jon Rees went on about how the Shah was a puppet of the US imperialism and how the Islamic revolution in 1979 shattered the US hegemony in the region etc. I wonder if he has ever changed the tape in his tape recorder, although there was one thing in his speech that I had not heard before. Rees said, Islamic Republic is not intrinsically anti-Imperialist by nature, but it is forced into that corner and if the US reached some deal with Iran, then Islamic Republic would no longer be anti-imperialist. This made me think, if being anti-imperialist is such a good thing to these people why do they want to campaign for some deal to be reached which would stop Islamic Republic from becoming their anti-imperialist icon?!

Finally Jon Snow arrived late and as pompous as usual, started feeding the audience with some half truth and some complete crap. And just as usual he was full of himself, either implicitly or explicitly. For example did you know that the UK sailors were released because he managed to stage a live interview in Farsi with Ali Larijani? :))

Extrapolating on the same warped logic of how talking to the Islamic Republic officials and treating them with respect opens doors and overcomes problems, Snow mentioned how during the US embassy hostage crisis he was in Iran and how the Islamic Republic foreign minister at the time, Sadegh Ghotbzadeh, had appealed through Snow to the Americans to negotiate through him for the release of the hostages but his appeal had fallen on US deaf ears, 444 days later however, the Americans had come to their senses and negotiations through Algerians had finally led to the release of the hostages.

Little did the unknowing audience know that When hostages were first taken, Ibrahim Yazdi of Mehdi Bazargan's provisional government was the foreign minister. Any one who has read about the US hostage crisis will know that the Carter administration made every effort to negotiate through Yazdi but when Ayatollah Khomeini endorsed the hostage taking on state TV, the entire provisional government resigned. Sadegh Ghotbzadeh who was until then, the head of the state controlled TV became the foreign minister but was executed shortly after. Only Jon Snow can tell us what negotiating through Sadegh Ghotbzadeh would have achieved? The entire operation was a planned coup by the hardline clerics to hijack the revolution and monopolise the power.

Anyone who knows anything about the hostage crisis also knows that the US hostages were finally released not because the US eventually decided to sit and talk to the mullahs through the Algerians but on the contrary the Islamic regime was worried that the new US president will take a harsher approach than the Carter administration, and after all, the objectives of the operation by then had been achieved and the hostages had passed their sell by date and were in fact becoming a liability.

I tried to ask a question after Ali Fathollah-Nejad's speech, my question was that given the fact that every US administration had tried to approach the Islamic Republic, was it not the hardliners in Iran who were blocking the normalisation of relationships and therefore should their campaign not be aimed at the hardliners in Iran? But to an audience who had heard so much crap about the Islamic Republic being the victim of US arrogance, I had to first give examples of how so many approaches were made in the past by successive US administrations, but the chair, Haleh Afshar did not give me the chance to ask my question and quickly cut me short saying I was making a statement and not asking a question.

We were used to such tactics by these people, similar thing had happened at a previous SWP meeting in Hackney when we were given no chance to ask questions at all on that occasion.

Before the meeting we handed out a leaflet based on my previous post on Haleh Afshar and our heckling got us enough attention that prompted many people to come up and talk to us outside the hall. So we had some effect, most people who spoke to us outside realised and understood what our message was and all in all it was better that we turned up and the CASMII and Haleh Afshar bullshit did not go unchallenged.

The Blunder with Israeli Orange Handouts

Following the hand out of cash in envelopes to journalists and free potato handouts to potential voters by Ahmadinejad's election camp, the efforts to buy votes with more hand outs was intensified to help re-elect Ahmadinejad.

In another freebies for votes stunt, Ahmadinejad's camp announced free orange handouts to people when he was due to hold an election rally in the poor district of Islamshahr. Of course the stunt worked and as predicted, large throngs who would not miss the opportunity of getting fresh juicy oranges for free, turned up. There was however one problem. The oranges were Israeli oranges with obvious 'Jaffa' labels still on them!

So shortly after President Ahmadinejad using the platform handed to him on a plate by the UN summit to recruit extremist and militant minds in the Middle East, the self styled champion of the oppressed Palestinian people was handing out Israeli oranges for the rent a crowd mob.

Who could have written a funnier script than that?

'Conqueror of Geneva'

President Ahmadinejad returned to the well rehearsed welcome of his organised supporters as a hero. Hardliner news website, Raja News, declared him as the 'Conqueror of Geneva' and Hojjat-ol-Islam Ghassem Ravanbakhsh, the political editor of the Parto weekly claimed the 'Epic of Columbia was Repeated in Geneva'.

Presidential candidates, Mir Hossein Moussavi-Khamenei and Mehdi Karrubi however didn't see it as an epic or conquering Geneva, instead they said Ahmadinejad should have thought about the plots by our enemies and not have given them the opportunity to humiliate us. Interestingly each gave examples of how they consulted Ayatollah Khomenei, when there were similar opportunities to speak at UN in the past and how Ayatollah Khomeini prevented them from doing so by predicting that the world powers would exploit the occasion and make a public show against the Islamic Republic.

Another presidential candidate, lesser known in the West, Akbar Alami, war veteran and former disqualified MP from my birth place, who will undoubtedly get disqualified from standing as a presidential candidate, was more blunt and said more or less what I said in my previous post, that Ahmadinejad should become the president of Palestine.

What is evident however is that all candidates have sensed the public mood, i.e. enough of sticking up for Palestine, its time we stood up for our own national interests.

Ahmadinejad at the UN Racism Summit

What would an Iranian expect an Iranian president to do? I would say the most natural thing to expect is for an Iranian president to represent the Iranian people and stand up for their rights. At a UN Racism Summit, an Iranian president perhaps should highlight the case of the Talysh people in the falsely referred to Republic of Azerbijan, an ethnic Iranian people who are subjugated to brutal repressive racist discrimination by the Turkish Chauvinist Aliyev clan.

Perhaps an Iranian would expect an Iranian president at such a summit to proudly say how Iran, ever since the time of Cyrus the Great, abhorred racism and Iran has always been a place where different races have flourished together side by side.

Yet I watched Ahmadinejad do his usual babble about Palestine and I wondered would it not be more suitable if this guy became the President of Palestine? The Palestinians would probably be more happy and Ahmadinejad himself would be more happy and wouldn't need to hand out free potato sacks and cash handouts in his election meetings to buy voters. Iranians would be more happy too. It would be a win win situation and all would be happy if Ahmadinejad became the president of Palestine.

So far you probably expect me to say these things, but did the representatives of those countries who walked out during Ahmadinejad's speech do the right thing? Actually I don't think so. By walking out they allowed Ahmadinejad to babble on without being challenged and they allowed him to become the champion of the Arabs. For example imagine if a representative of one of those countries that walked out, stood up to Ahmadinejad's wolf cries for Gaza and reminded everyone that five times more Iranians were killed in the two months during the 1988 massacre of Iranian political prisoners by the Islamic Republic than were killed by the recent conflict in Gaza.

Or one of them who walked out could have asked if Israel is such a racist genocidal regime, why did the Islamic Republic buy arms from Israel during the Irangate affair?

Still, the president of Israel's reaction and statement was even worse than all of the above. This is what Peres said:
"It is hard to fathom why despots such as Hitler the Nazi, Stalin the Bolshevik and Ahmadinejad the Persian chose the Jews as the main target for their hatred, their madness and their violence,"

Where does Perez get his advisors from?! Nazism is an ideology Hitler can be attributed to, Bolshevism is an ideology Stalin can be attributed to. When did Persian become an ideology?!! How is Persian put next to Nazism and Bolshevism? When did Ahmadinejad become a Persian?!
Perez could not have given Ahmadinejad a better weapon to turn the Iranian people against Israel.

Ahmadinejad's Prayers for Rain

The following is a translation of a news report by the ultra conservative Kayhan, printed in Tehran, after Ahmadinejad's trip to Isfahan.

'Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, at the end of his speech amongst the enthusiastic people of Isfahan at Imam Khomeini Square, held his hands up to pray and asked the Almighty for rain.

According to our reporter, from Wednesday evening [immediately after Ahmadi-Nejad's prayers], rain and the mercy of the Almighty has started across Isfahan, so much so that the intensity of rain and hail, especially on Thursday, at times reached such a climax that caused several locations in the city to be flooded'

Perhaps the Almighty may similarly answer Dr. Ahmadi-Nejad's prayers for votes.

Nokia and Siemens Sell Spy Systems to Islamic Republic

How often have you come across a 'useful idiot' who cries out against sanctions against the Islamic Republic? Just mention the word sanctions and the useful idiot suddenly overcomes with all kinds of emotions for the people of Iran and how the poor Iranians would suffer as a result of sanctions! As if just living under a theocracy riddled with corruption and nepotism and injustice, isn't enough suffering for the Iranians.

I remember similar arguments used when there was Apartheid in South Africa. The people of South Africa were calling for sanctions against Apartheid, while the 'useful idiots' advocating against sanctions were making out they were speaking on behalf of the suffering masses there.

Of course there can be different kinds of sanctions, some useless and some harmful but perhaps someone can tell me what is wrong with asking sanctions against companies that sell spying systems to the Islamic Republic that leads to the arrest of pro-democracy activists?
See: http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/13/europe39s-telecoms-aid-with-spy-tech/

And talking about 'useful idiots', looks like they are all getting together at SOAS again on 27th April between 7 - 9 to express their concerns about the 'well being' of the Iranian people. All the usual gang will be there, Jon Snow, CASMII morons like Mehri Honarbin-Holliday and of course the 'People's Baroness', the 'Prominent Iranian Academic', Haleh Afshar! the silver spoon pampered Iranian aristocrat turned Marxist revolutionary turned Shiite Muslim Feminist!

Karrubi and the Morality Patrols

Controversies follow after Moussavi's claims to abolish the much hated Morality Patrols if he becomes the next president of the Islamic Republic. Former Khatami deputy, Mohammad Ali Abtahi, criticised Moussavi for making such unrealistic claims by emphasising that the Morality Patrols are not under the jurisdiction of the Islamic Republic president and nothing could be done against them during Khatami's time either. Abtahi also gave examples of Ahmadinejad's claims/lies before becoming president that his government will not be concerned with the population's personal choices of hair styles and clothing etc. and these empty promises will only make the Iranian population more despondent and discouraged towards the establishment.
See: http://azarmehr.blogspot.com/2008/03/life-in-islamic-republic-again.html

Now Karrubi speaking at Zanjan university tried to put a different spin on the subject of Morality Patrols. Karrubi claimed if he becomes the next president, the Morality Patrols will themselves cease their function and it won't even be necessary for him to do or say anything :)))

If only the clerics realised how popular they would be and how much money they would make
by becoming stand up comdians instead. It would be better for everyone.

One thing is for certain, to say the Morality Patrols are unpopular is a big big understatement.

Anniversary of Islamic Republic Referendum

First of April was the anniversary of the Islamic Republic referendum day, when Islamic Republic became a reality. Coincidentally it was one day before the 13th day after the Iranian New Year, which traditionally is marked as the unluckiest day of the Iranian calendar. So in between April Fools Day and the unluckiest day of the Iranian calendar, millions of Iranians, 30 years ago condemned the next generation of Iranians to a miserable life under a backward theocracy.

It was a strange day, the euphoria was bewildering and when you asked people, what exactly was the Islamic Republic? They all gave different answers. The truth is, no one knew and worse still no one asked, they just imagined it as how they wanted things to be. It was a generation that didn't think and didn't ask questions but followed the rest of the flock like sheep.

I remember sitting on the park bench with one of my class mates, who had voted for the Islamic Republic in the referendum, we were arguing whether it was the right thing to do or not. I was arguing that he didn't have a clue what he voted for and he was trying to justify his action, when all of a sudden he admitted that he had two reservations when he voted. He said 'I just have two reservations, I like fast music, I wonder if in the Islamic Republic I will be allowed to listen to what I like, and I wonder if boys and girls can have a more civilised open relationship with each other?' Thats how much he knew about the Islamic Republic :))
I am still in touch with my friend. He works in Dubai and from time to time, I remind him of that moment, mimicking his stupidity and we both crack up with laughter.

On the 30th anniversary of the referendum, I was asking myself how would Iranian people vote today? Now that they have no illusions as to what the Islamic Republic is about, what would be the outcome of such referendum? Interestingly Mehdi Khazali, son of the hardliner Ayatollah Khazali, member of the Guardian Council, has put up a poll on his website. The poll asks for those who were not around thirty years ago to vote in the referendum, Islamic Republic, Yes or No?

As of today when I looked at the results, 3050 people had taken part in his poll. 2951 people have voted No and 99 have voted Yes. So 96.8% No votes and 3.2% Yes! Almost the reverse of the results 30 years ago.

So a warning to those who want to appease the Islamic Republic, you are actually opposing 96.8% of the Iranian population.

Mir Hossein Moussavi's Latest Press Conference

Mir Hossein Moussavi's chances of becoming the next president of the Islamic Republic is becoming more and more a possibility. For the first time, during his Iranian New Year speech, the Supreme Leader, distanced himself from giving unconditional support to Ahmadinejad by saying 'I back the government when I feel it is being unfairly criticised, this is sometimes wrongly interpretted that I back a specific person or tell people who to vote for'.

Of course those who follow Iran related news will take such claims by the Supreme Leader with a pinch of salt, knowing how the Supreme Leader explicitly advocated Nateq Nouri or how his office specifically commanded the Baseej units to make votes for Ahmadinejad in the past. It is a sign however that may be even the Supreme Leader is now convinced that the Islamic Republic needs someone other than Ahmadinejad in order to survive.

Nevertheless Moussavi, so far, seems to be engaged in skillful maneuvering through an impossible task of wooing the youth participation, who want change, without rocking the boats of the untouchable centres of real power within the Islamic Republic. He is avoiding the term, eslahtalab [reformist] by calling himself eslahgara [reformer] who looks to the fundamentals.
Thus trying to please the hardliners known as 'principalists' - or fundamentalists - as well as giving hints to the larger population that he will not be as austere as the fundamentalists who have made the lives of ordinary Iranians like hell.

Undoubtedly there will be more occasions in the future to write about Moussavi. However for now, just one point about his pledge during yesterday's press conference to abolish the Ershad [Guidance/Morality] Patrols, responsible for daily harassment of ordinary Iranian citizens for their personal choices in how they dress, what music they listen to etc.

Anyone who knows anything about who runs what in the Islamic Republic will be able to call Moussavi's bluff as the Morality Patrols are under direct command of the Supreme Leader and the president does not have the power to touch them.

Lets not forget how Ahmadinejad criticised these unpopular harassments before he became the president:
http://azarmehr.blogspot.com/2008/03/life-in-islamic-republic-again.html

It would be unfair to expect Iranian journalists to raise such points but the foreign journalists who attend these press conferences, should do their homework before, and have the courage to expose such bluffs.

Not related to this post, but interesting old footage of Ayatollah Khomeini giving his unconditional support to Moussavi when he was the Prime Minister in the 80s, after five ministers in Moussavi's cabinet had resigned. Supreme Leader, then President of the Islamic Republic, is seen sitting next to Moussavi:

Brainwashing at Iranian Schools

This is a typical memo sent to Baseej units at schools telling them what they should do and how pupils are forced to engage in pointless time wasting exercises.

Salavat is a chant, Shiite Muslims shout when the name of the Prophet is mentioned or when they want to show approval of something said. Hand clapping and whistling are frowned upon as Western traits and Salavat instead is encouraged. Salavat is a chant in Arabic which hails the prophet and all his family.

The memo is from 'Academic and Student Baseej' to the District 19 units and this is what it says:
'With Salavat to Mohammad (PBUH) and his family. With reference to the enclosed Salavat form for bringing closer the reappearance of the Lord of All Ages the saviour, it is of note for the commanders of all units to send in the names of the enrolled pupils and how many times they have chanted Salavat until this closing date..
Pupils who have chanted the most will be enetered in a prize draw and will receive prizes.
Attention! to receive the Salavat form refer to the Sisters Baseej units.'

Surely there are better things the Iranian pupils could engage their valueable time with.

Why is the US President Bowing to the Saudi King?

Watch this Youtube film footage below. About 53 seconds into the footage, you see the President of the United States of America, Barak Hussein Obama, bowing to the Saudi King, one of the major sponsors of Madressahs where children become brainwashed and radicalized. Is this some new US protocol?




On a different humourous note, I came across this comment posted on Mehdi Khazali's website:

حضرت امام صادق (ع) فرمود: پدرم فرموند: «پيش از ظهور منجي، مردي قدبلند و سياه در مغرب زمين به حکومت مي‌رسد که نشانه‌اي آشکار از جدم ابا عبدالله با اوست. لشگر او قويترين لشکر روي زمين است و اين لشگر سرزمين کربلا را به تصرف در مي‌آورد تا زمينه ظهور منجي را آماده سازد. ا>ˆ خون مدعيان دروغين جانشيني جدم اميرالمومنين را در نجف و قم به زمين مي‌ريزد و نائبان دروغين مهدي را رسوا مي‌سازد. او پس از تسلط بر کربلا و نجف به سوي ري تاخته و حاکم يک دست ری را که خود را به دروغ به ما منتسب مي‌کند و بوزينه‌ای زشت رو را در بر دارد نابود خواهد کرد. در آن زمان شيعيان ما نبايد شک کنند که اوباماست» ( بحار الانوار - جلد سیزدهم - باب سی ام ) . " الهم عجل لولیک الفرج

It claims to be a quote from Imam Ja'afar Sadeq, the sixth Shiite Imam who revived Shiism Islam, the brand of Shiite sect which is the official religion of Iran is named after him as Ja'afari Shiism after his contributions to revive the sect, and the quote translates to this:

'Before the appearance of the saviour, a tall dark skinned man will come to govern in the West, who has an obvious resemblance to my grand father Aba Abdallah [ Another name for Imam Hussein]. His army is the strongest army on earth, and this army will conquer Karbala to prepare for the coming of the Saviour. He will shed the blood of the false pretenders to the succession of my grandfather Imam Ali in Najaf and in Qom [holiest Shiite cities in Iraq and in Iran], and will dishonour the false representatives of Saviour Mahdi. After conquering Karbala and Najaf, he will head towards Ray, [Near Tehran], and he will destroy the one arm Governor [Supreme Leader's right arm has been disabled since the failed assassination attempt on him by the MeK], who falsely associates himself with us and who has an ugly monkey [Children's live program in Iran went off the air after a child inadvertently said his dad called his toy monkey Ahmadinejad], in front of him. When the moment comes, the Shiites must have no doubt that he is with us'.

Have to tell the English speaking readers that in Persian, 'he is with us' reads 'is Obama'. So the quote finishes in this way ' When the moment comes, the Shiites must have no doubt he is Obama' :))

I have no means to reference the source of the quote, and most probably it is made up, just thought it was hilarious.

Ahmadinejad's Jinx Continues

When president Ahamdinejad turned up at a wrestling tournament last month, it was widely expected that the Iranian team would easily win. Presumably Ahmadinejad had planned to ride on the euphoria of the crowd who would have become rapturous after victory, by claiming some of the frenzy was due to his presence. In fact against all expectations the Iranian wrestling team lost.



Next such opportunity for Ahmadinejad was to turn up at the world cup qualifying match between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Again the expectation was that Iran would easily defeat Saudi Arabia on the home ground. Ahmadinejad is known for his love of the game and rarely misses a photo opportunity with Iran's football players. Surely the football fans would share some of their enthusiasm with his presence at the stadium and he would take some credit from that for his popularity.

Yet this is how the events unfolded according to the Iranian website

'The president turned up at the stadium 30 minutes after the game had started. Loud speakers announced his entry and welcomed him, but the 100,000 crowd remained silent as if they were in a shock.

Another attempt to get the crowds on their feet was made at half time. While the players were in the changing rooms, the loud speaker at the stadium twice asked the crowds, to hoist and wave the flags and cheer loudly for the national team in the presence of 'our beloved president'. Again no reaction! The crowds remained silent. Prior to Ahmadinejad turning up, the crowd were ecstatic in their support of the national team. It was obvious that the request by the loud speaker was a naive attempt at soliciting the crowd's support for Ahmadinejad but they were not falling for it.

When Iran lost against all expectations in the last ten minutes, silence turned into anger, the crowd started jeering at the regime's pet coach, Ali Daii, at Ahamadinejad himself and at the regime in general and the LEF had to move in to control and push back the crowd.

The cartoon shown here, depicts Ali Daii, who was removed as the national coach after Iran's defeat, saying 'I think the president's presence raised the spirits of the other team'.

What Better Way to Celeberate Nowruz?

What better way to celebrate Nowruz? with the Haft-Sin decorations right next to the tomb of Cyrus the Great, the father of our nation and then throwing flowers at his tomb.

Now I am really feeling home sick!

Happy Nowrooz

They can't take away our happiness, they can't take away our hopes and they will never be able to take away our national day, Nowruz.

Happy Nowruz to all those who stand up to injustice and all those who cherish freedom.

Omid Mir Sayafi, Another Death at Evin

So soon after the death of political prisoner, Amir Heshmat Saran, another prisoner and blogger, Omid Mir Sayafi died earlier today in the notorious Evin prison. Omid Mir Sayafi was given an overdose of tranqualisers which lowered his blood pressure to a critical level but despite this, he did not receive medical help and died.

Omid meaning hope in Persian, was not a political activist, his passion was music which was the subject of most of his posts.

He was sentenced to two and half years prison after he wrote a one off on his blog saying
'Mr. Khamenei love me as much as you love Sheikh Nasrollah's son'

Instead of celeberating the Iranian New Year Nowruz, our national day, Omid's family will now mourn the death of their son.

Support for Ojalan and Hammer and Sickles Under the Guise of Nowruz

The Mayor of London's office was really taken for a ride on Saturday. Not having done their homework as to what Nowruz is and what Nowruz is about, Saturday at Trafalgar Square became a day of political propaganda for PKK supporters waving pictures of Ojalan and Hammer and Sickle flags! Hook, Line and Sinker Mr. Mayor!

See photos:

Newruz is Turkish National Day and Islamic Republic Day is Iran's National Day!

If only Uncle Napoleon was alive and could see all these attempts by the British to destroy all our symbols of national identity.

Here is the Queen's message posted on the UK embassy's website in Tehran on the anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution:

'It gives me great pleasure to send the people of the Islamic Republic of Iran my warmest greetings on the celebration of your National Day, together with my best wishes for good fortune and happiness in the coming year.
Elizabeth R'

Which silly ass of a diplomat advised the Queen of England that the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution is the Iranian national day??

And yet the day which should be our national day, the day which has been celebrated by Iranians for thousands of years, the day which celebrates the first day of the spring, the rebirth of the nature and is beyond religious and political sectarianism, the day that marks the beginning of the Iranian New Year, Nowrooz, the New Day, according to the Mayor of London's office belongs first and foremost to the Turks!!

http://www.london.gov.uk/gla/events/mar-09.jsp
Newroz

Date: 14th, from 12pm - 6pmLocation: Trafalgar Square Summary: Event marking the traditional New Year festival celebrated by the Turkish and Kurdish communities and countries including Iran, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Albania, India, Turkey, Zanzibar and others across central Asia.

Ten Months and 30 Lashes for War Veteran

Etemad Meli daily printed in Iran, has reported a war veteran, Dr. Reza Jalali, as having been sentenced to 10 months in prison, 30 lashes and payment of a monetary penalty by the Gorgan court. Dr. Jalai was found guilty by the court for 'making illegal speeches' and 'insulting government officials' . He was previously rejected by the Guardian Council to stand as a candidate for the Islamic Assembly.

Dr. Jalali is a member of the university's scientific committee and served a total of 70 months in the fronts from the age of thirteen defending Iran against Saddam's invasion . He is also categorised as 70% wounded during the war. A hero of the war against Iraq who suffered Saddam's shrapnels now has to face the lashes of the Islamic Republic.

The plaintiff against him was the Gorgan governor, Major Ja'far Gorzin, who never served in the fronts himself but has been promoted for his servile conduct towards the Islamic Republic authorities.

More and more war veterans in Iran are standing up against the injustices and the monopoly of the power by the few in the Islamic Republic, for this is not what they fought for!

See the clip made for Dr. Reza Jalali:

In My Youngest Son's Motherland

It must be nice to be able to go to one's motherland and be close to one's roots. Here I am once again in the mighty Tatras, this time with my youngest son so he can see and appreciate where half of him comes from. The mighty Tatras, so rugged and so beautiful, looking proud and steadfast as ever.

It has been a pleasure coming to these mountains over the years and watch the people of this land gain their freedom from the yoke of Communism and totalitarianism. They seem to be more prosperous every year, and they deserve it. They are good honest hard working people.

And I wonder will there be enough time when I can go back with my boys to show them their fatherland. The Caspian Sea, Sahand and Sabalan mountains, the Alborz and Zagros mountains, the Persian Gulf and so much more.

Demo Outside BBC TV Studios

Iranian ex-pats today staged a demo outside the BBC TV studios in Wood Lane, London and protested against the lack of coverage of recent events at Tehran Polytechnic by the BBC correspondent in Tehran.

Demonstrators also stood at the main entrance gates of both buildings in Wood Lane and handed out leaflets shown below to the BBC employees as they went through the entrance gates to work.

Protesters also refused to leave unless their grievances with BBC coverage of Iran events was registered with the BBC News desk and the BBC Press Officer. At the end, the BBC agreed to allow one representative on behalf of the protesters to enter the building and register their criticisms of the BBC Iran coverage in a face to face meeting with a BBC representative.

Only then the protesters agreed to leave the area.

Leaflet handed outside the BBC Television studios:

Why we are Protesting Here

In the last week, there have been serious disturbances at Tehran Polytechnic. Hundreds of hired thugs and hoodlums as well as security forces have entered the university campus and clashed with Iran’s pro-democracy students. Nearly one hundred Iranian pro-democracy students from the Polytechnic have been arrested and sent to the notorious Evin prison. Twenty are in hospital as a result of their beatings and inflicted injuries and seven are in critical condition. More dissident students are hiding in the dormitories; the regime’s forces have surrounded the polytechnic but are not entering the dormitories as yet in fear of a recurrence of the student uprising in July 99 that spread to 19 Iranian cities.

Yet despite all this happening, the BBC correspondent in Iran has remained silent on the news preferring to report on safer subjects like Iranian women taxi drivers etc. While the plight of Iran’s real students is ignored by the BBC, whenever there is a government sponsored staged demo attacking foreign embassies, for example, the mob is referred to by the BBC as ‘Iranian students’, giving a totally wrong image of who Iran’s real students are to the viewers.

So much of the human rights abuse and the struggle of the Iranian people against the theocratic dictatorship is going unreported because the media correspondents fear expulsion from Iran and losing their comfortable posts.

As UK TV licence payers we demand better and more objective coverage of the protests and human rights abuses in the Islamic Republic of Iran by the BBC. This is vitally important especially now that the Islamic Republic funded Press TV is operating in UK and is brainwashing the English speaking Muslim audience with their misinformation party-line broadcasting.

Supporters of the Secular Pro-Democracy Movement in Iran

Reprimand for Yazd Governor

The governor of Yazd was severely reprimanded by the interior minister after he revealed the rent a crowd methods deployed to welcome president Ahmadinejad during his recent visit to Yazd.

Hundreds of buses were used to bring people free of charge to the centre of the town, as well as promises of free breakfast, lunch and dinner plus cash handouts. Soldiers from barracks were told to turn up in civilian clothing and even schools were closed and teachers and pupils told to turn up for Ahmadinejad's provincial tour to their town.

The written directive on how to organise a large turn out was revealed by the Yazd governor.

Latest on AKU Students

Seventy students are reported to have been arrested after the protests by AKU students against propaganda burial of 'unknown martyrs'. Seven are reported to be in critical condition in hospital after having been physically attacked by Ansar Hizbullah hired thugs and twenty five are hiding in the student dormitories while the Islamic regime's forces have surrounded the university but as yet have decided not to enter the university grounds and attack the dormitories, in case another 9th July student uprising takes place.

Journalists, academics and students of the world, where the HELL are you?

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

'Evin Becomes University, University becomes cemetery'

More than 500 Amirkabir university students took part in a protest against further burial of martyrs in the university campus by the government.

The tensions over the issue of burial of martyrs in the university last week has already led to 4 students being arrested and twenty being barred from entering the university grounds by the authorities. The arrested students are Hossein Tarkashvand, Majid Tavakoli, Ismail Salmanpour and Kourosh Daneshyar.

Students held placards which read:

'Evin Becomes University, University becomes cemetery'
'Pretend to praise the dead martyrs in universities, while the war veterans set themselves on fire'
'Dictator of our times, martyrs have become an excuse for you'

Several students have been called up to appear before the disciplinary committees and earlier this week, the intelligence ministry contacted families of several leading student activists and threatened them if they took part in any protests leading up to the burials.

Another War Veteran sets Himself on Fire

Only a few days after a war veteran set himself on fire in front of the Islamic Assembly, Iranian daily, Asre Iran , reports of another war veteran by the name of Hojjatollah Farzad, who carried out a similar action, this time in front of the Martyr Foundation and Veterans Affairs building.

He was taken to the Mottahari hospital after the incident but died as a result of his extensive injuries.
Farzad suffered from lung and kidney problems ever since he was exposed to the Iraqi chemical attacks on Iranian troops.

Meanwhile today, the Islamic regime buried the bodies of another four martyrs in Amirkabir university amidst protests by the students, who claimed the action was a politically motivated propaganda stunt by the regime.

Iran Documentaries on BBC

There were three Iran related documentaries on BBC last night. The third one, "Prostitution Behind the Veil", I couldn't watch the documentary to the end. I died a thousand times over when I was watching it. What has happened to our Iran?

Truth and Justice Blog

It gives me much pleasure to announce a new blog started by my loyal friend, Mehrtash Rastegar.

Mehrtash is a lawyer by training and he is also a national submission wrestling champion. Its nice to see that as one gets older, new blood is there to take over.

Another War Veteran sets Fire to Himself

Of all the things which upset me most, seeing mistreatment of war veterans must be right on the top of the list.

According to the Islamic Republic's Islamic Assembley website, the war veteran seen in this picture set himself alight outside the Majlis building earlier today, after his Majlis representative repeatedly refused to see him.

The website did not even say what the war veteran's name was, because of the extents of his injuries he is not expected to live.

A son of Iran who risked it all to defend against the aggression of Saddam's forces, could no longer put up with the officials who benefited from his courage and sacrifice.
تفو بر تو اي چرخ گردون تفو

Farhang Jahanpour, another Very Confused Academic

I just managed to get to the last session of a seminar on broadcasting to Iran, organised by the Next Century Foundation. The four panelists included former Iranian diplomat Mehrdad Khonsari, Foreign Office Spokesman Barry Marston, Journalist Nazanin Ansari and Oxford academic, Farhang Jahanpour.

I had never heard of Farhang Jahanpour before, but it wasn't long before he got into the meat of his speech that 'I got hold of the telephone receiver- gooshi dastam oomad', as we say in Persian, meaning I understood where he was coming from. Later when I got home and googled his name, sure enough it confirmed my radar for these kind of people is still well and truly tuned in. Amongst many pages that came back by the search engine, just being amongst the supporters of Iranians for Peace, a CASMII type sister organisation, was enough to confirm my trusted gut feelings.

Jahanpour started by saying how the 1979 Islamic revolution was so unpredictable for him and how he himself was surprised to be targeted by the militant students at the time as being an 'agent of Zionism'. In other words he was just as out of touch even then when he was in the middle of it all not to see the writing on the wall.

Then shortly after, the familiar script used by these people followed which starts off by talking about the greatness of Iran, the achievements of Iran in the past, the educated and cultured people of Iran etc. which no one can argue with but then suddenly while everyone's guard is lowered, discreetly equate all that with the current Iranian regime.

'When you impose sanctions and you talk about carrot and stick, the Iranian people equate carrots and stick to being called a donkey'. What? So what happened to those educated and clever Iranian population? Surely they can distinguish between what is aimed at the regime and what is aimed at the people, or is it just his ilk who constantly try to blur the two distinct entities of Islamic Republic and Iran?

'If you keep threatening to invade Iran for three decades, the Iranian people will stand up to you. Its time the West accepted the Islamic revolution as a fact.'
What? Who has threatened to invade Iran? All US administrations since the Islamic revolution have gone over board to appease the Islamic Republic. High ranking US offcials referred to Khomeini a saint or as Iran's Gandhi, Madelene Albright apologised to the regime about the 1953 coup as if the clerics were the victims of the coup, even Bush's administration only talked about changing the behaviour of the Iranian regime - by using a website! - and not regime change! After 9/11 Jack Straw telephoned Khatami and referred to the Islamic Republic as UK's partner in the war against terror! Even Israel sold much needed arms to the Islamic Republic during the Iran-Contra affair. So who exactly is talking of invading Iran apart from the Islamic regime which is only using it as a pretext to crack down on freedom in Iran and regime apologists who use the threat of invasion to excuse their unwillingness to criticise the Islamic regime as well as the Leftist professional revolutionaries in the West who like using it as an excuse for a demo and a march? Who in Iran is worried about an imminent attack? Nobody!
The fact is Iranians are still pouring into Tehran to live there, they are not running away from there to safer places because they think someone is about to invade. More are worried and more are dying as a result of Tehran air pollution and road accidents than any anxiety about an invasion.

'Iranians look at nuclear power as a source of pride and greatness'
What? Where has this academic been? How many more placards must the protesting workers, teachers, women and students hold which mock the official regime slogan 'Nuclear energy is our inalienable right' for him to realise Iranians want much more basic needs as their inalienable rights.

Are Jahanpour type academics simply confused or is their perception of reality simply a page in the book in their library? The sad thing is they pose themselves as 'Iran experts' and seem to influence the policy makers, yet they have no contact with the people in Iran, their world of reality is the four walls of their library.

After the conference ended, Jahanpour approached me and politely shook hands with me, saying 'I am a victim of this regime, I lost everything after the revolution'. To which I replied, 'So what? lots of people like you have become turncoats just to get back what they lost. ' I wish I knew at the time that Jahanpour was with the CASMII sister organisation, 'Iranians for Peace', so I could have given him another one of his co-members, Dr. Akbar Etemad as a vivid example.

Pictures that the Correpsondents did not Broadcast

Thank God for blogs, for if we had to rely on Western Mass Media correspondents, we would never know about what goes on behind the official images.

See pictures that the 'Correspondents' did not report from the 30th anniversary rallies of the Islamic Revolution. Street peddlers using the opportunity to sell their goods and of course the free food parcel handouts which always ensures the dispossessed remain dispossessed but turn up at these rallies.
See more:
Ghorresh Blog

and this one shows foreign students in Tehran who have been made to march. Most Iranian girls showing this much hair and this much make up would normally be arrested by the morality police, but on this occasion whatever bolsters the rent a crowd numbers goes!

30 Years After the Islamic Revolution in Iran

MKO Revolutionaries Guard the Barricades 30 Years ago

'I will give you spirituality, no one shall remain homeless in this country, the dispossessed will have free telephone, heating, electricity, bus services and free oil at their doorstep..'
Ayatollah Khomeini's Promises 30 Years Ago at Behesht Zahra Cemetery.

Thirty years on, the reality is very different from those promises made by Ayatollah Khomeini. Not only Iranians didn't get free telephone, heating, electricity and bus services, but the standard of living for Iranians compared to the other oil producing countries in the region drastically deteriorated.

Soon after the mass executions of the former regime officials, the revolution started devouring its own children. One by one former supporters of the revolution which were no longer required were eliminated. The MeK, seen in the above picture guarding the barricades to the Prime Minister's Palace, the Communists, the remnants of Mossadegh supporters in the National Front, the more liberal Islamists and right up to even those amongst the Shiite clergy who did not want to toe the line, one by one fell victim of the revolutionary elimination process.

The result of all this elimination is in tens of thousands of Iranian lives with its climax in 1988 when thousands of political prisoners, who had survived earlier bloodbaths, were massacred.

The emasculation of the powerful Iranian army after the revolution, which up till then had stopped Saddam Hussein's every aggression on the Iranian soil, emboldened the Ba'athist regime to invade Iran. Over a million Iranians were killed and maimed in an eight year war that was unnecessarily prolonged with no tangible gains for either side.

Millions of Iranians who could not tolerate the new repressive Islamic measures left the country which resulted in the biggest exodus from Iran ever since the Arab invasion thirteen centuries ago and the brain drain continues today.

Not only no spirituality was gained but the country has suffered a rapid moral decline. Government's own figures show an alarming rise in prostitution, drug addiction and crime. At one point the school children were even asked in their classrooms to snitch on their parents and friends if they seemed to deviate from the revolutionary guidelines.

Not only the political freedoms we seeked did not come about, even our personal freedoms were taken away. We were told what to wear, what to drink, what to eat, what to listen to and what to enjoy and what not to enjoy.

Iranian instinct for survival and resourcefulness however has fought back. Bit by bit Iranian women have fought for their rights and the restoration of the rights they had before the revolution. Their resistance has meant that the Ayatollahs have been unable to push Iranian women to the status of Saudi women.

The young, the students and the intelligentsia have seen the errors of the past generations, they no longer think the same as their previous generation. Technology makes them even more aware of what they are missing and how their counterparts enjoy life and freedom in the rest of the world.

The workers, the teachers and the dispossessed are no longer swallowing the false promises and waiting for free goodies to be delivered, they are demanding their rights and their leaders remain defiant in jail.

After thirty years of elimination and brainwashing to destroy the Iranian identity and our joyous culture, the struggle continues. Our country has seen even worse and more savage invaders than these and has survived. This dark era will just be a storm in the tea cup in the Iranian history.

There are many things which are hindering the Iranian nation however, whereas thirty years ago it was the Iranian Left who helped the Ayatollahs to take over the power, now it is the international Left which is helping the clerics remain in power, the 'useful idiots' and the spineless Western leaders who see no further than their short term interests, the proxy terror groups in the region and the unscrupulous turncoats are all desperately hand in hand trying to keep this antiquated regime on its life support but it will be all in vain. Iran will survive and Iran will come through victorious as it has throughout the past.

Vali Nasr to advise Holbrooke and Obama?

I was trying to catch up with the news on Iran today after being away for a week and I sincerely hope this news I came across is not true:
Foreign Policy Cable

It suggests that Vali Nasr is to advise U.S. Afghanistan/Pakistan envoy Amb. Richard Holbrooke and I also heard today that Vali Nasr has been asked to advise Obama on Iran!

Not surprisingly I see the name of Laura Rozen as a tag to the article who seems well pleased about the appointment of such an "Iran expert". If all this is true, it spells a big disaster, it means the Islamic Republic has got its foot right inside the White House! I wanted to leave a comment at the end of the article but others seem to have done it before me.

Your Daughter is not Fit to be a Doctor in this Country

Dr. Zahra Bani-Yaghoub was a graduate of school for gifted children. She had obtained the impressive 23rd position in the overall national exam entrance into the Iranian universities. She was also a graduate of Tehran Medical university.

After graduation, rather than taking up a high salary job, she had volunteered to work in the impoverished poor provinces of Iranian Kurdistan.

Zahra came from a religious family background and her father was imprisoned during the Shah for political activities, but none of this protected her from the terrible fate that was awaiting her in the Islamic Republic.

The 27 year old Zahra was arrested while walking in a Park in Hamedan along with her fiancee by the Islamic Republic's religious observance patrol. The next day, her father was called and told to come to Hamedan. Her father asked to speak to his daughter but permission was refused.

When Zahra's parents arrived at the religious patrol headquarters, they were subjected to humiliating insults. The illiterate thugs told Zahra's father, 'Your daughter is not fit to be a doctor in this country'.

Another religious patrol officer told Zahra's father while laughing, 'If you want to know about your daughter, go to the police station, no better still go to court and no even better still go to the coroner'.

Somehow Zahra while being detained for walking with her fiancee in the park had been killed in custody of the religious patrol. More than a year later, Zahra's family who took part in the revolution still have no idea what happened to their daughter. They were even threatened not to pursuit her case.

In just about any other country, Zahra would be regarded as an asset, she would be protected and rewarded. In the Islamic Republic of Iran an illiterate religious police thug can decide and tell her father 'Your daughter is not fit to be a doctor for this country'

بدرود پدر

همواره ميگفتي نيرومند باشم و سستي از خود نشان ندهم ولي نميدانستم بي تو اينچنين دشوار باشد
...

Khavaran Cemetery Must be Preserved

According to Amnesty International, between 4500 to 10000 Iranian political prisoners were massacred in 1988 over a period of just two months. The relatives of the victims were not allowed to have the bodies of their loved ones or hold a funeral, instead the bodies were taken in meat trucks and dumped in places like Khavaran or what the regime referred to as La'nat-Abad [The Damned Place], a cemetery used for burying non-Muslims.

The mass burial at Khavaran was only accidentally discovered by an Armenian priest who had become curious as to why stray dogs kept digging there for bones.

Although the useful idiots across the West, who are always ready to march in support of terrorists and brutal dictators, thought the massacre was not worthy of a protest, even the successor to Ayatollah Khomeini at the time, Ayatollah Montazeri, could not stay silent and wrote a protest letter, which promptly resulted in his removal from the position of successor to the Supreme Leader.

Now, twenty years later, the Islamic Republic can not tolerate families of those victims who come to Khavaran to console their sorrow. Mothers and fathers, brother and sisters, sons and daughters who just hold pictures of their loved ones and plant trees and flowers to say we have not forgotten our victims. But thats too much for the Islamic Republic authorities, they want to demolish Khavaran altogether.

Imagine, if the Israelis decided to mass execute the Palestinian prisoners they hold, 5000 to 10000 prisoners over two months, then dumped their bodies in meat trucks and buried them somewhere unknown. What would be the international outcry? Somehow the Iranian blood does not stir the same emotions and the pain of Iranian mothers and children does not count for much with these 'progressive peace activists'.

BBC Persian TV

Its nearly a week since BBC Persian TV started its broadcasting. Apparently its the talk of the town in Tehran and everyone is asking 'Did you watch BBC TV last night?' from one another. The truth is that the Islamic Republic state TV is so boring, bland and overtly indoctrinating and evangelist (State Shiite evangelism that is) that any half professional run TV will be different and amusing to watch for the Iranians inside Iran. How long the novelty will last, is another matter however.

My initial reaction to BBC Persian TV broadcasting was that at last VOA Persian will have some level pegging competition other than the state run TV in Iran. At last the VOA Persian program makers and editors will have to stay on their toes and no longer be able to make decisions based on their personal envies and preferences as to who can be invited or otherwise on their nauseating talk shows and interviews.

The Islamic Republic state reaction to BBC Persian TV has been anger and fear along with accusations of espionage and a plot to bring about a velvet revolution, or soft overthrow, as they call it. Sort of thing one would expect from the Iranian government, for they seem to be scared of everything including their own shadow as we say in Persian when we want to describe a paranoid person.

So how has the BBC TV been so far? I haven't had much time to watch the programs but from what I have watched, my first impression was that at least the BBC is making original television programs. I have often said VOA Persian TV is not TV but another radio station. They have no programs other than news and interviews and some irrelevant copy/paste programs from other sources.
BBC on the other hand has some fresh original ideas that can be classed as TV programs and not just news and interviews. As for the 'soft overthrow' that the Iranian regime is worried about, I just fail to see any signs of it. I watched a reconstruction of water boarding torture used in Guantanamo prisons, the devastation of Gaza by the Israelis, more grave news about the financial crisis in US and Britain, and so on. Just the sort of thing the Iranian state TV wants to show to the Iranian public but in a less evangelist way and with better looking presenters, and since the BBC is also hosting the likes of pro-Rafsanjanis liars like Massoud Behnoud, I can safely advise the Iranian government that they should have no worries at all. The UK government on the other hand should have a lot more to fear from PRESS TV and the messages it is sending to the English speaking Muslims, that's for sure!

When the Police Run Away

What do you do when even the police run away? Watch this video:



From what I can work out from the footage, it looks like the militant Islamists chase the British police, from the Haymarket all the way to Green Park. Watch the silly Leftist girl without a scarf, she thinks because she is wearing a bright vest, she is the steward and the Muslim militants will listen to her, little does the useful idiot know that she is just another Kaffir to them.

Soon at this rate, it won't just be the police who will be on the run, those Leftists who went along these marches with the Islamic militants, the spineless politicians who constantly appease them, the academics who host them and glorify them in the UK universities, the journalists who always take up their cause and the churchmen who want Sharia in UK will also be on the run and it will be too late for them to realise what dimwits they have been.

The Human Spirit in Hospital

I was visiting in hospital until the early hours of the morning. There was a Jewish doctor wearing a couple as well as a heavily bearded Muslim doctor on duty in the ward. It struck me how amidst all that calamity and misery you would expect from a hospital ward, how ideal some other things were.

The two doctors got on well with each other and despite their obvious religious affiliations there were no religion related issues. They just pulled their sleeves and helped patients regardless of their race or creed. I won't go as far as the words in John Lennon's song, 'imagine'. I can never imagine a world without a religion. There will always be many people who find comfort in spiritualism and until there is death, there will be religion for some people and many will feel more comfortable with a particular set of customs and life style, but wouldn't it be nice to imagine a world where no one tried to convert another person, or discriminate or hate another person or conquer others because of their religion and there was no hidden agendas other than the pleasant human spirit which let people live their life and choose for themselves for how they want to worship or not worship. Imagine that!

'Death to Peace Lovers'

In a previous post I wrote admiringly about the democracy in Israel which allows Israeli Arabs and Israeli Jews to demonstrate peacefully against Israel's current offensive in Gaza and asked the question, imagine what would happen if a demonstration against Hamas took place in Iran? Little did I know that what I should have also asked was imagine if a non-government sanctioned demonstration happened in the Islamic Republic, even if it was against the Israeli offensive!!!

For today 'Mothers of Iran for Peace' gathered in Palestine Square in Tehran at 11:00 am. Their objective was to demonstrate against the Israeli offensive in Gaza and express sympathy with the women and children of Gaza. The gathering however was immediately broken up by the regime's thugs who were shouting 'Allah Akbar, Khamenei Rahbar!' and more revealingly 'Death to Peace Lovers!'. The thugs attacked the women which included Iran's renowned poetess, Simin Behbahani. Clearly demonstrating the Iranian regime can not tolerate any unofficial gathering.

Does that leave any doubt in any sane person's mind what the Hamas and more importantly their financial backer, Islamic Republic of Iran's objective in Gaza is?!!

Useful Idiots, stop being pawns of Hamas and the Iranian regime, understand what the Hamas and Islamic Republic's agenda in Gaza is. You have everything to lose if you don't wake up soon.

Raising 'Awareness'

This weekend London was once a again the scene of Gaza related demonstrations. On Saturday morning, Islamic Republic funded Press TV, almost entirely committed all its airtime to churn out the crowds in UK and Europe to demonstrate for Gaza by continuously showing pictures of dead and injured children. It was pure moral blackmail. The message was clear, if you did not join the demos later outside the Israeli embassy in Kensington, you had the blood of the Gaza children on your hands.

It was not just moral blackmail however, former British Intelligence officer, Annie Machon was on Press TV to tell the UK Muslims how hard done they were and how much they were discriminated against, just to get the Muslim blood boiling further.

Curious as to why some British citizens would turn out to support Hamas and how much they know about Hamas, I tried to talk to as many people as I could on the demo route in the short time I had on Saturday. To my first question, 'why are you joining this demo today?', probably 9 out of 10 people I talked to, straight away replied with the cliche answer, 'I want to raise awareness about Gaza!'. Yet when I had a chance to hold a dialogue with them, it soon became apparent that they themselves needed some serious awareness about what is going on in Gaza, what Hamas is all about and the Middle East in general.

None of the people in the demo I spoke to knew anything about Hamas's support for Saddam Hussein for example and that Hamas had declared three days of mourning after the Iraqi dictator was executed. Not one knew about the Iran-Contra affair, when Islamic Republic purchased weapons from Israel or when I asked them about the 'Black September', none of the young ones knew anything about how several thousand Palestinians were killed by the previous Jordanian King. I asked some who were older, why they had not taken to the streets when hundreds of thousands of Chechens were murdered, thousands more had become refugees and their entire cities were flattened into the ground by Putin's air force, and they didn't seem to have an answer, occupation of Chechnya and the massacre of Chechnyan Muslims was Russia's God given right it seemed.

I heard afterwards that some of the demonstrators had then attacked some of the shops and businesses in Kensington, including smashing the windows of a Starbucks Coffee shop, terrifying innocent bystanders and children, I suppose smashing shop windows was presumably to 'raise awareness' too!

Probably 6 out of 10 people I spoke to said their knowledge of Gaza was from watching the news on BBC television alone. Those of us who follow Iran news will know how badly informed BBC news coverage can be and talking of television coverage, I just didn't get to talk to anyone long enough to ask them what they thought about the Hamas TV, Al-Aqsa's porn blooper, when apparently a Hamas TV station technician who was bored with broadcasting the Gaza images on 7th Jan went on a Polish porn channel for 6 minutes before realising that it was all being broadcast live on Al-Aqsa TV :))

See: http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,24891122-5012895,00.html

Death to Everyone

This is such a classic and it reminds me so much of the illiterate thugs that raided the universities in Iran during the 'cultural revolution'.

In this clip, the mob leader with the tannoy shouting the slogans, warms up the flock with the usual 'Death to Israel' and 'Death to America' to begin with but then his zeal takes over his brain cells and he shouts 'Death to Palestine'. Few of the mob twig on and start laughing but the rest simply repeat the leader and shout accordingly 'Death to Palestine'.

Absolute classic :))

The Real Strength of Israel

Israel's strength is not just its air superiority or its sophisticated weaponry or its well trained army, Israel's real strength is its democracy.

This is a picture of Israelis Jews and Israeli Arabs, demonstrating against the Gaza war. This is why we want democracy for Iran, it will make us truly strong.

Be fair, what would happen if a demonstration against Hamas took place in Iran? What would happen to those who took part in the demo?

Imagine if Jews living in an Arab country demonstrated in favour of Israel's actions to stop Hamas rockets. Imagine if a small group of Gaza residents demonstrated against Hamas and asked Hamas to negotiate with Israel, what would happen to them?