Karroubi Supporters March in Tehran

This is the film footage of the march by Karroubi supporters which I wrote about in my previous post. I couldn't download it from facebook but with the help of a friend, finally I managed it.

This footage is a vivid example of how the Iranian people are taking advantage of the freedoms briefly granted before the elections.
Some of the slogans they are shouting:
'Free choice of Hejab is the Right of Iranian Woman'
'Down with this government of lies'
'The oil money is missing, we have all been cheated'
'Reform of the Constitution'
'Death to Dictator'

Moussavi v Karroubi Debate

Moussavi v Karrubi debate turned out to be an opportunity for both Moussavi and Karrubi to have a bash at Ahmadinejad. Karroubi started off by reading out straight form a text in which he answered some of Ahmadienejad's questions from the previous debate. Ahmadinejad had claimed that Karroubi's newspaper, Etemad Meli, had insulted his wife and when Karroubi had said he was not aware of such thing, Ahmadienjad had snapped back at him saying 'if you are not even aware of what has been said in your paper, then how can you become a president?'. In the debate with Moussavi, Karrubi showed the article Ahmadienjad had referred to, was in fact printed in Etemad daily and not Etemad Meli daily and so had nothing to do with Karroubi's paper. Karroubi still struggled to explain why he had accepted the money from the financial convict, Shahram Jazayeri, saying at the time when he accepted the money, Jazayeri was not convicted.

Moussavi also used his time to counter the charts shown by Ahmadienjad in the previous debate. Moussavi put two charts together, one shown by Ahmadinejad during the program and the one he claimed was the correct chart produced by the Central Bank and told the viewers, 'we have a president who sits here, looks into your eyes and lies with such confidence that some people may be taken in by his lies'. Moussavi claimed, the danger he sensed from a government that so blatantly lies to the people, was the main reason why he felt he had to join the race and save the country [the regime] from collapse.

The highlight of the debate was right at the end. The moderator who looked uncomfortable throughout the debate, must have finally been instructed to stop Moussavi from having a go at Ahmdienjad. He sheepishly reminded Moussavi that he should not go on about candidates who were not present at the debate. Moussavi stood up to the moderator with much decisiveness and said he had the right to criticize the policies of Ahmadinejad's government and explain the underlying reasons for his bid to become the president. When the moderator tried to justify his instruction, Moussavi cut him short and slammed his fist on the table and said 'when the other person [Ahmadinejad] sat here and talked down others who were not here, including my wife, you didn't utter a word now you want to stop me?'

Pro-Moussavi and Pro-Karroubi papers today have also continued to expose Ahmadinejad's lies in the debates. Entekhab Daily produced figures from Central Bank which showed the latest inflation figures to be 23.5% and not 15% as claimed by Ahmadienjad's charts and another article showed 12 official statistics not matching what Ahmadienjad had shown the viewers in the debate. Karrobi's deputy and former mayor of Tehran, Karbaschi, accused Ahmadienjad's son of embezzlement in Kish island and others have questioned Ahmadienjad's sister's academic qualifications.

In short, the televised debates which are attracting audiences of 35 million upwards are displaying the extent of corruption, nepotism and incompetence throughout the whole establishment. With the rising levels of anti-Ahmadinejad feelings amongst the public, if Ahmadienjad somehow becomes the next president again, there will surely be eruptions amongst the population that will threaten the very survival of the Islamic regime.

The Terror Masters in Moussavi's Campaign Team

I was once told by a wiseman in Iran that more than finding out who the candidates are in Iranian politics, one should find out who their backers and friends are.

Taking on that advise, lets not even go into the fact that Moussavi was the Iranian prime minister during the 80s, the worst years of repression and terror, and the massacre of Iranian political prisoners in 1988. Lets give Moussavi the benefit of the doubt and say there were special circumstances because of the war and he could not interfere in the massacres. Let us not even consider that Moussavi's cabinet in the 80s consisted of some of the most brutal henchmen like Reyshahri, Asgaroladi, Rafighdoost, Velayati etc. Lets just look at his team members today.


One of them is Moussavi Tabrizi who accompanied Mir Hossein Moussavi on his recent trip to Tabriz. In the early 80s when there were continuous armed street clashes between MeK members and the regime, the dailies printed long lists of those who had been executed or killed during the clashes. I remember the Headlines in the papers which sent shivers down my spine, they were quotes from Moussavi Tabrizi saying 'Those who are injured during the clashes should not be taken to hospital but executed there and then!'

Moussavi Tabrizi was criticising taking the injured to the hospital and said 'One of the edicts of the Islamic Republic is that whoever stood in the way of the Just Imam, Killing them becomes mandatory and those wounded should be made more wounded until they die. This is not a new thing, this is the directive of Islam'

Such was the terrifying atmosphere of the 80s and to give you more of a feel of how bad things were, I remember a friend of mine who had nothing to do with MeK whatsoever, he was arrested on the pavement as he was watching an MeK demo. He was executed without trial by Khalkhali simply because Khalkhali was keen to execute a round figure of 100 that night and so my innocent friend was included in the execution list, purely to make up the numbers. Khalkhali's justification was if they are innocent then they will go to heaven any way.

When I see figures like Moussai Tabrizi in Mir Hossein Moussavi's campaign team today, the terror years of the 80s just resonate in my thoughts.

During this election campaign, Moussavi was first asked about his role in the massacre of 1988 by the students at Babol university. On that occasion, Moussavi, chose not to answer. He was asked again at Kerman, and by then his advisors had prepared him to give the following answer,
'It is said that when those executions took place, I was the prime minister and I did nothing to stop them. I was the head of the executive branch and not the judiciary, you can ask me about anything related to the policies and track record of the executive branch.'

In other words blame it on the judiciary and not on the Prime Minister. The question that comes to mind of course is, could you not have resigned?

Looking at Moussavi's agenda today, I see no radical plans, no substantial programs, just a lot of Khatami type mumbo jumbo behind a shy smile. I know a lot of people are excited by Iran having a First Lady for the first time, but at the very best, I feel Moussavi will be another Khatami. A path, already tried, tested and failed, why go down the same path again?

Finally I have a rule of thumb in Iran politics and that is whoever the pro-Soviet Communist Tudeh Party or their remnants today back or recommend will be a disaster for Iran. The Tudeh Party backs Moussavi today, they also backed Khalkhali in the 80s for his 'decisiveness in executing revolutionary justice'!

Most Communists always think they are more intelligent and they know more because they have read a couple of books by Marx and Lenin, yet I see nothing more stupid than backing a candidate who was the prime minister at the time when your comrades were executed. Where is the wisdom or intelligence in that?

Karrubi Couldn't Deal with Ahmadienjad Either

I was expecting Karrubi to do better than Moussavi in his live televised debate against president Ahmadinejad this evening, but that was not the case. It seems so far, none of the candidates are a match for Ahmadienjad's pugilistic style of debating.

Karrubi tried to pin Ahmadinejad on his claims of a halo surrounding him at the UN but Ahmadinejad simply dismissed all this, saying it was all fabricated and not true. This is despite the film footage and witness statement by Ayatollah Amoli in the film footage. Instead Ahmadienjad came back with colourful chart after chart on statistics of how well his government has done . Karrubi tried to dismiss the figures but Ahmadinejad said these are the official figures extracted by the same institutions used by the previous governments. Karrubi did not have his own figures to counter argue.

Ahmadinejad had two further aces up his sleeve. Karrubi's acceptance of around $300000 from the imprisoned fraudster, Shahram Jazayeri and Obama's overtures to the Islamic Republic, which Ahmadienjad exploited as the reasons for his successful foreign policy. As in the debate with Moussavi, Ahmadienjad claimed US efforts of reapproachment with Iran was as a result of his successful foreign policy. "Before they had a policy of regime change, now they beg to sit with us and talk to us, it shows our foreign policy has been successful'' Ahmadinejad claimed confidently.

When Karrubi tried to accuse Ahmadienjad of embezzlement, Ahmadinejad asked him for evidence and Karrubi couldn't produce anything. Just like Moussavi, Karrubi seemed at times to have forgotten where he had filed his notes.

When Karrubi finally ran out of time, which his own pointless anecdotes and memoires were largely responsible for, Ahmadienjad had plenty of time to deliver his final right and left hook, questioning Karrubi's source of income, how he obtained such a big a house and how lame Karrubi's justification of accepting money from Jazayeri was, then he capitalized on his own claims of modest living and receiving a teacher's salary only.

The previous night to the debate, Karrubi's supporters had organised a demonstration at Vali Asr avenue. I have seen the film footage of this on Facebook but I haven't been able to embed it in my blog. The slogans were really radical. 'Free Choice of Dress is Iranian Woman's Right' - 'The Oil Money Has Been Lost, We have all been cheated' and 'Death to this Liar Government'. Its a shame Karrubi could not measure up to the enthusiasm of the people at Vali Asr demonstration.

However you judge the candidates in these series of debates, it is hard not to notice that the real winner of these debates are the people of Iran who are watching the mighty figures in the establishment being ripped apart by the candidates and especially by Ahmadienjad. Whether Ahmadinejad is confident that he has the firm backing of other powerful establishment figures or has inadvertently tipped his toes in dangerous waters and burned his bridges, remains to be seen.

Another Supporter of President Ahmadinejad

What is in the Letter and Behind the Smiles?

These pictures are taken only one day after the televised debate between Ahmadinejad and Moussavi. It is the anniversary of Ayatollah Khomeini's death with all the top establishment figures gathered at his mausoleum.

After Ahmadinejad dropped names of Rafsanjani and his sons as the corrupt elite who have benefited from the former Islamic Republic presidents, during the debate with Moussavi, everyone expected a serious backlash from Rafsanjani.

Yet on the surface it looks like both are smiling as the two pass a letter to each other through Ayatollah Jannati above and having a friendly chat with each other below.

So what is going on? what is in the letter and is there something more sinister behind the smiles and the whispers?

Ahmadinejad Won the Debate with Moussavi Hands Down

Just finished watching the live debate between Moussavi and Ahmadinejad on Press TV. I have to say Ahmadienjad won hands down. He correctly recognised Moussavi's achiles heel, i.e. his backer, Hashemi Rafsanjani and his record of government in the 80s. Moussavi kept generalising where as Ahmadinejad kept giving specific examples and he kept bringing up the link between Hashemi Rafsanjani and Moussavi.

'So you entered the race because you thought the country was on the brink of collapse? We had 49% inflation under Hashemi and the country was $40 Billion in debt. How come you didn't feel compelled to come on the scene then?' Ahmadinejad asked Moussavi, without the challenger having a reply for him.

Ahmadienjad kept bringing up specific examples of corruption and disregard for the law. He mentioned the Stat Oil scandal, Rafsanjani's sons and even questioned the worthiness of Moussavi's wife's qualifications from Azad university and how she didn't even have to sit the entrance exam.

Total total demolition of Moussavi in my view. Even the interpreter at Press TV must have thought he was not on air when he jibed to his colleague that while Moussavi kept generalising, Ahmadinejad kept giving specific examples.

Girls with Sloppy Hijabs Supporting Ahmadienjad

The pictures you see by clicking on the link below: http://www.cloob.com/club/article/show/clubname/t_e/articleid/213900 are the kind of things that could happen to Iranian girls and boys if they are not adhering with the Islamic dress code the government wants to see them in. They could be stopped by the Morality Patrols, either given a verbal warning or taken in the patrol vans to some police station with further grave consequences.

Somehow in the Islamic Republic, these very examples of sloppy hijab and immoral dress codes appear as supporters of the presidential candidates during the Islamic election periods! The picture below shows some of AhmadinejAd's supporters! Scarves pushed as far back as possible, wearing make up, hair colouring etc. and cheering for the very president who rebukes such appearances, after the elections, as manifestations of the enemy's cultural onslaught on the country's national security!













According to the Entekhab Daily printed in Iran, one of these very girls in such a gathering received a big slap across the face from a passer by. Entekhab reporter first remarks on the very short mantoes these girls were wearing while handing out leaflets and posters of Ahamdienjad. Then a young lad walks up to one of them and slaps one hard in the face, saying to them 'My sister's mantou was longer than what you are wearing, but she has just been picked up by a morality patrol round the corner and taken to the police station'

Change for Iran

This is a campaign video made by supporters of Karrubi-Karbaschi team. Regardless of whether these promises can be achieved or not by any president within the current framework of the Islamic Republic, it demonstrates beautifully the list of priorities of what some of the very minimum demands of Iranian people are.

Each point is demonstrated with the lifting of a poster which spells out the change with a relevant film footage in the background.



The demands in the order shown in the film footage:

- Protection of our Civil Rights
- Help for the Deprived
- Kid pushes away the box of charity handouts and lifts the poster which says 'Nationalisation of Oil Income'
- Reducing tensions in the global arena
- Free access to information
- Protection of women who are supporting their families
- Condemnation of domestic violence against women
- Education for all
- Improving public safety and security
- Rights for religious and ethnic minorities
- Support for NGOs
- Public participation

Then the posters say, 'We have come for change' followed by 'Change for Iran'.

Sorry CASMII supporters, nothing about sanctions again!

Iranian Graduate Society Meeting at SOAS

Went to an interesting meeting at SOAS yesterday organised by the Society of Iranian Graduates. The first thing that striked me was the wide spectrum of political affiliation and views amongst the audience. It showed that despite our differences we have more in common and for that reason we should meet, talk and exchange views more often.

It was quite rewarding when a couple of people in the crowd recognised me and said they read my posts and sometimes left comments, but even more rewarding was to see Moussavi Khoeini amongst the panel members. You can imagine the feeling when you campaign for someone's release and you write about their plight and then one day come face to face with them.

Moussavi Khoeini talked about the conditions of Iranian political prisoners, mentioning all the suspicious deaths in the last few years starting with Akbar Mohammadi to more recent deaths of Reza Mir Sayyafi and Amir Heshmat Saran and the current worrying situation of Behrooz Javid Tehrani. Moussavi Khoeini emphasised the importance of campaigning for political prisoners and asked the audience to campaign for the release of all Iran's political prisoners without any prejudice against their political views or affiliations. He received a rapturous applause. It was obvious why all the Iranian dissidents and former political prisoners I have met or communicated with, all speak highly of this former MP and political prisoner himself, Moussavi Khoeini.

Another panel member was Dr. Seyf who teaches economics at Staffordshire university. I knew him years ago but had lost touch with him, it was good to catch up with him again. He talked about the current calamity of the Iranian economy, the lack of transparency, the growing year on year deficit, the dangerous reliance on the oil income and the economic programs of the current candidates for presidency of the Islamic Republic.

Perhaps the one panel member that spoiled the evening was BBC Persian's Massoud Behnood, not because I disagree with him but because I know him to be such a liar and as usual he was full of fun stories from the past with a lot of dishonesty and distortion about the present. A member of audience questioned him about his role in turning BBC Persian into a platform for reformists only. Outside I reminded him about an incident outside the Islamic Centre in Maida Vale and told him it wasn't only Ahmadinejad that lied through his teeth.

Putting aside BBC Persian's Massoud Behnood, it was a warm and lively discussion and the Q&A went on well past the initial allocated time until nearly 11:00 pm followed by a lot more friendly discussions outside. Hope the Iranian Graduate Society can build on this success and bring Iranians of different views together under one roof more often.

Who is Ahmadinejad's American Advisor?

Seyyed Hamid Molana, president Ahmadinejad's special advisor in international relations was born in Tabriz in 1936. His family were forced to move to Tehran, after his father was briefly detained by the pro-Soviet forces who occupied Azerbijan and tried to secede the province from Iran.

The post war years in Iran coincided with much political turbulence, including the nationalisation of Iran's oil industry. The universities during these years became a hotbed of political activity but Hamid Molana chose not to get involved.

Molana explains his apathy during these years by saying neither Leftist or right wing politics at the time appealed to him and he was yearning for an Islamic movement. Not that this makes sense, Islamists were also active during this time and co-operated with the coup against Mossadegh in 1953.

When Molana was 19, he lost both his parents in a tragic car accident, but fortune came his way after this tragedy when he won a scholarship from the American embassy in Tehran to study in the United States. Molana then became an American citizen and lived there for over forty years.

His academic achievements and awards are very impressive if you are into these academic accolades. Just to mention a few from a very long list they include International Communication Association's award for outstanding research in 1977; American University's School of International Service Award for Outstanding Contribution to Academic Development in 1980 and 1988; for Thirty Years of Distinguished Leadership and Scholarship in 1998; and the Scholar/Teacher of the Year Award in 2000. He was the recipient of the International Studies Association's Distinguished Senior Scholar Award in International Communication at its 43rd Annual Conference held in New Orleans, Louisiana in March 2002.

During the 1979 Islamic revolution, Molana again showed no obvious involvement as far as I can gather. Suddenly however, Molana becomes Ahmadinejad's special advisor in international relations, to the extent that he claims to be behind much of Ahmadinejad's recent high profile international trips including Columbia university and Geneva.

Last week Molana spoke to seminary students in Shiraz at the Hafez Hall and made more outrageous remarks. Some extracts of his speech:

'In the field of international relations and foreign policy, Iran has made great successes in the last four years...so much so that even our enemies admit to it'

'In the world of politics today, there is no charm without Ahmadinejad, and between me and you there will be no fun in the media either'

He also credited the Islamic revolution for the downfall of the Soviet Union by saying 'Listen to me as someone who lived in Washington for 41 years, they thought there will be no end to the cold war, yet within two years of the Islamic revolution in Iran, it brought about changes that led to the velvet revolutions'

Molana then referred to Latin America and quoted Hilary Clinton as saying ' the situation in Latin America which was our backyard has changed and we need to become more active there.' And after quoting Clinton, Molana asked 'What does this mean? Who is it that has upset them [Americans] in Latin America?'

Molana even criticised those who question Ahmadienjad bringing messianic issues in international relations by saying 'Those who question why the messianic beliefs are brought into international relationships by president Ahmadinejad do not have a good knowledge of international relations literature, for a large part of international relations has a messianic theme to it'

This acclaimed US academic then went on praising Ahmadienjad for his work on justice and monotheism and so on, that I can not even be bothered to write about. The question that I can not answer however is how is it that a US citizen for 41 years without any revolutionary credentials suddenly becomes president Ahmadinejad's special advisor on international relations?

And my second question is, it seems Molana owes much of his success in life because of that American scholarship he received at the age of 19, which changed his life, after 41 years in US, living there as a successful and respected US citizen, how does one become so disloyal as to walk over the flag of the country, shown in the picture above, which gave him all he has?

Chair Instead of Shoe

When I first watched this video I thought someone in the congregation threw a chair at the cleric, who was ranting on that everyone in Iran lives in peace and comfort. I think my own feelings took over, its the sort of thing I would have done if I was sitting in that audience listening to such blatant lies. Watching it more carefully again, I realised its not actually a chair but the fan that crashes down on the cleric's head, just as he swears to the Almighty that everyone in Iran lived in peace and comfort. Sort of divine intervention at its best with impeccable timing in the absence of a chair. May be there is a God after all!

European students are Cows and Sheep

'The brain of each Iranian student is equivalent to that of four students in Europe. The students there are like cows and sheep. So much so that when one tries to explain even an obvious point, their mouth remains open like the Ali-Sadr cave' - Minister of Roads and Transport for Islamic Republic, reported by Iranian Labour News Agency, ILNA.

So who is the minister of road and transport for the Islamic Repubic? His name is Dr. Hamid Behbahani.
And where was he educated? He has a PHD in Civil Engineering from university of Florida, with a long list of academic achievements, see: http://www.etelaf.com/etelaf/behbahani_hamid.htm

European students who support the Islamic Republic as an anti-imperialist state were NOT excluded in Dr. Behbahani's statement.

We Were Bankrupt Years Ago - Former Iranian Oil Minister

Bijan Namdar Zanganeh was minister for Construction in Moussavi's government, Energy Minister in Rafsanjani's government and Oil Minister under Khatami. In a gathering of Co-ordinating Council for Engineering, Trade and Professional Societies, he revealed that 'our banks went bust years before the current global banking crisis. But the officials here did not tell the people about it. The current global banking crisis was revealed because of accountability in the rest of the world, but here in Iran there is no accountability and no one realises what has become of our banks. Iran's banks have suffered a crisis unprecedented throughout Iran's banking history'

Zanganeh added, 'we are now in a crisis that apart from the sudden drop in oil prices, the current global banking crisis has nothing to do with it. Some people are happy that we have not suffered as a result of the global financial crisis, but first of all if our economy is not linked to the global economy, this is nothing to be proud of and secondly who says we are not in a crisis?'

Regarding the lack of lending facilities by the banks, Zanganeh said ' Iranian banks can no longer lend because they are in the red by millions. It is not clear to whom much of the money was lent to and the money that has been lent, to whoever that borrowed it, is not coming back. '

Zanganeh finished by taking a jibe at Ahmadinejad saying '...Our human assets have been humiliated in these years, our management institutions have been insulted, when they talk about a 14 year old girl who is enriching uranium in her cellar, [Watch Ahmadinejad claim this] this is an insult to any human being's intelligence'

So unlike those championing the Islamic Republic in UK, like Mehri Honarbin-Holiday, Baroness Haleh Afshar and their pals at the SWP, the former Iranian minister does not mention sanctions as the root cause of our problems at all but accountability. In fact throughout this election campaign, none of the candidates have claimed the kind of nonsense CASMII lackeys claim that all of Iran's problems are because of sanctions.

Under president Ahmadinejad, three governors of the Central Bank have resigned.

Anniversary of Liberation of Khorramshahr

In those days, there was no internet and the best way of obtaining upto date news was by constantly tuning the short wave radio from one station to another. Everyone knew the importance of what was at stake and how it would be a turning point in repelling the Ba'athist aggressors. Iran's once feared professional army was emasculated and a large number of our best air force officers had been executed after the Shahrokhi air base uprising. So much depended on the courage of what was left of the military, the revolutionary guards, the volunteers and the local people of Khorramshahr. It was a test of courage against armour. It was a moment where our differences were forgotten. The only thing that mattered was defeating Saddam's forces.

BBC 'analysts' were skeptic of a quick conclusion, saying making the masses of Iraqi forces to retreat from the city would be a tough nut to crack or something like that.
Finally the state radio announcement that we had all been waiting for, came. "Dear listeners! Dear listeners! Please pay attention!" Our hearts stopped beating for a second, was it good news or bad? "...Khorramshahr, the city of blood - Khoonin Shahr - has been liberated."
The joy from hearing the news is impossible to put down in words. Still we wanted other sources to confirm the news. The tuning knob was turned back and forward so many times that it just came off in my hand and we were left with the annoying crackling white noise you hear in between stations.
I am not sure if I read in the papers over the next few days or how, but I remember how I laughed my head off at Saddam's propaganda machine's claims that the Iraqi forces had taken part in an 'organised retreat, having established all their military objectives!' Yeah Right Mr. Gobels!
This was the best moment to make Saddam concede. He was on his knees and willing to pay Iran compensation. Sadly those who profited from the continuation of the war or had some illusions of expanding the Islamic Republic to Iraq, had the upper hand. A golden opportunity to end the war as victors was denied to our nation and 8 years later, after so many Iranians were maimed and martyred, the poison chalice had to be drunk.
Today all of us Iranians should remember those who fell in the epic battle for liberation of Khorramshahr. Today we should honour those who still suffer the injuries of the eight year war and make sure they are not forgotten.

How They Change after Three Decades

It is year 1980, one year after the Islamic revolution in Iran. The new rulers are expanding their tentacles rapidly and into all aspects of the Iranian society. One barricade was still resisting the theocratic take over and was still standing; the barricade of the universities. There was no way the new reactionary rulers could tolerate this and so the Islamic Cultural Revolution was engineered resulting in death, injury, imprisonment, intellectual cleansing and closure of the Iranian universities for two years.

In this rare clip below from 1980, the architects and the executors of the 'Cultural Revolution' appear on TV to justify their actions in the aftermath of their victory. The first to answer the presenter [who himself seems uncomfortable asking these silly questions] is Abdolkarim Soroush.

This is the revolutionary extremist jargon he comes up with which was fashionable at the time:
'As soon as the 'far sighted' religiously committed students requested for our universities to move in step with the Islamic revolution across Iran, from the very beginning what was in the thoughts and hearts of these committed students and that of all our revolutionary nation, was that universities should radiate the smell and the fragrance of Islamic thought..so that as soon as a seeker enters this garden of flowers [the new Islamicised universities] their senses of scent is enriched by this pleasant fragrance of [Islam]'



Of course Soroush didn't mind not being 'enriched by the pleasant fragrance of Islam' while he was studying himself in London. After all, what is good for others is not good for me, with most of revolutionaries.

Soroush resigned from the Cultural Revolution Council in 1983. In 1998, his magazine Kian was closed down by the direct orders of the Supreme Leader. After year 2000, Soroush became a visiting professor in Harvard university and resident scholar at Yale and several other Western universities. What happened to the passion for the scent of Islamic fragrances that was so necessary to radiate from university campuses and classrooms?

When Soroush's lectures were attacked by the same thugs who attacked the universities in 1980, he said this:
"Has this country (Iran) gone so far so that a teacher takes his life into his own hands when attending class or an academic meeting? Does this country need the likes of Galileo and Giordano Bruno?"

A word of advise for the young impressionable minds, when you see some young educated extremist rant about some outrageous claptrap, do not take them too seriously, they are just going through a phase and they will soon sense the fragrance of errors in their judgements.

Jamming of Arab News Network

As a child I used to find politics boring and tedious. I had two goals, to do well at sports and have fun. All this changed with the 'Cultural Revolution' in Iran, when I saw illiterate gangs rip up posters, burn and tear up books and smash the book stalls set up outside the university after the revolution. Destroying books to me was a hideous crime, a book was for reading, you either liked it or you didn't. For me, if someone destroyed books it was like destroying knowledge itself.

With all the technological advances today, there are modern day equivalents of burning books. Jamming television signals of a rival news station is no different than burning books. Despotic regimes have understood the importance of television and news dissemination very well. They have a large budget allocated for their TV broadcasts and have set up so many channels in so many languages for their propaganda purposes. Yet these despots are so insecure that they fear even one voice of dissent if it is run well and run professionally.

Jamming of ANN signals has stopped the broadcasts of this television channel since May 9Th. Yet this blatant attack on freedom of speech and freedom of expression is making little headlines so far.

It is up to the international media and human rights organisations to react to this act of piracy of freedom, quickly and swiftly or we will have nothing on the air waves but despotic state sponsored channels monopolising and poisoning the young impressionable minds.

The Courage of Iranian Women

It is supposed to be a show debate between the student dissidents and the Baseej members to be broadcast on Iranian state TV. The first student talks about how one day after the elections it will be obvious it wasn't an election but an appointment.
Then the Baseej member gets behind the podium, he is asked if he is even a student at the university, he has nothing of substance to say other than insult the students by saying 'some of the girls here have come here having powdered themselves just to please their boyfriends'

and the rest you can see for yourself, the students boo the Baseej member and the student girl in the crowd rushes towards him and grabs the microphone from him and the baseej members are thrown out.



If only the ex-pats would show the same courage when regime apologists try to paint a harmless picture of the regime to their European audiences of useful idiots.

Rare Copy of Avicenna’s “Canon of Medicine” Stolen From Museum in Iran

A rare copy of the book, “The Canon of Medicine” written by Avicenna [poor-Sina], the famous Iranian physician, regarded as the father of modern medicine, has been stolen from a museum adjacent to his mausoleum in Hamedan, Iran.

What makes the situation worse however is the non-chalant way the Hamedan Cultural, Tourism and Handicrafts Department Director Asadollah Bayat regarded the news, which demonstrates the lack of accountability of the Islamic Republic officials and their unwillingness to answer questions to the public.

When Bayat was asked about the theft at a press conference, he rebuked the journalist by saying: “The question is not a gesture of goodwill. The question should not be asked, if it is against an institution.” !!!

He also thought the theft was 'NATURAL'!!!

“A copy of ‘The Canon of Medicine’ on display at the mausoleum of Avicenna was stolen and no trace of any thief has been detected yet. Two guards of the museum’s security command were present at the time of the robbery.” Bayat added.

“The mausoleum of Avicenna was not equipped with an emergency power system until last year. It’s no wonder that the robbery happened,” was Bayat's closing words of wisdom.

'Mr. President I Loved you Since I was a Kid' - 60 Year Old Presenter

I heard somewhere they asked Karl Marx what he despised most about human personality traits and he answered 'Being servile' and this is one of the few occasions when I see eye to eye with the German philosopher. When I see a servile sychophant person get out of their way to belittle themselves for personal gains, it is like watching humanity having a hemorrhage.

Here the Iranian TV presenter, Hajilou, who is more than likely over 60 years old in age, claims to president Ahmadinejad that he loved him ever since he was a kid!!!

http://www.ayandenews.com/files/fa/news/1388/2/23/9867_935.wmv

Did Vali Nasr Negotiate Roxanna's Release

According to Iranian news website Fararu, Vali Nasr who was recently appointed as a special advisor to president Obama, helped negotiate Roxanna Saberi's release from prison.

The site also mentions Hadad Adel and Ali Larijani who were both students of Vali Nasr's father, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, had insisted on his presence in Iran to negotiate Roxanna's release.

Seyyed Hossein Nasr who was appointed by the former Iranian empress, Farah Pahlavi as the head of the Imperial Philosophy Society, during the former Shah's reign was supposed to formulate a philosophy of modern Iranian identity, instead most of his students turned out to be Islamic revolutionaries and later the high ranking officials of the Islamic Republic.

We Don't Care if he Dies or Otherwise

Secular Ayatollah Boroujerdi's new team of lawyers, Giti Poorfazel, Abdolfatah Soltani and Behiyeh Jeylani who were appointed by Boroujerdi's family after they sacked Shirin Ebadi for incompetence have reported that Ayatollah Boroujerdi is in grave danger, eight days into his hunger strike at Yazd prison.

His new team of lawyers said Ayatollah Boroujerdi's family have contacted the Yazd prison officials and were told the Ayatollah still remains on hunger strike and 'frankly we don't care if he dies or otherwise'

Eighty Days without News of my Children

The world attention that was extended to Roxanna Saberi, finally resulted in her release from Evin prison yesterday. Suddenly her 8 year prison sentence was overturned after a re-trial that lasted a few hours and still no one knows about the details of her case. Yet there are many more in the Islamic Republic jails who are getting ZERO attention extended to them, including the Iranian student, Shabnam Madadzadeh and her brother, Farzad.

Shabnam's brother, Farzad, went to the LEF the day after she was arrested to enquire about her whereabouts, instead, he too was arrested and never returned home.

Shabnam and Farzad's father, Abdolali Madadzadeh, has had no news of the whereabouts or the well being of his son and daughter for 80 days now. In a public letter to the head of Iran's judiciary, Abdolali Madadzadeh asks the judiciary chief 'by which tradition, religion or culture is a father separated from his children, when his children are not even tried and sentenced yet? and when I ask where my children are, I am answered with such contempt and insolence'

Bloggers Conference and Award

I woke up this morning, thinking I have just dreamt about sharing a panel with the giants of UK blogging, Guido Fawkes and Slugger O’ Toole and later in the evening had been to an awards ceremony dinner at the Athenaeum Club in Pall Mall, where I was presented with an award for 'outstanding work as a blogger'.

So far so good, except that it was true, it wasn't a dream!

Sharing the panel with Paul Staines and Mick Fealty was surreal enough and I was sure that I would just be a silent audience at the dinner ceremony. When it was announced that the next winner is someone 'sweet but hot tempered', I joked with people on my table 'that rules me out because they said 'sweet' ', then it was said 'he wears his heart out on his sleeve and makes some people angry' followed by 'he is a rough diamond' and I thought Holy Mackerel! this is too close to home, they were talking about me!

The biggest prize for me however was to get to know the people that were there last night, 'Good people who had not stayed silent when they had seen evil' that was the real privilege.

Its all one Big Family (1)

I remember years after John Major's premiership, reading about his brother who lived in a council flat. I was so impressed by the fact that there was no talk of him in all the years John Major was the Prime Minister and I thought to myself imagine if it was in Iran, there is no way his brother wouldn't have some kind of government post.

Well here is the very opposite, look at the extent of nepotism in Ahmadinejad's government and this is just the tip of the iceberg. Akbar Alami former war veteran and former MP from my birth place, who will almost surely be disqualified from running for the presidency by the Guardian Council, says the whole country is run by 200 closely related individuals.

Below is a glimpse of nepotism and jobs for friends and relatives in Ahmadinejad's government:

Davood Ahamdinejad: Ahmadinejad’s elder brother. Presidential Inspection Organisation.

Massoud Zaribafan: Cabinet Secretary. Ahmadinejad’s brother-in-law. Chief executive of State run Isteghlal [former Taj] sports club complex.

Alireza Madadi: Zaribafan’s brother-in-law - General Manager of Social Welfare Organisation, General Manager of Physical Education Organisation.

Hossein Shabiri: Married to Ahmadinejad’s sister - Head of Mehr Reza Donation Deposits

Parvin Ahmadinejad: Ahmadinejad’s sister - Deputy of the Centre for Women’s Affairs, Member of the City Council

Davood Madadi: Chief Executive of Social Welfare Organisation, Zaribafan’s brother-in-law

Nazemi Ardekani – Minister of Mutual Assistance – Related to Zaribafan’s aunt

Danesh Ja’afari : Minister of Economics – Related to Zaribafan’s aunt

Ismail Ahmadi-Moghadam : AN’s brother-in-law, Chief of Law Enforcement Forces

Mohsen Nabavi : Zaribafan’s son-in-law, Member of the Board of Foreign Investments Company

Ali-Akbar Mehrabian : Ahmadinejad’s Nephew – Ministry of Industry and Mining

Alireza Ahmadi: AN’s Brother-in-law Minister of Education

Mojtaba Hashemi Samareh : Ahmadinejad’s long time friend and Bahonar’s nephew. Advisor to the president. Head of the country’s election HQ.

Mehdi Hashemi Samareh: Mojtaba’s brother – General Manager of the Energy Ministry

Abdolhamid Hashemi Samareh: Mojtaba’s brother Deputy of Industry Ministry

Ghand foroosh: Hashemi Samareh’s sister-in-law Interior Ministry’s Family Affairs advisor

Moussapour : Related to Bahonar’s sister, deputy of parliamentary affairs for Interior Ministry

Ali Kheyrandish: Samreh Hashemi’s brother-in-law , Building contractor for the Oil Ministry

Tahere Nazari Mehr: Foreign Minister, Manouchehr Mottaki’s wife, General Manager for Human Rights and women for Foreign Ministry. Her brother is also an attaché to Bahrain.

SWP John Rees on Accepting Donations

Like I said in the previous posts, it seems like a very twisted world. UK based Left wing Marxist-Leninst organisation, SWP, are happy to forget their tortured and executed comrades in Iran and instead promote the Islamic Republic in meetings attended by CASMII and chaired by the Baroness Haleh Afshar OBE, yet jailed students like Arash, shopped by the US embassy and still under threat of deportation to the Islamic Republic by the mad UK Home Office are accused of being pro-imperialists!

But there seems to be a lot more to all this. Why would a Trotskyst organisation promote the Islamic Republic? How would Trotsky turn in his grave if he found out his followers were promoting a government ruled by Shiite clerics?

Been doing some googling on John Rees from SWP, who also spoke at the meeting in SOAS along with Channel 4 news reader, Jon Snow. Apparently John Rees has been involved in accepting a donation from a company owned by one of Britain's biggest private finance initiative(PFI) contractors, headed by a Tory life peer, Lord Blackwell, who was a senior policy adviser to the John Major government!!

Below is the emailed response by John Rees on 13 September regarding the donation which reveals his mindset:
“…this was an individual donation not a corporate donatation (sic). Many people work for firms that do bad things~but accepting money from them as individuals does not imply either that they endorse the actions of their employers or that we endorse the actions of the firms. Consequently, the whole ‘anything in the world can be connected by six degrees of separation’ argument falls at the first hurdle.
More broadly, why should any labour movement body not accept a bit of the profit coming back to the workers so long as there are no strings attached"

I remember years ago there was another UK based Left wing organisation by the name of Workers Revolutionary Party, not sure if they are still going round but never hear about them any more or see their newspaper sellers on street corners. If I remember rightly, they also had celebrity supporters in their meetings such as actress Vanessa Redgrave. It turned out that not only their printers actually benefited from the then British government's regional development aid :) but much worse than that, they were receiving money from Libya, Iraq and even solicited the Persian Gulf Sheikhdoms. They were asking the ruling emirs and wealthy businessmen for donations to their anti-imperialist struggles :))))

So do not be surprised if we soon find out the Islamic Republic is also funding the SWP. The behaviour of their senior members certainly suggests this.

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.