I Think its All Over

What a day! I was up since early hours of the morning to be able to fit everything in. Had a pre-recorded radio interview with BBC Radio Scotland in the morning at the Millbank. On the way there I saw these Press TV advertisements on London's red buses, saying Press TV gives Voice to the Voiceless! You can imagine my frustration, we have the bus drivers union leaders in jail in Iran, the BBC Persian satellite signal funded by UK tax payers money is jammed sporadically, they want to kick out all the foreign journalists from Iran, citizen journalists taking film and photo are told they will be arrested. So who is the Voiceless who needs a voice? How much more of this exploitation of democracy?

I was at a meeting in central London when I heard the vicious attack on the Tehran university dormitories by the regime's hired thugs. I was told some students may have been killed. Then I heard the entire body of the university of lecturers have resigned in protest of the vicious attack.

I was stewarding the demonstration outside the Islamic Republic embassy in the afternoon, when I heard the numbers in Tehran have reached 2 million and sadly some demonstrators have been shot and killed. Then I was called by Aljazeera English for an interview at 9 pm. Finally when I came home my internet wasn't working!!! Arrrgh...

There is so much to post, I don't even know where to begin! but as I said on Aljazeera English, once the crowds reach 2 million that is it, there is no going back. This is the critical mass I have always talked about. This is what tips the balance, when people see such large numbers, their fear disappears and at the same time the riot guards become more unwilling to beat up the protesters and scared of their own future. We have now reached that point. So long as people lead with their demands and are not fooled by compromises designed to take the sting out of their momentum, then our day has finally come!

Can you hear it? Can you hear it?
This is the sound of heart beats


We are about to create a storm you have never seen before....


People demonstrating in the Metro. The SWP still thinks these are rich North Tehran kids :)))))))



Pictures of Iran's citizens shot dead today:





Fascist Islamic Republic police going to people's homes



The thugs whose days seem to be over soon:







Old thug beating up a daughter of Iran:




Channel 4 Film of shooting demonstrators in Iran

My BBC Interviews on Saturday

Thanks to a friend who put this on youtube:

The Fear is Gone

Look at this brave Iranian lioness, first she swing kicks and then she side kicks the neanderthal truncheon wielding riot guard! She gets a few baton strikes but this is the price for freedom and she cares not.

Blessed is our motherland Iran, for having such daughters.

The fear is gone and the momentum continues.



and this one is already beaten and on the floor:

Outside the IRI Embassy in London

I was told there were some scuffles yesterday, outside the IR embassy in London between different factions with different view points, which is really embarrassing. Luckily I got there too late after everyone had gone and didn't see any. Today I hope I played a small part, along with some others, in reconciling everyone to a reasonable degree. There were all sorts there today, most political factions, girls with Hejab and girls without and everyone respected each other's choices.

It doesn't matter now who voted or who boycotted or who they voted for etc. What we need right now is a united front against Ahmadinejad's coup. We need to carry images and shout slogans that are acceptable to everyone in these gatherings.

Its Time to Fight Back

I will not Run Away Any More!

I Will Not Sit Back Any More!

I Will Not Take it Any More!

Its Time to Fight Back!

This is Street Justice!

Our brave countrymen are fighting back and giving the tyrants what they deserve, lets not let the Islamic Republic apologists get away with it outside Iran!

This is the street justice of all that pent up rage over the years and it will not go away that easily!

Riot guard is overcome by crowd numbers and is held back from further beating up the protesters.

Look at the fear in the eyes of this riot guard; until a few days ago no one dared look at him the wrong way. When the protests reach the critical mass, everything changes. Lets keep the momentum going.

The Resistance Starts

Just came back from a Channel4 interview, didn't go as well as the BBC ones this morning, Haleh Afshar, the Islamic Republic apologist, was their other guest and I didn't get enough time! Will write more about it tomorrow. Going to go outside the Embassy now.
Watch the interview at the end of the Channel4 report on Iran from this link:
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1529573111

Crackdown Begins

After all the euphoria of last weeks, crackdown begins. Pictures that need no explanation:

Worrying News

Pro-Ahmadinejad news websites are already announcing Ahmadinejad as the outright winner. Rajanews says 69% have voted for Ahamdienjad and 28% for Moussavi. Islamic Republic News Agency IRNA, has also announced Ahmadienjad as the certain winner.

The picture shows, club wielding pro-Ahmadinejad supporters are already in the streets intimidating the people.

Hugo Chavez Wishes Success for Ahmadinejad

Hugo Chavez wished Ahmadinejad all the success in his bid to remain the president of the Islamic Republic.Chavez described Ahmadienjad as 'A courageous combatant, defender of the third world and a champion against US imperialism'

Below is a picture of Chavez embracing with Saddam Hussein:

CASMII Mob Sense the Collapse is Near

For the last three decades the majority of the 'academics' who have signed this statement below:
Statement of 'Academics'

have ignored the plight of their countrymen. They stood silent when Iran's universities were intellectually cleansed during the 'cultural revolution'. They stood silent when the clerics seized every instrument of power after the 1979 revolution. They stood silent against the crimes of mad Khalkhalis, Gilanis, Lajevardis and a whole array of Islamic Republic psychopaths. They stood silent during the massacre of Iran's political prisoners, even when minors and pregnant women were summarily executed. They stood silent when corruption spread to unimaginable proportions and Iran's wealth was plundered by the clerical mafia and their off springs. They ignored the rise in poverty, prostitution and drug addiction. They stood silent when our women were forced to become second class citizens. They ignored medieval punishments like public executions, stoning, cutting off hands and limbs which had thrown Iran back to the dark ages.
They ignored the brutal crackdown on Iran's students after the uprising in 1999 and the list of their treacheries goes on.

But some on the list did not just ignore what was happening to their countrymen, they even went out of their way to promote the regime. The likes of Elaheh Rostami, Ziba Mir Hosseini and Haleh Afshar even made outrageous cliams that Iranian women were better off now than before the revolution. The likes of Abbas Edalat, Mohammad Kamali and bourgeoise Communists like Ali Fathollah-Nejad, went out of their way to suppress any news of human rights abuses which would portray a negative image of the Islamic Republic in the world.

Suddenly these 'academics' have sensed the desire for change amongst the Iranians. Suddenly the 'eruptions of pent-up rage' of our people against the Islamic Republic's 'empire of lies' has rang their alarm bells and so they have decided to produce a statement asking for the very things they have always refused to highlight in the past when they were asked to do so.

It is obvious that the centres of real power in Iran are not going to read their statement or show any concern over it, nor will these 'academics' engage in any campaigns for the rights of their countrymen. The reason they have written this statement is one thing only. In case the Islamic Republic collapses, they want something to exist somewhere, which in their mind would exonerate them.

But we should never forget these turncoats and the harms they have caused to the freedom and the well being of the people of Iran. Their objective has always been to boot lick whoever is in power for their own personal gains. We should make sure the future generations of Iranians learn that betrayal and boot licking has grave consequences.

Moussavi's Supporters Twenty Years Ago

In Iranian politics, it is not so much the candidate himself but his team and his supporters who should be studied. Here is a brief glimpse of where a lot of Mir Hussein Moussavi Khamenii's current campaign team and supporters were twenty years ago:

The Dilemma of Voting or Otherwise

Let me get this over with quickly, I am under no illusion and it will make no difference to people inside Iran whether Potkin Azarmehr thinks we should vote on Friday or otherwise. I have no influence on how people will decide inside Iran.

Personally I myself will not vote, for I have no idea who and how the polling stations in London will be supervised and the votes counted. I also doubt if the expat vote will make any impact on the outcome. What is important is to explain the predicament that people face inside Iran to the outside world.

Every four years our people are faced with a choice of voting for the bad or the worse. This time round, the choice of worse is really bad, it will be a disaster if Ahmadinejad becomes the president again. Those who decide to go to the polling stations are by no means in favour of the regime. They understand that an election in which candidates are vetoed by an unelected body is not fair. They understand that the real power is not in the hands of the president and he can change very little. Notice I didn't have to write he/she in the last sentence, for the vetoed presidential candidate has to be a man. He also has to be a Shiite Muslim, and he has to be a Shiite Muslim who accepts the rule by the Supreme Leader, and even then it is not enough, for in case this male Shiite Muslim loyal to the Supreme Leader has in the past been more critical of policies than is tolerated, he will also be disqualified. So no one with a reasonable amount of brain cells accepts that this is an inclusive or a fair election.

Those who are not in favour of the regime and still vote, do so because they simply want to breathe a little bit easier during their lifetime, they want to experience a slight improvement in the economy, they want to feel less worried that their daughter is not picked up by the morality patrols and taken to the police station with unpredictable dire consequences.

Those who advocate a boycott say by turning up at the polling stations we are giving legitimacy to the regime, we are helping the regime lobbyists to promote the regime as a democracy.

Of course the Islamic Republic lobbyists, the CASMIIs, the Haleh Afshars, the SWP and all the other puppets of the regime will do their best to exploit the public turnout and claim it as people's support for a legitimate regime and evidence of democracy in Iran. To combat such nonsense is the responsibility of expats like me.

High voter turnout or low voter turnout is not a reason for legitimacy or democracy or otherwise. Look at the low turnout for the European elections and the 99% turnout in Saddam's elections. Legitimacy of a regime stems not from turnout at the polling stations but from whether the regime suppresses its peoples, whether it provides a fair and free elections, whether it cares about the public opinion, whether it is accountable to its subjects and whether the public participate in running the country without prejudice regarding their ethnicity, religion or gender. Clearly on these basis the theocracy in Iran has no legitimacy, it is forced on the people of Iran and the minute that force is removed, the people will reject it.

For the reasons above, I think as expats who do not have to face the harsh realities of living in Iran, it is not our job to advocate a voter turnout or otherwise but explain the undemocratic nature of the election process in Iran and the predicament that the Iranian people face in choosing between the bad and the worse, to the outside world and make sure the regime puppets do not twist the 'elections' for their own pro-regime agendas.

This time round there are also other marked differences which have to be taken into consideration. Unlike four years ago, it is not a choice between the bad and the worse but between the bad and the very terrible worse and the second option is in power already.

The polls and other evidences suggest that the Moussavi camp have convinced the majority that only a vote for Moussavi will ensure putting a stop to Ahmadinejad. Most of those who are voting for Moussavi are not so much pro-Moussavi but they are casting an anti-Ahmadinejad vote.

The weeks leading up to the election day on Friday have also provided the public with rare opportunities of public gatherings and demonstrations. Topics which until now were considered taboo in the Islamic Republic, like the massacre of political prisoners in 1988 and the 'cultural revolution' have surfaced beyond the control of the authorities, because of the courage of the activists inside Iran.

The live televised debates between the candidates has been a total condemnation of the Islamic Republic in its entirety, where millions of people have watched the approved candidates expose the level of corruption, nepotism and incompetence throughout the three decades of theocratic rule in Iran.

The spontaneous demonstrations in the aftermath of the televised debates are gathering momentum day by day and as the numbers grow, the more confident the people get in asking for their real demands which are beyond the jurisdictions of an Islamic Republic president.

This special atmosphere of opportunities and this momentum of public demos which is politicising the population and specially the young will not last forever however. The ideal situation on Friday, in my view, will be if Moussavi and Karrubi go to the second round. It will keep going this momentum of crowds pouring into the streets for another week and so much can happen in a week if large crowds are on the streets. It will also let people concentrate on real issues and on their real demands without the shadow of Ahmadienjad's re-election hanging over their heads.

But we must think beyond 12th June. We must be ready for all the possible outcomes on Friday. What if Ahmadinejad is re-appointed again through cheating and vote manipulation? What if Ahmadienjad and the Guards resort to a military coup? What if Moussavi wins and like Khatami disappoints the people and their expectations once again leading to another era of political apathy and hopelessness. Are we planning for these outcomes?

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.