Head of Iran State Broadcasting Admits, 'We Jam Satellite Signals'

If you don't stand up to bullies and tyrants they don't just become audacious, they become arrogant, confident and more brutal as well. Ezzatollah Zarghami is one of Ahmadinejad's cronies heading the Iranian state broadcasting (IRIB). Speaking to a selected audience on Thursday, Zarghami didn't beat about the bush and without any worries, proudly admitted 'Yes, we jam satellite TV signals'.

Jamming satellite signals is against international broadcasting conventions and has a detrimental effect on the environment and the health of the citizens. Islamic Republic of Iran has been a persistent offender in jamming satellite signals for the last decade and if there was a shadow of doubt in anyone's mind that the Iranian regime is a persistent offender, surely the public admission made by the head of the IRIB on Thursday should convert any doubting Thomas to a Thomas the Believer. Yet the Iranian regime has jammed signals with total impunity. Not only broadcasters, governments, broadcasting watchdogs and trade unions alike have refused to stand up to the Iranian regime about the illegal jamming, the number of Islamic Republic propaganda channels broadcasting from commercial satellites have in fact proliferated.

When Ribal Al-Assad, the director of the Syrian opposition ODFS, was asked in the Carlton Club about the future of the Green Movement in Iran, he replied 'I have always supported the Green Movement in Iran, how can anyone not support such courageous people but one despairs at the lack of resolve by the West to stand up to the regime in Iran. One clear example being the jamming of BBC Persian and VOA Persian and how the Iranian regime has got away without any repercussions.'

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU), head-quartered in Geneva, is the UN agency for information and communication technology affairs and the global focal point for governments and the private sector in developing broadcasting services. The ITU, however, seems just as incompetent as the Western governments on enforcement capabilities against Member States who contravene the international order. Seven months after the French National Frequencies Agency (ANF) appealed to the ITU to stop the Islamic Republic from blocking satellite signal broadcasts into Iran, there is still no action, except that now the head of IRIB even proudly and publicly admits they are jamming the signals.

How Can I Eat When My Son Isn't?

Majid Tavakoli's ill mother in Shiraz, who has not been able to see her son, since Majid was imprisoned in December, has also gone on hunger strike today. 'What has my son done to deserve this? How can I eat when my loved one isn't eating?'

Two other prominent Iranian student movement leaders, Koohyar Goodarzi and Hossein Ronaghi Molki (aka Babak Khorramdin) are also on hunger strike. Koohyar's condition today meant he had to be taken to the prison clinic.

If only the world media reacted, if only the universities outside Iran showed a strong reaction, it could save Majid, Hossein and Koohyar.

Majid Tavakolli's Mother: Help My Son

The footage below is the voice of Majid Tavakoli's mother. She asks all of us wherever we are, do whatever we can to save her son, Majid.

Majid, a prominent leader of Iran's embattled student movement, was arrested in December, after making a speech on the anniversary of Iran's Student Day. The regime has demonstrated a pathological hatred towards Majid for his uncompromising stand and courage in resisting his captors who are demanding he publicly begs for forgiveness from the Supreme Leader.

There is now serious concern for Majid's health. Majid has developed respiratory problems since his incarceration. Majid also began a hunger strike four days ago after he was returned to solitary confinement again. What happened to the international student solidarity??

Jafar Panahi's Release Shows International Pressure Works

The release of the Iranian film maker, Jafar Panahi, on a bail of $200,000 today shows international pressure and campaigning to release prisoners of conscience does work. Panahi enjoyed the solid support of his world famous film celebrity colleagues, who included the likes of Francis Ford Coppola, Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg etc.

At the Cannes film festival, a tearful Juliette Binoche, carried a large sign with Jafar Panahi's name on it and said 'I hope he will be here next year'. Time and time again it has been proven that persistent pressure and high profile campaigning does work.

I wish Western academics and universities would also learn from their film industry colleagues. One would have thought with all the Iranian students currently imprisoned, tortured and killed, the UK students and academics would also campaign for their colleagues. Yet sadly the evidence suggests otherwise, even at universities like SOAS, UCL and Durham where graduates of these universities are currently serving long term prison sentences, not only there isn't much appetite for campaigning, representatives of Ahmadinejad's junta administration continue to hold regular 'cultural' events and dinner parties. One wonders at the moral decline of UK academics, which sadly includes many Iranian lecturers, where a free lunch seems to be more preferable for them than standing up for basic human values.

Video of Bahareh Hedayat, Iranian student appealing for solidarity from Western universities before she received a 9 and 1/2 year sentence:



Picture of SOAS lecturer Anna Contadini, rushing to receive her award from Ahmadinejad :

Ahmadinejad in Khorramshahr

Today is the anniversary of the liberation of Khorramshahr and Ahmadinejad who never spent a single day in the front during the war with Saddam, was desperately trying to exploit the occasion for one of his cheap publicity stunts. It could have been another publicity stunt, the rent a crowd were there, the state TV cameras were playing their usual tricks, only one thing did not go ahead as planned. Unemployed workers had rushed to the area and kept chanting 'Unemployment, Unemployment' and it was all heard on the State TV:

Bakhtiar's Killer is Returned to Iran with an Official Welcome

Is it any wonder a murderous government welcomes an assassin murderer and treats him like a hero? Of course not, so no need to say any more on that. Is it any wonder though that a Western democracy frees a killer and deals with a terrorist state?

Dr. Bakhtiar's killer, Ali Vakili Raad, was today freed and returned to Iran. Most Western media simply refer to Shapour Bakhtiar as the Shah's last Prime Minister, but Bakhtiar was a lot more than that. This mountain of a man fought in the Spanish Civil War as an International Brigadist against General Franco's Fascism. Later, he volunteered and fought in the Orleans battalion and in the French Resistance against Hitler. He spent a total of six years in Shah's prisons and was the only significant opposition figure to the Shah, who had the foresight to warn Iranians in 1979 that mixing religion and state will have tragic consequences. This mountain of man fought against despotism and tyranny all his life to the very end, and this is how a Western democracy betrayed him, time and time again.

Bakhtiar survived an earlier assassination which resulted in the death of two French citizens and the permanent paralysis of a French policeman. His assassin then, Enis Naqash, was also returned to Iran after some lucrative contract. Bakhtiar's murder and that of his secretary Soroush Katibeh was with the lucid collusion of the Mitterand government at the time with the Islamic Republic. France's betrayal and collusion with the terrorists is therefore not a one off event.

'Never underestimate the capacity of the French for moral relativism and plain double dealing, not to mention their ability to organise a swift coverup and to boldly tell blatant lies. That is the way of government in France and has long been so.'

Ar(gh)avan Rezai is a Traitor, Full Stop

The video below is a part of Ahmadinejad's promotional video during last year's presidential (s)election. The young girl in the video is the Iranian born French tennis player, Arghavan Rezai or Aravan Rezai as she calls herself. I have no idea who the other older chubbier woman is, it may be her mother, but since Arghavan Rezai has been overcome with so much emotion after meeting Mahmood Ahmadinejad and can't speak herself, the other woman starts speaking on Rezai's behalf until Ar(gh)avan composes herself:

Woman - She has been waiting for this moment to meet and speak to Mr. Dr. Ahmadinejad that is why she is so emotional

Reporter - What gift did you give to Mr. Ahmadinejad?

Aravan Rezai - Two tennis rackets

Reporter - Mr. Ahmadinejad is not a tennis player, is he?

Aravan Rezai - May be he will become one

Reporter - Do you love Mr. Ahamdinejad?

Aravan Rezai - Yes very much so

Reporter - Why?

Aravan Rezai - Because he has shown all the world the strength and power of Iran and I am really proud of him



So you would think this is a no brainer, Aravan Rezai is a traitor and a sycophant, full stop. Imagine my surprise however when I saw so many Iranians on Facebook, expats who call themselves supporters of the Green Movement outside Iran congratulating themselves on the recent success of this tennis player champion! First I thought may be they have never seen this footage but then further to my surprise they were still defending her. Below were some of their justifications:

- This was before the protests!

So, one year has passed, so many atrocities against the people of Iran have happened, protesters have been beaten, raped and killed, has she ever publicly regretted her appearance in this promotional video? No, in fact her and her father Arsalan Rezai have appeared numerous times on Iranian state TV. Her father is said to have won a large business contract as a reward for his daughter's appearance on Ahmadinejad's promotional video.

- Its not her fault, its her father's fault!

We can find some root cause for any traitor's actions, does it make a difference? We can say the same thing about a Baseeji saying its their family upbringing etc. at least Aravan Rezai lives in France and has more access to free information to make a judgement than a Baseeji in Iran. She certainly does not need the money either.

- She is only 22!

So? Is there a minimum age limit for being a traitor? If so what is it? Do you have to be 25+ before you can be labelled as a traitor? Again many of the Baseejis are 22 or even younger.


- She should be judged for her tennis ability and not her politics!

I am sorry, if she has taken such a politically blatant partisan side by her own accord, then she should face the music for her politics too.

- She may regret her support soon

If it happens, all well and good, until it happens, Aravan Rezai is a traitor.

Finally the last justification of these confused weak minded expats who get too excited and drop all their principles when they get celebrity struck:

- Her coach seemed to be wearing a green wrist band in the last match

Well she may have even been wearing a pair of knickers with shades of green, if she wants to be forgiven she should do a lot more. She can be just as vocal as she was in the above video.

If we do not learn to ostracise traitors and sycophants, then I am afraid we will live in tyranny for a long time. This all reminds me of a Persian poem about a proud eagle who is shot down by an arrow, when the eagle looks at the arrow, he notices the eagle feathers used in the arrow and laments 'What happens to us is no one's fault but our own'

Latest Ahmadinejad Comedy

Looks like the Western media also missed out on the comedy of what happened at today's press conference that was broadcast on IRI state media. Ahmadinejad starts his speech by reciting verses from the Koran in Arabic, the poor Iranian translator has no idea however what the Arabic verses are about and is unable to translate. The Brazilian president Lula thinks there is some technical difficulty and he is not hearing the translation. Ahmadinejad keeps asking 'No Translation?' until he twigs on at what is happening and says 'ok, don't worry about that bit' and the translation into Portuguese finally begins when Ahmadinejad starts speaking in Persian.

Thursday's Solid Strike in Kurdistan

More than 95% of shops and businesses in the Iranian Kurdistan were reported closed on Thursday, which was in reaction to the shock news of the five executions last Sunday. Sadly the strike didn't get much publicity in the Western media. This New York Times article was the only one I could find which covered the strile. Pictures and footage of closed shops may not be categorised as sexy news for these news editors but I think they are missing out on the significance of what happened on Thursday.

Iranian Kurdistan has been reluctant to join the Green Movement until now, perhaps because of their mistrust of the fact that Moussavi was the Prime Minister in the eighties when the Iranian Kurds suffered much violence, but last Sunday's executions and the swift condemnation of the unjust executions by both Moussavi and Karroubi has broadened the Green Movement.

The writing on the walls of Nazee Abad in South Tehran : 'Kurdistan, Tehran is with you'. As I have said many times before, don't underestimate Ahamdinejad's administration in its capability to shoot itself in the foot.
The execution of the five in Evin prison on Sunday will not cower people into fear in the run up for the anniversary of last year's fraudulent elections, it has instead broadened the Green Movement. Lets build on that.

Regime Tries to Arrest the Entire Family of the Executed Teacher

It wasn't enough for them to unjustly hang the Kurdish teacher, Farzad Kamangar in Evin prison on Sunday, now the regime not only refuses to give his body and belongings back, they have issued arrest warrants for the entire family members who have been 'making too much noise' outside the Evin prison.

Saltaneh Rezayi, Farzad's mother pictured here, Mehrdad Kamangar (Farzad's brother), Sarvar Kamangar (Mehrdad's wife), Shirin Kamangar (Farzad's sister) and Farzad's 15 year old nephew, Javid, have all been threatened with arrest by the Evin prison authorities.

Prison authorities have also refused to return the bodies of the other four executed on Sunday, Farhad Vakili, Shirin Alamhouli, Ali Heydarian and Mehdi Eslamian. The authorities have told the families that bodies will be secretly buried and they will be notified at a later date of the whereabouts of the burial places, in fear of the funerals turning into public protests.

Khalil Bahramian, the Iranian lawyer who represented Shirin and Farzad breaks down during this telephone interview with the Kurdish channel, Newruz, as he describes the injustice of these executions.

Moussavi Condemns Sunday's Executions

It was an uneasy day in Iran yesterday. Iranian Kurdish cities like Sanandaj and Kamyaran were said to be under virtual martial law and Ahmadinejad's unannounced visit to Beheshti University with ten bus loads of Baseejis, who were intended to be used as has his audience, sparked off the protests by Beheshti university students:

CNN's Report of the protests at Beheshti University


Meanwhile families of those executed on Sunday who had travelled to Tehran to collect the bodies of their loved ones were affronted by the Evin prison authorities who instead arrested some of the family members. Today it has been confirmed that the mother and sister of Shirin Alamhouli, who was executed on Sunday have now been arrested too.

More heavy sentences against other detainees have been announced, amongst them Hengameh Shahidi, the SOAS graduate, who has received six years imprisonment.

Mir Hussein Moussavi today condemned Sunday's executions by issuing the statement below:

'The sudden announcement of the execution of five of our citizens without any illuminating explanations given to the public about their charges and the judicial process is similar to the unjust processes we have seen in the last months and the bizarre sentences handed out to many of our loyal men and women citizens.

When the judiciary takes the side of those who are in power instead of the true victims, it is difficult to stop the cynical judgement made by the population towards these sentences. How is it that the judiciary ignores bringing to justice the perpetrators of crimes in Kahrizak, Tehran university dormitory, Sobhan residents and the crimes committed against peaceful protesters in June last year and on the Ashura? How is it that huge corruption cases are closed without ever being investigated and yet just as the anniversary of last year's events approach, five citizens are hanged without the proper judiciary process and with much doubt surrounding their charges? Is this the justice the Iranian people were after and promised?'

International Protests Against This Morning's Executions in Iran

'A regime which links earthquakes to the way women dress has no credibility when it tries to label civil activists as bombers and terrorists' - KDP spokesperson today.

Iranians across the world have been united in condemning the callous executions of five Kurds in Iran this morning. There was a peaceful demonstration in front of the Islamic Republic embassy in London this afternoon. A group of Leftist Hekmatist supporters also attacked the IRI consulate in Kensington:



In Paris:



In Vienna

Five Iranians Executed This Morning

Five Iranians including a woman were executed this morning. Farzad Kamangar, the dissident Iranian Kurdish teacher, Shirin Alamhouli, Ali Heidarian, Farhad Vakili and Mehdi Eslamian were hanged in the early hours of this morning.

Their lawyers said they had not been informed at all about the sentences being carried out today.

I have been informed there will be a demonstration outside the Iranian embassy today at 5 pm, in protest to these executions.

Galloway is Out!

Best result, from Thursday's UK elections for me so far, was Galloway coming third in the Poplar and Limehouse constituency. David Cohen has written a good piece on Galloway's demise:
George Galloway 'loses respect of voters

Having lost his parliamentary seat as well as his 100K a year radio talk show, 'Mother of All Talk Shows', it now seems Ahmadinejad's administration is his last major source of income. Galloway's pay for just one of his Press TV episodes is more than an Iranian war veteran gets in a year.

No Praise for Ahmadinejad's Mention of Cyrus in the UN

It is not often that the leaders of the Islamic Republic praise Iran's pre-Islamic era. In fact Iran's pre-Islamic culture and festivities are very much frowned upon by the Islamic Republic leadership.

The regime in Iran does have a dual policy of what is said publicly, one is for the 'internal consumption' and one for the 'external consumption' as they put it. So when Ahamdinejad mentioned Cyrus the Great as the great king of Iran who abolished slavery 2500 years ago, in his UN speech, it may have stirred the hearts of some Iranian nationalists and those who pride themselves in Iran's pre-Islamic identity and history, but the more astute observers know that such gestures made by Ahamdinejad are just hollow window dressings to fool the gullible audiences.

In fact already, Fatemeh Rajabai (pictured above), wife of Ahmadinejad's governement spokesman, has criticised Ahmadinejad's statements in UN. This is a translation of Fatemeh Rajabai's criticism of Ahmadinejad's speech in UN for mentioning Cyrus the Great:
'The abolition of slavery in Iran's 2500 year history is ambiguous, and brings no glory for our Shiite history.'
'Sadly, Although Mr. Ahmadinejad, in his previous speeches always put his emphasis on the Hidden Imam, Mehdi, as the sole saviour of the world, and her holiness Fatemeh Zahra, this time, he did not speak like in previous occasions. Mr. Ahmadinejad always ended his speeches with prayers for the imminent resurgence of the hidden Imam Mahdi, and instead he ended his speech by talking about the love of human beings for one other and in my opinion this is not appropriate'

There you go, who says there is no freedom in Iran and you can not criticise?

Protest Outside the Islamic Republic Embassy, Paris on Press Freedom Day

Today is the Press Freedom Day and to highlight the vicious onslaught on Iran's press by Ahmadinejad's administration, protesters throw 300 newspapers rolled into footballs over the IRI embassy gates in Paris, in a symbolic action against the messianic regime's crackdown on press freedom. Protesters demanded the release of all imprisoned Iranian journalists. There are now more than sixty Iranian journalists languishing in the regime's prisons.

The event was organised by Reporters Without Borders - RSF. See Pictures:

Hollywood Big Names Rise to Panahi's Defence

I remember how an Islamic Republic apologist university lecturer, invited by Jeremey Corbyn MP to a parliamentary meeting was telling her audience how much freedom there is in Iran when Jafar Panahi is able to make films like Offside. Well Panahi is now also held in Evin prison. Originally he was charged with 'unpsecified crimes', then the charge was revised to making a film against the regime and more recently with making a 'naked' film!

Its good to see that finally some of the big names in Hollywood have rallied to Panahi's support, for Iran's freedom fighters need all the international support they can get.

Scorsese, Spielberg and Stone among filmmakers urging Jafar Panahi's release

Thousands of Italians Mark the End of Fascism by Expressing Solidarity with Iran's Green Movement

This is just the sort of thing Iran's Green Movement needed. Tens of thousands of Italians marked 25th April, the anniversary of the end of Mussolini by wearing Green T-Shirts with maps of Iran printed on them and expressed their solidarity with the people of Iran who seek freedom and justice against the tyranny of Ahmadinejad's messianic military junta. The T-shirts also had 'From Tehran to Turin' printed on them.

The people of Turin also cheered as Ey Iran, the banned national anthem blared out of the large speakers during the procession. Thank you to the people of Turin, together we will defeat Fascism in Iran. Thank you Italy.

Admission that the Regime Rapes in Prisons by the IRGC Commander

The footage below shows IRGC Commander, Saeed Ghassemi, speaking to a group of loyal Baseejis. It is a clear admission to rape in Islamic Republic prisons as well as an implicit threat that anyone who dares to challenge the regime in the streets can face all consequences including rape:

'..If they want to oppose the regime intellectually, there isn't a problem, we pray for them, but if they dare to come on the streets and challenge the establishment, be it if they are my own child or even if they are a martyr's son, the establishment is duty bound to deal with them, so be aware..and you lot [the audience] tell them not to be obstinate otherwise they will be taken to a place with sauna and jacuzzi [laughter by the audience] or those things that Karroubi has claimed [laughter again], which haven't happened of course, but you never know things can happen, of course one can't play with convictions, you see a lot of them are still putting up a resistance but those who have broken down have really broken down, so tell them they will be taken to those kind of places and then they will confess to everything in less than twenty days [laughter], and just like the Supreme Leader said you can criticise from the Almighty himself right to the prophet and be as secular as you want up to a point, you can see this freedom in bread queues and in taxis, people freely moan about everything, no one is bothering them, show me, show me somewhere in the world where a secular university lecturer can lecture on secularism and turn my religious son or a martyr's son or a martyr's wife and turn them against the Supreme Leader? where do you see such thing in the world? show me....[some poetry about martyrs]...so you can see the bottom colour is red like the blood of the martyrs, anyone who takes on the establishment after the revolution will receive his punishment here and now, nothing is happening in the other world, the other side has its own rules and regulations, here anyone who has any knowledge of history can see that whoever takes on the regime will fall, that's for certain, don't doubt that ...[more poetry]'

and here is a picture of the commander with Daniel Ortega

It is Still Possible Not to Surrender to this Nightmare

I hope Ebi sings this song in the Royal Albert Hall tonight:



Although the black clad are rounding up the shredded stars from the streets
Although the mourners are pulling out the doves from amidst the ruins

Although the stench of inquisition and blood is everywhere
It is still possible not to become a victim of this nightmare of terror
It is still possible not to surrender to the night and become a prisoner of this evil....

Cultural Revolution in the Kindergartens

When I left Iran after the 'Islamic Cultural Revolution', I thought it was all over. I thought by brainwashing and controlling the university students they will eventually control the whole society. How wrong I was! A valuable lesson I have learned in the last three decades has been whenever any state tries to force feed a population with an ideology, it will have the reverse desired effect for the state, people will only vomit the state ideology when they are forced fed with it.

I remember asking an Ethiopian friend of mine, who lived under the Marxist rule in Ethiopia, if they were ever taught all that Marxism-Leninism stuff in the schools? He shook his head as if I reminded him of a sore subject and told me, 'Every day we had to stay behind after lessons for these special ideological classes and pity that kid who asked a question which would prolong these torturous sessions, we would get hold of him after class and beat the crap out of him, for we wanted to go to the beach or to the cinema after school and the last thing we wanted to do was to listen to all that drivel a minute longer than we had to..'

On the other side of the coin, under the Shah, reading Marxist literature was banned, yet the Iranian youth would go out of their way to get hold of a copy of the Communist Manifesto. The illegality of it just made it more exciting and having read such literature was like wearing a badge of intellectual honour.

The Islamic Republic never learns however. In fact whenever there is a feeling of despair and despondency, one can always look forward to the regime shooting itself in the foot. Last week, the Minister of Social Welfare, Ahmadinejad's friend and crony and overnight multi millionaire, Sadegh Mahsouli, announced that only kindergartens that teach Islamic values as the main core of their curriculum will receive government loans and grants and kindergartens which ignore Islamic teachings will be severely dealt with! And what specific Islamic values are at the top of the priority list of the Multi-Millionaire Minister? Mr. Mahsouli wants kindergartens to teach the kids about martyrdom and bring them up as martyrdom seeking toddlers!

So after failure of 'cultural revolution' in universities and schools, guess what will happen at the kindergartens!

Iranian kids having to toil in brick factories while overnight millionaires like Social Welfare Minister Mahsouli rant on about what should be taught at kindergartens

Supreme Leader's New Fatwa on Late Payers of Utility Bills

During the 1979 revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini ordered the faithful not to pay their utility bills to the Shah's government. It was another clever move by the exiled cleric which pushed the Shah's administration further towards bankruptcy.

Three decades later, those who pioneered the revolution are themselves facing a revolution which uses some of the same methods used thirty years ago like chanting 'God is Great' from the roof tops. In response to the iron fist shown by the establishment against those who take part in street demonstrations, people are trying to resort to other civil disobedience protest methods which inflict damage on the regime but carry less danger for them. Not paying the utility bills can be one such method, of course there are also many who just can't make ends meet and pay the bills too, and so here is the Supreme Leader's latest Fatwa on those who are not paying their water bills:

'Refusing to pay the water bills is not allowed and those who perform their ablution with such water will therefore make their rituals void'

Four other high ranking clerics including Messbah Yazdi, Mohammad Yazdi, Nouri Hamedani and Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi who has a representative office in Harrow Road, London have also issued similar fatwas.

Here is the real irony however. Ayatollah Khomeini in his first speech after return form exile in the Behesht Zahra cemetery, promised 'We will make water, electricity, buses and so forth free of charge, we have so much income from the oil why should our people have to pay for these things?'

People's Response to Ahmadinejad in Oroumiyeh

Well we saw how Ahamdinejad's thugs attacked a small group of environmentalists in Oroumiyeh in the previous post. This is how the people of Oroumiyeh responded to Ahmadinejad when he went there yesterday on one of his provincial tours. See how few people turned up for his speech despite all the regime's efforts in rent a crowd methods:



Note that the billboards advertising him were also ripped. Pro-Ahmadinejad site, Raja News, did not publish any pictures but remarked on how the 'president' prayed for rain in the beginning if his speech and how miraculously by the end of his speech it had started to rain! Absolutely amazing!

Where Else Does the Police Throw Stones at Peaceful Protesters?

It is known as Sizdeh Bedar, thirteen days after the Iranian New Year, Nowruz, Iranians collectively go for a picnic to parks and into the nature to celebrate the ancient reverence our forefathers held for the environment and nature. It is a family picnic and everybody tries to enjoy the last day of the New Year holidays before they go back to schools and start work again.

The footage below shows Sizdeh Bedar - 02 April - in Oroumiyeh, North West Iran. This is not even a political anti-government demonstration, a few peaceful environmentalists are making an appropriate peaceful gathering to raise awareness about the dangers of Oroumiyeh Lake drying up on this traditional day for nature. The gathering hasn't even started yet but straight away the regime's forces armed with clubs and truncheons and protected! by shields and helmets start attacking the environmentalists and throw stones at them while families grab their children and run away to safety.

This is what a tyranny is all about. It does not matter what the gathering is about, a dictatorship fears any gathering of people. During the Gaza conflict, a few Iranian women known as Mothers for Peace came on the streets to support the Palestinians and they were beaten away by the regime's thugs. It does not even matter to a dictatorship what people in a gathering want, if it is not controlled and directed by the regime, it fears it and violence is the only reaction it knows.

The Green Maestro's Concert in Barbican, London

I have spent most of the Easter break battling with a stomach virus, which is why I couldn't make it to Shajarian's concert in the Barbican, London on Saturday. I am no expert with Persian classical music and I have a selective list of favourites in this category that I like to listen to. I respect Shajarian however more than just for his mastery of classical Persian music. Shajarian has stood by the people of Iran ever since the June protests last year. In protest to the brutal crackdown and state repression, Shajarian forbid the State TV to broadcast any of his music and almost immediately after the brutal repression began, produced another masterpiece track which scorns the tyrant rulers from inflicting so much pain and misery on the people.

I was glad to hear Shajarian's concert was yet another gathering of Iranians abroad and a manifestation of support for the Green Movement inside Iran. Here is a footage of the crowd singing the unofficial national anthem, Ey Iran, at the end of his concert in the Barbican Hall:

New Video from 11th Feb Protests - Young Girls Rescued from Security Forces

This is a new footage just received from 11th February protests in the Aryashahr district in Tehran. It shows two young citizen journalist girls being arrested by security forces. One Special Unit guard comes off his bike and starts beating the girls with what seems like a cable or chain. The girls start screaming and the youth come to their rescue, making the Special Unit scums run away like the cowards that they are.

United we will never be defeated.

Ebi's Green Concert in London

Legendary Iranian singer, Ebi will be performing in the Royal Albert Hall, London on April 20th. There is a difference to this concert from the other Iranian concerts being performed these days for the Nowruz celebrations. This concert is being organised by the Persian Community for Multiple Sclerosis (PC4MS), whose aim is to raise awareness of MS and its prevalence in Persian communities, as well as helping to fund research into MS. All the profits from this concert will go to UK-registered charities and the largest portion will be donated to the MS Society for use in research.
See: Royal Albert Hall Tickets/Ebi

Ebi is also a staunch supporter of the Green Movement. So what would be more appropriate to turn up for the concert with pictures of Hamed Rouhinejad, the Iranian philosophy student from Beheshti university who suffers from MS and was arrested 40 days before last June's elections and sentenced to execution. His death sentence seems to have been commuted now but Hamed has been detained in Evin prison ever since.

Message by the Imprisoned Iranian Film Director and Journalist

Mohammad Nourizad, the imprisoned Iranian film director and journalist, was given a chance to call his family after 93 days in solitary confinement. During a conversation which lasted only five minutes, Nourizad wished a happy Iranian New Year to his wife and two children and told them 'It is not important how long I remain here, what is important is that when I come out of here I be able to hold my head high'.

This epic of a resistance to tyranny continues on all fronts.

Lets Support the Artists Who Have Stood by the People of Iran

Googoosh on Sunday:



Afshin in Germany

Googoosh Concert

When it comes to entertainment, Googoosh is a legend amongst Iranians and even amongst other Persian speaking nations beyond Iran's borders. Googoosh has been performing for 56 years since she was three years old. Not only she is a supreme singer with the greatest of vocals but she is a complete all rounder on stage.

At a sell out concert in the Wembley arena last night, marking the Iranian New Year, Googoosh came on stage and straight away wished for a free Green Iran in the new Iranian year. Many Iranian artists avoid getting involved in politics thinking it may alienate some of their fans but Googoosh is one of those giants in Iranian entertainment who doesn't need to worry about a few timid expats unconcerned with what goes on in Iran.

After Googoosh dazzled and electrified the audience with her incredible performances in the first half, she came back on stage after the break dressed in a new chic attire with tears in her eyes and emotions running high, she pointed to Anthony Thomas, the veteran anti-apartheid campaigner and accomplished documentary director/producer sitting in the audience and thanked him for making a new documentary about Neda. Anthony Thomas had found out during the making of the film form Neda's friends how much Neda loved one of Googoosh's old songs, 'Never Forget Me'. The seven thousand crowd in Wembley Arena got up and applauded both Googoosh and Anthony Thomas. Googoosh managed to wipe her tears off, and sing a very emotional version of her ' Get to Know Me and Never Forget Me' for Neda. Once again the whole audience rose up and amongst constant applause some started shouting 'Nedaye ma namorde' - 'Our Neda Hasn't died' Neda meaning voice in Persian it was also meant to appreciate Googoosh's fifty six years of singing consistently at the highest standard.

A member of the audience walked up to the stage and threw a green wrist band with 'Free Iran' written on it. Googoosh picked up the wrist band, put it on her wrist and raided her arm with a clinched fist symbolising the resistance of the struggle by the Iranians, and by doing so once again she moved an appreciative audience into yet another peak of exceptional joy and elation.

It was such a pleasure to see so many thousands of Iranians so truly happy and yet not forgetting the struggle in Iran. One wondered where else in the world can you find a country whose people are so vastly apart from those who rule over them?

For me there was another special moment, when googoosh sang one of her old songs, Kooh, the Mountain. The tall proud mountain that always holds his head high, strong and impassable. It brought back so many memories and I remembered how I always listened to it when I was down. It was just what I needed to re-charge may batteries for the new year.

Nowruz Outside Evin Prison

Families of political prisoners in Iran set up their Nowruz Haft-sins with pictures of their loved ones who are still in prison.

Stay Green and Immortal Forever My Homeland

right now I can listen to this over and over again:



Wherever I have been and whatever sky I have slept under, I have always been with you my homeland,
and now if I am tired because of a dagger in my back, whether I am still standing or already fallen, it has been for you, its been in your path
My Homeland, My Homeland, You stay Green and Immortal Forever!

Few Hours to Nowruz

Its now just a few hours to Nowruz, usually I am very bubbly and happy and looking forward to the celebrations. This year I feel however all my energy has been sapped and all my strength has gone out of me.

You may think its all the Iran related work I do that has caused my exhaustion but actually I am battling on another front with the Child Support Agency. Perhaps I shouldn't be writing about it here but its the only platform I got and I need to shout somewhere. CSA is a criminal organisation which behaves like a protection racket with the full backing of the state. It is a government department which has no concern with the well being of a child which makes fathers and children poorer but lawyers richer. A department whose focus is only to achieve targets by extortion from good fathers who want to look after their children.

It has taken this criminal organisation sixteen months to accept I have a new born which simply amazes me. How is it that they follow me from home, go through my credit card spendings and yet they can not verify such a fact from birth registrations. But I will re-cooperate and I will get my strength back and I will stand up to anyone who tries to bully me.

Look at this case just to get a flavour of what the criminal Child Support Agency gets up to
Relief after CSA admits £30,000 mistake

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Allows the IR Embassy Dinner to Go Ahead in Kensington Town Hall

Despite a huge volume of protests against the Embassy of Islamic Republic of Iran holding its dinner party tomorrow at Kensington Town Hall, the Tory controlled council today refused to heed to all the protest emails and phone calls and has allowed the pro-Ahmadinejad organised event to go ahead. In the beginning the booking officer Matthew Brown (matthew.brown@rbkc@gov.uk) expressed his astonishment that the event was organised by the embassy. Matthew Brown claimed the council was told a non-political 'cultural group' had booked the Town Hall for the event and asked for evidence contrary to this understanding.

The evidence of course was in black and white, the event was publicised on the website of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic http://icrolondonevents.com/norooz89/
Which read the Cultural Council of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran invites all those interested for a celebration party on Saturday 20th March in the Kensington Town Hall. Mathew Brown and the leader of the council, Merrick Cockell were notified of this embassy advertisement several times by many. Yet at the end, the Royal Borough of Cambridge and Chelsea lied on its website and Jennifer Allott (jennifer.allott@rbkc.gov.uk) came up with this nonsense statement: http://rbkc.gov.uk/newsroom/councilstatements/iraniannewyearevent.aspx
that a booking was made to use Kensington Town Hall by an 'Iranian cultural group' for a celebration.
No evidence has been produced that this event is anything other than a new year celebration.'
The so-called non-government related Iranian 'Cultural Group' was never named.

It was also further explained to the Tory council how Ahmadinejad's administration uses these events like the ones held on previous occasions in the Millenium Hotel, Gloucester Road or Wolfson College, Cambridge for its propaganda purposes to demoralise the Iranian protesters in Iran. By publicising such gatherings on Iranian state TV and pro-Ahmadinejad websites, in effect they tell the people of Iran, its business as usual for us abroad. The message they send to the Iranian people is no one is standing by you, no one cares for your struggle for democracy, no one is treating us as an illegitimate government, no one is questioning the mass detentions in Iran, the executions and the show trials, we have the petro-Dollars and we can buy whoever we want.

We ask the international community what is it that we are asking you that seems too much to ask? We ask you for international solidarity, you march for Guantanamo detainees, that's fine but how about marching for an Iranian teenager who has been gang raped in Kahrizak prison, after taking part in a peaceful protest simply asking 'where is my vote?,' once in a while? Why is it too much to ask to march just once for the likes of Nedas and Sohrabs and the way even their graves are being desecrated and their families are being harassed?

We ask the students and academics to stand up for the plight of their colleagues in Iran and question such brutal attacks on students of Tehran university shown in this footage taken by Iran's security forces themselves
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnHK6jAcsi4

We ask the likes of Anna Contadini not to accept meaningless awards from Ahamdinejad and his neo-Nazi advisor, Mohammad Ali Ramin.

We ask you not to allow your universities, town halls and hotels to be used for propaganda platforms by the coup administration in Iran.

We ask you to stand up to the regime in Iran for breaking all international broadcasting conventions by jamming the satellite signals to Iran while the regime continues to use the same broadcasting platforms for spreading their own propagandas and lies in just about every language with total impunity.

We ask you to stand up to the regime in Iran for denying the Iranian people access to the internet and freedom of information.

We ask you not to allow your companies to sell torture equipment, eavesdropping and spying facilities to the messianic junta in Iran, so that the dissidents in Iran could not so easily be tracked and arrested.

The victory of the Green Movement in Iran will lead to a more peaceful and tolerant Middle East, is this not enough incentive for you? Are you not touched by the humanity, the exceptional compassion and the magnanimity of the Iranian protesters when they capture and disarm a vicious Special Unit guard?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttxINV_EF50&feature=player_embedded

What is it that we are asking you that is too much? Your councils and your government agencies are more keen on cracking down on the motorists and divorced fathers, any thing that generates revenue for them, than standing up to a totalitarian thugocracy state that backs and funds international terrorism. Stand up to your spineless officials, you have the privilege of not ending up in Kahrizak or Evin prison if you protest, show some grit or they will continue to walk all over you and risk the future security of your children.

Conservative RBKC Council Leader, Merrick Cockell:

The Price of Freedom in Iran:
http://azarmehr.blogspot.com/2009/06/price-of-freedom.html

Remembering the Iranian Blogger, Omid Mir Sayafi

Its one year today since the Iranian blogger, Omid Mir Sayafi died in suspicious circumstances in Evin prison. Omid blogged about his main passion in life which was Persian classical music but made one grave error when he posed the following question on his blog:
'Mr. Khamenei Can you love me as much as you love Sheikh Nasrollah's son?'



Lets remember him and lets remember the longer the life of this regime is prolonged the more Omids will be missing amongst us.

Bollocks to the Fatwa

Neither the fatwa nor all the intimidation and nor the exceptional showing of eleven Hollywood blockbusters on the state TV kept the people of Iran at home tonight. Once again they came out, jumped over fires, risked their lives and chanted 'Death to the dictator'. The flame of Zoroaster burned brighter than ever throughout Iran tonight.

Film footage so far:

Boroujerd:

Crowds throw stones at security forces and chant 'Death to Dictator'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tvrb1-sdW-Y&feature=player_embedded

Tehran : Ajudanieh

Security forces attack people shout back 'Death to the Dictator'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCaNoMXNW2I

Tehran: Ferdows Boulevard

Crowds chant: 'With the help of God victory is near, Down with this cheating government'  - 'Death to the dictator'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KZA8zaRVIA&feature=player_embedded

Ardebil: Hand made grenades

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzGgWHECvEE&feature=player_embedded

South Tehran : Javadieh 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgyNuBSIrV0&feature=player_embedded 

Ekbbatan: [Death to dictator]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_aNRS1DNXY&feature=player_embedded

Isfahan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5e6NWB3VBcs&feature=player_embedded

Tomorrow the Children of Zoroaster Will Once Again Face Off the Foreign Occupiers of Our Homeland

On Sunday, the Supreme Leader made it easy for all of us by issuing a fatwa against the pre-Islamic festival of fire. The Supreme Leader's fatwa said 'The festival is against the Sharia and is a requisite for much harm and corruption and it is appropriate that it be avoided'.

Now every Iranian household who performs the festival tomorrow evening to preserve our nation's identity and heritage will be directly challenging the Supreme Leader's rule. Throughout our history, many usurpers have tried to ban and eliminate Nowruz and the Festival of Fire, but these national celebrations have survived and the usurpers have been defeated. The Supreme Leader has now dug his own grave further by issuing this Fatwa. Iranians have different facial features, different shades of skin colour, speak different dialects, have different religions but Nowruz and the Fire Festival still unite us within and beyond our borders. Those who wish to see Nowruz and the Fire Festival doomed will be doomed themselves.

Across Iran from Kurdistan to Khorassan and from Azarabadegan to Sistan, the flames of Zoroaster will illuminate the darks skies of our country and tell the worshippers of darkness that Iran will never die.

Attack on Karroubi's House

Imagine if your house is attacked by a group of fifty or so thugs like shown in these pictures. Imagine in your desperation all you can do is call the police, but when the police comes, the gang leader of the thugs approaches the police commander, has a word in his ear and the police commander sheepishly obliges by returning his men back to the police station and the thugs continue vandalising your house. 

This is the so called Islamic Republic of Iran, where in broad day light a cleric's house is attacked and vandalised without his innocent neighbours being spared either and without any attempt by the authorities to arrest the perpetrators. A lawless country where hired thugs rule the streets.


These are pictures of the attacks on Karrubi's house. 

and meanwhile hapless UK academics and gutless UK students play their part in making Islamic Republic look like a respectable government abroad without raising an eyebrow against the plight of their counterparts in Iran. Here is the Islamic Republic cultural attaché hosting Cambridge university's Wolfson College with a 'halal' dinner party.

To find out more about what happened at Wolfson College, contact the president of the College, Gordon Johnson at gj206@cam.ac.uk 

I wish for them not to lose hope - Vaclav Havel

Vaclav Havel congratulates the Iranian students and tells them not to lose hope:


"Of course all of us are interested in Iran's nuclear program and the nature of the current regime, just as we are interested in the abuses committed under the flag of Islam and whether or not the 2009 election was rigged. However, what I am most interested in are the brutal violations of human rights. I found myself in high political position thanks to peaceful public demonstrations and thanks to the students, who led them and made them happen. As a result, I have an elevated sensitivity for certain things and am deeply outraged and shocked that for participating in similar demonstrations in Iran, people are not only being sentenced to several years in prison, but are even being executed. It seems to me like an endless barbarity and I firmly believe this savagery is about to come to an end.

"I congratulate Majid Tavakoli and Abdollah Momeni for receiving the Homo Homini Award. I am glad that the prize has been given to them and I wish for them not to lose hope."

Vaclav Havel

I See Nothing but Splendour in These Chains

Hojat-ol-Islam Ahmad Ghabel was on his way to the funeral of Ayatollah Montazeri when he was arrested in Mashad. After seventy days of being incarcerated in the Intelligence Ministry Bureau of Mashad, he was taken to the quarantine wing of Mashad's Vakil Abad prison.

In a brief contact he was allowed with his family, Hojat-ol-Islam Ghabel told them, they took me to the Revolutionary Court while my hands and feet were chained. I told them 'You intend to humiliate me by putting me in chains but I see nothing other than splendour in this'.

Although Ghabel's house and passport have been confiscated by the Special Court for the Clergy, the SCC refuses to conduct his trial saying it does not even recognise Ghabel as a valid clergy.

Truly this Green Movement is an epic of resistance against tyranny in which all its adherents whether academic, worker, artist, writer, clergy or whatever part of the Iranian society they are from are making legends that will be remembered forever by Iranians in the next generations.

Czech NGO Reward for Iranian Students

No one knows the plight of Iranian people like those who have also lived under the rule of totalitarian states. Two activists and representatives of Iran's student movement, Abdollah Momeni and Majid Tavakoli, are this year's recipients of the Homo Homini Award, which is awarded annually by the Czech NGO People in Need "in recognition of a dedication to the promotion of human rights, democracy, and nonviolent solutions to political conflicts."

Thank you very much to the people of Czech Republic, nice to know that not everyone is like SOAS lecturer Anna Contadini.

A Tribute to the Iranian Women on 8th March

A fitting tribute to the courageous women of Iran who are at the very forefront of the struggle against the enemies of knowledge in Iran:



Iranian women supporters of the Green Movement marching in London on Saturday for the women of Iran:

The Police Brutalities Galloway Chose to Ignore

When Galloway started going on about the UK police brutality towards the Gaza protesters in London, these were the images of police brutality that went through my head, real vicious sadistic brutality that Galloway chose to ignore. The crimes that the Stop the War worshippers of Galloway do not want to know about.

Under Galloway's former paymaster, Saddam Hussein:



police brutality under his current paymasters:

76 Year Old Former Tehran University Chancellor Charged With 'Waging A War Against God'

I have written many times before about the dreadful plight of Mohammad Maleki, Iran's first chancellor of the Tehran university after the revolution. This 76 year old roaring lion who has resisted all pressures against him to appear before camera and make 'confessions' or ask for forgiveness has now been charged with being a mohareb, that means someone who takes up arms and wages war against God, punishable by death in the Islamic Republic.

Maleki was imprisoned many times under the Shah and has been imprisoned many times in the Islamic Republic. This is one courageous man who has NEVER stood silent when evil has prevailed. Maleki is among the oldest dissidents to have been jailed in Iran's post election protests. He was being treated for prostate cancer before his arrest. Yet when they came to arrest him, this roaring lion replied 'I was afraid you may let me die in my bed'.

Despite such injustices against our academics and students, the likes of UK lecturer, Anna Contadini have no moral dilemma to accept an award from Ahmadinejad. An award in 'Creating Human Values' of all awards for Anna Contadini handed out by the head of the junta himself! Words fail me! They really do..

Neo Nazi's New Threat

Ahmadinejad's Neo-Nazi adviser, Mohammad Ali Ramin, currently the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Press Deputy, has come up with new threats against dissident journalists in Iran. Apart from show trials, long prison sentences, physical assault and extra judicial murders, Ramin threatened to strip the 'guilty' journalists from all their citizenship rights.

The picture below shows Ramin at the award ceremony during which SOAS lecturers, Anna Contadini and Mohammad Abdul Haleem received their awards from Ahmadinejad himself. Anna Contadini received an award in Creation of Human Values from Ahmadinejad!
'har dam az in bagh bari miresad' as we say in Persian. Word by word translation 'a new fruit arrives from this garden every moment' basically it means 'nothing ever surprises us any more' with these UK academics.

http://www.mehrnews.com/fa/newsdetail.aspx?NewsID=1032659

Twenty Year Old Student, Mohammad Valian, Sentenced to Death

The Iranian student body, 'Office to Foster Unity' has protested strongly against the death sentence passed against one of its members, the 20 year old Mohammad Amin Valian from Damghan University.

Valian was also one of the volunteers in Moussavi's election campaign.

'Not only the sentence passed against our member for merely defending himself during the Ashura protests is outrageous, but the fact that it has taken place so soon after the latest footage of the vicious attack on Tehran university has shocked and astounded the Iranian university community and Iran's civil society' The OCU statement reads.

Valian's death sentence is therefore confirmed news;  the basis on which the death sentence is passed however is not verified and in the absence of independent reporters in Iran, rumours are spreading that Judge Salavati who is said to have passed the sentence is alleged to have done so based on a Fatwa by Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi.

Galloway Begged the Police to Detain Us

I was informed by my friend, Peyvand Khorsandi about a Stop the War meeting in the House of Commons tonight where Galloway was speaking. We decided to go along and meet this stooge of dictators face to face. While queuing to go through the security, we told the policeman who was directing the people to different queues that we were going to Committee Room 19. Two of the Stop the War enthusiasts heard us and cheerily said to us 'Oh we are going to the same meeting as well. Are you Palestenians?' To which we replied 'We like Palestinians but we are Iranians'. The two women got even more excited and replied 'Oh we also support Iran against the West!'. They must have thought all Iranians support the regime in Iran. When I replied 'So why don't you go and live in Iran and allow two Iranian women to come here in your place and enjoy the same privileges you enjoy in the West', their initial enthusiasm was quickly turned into a shock. What a disappointment for them to find out we were not in the same ilk as them.

I asked them if they liked Galloway who used to be best pals with Saddam Hussein and his murderous son, Uday Hussein. They shook their heads and refused to believe that Galloway ever had anything to do with Saddam. I asked them if they would like to give me their emails so I could send them the video links of Galloway calling Uday 'Your excellency' and telling him 'That he is with them to the end'. The two Stop the War devotees however were not what you would call open minded people, more like ostridges with their heads buried in the sand who did not want to know the truth or discuss alternative opinions. They even said 'We are going to tell 'them' to stop you from coming to the meeting' and moved ahead of the queue away from us. So much for open debate and free discussion with these 'useful idiots'.

Letter to Anna Contadini by the Founder of Artists Without Frontiers

Letter by Sirus Malakooty, founder and director of Artists Without Frontiers, to Anna Contadini, the SOAS lecturer who accepted an award from Ahmadinejad on 10th February, this year.

Dear Dr. Anna Contadini,

You have received an award from the Islamic Republic and specifically from Ahmadienjad himself. Apparently this award has been presented to you in appreciation of your efforts for promoting a culture of human values.

Are you aware that the hands which gave you this award are stained in the blood of writers and researchers of Iran?

Are you aware that the Islamic Republic is a place of torture and execution for Iranian dissidents?

Are you aware that the Writers Association has not been able to hold one public conference in the last thirty years as an independent writers association?

Are you aware that many members of the Writers Association are currently in jails and under torture merely for expressing their opinions?