Obama and Iran by Campaign Iran

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Blunder with Israeli Orange Handouts

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

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

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

Who could have written a funnier script than that?

'Conqueror of Geneva'

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

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

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

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

Ahmadinejad at the UN Racism Summit

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ahmadinejad's Prayers for Rain

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

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

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

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

Nokia and Siemens Sell Spy Systems to Islamic Republic

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

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

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

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

Karrubi and the Morality Patrols

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

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

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

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

Anniversary of Islamic Republic Referendum

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mir Hossein Moussavi's Latest Press Conference

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Brainwashing at Iranian Schools

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

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

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

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

Why is the US President Bowing to the Saudi King?

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




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

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

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

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

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

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

Ahmadinejad's Jinx Continues

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



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

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

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

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

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

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

What Better Way to Celeberate Nowruz?

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

Now I am really feeling home sick!

Happy Nowrooz

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

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

Omid Mir Sayafi, Another Death at Evin

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

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

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

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

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

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

See photos:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ten Months and 30 Lashes for War Veteran

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

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

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

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

See the clip made for Dr. Reza Jalali:

In My Youngest Son's Motherland

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

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

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

Demo Outside BBC TV Studios

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

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

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

Only then the protesters agreed to leave the area.

Leaflet handed outside the BBC Television studios:

Why we are Protesting Here

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

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

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

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

Supporters of the Secular Pro-Democracy Movement in Iran