The Fiery Speech by a Female Iranian Teacher Protesting for Better Pay

This footage below was sent to me by one of the teachers taking part in the widespread strike by the Iranian teachers. They are demanding better pay and conditions.

The video shows a fiery speech made by a female teacher. See the translation below:

"Most of the martyrs in the war were from our ranks, the teachers and pupils, so we have paid our fair share for this revolution, but sadly we have received the least just rewards for our sacrifices, during these days of strike, I read things that saddened me, I want to address the Friday Prayer leaders who in their sermons speak against us teachers, they say "when a teacher talks about money, it means knowledge has been abandoned in exchange for wealth"! I ask these clerics who have put on the prophet's robes, who wear the messenger of Allah's turban on their heads, why is it that when wealth comes your way, it doesn't mean your religion has been abandoned for wealth? Why is it that most of the factories are owned by your lot? [crowds applause] Is religion just for me, a teacher? I am proud that I am a teacher, we are the faithful servants of real Islam, for us the first teacher is God and then his messengers, yet they say if there is talk of free lunch somewhere, the teachers will run to there, this is sad, Yes, I, a teacher am hungry, because there are many greedy stomachs in our country, [crowds applause] Yes, I a teacher have no money, because all the cash has been plundered by the children of the officials running the country, [crowds applause] My pockets are empty, because the sons and daughters of this country have such grand villas in Canada and European countries, [crowds applause] .."

A letter to Zarif

Letter written by Mitra Pourshajari, whose father, Siamak Mehr, languishes in Iran's jails for having expressed his opinion on his blog, to Islamic republic's foreign minister, Javad Zarif, who told Charlie Rose, no one is jailed in Iran for their opinion!

"Mr. Zarif, your Smile Cannot Hide your Fear"

Once again, one of the high ranking officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran, its internationally  renowned Foreign Minister, denied the arrest and punishment of Iranian citizens for dissenting and using of their basic rights including freedom of expression, freedom of association, and freedom to express dissatisfaction with their government. In an interview with PBS America on april 19, 2015, Mohammad Javad Zarif, stressed to millions of American viewers that ''We do not jail people for their opinions.''

Mr. Zarif's speech has haunted me ever since I heard it, reviving all the bitter memories of the past five years and the situation of my father who in 2010, was tried and sentenced to death initially and then to prison for what he wrote in his blog. It's so painful and difficult to live with the fact that the dearest person in your life is living in the most deplorable conditions of solitary confinement, torture and prison, with severe health problems threatening his life every day. It is even harder to see that Iranian officials who have failed to improve the living conditions for my father and other prisoners of conscience, ignore and deny their very existence.

It was about three years ago that my interrogator, a man named "Mohammadi" from the Ministry of Information in Mashhad, glanced at me from head to toe, stared in my eyes and said: ''I have your 5-years prison sentence in my hand for informing the public about your father and communicating with foreign media, you are too young to be able to bear this time in Mashhad's Vakil Abad Prison. Your father is in our hand and try to cross the stream where it is shallowest. Those people and media abroad can't help your father at all, they just use your situation for their own benefit''.

Mohammadi's dirty and hateful gaze convinced me to leave the country for good as soon as I could. The fear of imprisonment and rape forced me to leave my father alone there and carry with me, wherever I live, my regrets, loneliness, and the pain of being separated from him.

So, why where they so apprehensive of my activities and my revealing the real identity of my father and what he was about?

Siamak Mehr, the pen name of my father, Siamak Pourshajari, the writer of ''The report to the land of Iran'' weblog, was a 50 years old man who wrote about his beliefs and personal views. In his blogs, he mainly criticized Islam, protested against Islamic Republic's policies, defended freedom of opinion and expression, and called for the establishment of a democratic and secular state in Iran. In 2010 he was assaulted and arrested by revolutionary guards and intelligence foces and was detained in solitary confinement for eight months and tortured.

His interrogators had printed and highlighted my father's blogs and showed them to him before beating him to the edge of unconsciousness. They told their colleagues to rinse the pen with which he signed the interrogation sheets because, they said, he had insulted the Prophet and is ''unclean''. They tortured my father because they believed that in one of his articles, he had insulted ''Henry Corbin'' - a French scholar of Islam. Finally, in order to stop the pressure, not repent, and avoid self-incriminating confessions, my father tried to commit suicide by breaking his eye glass and cutting his wrists.  After a few days of being unconscious, it was with the slaps of an agent telling him ''You must not die, you must die from pain for having insulted sanctities and the Imams" that he woke-up. And the agent meant it.

Twice the interrogators asked my father to write his will, took him to the gallows to be executed, and then brought him back to his cell. To torture him further as a blogger and a prisoner of conscience, they incarcerated him with prisoners convicted of crimes, such as murder, kidnapping, rape and banditery.
When, I went to see, for the last time, the judge in charge of implementing sentences to protest against my father's transfer, I asked him to send him - based on the principle of separation of prisoners - to Rajai Shahr prison's political prisoners ward, the judge was clear about why my father was in prison. He told me:
Do you know who your father is and what he has written? Do you know that he has questioned and insulted all of our sanctities? In my view he is not a human being and should stay there to die, if I could, I would execute both of you right now..."
For what reason other than expressing his views in his writings is my father treated with such cruelty, insulted, and humiliated? During these years of physical and psychological pressure, my fahter has had two strokes and is still suffering from high blood pressure, kidney disease, and prostate problems. He is loosing his life, bit by bit. And yet, a high ranking official claims that stories of people like my father are lies and fabrications.

Thousands of Iranian have been murdered, executed or imprisoned and tortured in the Islamic Republic for their opinions. So many among them have done nothing but excercising their rights as authors and publishing their critical views against the regime. Their crime is their pen. If Mr Zarif believes that these people's misdeeds are not related to their beliefs, what have they done to spend so many years of their lives in prisons and torture chambers of the Islamic Republic? If charges against them are not baseless, why are you trying them behind closed doors so that Iranians and the world do not learn about their beliefs, do not hear their defense, and do not see how their right to due process is violated and how unjust your justice is?

With your hypocritical smiles Mr. Zarif, you are trying to deceive the world's public opinion on the Islamic Republic, where human rights violations are systemic and grave, and reduce international pressures to secure the longevity of a regime that survives by suppressing dissent.

Mr Zarif, if my father is not a prisoner of conscience, why then his writings were used against him? If there are no prisoners of opinions in Iran, then open the prisons' doors to the United Nations Special Rapporteurs. If you are not afraid to see the unlawful behavior of the intelligence and law enforcement forces and that of the judiciary being exposed;  if you are not afraid to see the general public learn about the beliefs of my father and other opponents of the Islamic Republic; if you are not afraid to see the world realize that you are not speaking on behalf of all Iranians, open the doors of your courtrooms to the public and respond to citizens' criticism in front of TV cameras rather than in interrogation rooms.
 Mr. Zarif's outrageous denial may have gone unchallenged by Charlie Rose, his PBS interviewer, but I am here to challenge him on behalf of my father and other prisoners of opinion who are wasting the lives in Iranian prisons today.

Mitra pourshajari

68 Minutes with Charlie Rose and Pinocchio

"Iran does not jail people for their opinions" That is what the Islamic Republic's Foreign Minister, Javad Zarif told American anchorman, Charlie Rose on Friday.

I have often criticised the American interviewers for their velvet glove questioning of the Islamic Republic officials and compared it to the way, they used to interview the former Shah of Iran. Zarif's interview with Charlie Rose however was too much even for many Iranians who have been his impassioned supporters and adulators until now.

I will not even bother to challenge the hogwash drivels made by Zarif in his interview with Charlie Rose, others and most notably those Iranian political prisoners who have been jailed for expressing their opinions, have already done an excellent job in exposing Zarif's lies after that interview. The people I want to address and educate in this post however are those who think they can change Islamic Republic's behaviour by holding dialogue and pleasantries exchanged during meetings and negotiations.

The entire Islamic Republic's foreign policy is based on values and principles that are incompatible with the accepted international norms and instead pursue a confrontational guidleine. Islamic Republic's foreign policy doctrine is that Iran is the "Mother Country of the Islamic Nations" [Um-Qara of Islam], just like the Soviet Union was to the other so-called Socialist countries, and Iran's Supreme Leader is not just the leader of Iranians but of all the Islamic nations.

The Islamic Republic is therefore duty bound to defend the "downtrodden Muslims" and help all "liberation" movements across the globe. Should there be a contradiction between the Iranian national interests and that of the Islamic nations, then the later has priority over Iran's own national interests.

Within the Islamic Republic's constitution, the export of the Iranian version of the Islamic revolution and its ideals are enshrined as the major goals of Iran's foreign policy.

This is how interference in the affairs of other countries is justified and this is why chants of "Death to America", "Death to England"  are repeated even after the most pleasant meetings and optimistic negotiations with the Western counterparts have been conducted and this is why the Islamic Republic will never recognise Israel and continue to fund those fighting to destroy the state of Israel, despite Iran having no territorial or other national interest disputes with the Israelis.

Sure, as the Supreme Leader himself eloquently explained, there may be need for "heroic flexibilities" at times but the ultimate goal is well beyond any well-wisher's optimism for restoring normal relations between Iran and the Western world, despite all the efforts to daze and dazzle the Western audience via television interviews and social media postings.

How the Islamic Republic Out Foxed Mr. Olympia

As soon as I heard Ronnie Coleman, the eight times Mr. Olympia bodybuilding champion, was going to Iran to promote his training methods and products, I knew it was going to be a controversial visit and I Tweeted about his visit.

The first controversy that came about was when the Islamic Republic authorities learned that Ronnie Coleman's itinerary included a training seminar for a mixed audience of men and women. Heavens forbid for the Muslim women of Iran to gawk at a non-Muslim American man's herculean sinewy body!
IRGC affiliated website, Mashregh News, asked with disbelief "Does this muscle machine intend to pose for our women?".
So that was a definite no-no and the seminar was cancelled.

Next, a picture of Ronnie Coleman with a Syrian opposition flag wrapped around him hit the headlines. Coleman was accused of being a Jebhat Al-Nusra supporter. His Iranian trip sponsors claimed Ronnie Coleman was a typical American who had no idea where Iran or Middle East was [May be he should work as a Homeland security officer in a US airport] and was totally apolitical oblivious to what that flag represented.

To fully compensate the embarrassment of being perceived as a Jebhat Al-Nusra supporter, Ronnie Coleman was led to believe he was going to the Behehsht Zahra cemetery to pay homage to Iran's war martyrs. Except that the grave he was made to pay homage, was not an Iranian martyr who had fallen fighting Saddam's aggression against Iran, but in fact it was the grave of the Lebanese suicide bomber, Mustafa Mazeh, or better known as“the first martyr to die on a mission to kill Salman Rushdie in London".

Coleman even squatted by the grave and laid his finger on Mustafa Mazeh's grave stone, as if reading the Muslim prayers to bless the soul of the dead. In this case of course the dead person who was being blessed, was a suicide bomber who tried to kill a British author but accidentally blew himself up. 

One would have thought this single act of propaganda value alone would exonerate Ronnie Coleman and he could then continue with his scheduled program in Iran, but instead he was then told all his scheduled programs were cancelled.

In a way all this reminds me of how the Islamic Republic out foxed Bill Clinton's secretary of state, Madeline Albright. Madeline Albright was perplexed as to why Iran does not want to normalise its relations with US. Albright was bending over backwards to do anything she could to bring her Iranian counterparts to like America. Albright was told that Iranians were still stewing over the US role in deposing the Iranian Prime Minister, Mohamad Mossadeq, in 1953, and if only the US apologised for their role, then all would be forgiven. 

Of course no one in the US State Department's vast legion of wide-eyed gullible graduate bleeding hearts alerted Albright that. hang on a second, why are you apologising to the mullah regime?! the mullahs were the very ones who helped overthrow Mossadeq and they have no love for him,
Albright, unaware of the full story of the 1953 overthrow of Mossadeq, apologised publicly, unreservedly and officially, thinking that all would now be forgiven and both sides will kiss and make up. 

Right after Albright's apology, the Islamic Republic used her apology as proof that US did oust an Iranian Prime Minister via a military coup and should therefore pay compensation to the Islamic Republic!

Ronnie Coleman is just a body builder who probably has no idea where the Middle East or Iran is, as his Iran trip sponsors tried to  argue, and one would not expect him not to be out foxed by the Iranian authorities, but it seems successive US administrations are repeatedly outfoxed by the experienced clerics who rule Iran.

The Complete Translation of the Speech Made by the Supreme Leader

One may disagree with the utopia that the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic has in mind, but one has to admit that he is resolute and unwavering in leading the path to that utopia.

I got so fed up with the short cherry picked tweets about his speech, his first reaction to the Lausanne joint statement, that I set out to translate his entire speech myself, below:

"And now to the nuclear issue,

Some people ask the question, why isn't he [Khamenei] saying where he stands on the nuclear issue ?

the answer is there is no reason to make a stand. Our officials, our nuclear experts our advisors are telling us nothing has happened yet. Nothing binding between the two sides has taken place.

Where is there to stand? If they ask me are you for or against? I will say, I am neither for or against, because nothing has happened yet. The whole hard work will be on the details which they are to sit and individually discuss, this is what the officials have said too. Thats what they have told us and what they have said in their interviews, they told the people this. The difficult path all lies ahead after this.

It could be the opposite side is a stubborn, perfidious and untrustworthy side, they may be back stabbers and they may attempt to encircle our nation and our negotiators inside a ring later on, but there is nothing yet, nothing binding has been achieved.

this is meaningless when they congratulate me or congratulate others, what congratulations? What has been achieved so far is neither guaranteeing the principle of the agreement and neither the negotiations leading to an agreement, nor does it guarantee the contents of an agreement

It does not even guarantee that the negotiations will reach an end and lead to an agreement. This is what has happened so far. It all depends on what happens after this.

I will mention a few points about the nuclear issue:

I have never been optimistic about negotiations with the US. Not because of an illusion, but based on experience. We have experience, now if one day God willing, you [the audience] – for we will not be around on that day naturally, [Crowd cries and prays] . But you will be and if God willing read about the writings and the notes and the details of these negotiations, you will see where our experience has come from... we have experienced this, but despite the fact that I was not optimistic with negotiating with the Americans, I did not object to negotiations on specific issues and I agreed to them and I wholeheartedly backed our negotiators and I still support them.

I will fully support an agreement that supports the interests of our nation and the integrity of our nation, and I will welcome it. Let everyone know this. If someone says we are against reaching an agreement or a milestone in an agreement, then no they are telling lies.

If an agreement is reached that secures the interests of the nation and the country then I will be totally for it.

Although we have said before, not doing a deal is better than doing a bad deal. This is what the Americans say too. This formulae is a correct formulae. Not doing a deal that stampedes over the rights and esteem of our great nation is much more honourable than doing a bad deal.

The next thing is that I have not interfered in the details of the negotiations and I still will not. I will interfere in the overall issues, the main guidelines, the important frame works, the red lines..

I have always told these things to the country's officials, I told the respectful president with whom I have regular meetings, and on a few occasions to the respectful Minister of Foreign Affairs. The main and major guidelines.. The details and the small specifics, which have no affaect on the overall guidelines are not an issue, these are within their boundaries and they can work on these. To say the details of these negotiations are under the control of the leadership is not an accurate thing to say.

Of course I feel responsible regarding this issue and in no way am I indifferent. We have said all this to the public and said all this more completely to the officials.

Next thing is that I trust the negotiators, you should know this. I have no doubts about those who are doing the work, not so far and God willing not after this either, but at the same time I have serious concerns. These concerns are because the opposing side is extremely deceitful and lies and welches on agreements. Thats how they are. We saw one aspect of this after the recent negotiations. After our negotiators, just a few hours after, the White House statement was published to explain what was negotiated. This statement that they published and called it “factsheet” is in most cases contrary to the truth. In other words their narrative of what has been negotiated and agreed is a distorted and wrong narrative.

They brought this factsheet for me to see. Its 3,4 or 5 pages. These 4 or 5 pages were not made up in the two hours after the joint statement, they wrote this at the same time they were negotiating. You see thats what they are like. At the same time they are talking to you about issues that are being negotiated, they are working to come up with something which is contrary to what is being said between the two sides and as soon as your negotiations is finished they go and publish their own statement. Thats what they are like, they are cheaters, they are welches. They talk and then they say these are just to save face, so that they don't lose face in front of their opposition at home, they just write something.

Well thats nothing to do with us, what they have written for sure will not be our criteria. Of course they say the same things about us. They claimed after the negotiations the leadership may, to save face, express some opposition!

The non-believer thinks everyone has the same religion as him [Persian proverb] [audience chuckles]

We on the other hand speak to our people based on mutual trust. The people have trusted this humble meek person [himself] and I too trust every single person in this nation. I trust this mass movement, that God's hand is behind this movement, look at the anniversary of the revolution, in that cold, with all those difficulties, look at the Qods day, in that heat while people were fasting, what is it that brings our people to the streets? what do they gain by coming out on the streets? this is the hand of God. We see God and we trust this popular movement, this popular feeling, this popular honesty and this popular foresight and we talk to each other.

They [Americans] are of a different ilk and they assume we are like them. This is why, I, the humble servant, have these real concerns, about what they will do and how they will go on about it.

Next thing, some have been for and some against it in our press, in our cyber space sites, some admire and some oppose, we shouldn't rush things, I believe we shouldn't exaggerate either, we have to see what happens. I have said this to the officials, they should inform the public and especially the elite about the details, we have no secrets. This is the manifestation of empathy with the people.

Empathy is not something that can be imposed on the people, its not something that can be ordered,

you can't have someone order the people to empathise with the government and make the people say, Yes Sir! How can that be empathy?

Empathy is like a flower, is like a flower bulb, it has to be planted in the soil, then looked after, you have to water it, defend it from harm, so that this empathy grows, otherwise it wont happen.

This is what I advise everyone, now is a good opportunity for empathy, some are opposed and have objections, ok our officials who are honest people, who are interested in the interests of the nation,

, let them invite some of the notable opposers and listen to them, may be they have a point! And if they don't, then convince them, this will create that empathy. This will be unifying the hearts and actions.

They may say we only have three months, well three months may become four months, well the Sky won't fall if takes 4 months, like in the past they postponed things for 7 months. So what if the final decisions are delayed? Nothing will happen

Next thing is that in these negotiations which are partly with the Americans, these negotiations are only on the nuclear topic. That's it!

We have no other negotiations with the Americans on any other topics! None! Let all know. Neither on internal issues, regional issues or international issues. Its only nuclear issues.

This will be an experience for us, if the opposing side refrain from their wrong doings it will be a new experience for us, it will prove to us that we can negotiate with them on something else too.

Otherwise our past experience of them will be reinforced. And note that the side that opposes us, is not the rest of the world. I hear sometimes from our own people, and I have criticised it when they say “the international community opposes us”, there is no international community against us, its one America and three European countries, thats it! There is no one else that opposes us!

Only two years ago in our own capital we hosted more than 150 countries, we had 50 heads of state attend, for the non-aligned movement conference. That wasn't 100 years ago, it was two years ago. Thats the international community! This nonsense that the international community doesn't trust us, what international community?! The international community totally trusts us and even in these countries that oppose us, they have many people who do not agree with their governments.

Lastly, the things which I have demanded from the officials . I have had certain demands that I have relayed them to the officials

One is that they should know our nuclear achievements are a worthy achievement.

I want them to know this and not look at it as a trivial thing.

Nuclear industry for Iran is a necessity. This thing about some pseudo intellectuals writing things like “What do we need nuclear industry for?” this is a deceit This is like what some Iranian officials during the Qajar dynasty said about Oil. When the British had discovered oil in Iran and wanted to take it away, the Qajar official had said “what do we want this smelly substance for? Let them take it away”

Nuclear industry is a necessity for the country, for energy as well as medicinal purposes, as well as converting the saline sea water to fresh water and for many other demands in agriculture and others.

Nuclear industry is an advanced industry in the world.

Our own children have made this achievement by themselves, this was as a result of the explosion of their talents and capabilities.

Now some backward country claims “If Iran enriches then I want to have enrichment too” So go and have your enrichment!” [Crowd chuckles] Its not as if we have stopped you from doing it. It was our own talent, if you have the same talents within your nation, then go and do enrichment yourself

such childish excuses that some countries come up with!

enrichment and what has been achieved until today is extremely important this is not a trivial thing

These are only our preliminary steps in this industry, we need to make more progress, now there are some criminal states like America who have applied this knowledge to nuclear weapons and used it or have tested it like France, only 10-12 years ago, France carried out three nuclear tests in the ocean, testing which is destructive, testing that damages the sea environment, three very dangerous tests, and yet only a minor public controversy and soon everyone was made to shut up. Who are they to tell us off?!

We are not after creating nuclear explosions, nuclear tests or nuclear weapons, not because of what they say but because we have chosen not to. For the sake of our religion and for the sake of our own wisdom. This is our religious fatwa and this is our rational fatwa too.

Our rational fatwa is that we do not need nuclear weapons neither today, tomorrow or ever and nuclear weapons are a cause of trouble for us, for our country ,which we can talk about more at another time.

Our next demand from our officials is that we have told them “Do not trust the other side”

Fortunately, recently one of the respected officials explicitly did say that we have no trust for the opposing side and for me this is very good to hear.

We said do not trust the other side, do not be taken in by their smiles, do not trust their promises, when their donkey has passed the bridge they will turn around and laugh at your beard. Thats how hideous they are.

Look at how when today some kind of understanding has been reached, a note has been written or a joint statement has been made with no legal bindings, right away you saw the American president appear on their TV so full of himself.

Next issue ,which we have told the officials and so we will tell the people too, is that during the next few months, where the important details are discussed, what must happen is that sanctions must fully and in one go must be cancelled. This thing that sanctions will be cancelled 6 months later, one of them says 6 months, another one says oh it may take a year, and another one says it may even take longer than a year, this is their usual game plays, none of these ae worth consideration or trustworthy, if God willing they managed to reach an agreement then on that very day of the agreement, then all sanctions must be completely abolished. This has to happen

[crowds chant: Allah Akbar, Khamenei is the leader, death to those who oppose the Supreme Leader, Death to America, Death to England, Death to hypocrites, Death to Israel]

If it is to be that the sanctions be cancelled until the end of yet another process, then why did we even start the negotiations? What was all the negotiating and talking and arguing for? It was all for having the sanctions removed. If they want to link this to something, it is in no way acceptable.

The next issue which we notified the officials and we also let you in on, is that under no circumstances, should they under the excuse of monitoring and inspection, penetrate into our security and defence privacy. No way!

[chants Khamenei is the leader, death tho those who oppose the Supreme Leader, Death to america, Death to England, Death to the Hypocrites, Death to Israel]

The military chiefs of our country under no circumstances should feel obliged, under the excuse of

monitoring and inspection and such like, let foreigners have access to our defence and security places or pause the defensive development of the country.

The defence development and capability of the country is the mighty fist of the nation and it needs to remain strong and become stronger.

Or our support for our brothers involved in the resistance movements across the globe must not be tarnished.

No non-standard monitoring or inspection that treats the Islamic republic as a special case will be tolerated. Only the standard inspection which is the norm every where else will be acceptable here and nothing more.

Further research and development into the nuclear field should in no way be stopped, may be we will accept a few limitations, we are ok with that, but the technical development must be continued with more fervour than before.

These are the things we have told our officials in regular meetings in the last year and half that we have with the respected president and occasionally to our respected foreign minister.

These are my principal demands now how they achieve these, thats up to them. Let them go and find the best methods of negotiations and benefit from the most informed and trustworthy , listen to the critics and achieve what needs to be done.

So thats the nuclear issues, now the issue of Yemen, the Saudis have laid a bad cornerstone in the region and of course they have made a mistake, what the Saudis are doing in Yemen is exactly what the Zionists did in Gaza.

There is two issues about this, one is that this is a crime, it is genocide, it is worthy of international investigation, thats one dimension of the issue, they kill children, destroy houses, destroy the infrastructure and the national assets of a country, well this is all a great crime, the other dimension however is that the Saudis will face a loss in this. In no way, will they be victorious.

[crowds chant Allah Akbar]

There is a very obvious reason why they will be defeated, the reason is the military capabilities of the Zionists is several times that of the Saudi so and so's [crowds chuckle]

Zionists had several times their military capability and they faced a tiny Gaza, here the Saudis face a country made up of tens of millions, a nation, a vast land and country, if they [the Zionists] could become victorious over there [Gaza] then these [Saudis] can be victorious here [Yemen]

Of course even if they [Zionists] could have won, the chances for these [Saudis] is zero! Now it is below zero!

[Crowds chuckle]

The Saudi will definitely receive a blow, for sure the Saudi noses will be rubbed on the ground,

[Crowds show appreciation]

We have several differences with the Saudis on many political issues, but we always used to say the Saudis show some dignity and grace in their foreign policy, they have lost this too now.

A few inexperienced youngsters have taken over the running affairs of that country and their savage side is winning over their serene appearances.

This wil be a loss to them. I warn the Saudis they must refrain from their criminal act in Yemen. This is not acceptable in this region.

[chants Khamenei is the leader, death tho those who oppose the Supreme Leader, Death to america, Death to England, Death to the Hypocrites, Death to Israel]

And the US of course supports them too, this is the nature of America, they always back the tyrants instead of taking the side of the downtrodden. This is their nature and they are dong the same here too. But they will receive a knock, they will be defeated.

Now they will make a hoo-ha that Iran is interfering in Yemen, yes we say a couple of words and they call this interference, yet their criminal planes have made the skies of Yemen unsafe and thats not interference?

The excuses they come up with is neither acceptable according to the international law, nor do nations accept them and nor does God accept these excuses.

The nation of Yemen is an ancient nation, its a great nation with thousand years of history, this nation has the capacity and capability to decide for itself. Of course some have tried to create a power vaccum and repeat the sort of things that has happened in Libya, there is a disastrous bad situation in Libya and they wanted to repeat a similar scenario in Yemen, but fortunately they were unable, a faithful and enthusiastic youth were able to stand up to them, Shiites and Sunnis and all sects stood up to them and God willing they will be victorious and victory belongs to the nations.

Lord make our brethren wherever they are victorious

Lord destroy all the enemies of Islam and enemies of Muslim nations wherever they are

Lord acquaint us with our duties

Lord make us perform our duties

"

"The Chicken Vaccine Invented by the English and the Jews That Shrinks Iranian Male Penises"

The guy in this video [Dr. Ravazadeh] has been on the Iranian State TV on a number of occasions. He is introduced to the viewers as an alternative doctor, promoting traditional Islamic medicine and herbs. Western medicine according to this alternative doctor is part of the overall conspiracy to subdue and control the Iranian population. His outrageous claims often go viral on the Iranian social media, but perhaps this is the most outrageous of them all, so far:

Here he claims the "English and the Jews have created a vaccine for chickens" and the chickens which have been injected with this vaccine cause the male genitals of Iranian males to shrink to a mere 2cm.

He further adds "This is why most Iranian males today aged between 18-25 have tiny 2cm penises and divorce is so rife in Iran".

No one in the audience, some of them male and aged between 18-25, challenges his claims.

Well with the price of chicken sky rocketing in recent times, what better way to reduce the demand for chicken than to scare an average male Iranian that eating chicken will cause his penis to shrink?!

Who Does Obama Invite to the White House?

Although the guest list to the recent White House Nowruz party is not made public, but somehow the cat got out of the bag and it was revealed that NIAC's research director, Reza Marashi and its founder, Trita Parsi were amongst the guests.

This selfie at the White House Nowruz party was taken by NIAC's founder and then tweeted by the Iran lobby organisation's research director, Reza Marashi.

NIAC were behind spreading the lie that US sanctions were responsible for the medicine crisis in Iran. Even though Iran's own Health Minister at the time, who was later dismissed by Ahmadienjad, repeatedly and explicitly said that the medicine crisis was nothing to do with sanctions.

I have written in the past about NIAC and how they tried to cash in on their lie:
http://www.azarmehr.info/2012/12/niac-profiteering-from-peoples-good.html

Central to Obama's gigantic failures in the Middle East was when he tried to seek moderate Muslim groups and was then badly advised that the Muslim Brotherhood were a moderate Muslim group (probably because they wear ties!)

It seems on Iran, Obama is also wrongly advised as to who is friend and who is foe and he cosies up to people who spread lies about his administration's policies. Well with friends like that who needs enemies?!
No wonder Obama administration's foreign policy is in such a mess.
Throughout the 2009 protests in Iran, the people of Iran chanted "Obama, Are you with them or are you with us?" Well it seems the answer is obvious.

Interesting Comment on the Haleh Afshar Post

It is now 7 years since I wrote this post about the pretentious Baroness Haleh Afshar, the aristocratic Marxist pretender who now thrives on acting as the reborn Shia Muslim feminist, but last week someone left an interesting comment on that post, which I thought should be shared.
I would also like the person who left the comment to get in touch and provide me with more details.

Here is the comment:
Lol @ standing outside Rowntrees in a Chanel suit trying to get the workers to go on strike! I bet she was told to fuck off in no uncertain terms. She's the textbook example of overpriveleged twat playing at "radical politics. She could afford to go on strike(If she ever did a proper days work in her life!) because her and her family managed to smuggle all their inherited wealth out of Iran. She spends her time hobnobbing with the upper middle classes and leftist academics pretending to give a fuck about the proletariat. She definitely isn't a Muslim in any real sense of the word, it's just a label she uses to give her more appeal amongst ordinary people. Her son recently spent time in prison for a race hate attack(you couldn't make this shit up!) against....you guessed it Muslims!!! She really is a poster girl for the shallow,overpriveleged faux revolutionarys that pollute the left. Don't anyone be fooled by this odious woman. At heart shes just an entitled snob who is interested solely in her own career and the status it brings. She definitely doesn't represent Iranians or Muslim women. The most revolutionary thing she ever did was probably go visit her son in the nick. I'm sure it made her unconfortable being around all those working class people. That's the ultimate hypocrisy with her ilk. They claim to be Marxists etc. Yet they despise the working class. Fun fact. Recently a relative of hers died and she and her family were left a small fortune! This wasn't a close relative,I'm talking a distant relative. Goes to show you how much the shah and the Iranian aristocrats and landowners managed to drain out of Iran. If she really wants to help, how about returning some of her aristocratic inheritance returned to the land it was bled out if! Didn't think so you old witch! Instead she'll sit in the house of lords at the taxpayers expense going and eating in Michelin starred restaurants with the establishment cronies pretending she has anything in common with normal people. Oh and I've met her, she's also incredibly stuck up and rude in person!

The Great Problem of Ignorance

Appearing at the Atlantic Council in Washington, DC last week, former six-term congressman Rep. Jim Slattery (D-KS) said: “One of the great problems we have to overcome right now is ignorance, individuals in both countries have poor knowledge of each other."

Jim Slattery was making the speech at the Atlantic Council after being the first former US congressman who has visited Iran since 1979. It seems however that all his 'interaction' attempts with the Islamic Republic officials has done nothing to diminish his own ignorance of the ruling religious dictatorship in Iran.

Even before his visit to Iran, Slattery has been doing his best to "interact" with the Islamic Republic officials through the Abrahamic Dialogue interfaith initiative, yet astonishingly, it seems no amount of "interaction" is helping to reduce his sheer ignorance on the nature of the ruling theocracy in Iran.

The Kansas Democrat seems to think he has found a commonality with his counterparts in Iran, religion! “Religion is a big part of their life, just as it is in Kansas”  Slattery told the think tank audience. One would assume on the basis of this commonality he has discovered, he will in the near future, also initiate one of his "interaction" trips with the representatives of the Islamic State, as religion seems to be a big part of their life too.

"the one thing they [Islamic Republic officials] yearn for, is respect,” Jim Slattery, the former Democrat representative shared his new found wisdom with the Atlantic Council think tank. The mind boggles at the stupidity of these Western do-gooders and how easily they can be fooled. I wonder as part of his "interaction tour", whether the former Democrat Congressman, also attended one of the Friday Prayer sermons held across Iran, where the faithful are urged to chant "Death to America!" during every Friday prayer, perhaps he would then been wiser as to what was really meant by "yearning respect". 

All this stupidity and ignorance reminds me of a time when I, myself, met some of the US State Dept officials at the time of George Bush's presidency. I was told straight away by one of them that "the US foreign policy was not about regime change in Iran, instead it was about changing the behaviour of the regime", to which I replied "Ah thats good! and how do you intend to change their behaviour?" 
"We have a website!" The US State Dept official replied. I was shown a website in Persian which promoted democracy and civil society and I assume the hapless diplomat thought that eventually the Iranian ruling clergy will stumble on this wonderful website and find the benefits and advantages of democracy and in time it will lead to a change of their behaviour.
The only words I could find to say at the time was "Well, Good Luck!" and all I can say to the likes of Jim Slattery who attended a conference in Tehran on "combatting violence and extremism" is also "Well, Good Luck!". As I am sure if former Kansas Congressman was around at the time of Hitler, he may have also attended a conference organised by the Nazis on how to combat violence and extremism and came back and told his audience of well wishers, "All the Nazis yearn for is respect!"

Whose side are you on, you fools?

13th September, 2014. The Iranian national volleyball team is playing in Poland. Amongst the crowds, there is one female Iranian fan, who has not succumbed to the suppression of her national symbols by the Islamic Republic occupiers of Iran. Darya Safaei, as in all the other volleyball matches she attends to, is waving the true national flag of Iran - the green, white and red tri-colour with the historic Sun and Lion symbol in the middle, the true flag of her fatherland. She is also holding a poster of Ghoncheh Ghavami, the girl who was arrested in Iran after attempting to watch a volleyball match.

This is all too much for the Islamic Republic security agents. An intelligence agent of the regime who is leading the Islamic Republic supporters in the crowd, wearing their head scarves and waving their phoney flags, calls a spectator to tell Darya, if she does not bring her flag down, she will be severely dealt with and the stadium stewards will obey his command to remove her.

The dumb Polish officials then move in to obey the instructions handed to them by the Islamic Republic agent. Yet the steadfast Iranian lioness stands her ground and tells them "This is my flag! I will not move!". Another spectator, who unlike the mushy-brained stewards understands what is going on, tries to intervene and yells at the uniformed order-taker "Are you with the Islamic Republic?" 

Darya keeps telling the Polish stewards "That's my flag!" and the idiot steward pumped up on ignorance dares to tell her "No!" and again Darya is not intimidated and the Islamic Republic state TV is resigned to show images of the Sun and Lion flags during the match.

My blood boils when I watch these scenes and I feel ashamed I was not there to help Darya.  I feel ashamed that I was not in the stadium to wrap the steward's ID sling around his neck. I want to yell at these dumb Polish stadium stewards, "Whose fucking side are you on, you dumb asses? Have you forgotten what it was like when your own national symbols were suppressed by the Nazi and the Soviet occupiers?"

Question I asked at the Frontline Club in Jan 2014

Question I asked at the Frontline Club a year ago, on how the new oil exploration technology will change the supply and demand of oil and how it will effect Iran's economy:

The Cartoon that Resembled Ayatollah Khomeini

In 1990, a young 19 year old Iranian cartoonist by the name of Hasan Karimzadeh drew this cartoon which was published in a magazine called Farad.

The young cartoonist had intended to make a statement about the budget cuts in football and Iran's football players being at a disadvantage compared to their competitors. Instead his cartoon sparked the wrath of Islamic fanatics who thought the cartoon resembled Ayatollah Khomeini and the mob demanded the 19 year old to be executed.

Karimzadeh was eventually sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, as well as 50 whip lashes and a financial fine. The magazine officials also received prison sentences, whip lashes and financial fines and the magazine was closed down.

And this saga of cartoons offending some people continues ...

"Islam Does Not Allow Killing"

There seems to be no end to the naivety of some simpletons in the West. Listening to the LBC radio talk show after the cold blooded terrorist attack on the Charlie Hebdo headquarters in Paris, I was dismayed to learn the penny has still not dropped for so many people here in UK.

One listener, who described herself as a homosexual teacher of religious studies at a school in London was more concerned about the imminent Islamophobic backlash on her "Muslim brothers and sisters" than the danger the Western civilisation faces right now from radical Islam. 

Another non-Muslim listener phoned and pretended she understood Islam better than the terrorists who carried out the attack, by saying "Islam does not allow the killing of another human being".

Honestly I know these people wish well but they really have not got a clue. They have not got a clue about Islam and they have not got a clue about where the real danger lies and they have not got a clue how to tackle this serious threat to the Western way of life that so many people have benefited from living under, since the second world war.

There is no Islamophobia in the UK. If there was, then there wouldn't be so many Muslims wanting to come to UK and instead we would be witnessing Muslims leaving UK in large numbers. British Muslims enjoy equal opportunity policies like others and are in all key employments, just take a look at who works in the Home Office and the many Muslim case workers in the Home Office who decide the fate of asylum seekers coming to this country.

Does the non-Muslim Westerner, who thinks she knows Islam better than these Muslim radicals and claims Islam does not allow the killing of another human being, really think any potential Muslim radical will be impressed by their ignorant assertions?

The fact is that Islam does allow killing and even encourages killing of infidels. A potential radical Muslim studying Islam in state authorised religious schools and madrassas up and down England will learn that up to 900 men of the Banu-Qurayza tribe were beheaded in one day and their women and children were sold as slaves by the direct orders of the prophet of Islam.  

The potential Muslim radical will also learn about the dissident poetess Asma Bint-Marwan, who was put to death by the direct orders of Mohammad for her poems which mocked the prophet and his followers.

Does the non-Muslim Westerner who knows nothing about the religion of Islam and its history really think he or she can impress the potential Muslim radicals more than what they will learn from reading the Islamic scriptures and from listening to the Imams preaching from mosques and madrassas throughout England?

It really is time to wake up for those who want to remain in a state of denial. The Western way of life is under real threat and the way to combat this threat is not to delude yourself by thinking Islam is a religion of peace and that Islam does not allow the killing of other human beings. You will impress no one by making such apologetic statements. 

The Missing $4.1 Bn from the National Development Fund

Rouhani's cabinet members at first flatly and explicitly denied the recent accusations by Iran's Majlis over the illegal withdrawal of $4.1 Bn from the National Development Fund. The row between the two bodies got so heated up that each side threatened the other with legal action.

What further added to the confusion and unclarity of the situation was the different and at times, conflicting statements by two of Iran's supervisory bodies, the Audit Institution  and the General Inspection Organisation.

The threats of legal action however, now seem to have subsided to reach a compromise instead, with the government no longer denying the withdrawal, as it did so explicitly to begin with, but claiming that the withdrawal from the fund did take place although it was not illegal. 

The government spokespersons now use words like"secret" and "special" to justify the legalities of the withdrawal without giving more specific details.

It is clear for Iran observers however that the government finances, after the falling price of oil, are in deep trouble. The entire budget of Rouhani's administration was based on two assumptions that sanctions will be lifted and the oil price will remain above $100 per barrel.

This "secret" and "special" withdrawal from the National Development Fund to make ends meet follows other recent unprecedented measures by the government to bring in much needed cash, such as the %30 rise in price of bread, conscripts being able to buy their National Service and IRGC affiliated companies including the holdings and foundations under the Supreme Leader's control having to pay taxes.

For more than three decades, the Islamic Republic's closed and uncompetitive economy has managed to survive on the huge windfalls of petro-Dollars, now it seems finally the good old days are over and unless some drastic changes take place, Iran's rule of theocracy  will face a similar collapse to that of the Soviet Union.

Iran Police Shoots Himself in the Foot

It was supposed to be a show of prowess in shooting skills by Iran's anti-terrorist special forces [NOPO]. To begin with, everything was going well. The balloons were going up and between the three of them, they were managing to shoot down the balloons with precision shooting and ease. 

Just when it was all about to finish well and the special forces were about to leave the crowds dazzled and overawed however, one of the special forces policemen, shoots himself in the foot!

In a way, very  symbolic of the Islamic Republic itself. On the surface it looks strong and invincible but given time, it will soon manage to shoot itself in the foot!

Still, the good thing is, no one in the crowd got hurt. Safety of the innocent bystanders not usually the top concern for the regime.

Link to the original video :

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1005167926166563&pnref=story

For they will open the doors of deceit and hypocrisy instead

The compulsory fake cries of Rouhani's cabinet members as he recites a eulogy for Ashura.

"Lord, do not admire them for closing down the wine taverns/ For they will open the doors of deceit and hypocrisy instead"

#EUIranForum - Islamic Republic Needs More PR!

I was following via twitter, the Europe-Iran Forum that was held in Grosvenor Square Hotel in London, over the last couple of days.

Although the claim was that the Forum intended to gain "practical insight from experts" and get "most relevant, up-to-date information from Iran and Europe", the tweets suggested most speakers were painting an unrealistic super rosey picture of the Islamic Republic.

Not once did I see a tweet about how the IRGC are putting a stranglehold on Iran's economy or the rampant corruption that has become so prevalent that it no longer surprises anyone, regardless of its astronomical magnitudes.

Nor did I see any tweets about leading businessmen in Iran frequently becoming escape goats for the country's malaise that so many of them have applied for St. Kitts & Nevis passports to safeguard them against a rainy day.

Nor was there anything about the endemic nepotism in Iran or the huge brain drain from the country or most important of all, the intrinsic animosity and suspiciousness by the Supreme Leader and the hardliners towards anything considered Western. At times it seemed the forum was about a different country altogether.

To cap this all, the selectiveness of the Forum organisers in which press organisations could attend the Forum did not help to inspire confidence. WSJ and TehranBureau for example were barred from attending the event, while Press TV, IRNA and IRIB [Iran state TV channels] were warmly welcomed to report from the conference.

But the one tweet I saw from Dina Esfandiary of IISS, made me laugh most:

So its the lack of PR that's the problem?! How much more spin is needed by these network of lackeys and lobbyists to make a backward theocracy and a religious apartheid that is run by a mafia economy to look like a normal country?

At the same time that the forum was going on and the attendees were being dazzled with the bright horizons ahead, the British-Iranian Ghoncheh Ghavami who went back to Iran after voting for Rouhani and was arrested when trying to go and watch a volleyball match, was tried behind closed doors charged with "propaganda against the regime". Not once since her arrest, has she been able to see her lawyer.

The Mistranslation that Saved the Day in the UN General Assembly

A huge embarrassment of monumental proportions was avoided at the UN General Assembly on Friday, when the translator of Rouhani's speech, conveniently mistranslated the derogatory Persian word of "Zangi" used to describe black people in a negative way, simply as "madman"!

Right after Rouhani blamed the terrorism and anti-Western feelings in the region today as a reaction to the racism of the West, he went on to say "Certain Intelligence agencies have put the blade in the hand of the drunken Zangi" but the "drunken Zangi" was simply translated as "Madman" by the UN translator. [see 3:59 video below]

"Zangi" is actually a Persian derogatory word used in a negative way to describe black people. It refers to the black slaves from Zanzibar and East Africa. This expression has its origin in Rumi's Mathnavi (book 4, section 53*). A verbatim translation of Rumi's verse is "It is better to put a sword in the hand of an intoxicated negro than "that knowledge" should fall to a worthless fool.“

I can just imagine how the East African delegations and in particular, the members of the Zanzibar delegation in the UN would have reacted, had they understood fully well what Rouhani was referring to! The translator definitely saved the day and avoided a huge diplomatic egg on the face for Rouhani.

In the past,  Mohammad Javad Larijani, the head of the Human Rights Council in the Islamic Republic used the nearest thing to the "N" word in Persian, i.e. Kaka Siah, to demean the US president, Barack Obama.

The Special Ray Produced by Men That Makes Women Age Quickly

On the same day that the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Hasan Rouhani, was portraying his regime as a beacon of moderation and progress in the region, the following program was broadcast from Iran State TV:

The program guest and her daughter were shown wearing the full neghab and in order to convince other Iranian women to do the same, they justified the benefits of wearing a neghab by saying that “recent scientific medical progress has proved men’s eyes produce a special ray which when encounters a woman’s face, causes early ageing of the woman’s face”

So there you go, if women want to look young, they should forget all other cosmetic advice and fully cover their face. May I also add that to further prolong their youthful looks, they should ask their husband to wear a blindfold.

The Epic Documentary on the 1979 Revolution in Iran

I have a five year old son whose thoughtful and profound questions often startle me. One such occasion was when I was walking with him to his school and as I was holding his hand, he totally rattled me when out of the blue, he asked me the following question:
"Daddy, you know when the baddies came to your old country, why didn't you stay behind and fight them?"

Not expecting to be asked such a question on my daily walk with him to school, I lamented with a lump in my throat and with some shame "They were too strong, we didn't think we had a chance of winning against them". As usual however, giving him an answer resulted in a follow up question from him "But if all the people got together then they could beat the baddies couldn't they?"
I replied with the bitter truth "But most of the people were with the baddies at the time"
"Why?"
"They were tricked"
"How?"
His last question was the hardest question to answer. How could I possibly begin to explain to a five year old, the intriguing plot by the Leftists and Islamists which was helped by a regime that was taken over by sycophants who were eager to say "Yes, Sir!" but had no stomach to take on such a powerful adversary? Where would I begin to explain a 25 year plan by Soviet influence agents in Iran that was so expertly executed to coerce a whole nation to lead themselves into the abyss?

I am hoping however that one day my son will grow up and be able to watch a five part documentary on the 1979 revolution in Iran which was aired this week from Manoto TV. The ten hour long documentary which has captivated the people in Iran finally tells the truth about the 1979 revolution with some amazing archive footage not shown until now and an in-depth research that took over a year.

The documentary is not dubbed or subtitled into English yet, but I hope it will be in the near future. It is just as important for non-Iranians to watch this and I hope it will answer my boy's questions too.

[Episode 1] :http://manoto1.com/videos/51036/vid5642
[Episode 2] :http://manoto1.com/videos/51037/vid5647
[Episode 3] :http://manoto1.com/videos/51038/vid5650
[Episode 4] :http://manoto1.com/videos/51039/vid5655
[Episode 5] :http://manoto1.com/videos/51040/vid5660