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Rumi
Cover story
Shamlu
A small tribute
June 21, 1999
The Iranian
The past few years have been difficult for 74-year-old Ahmad Shamlu.
Iran's greatest living poet and one of the most influential literary
figures of the century has been battling various health problems, some
associated with diabetes. In Mid-June he was hospitalized in Tehran mainly
because of mental fatigue, according to his family.
A few days earlier he was awarded Sweden highest prize for writers who
emphasize human rights and freedom of expression in their work. Here are
just a few of his poems ... GO TO FEATURE
Outlook
The 13 Arrested Iranian Jews:
Spies or Victims?
Iran Press Analysis
20 June 1999
Last February and March, 13 Iranians of Jewish faith were arrested in
Shiraz and Isfahan. The news of the arrests broke out only last week in
the press. Prior to that, various groups - domestic and foreign- were trying
to keep the matter out of public eye, in an attempt to quietly resolve
the problem behind the scenes. It is not clear why the behind-the-scenes
negotiators decided to bring the problem into international limelight,
but chances are, their clandestine bargaining was just not working ...
FULL TEXT
Do you know how they make that delicious gaz (i.e. nougat)? Here's how
they do it at the Ashrafi Food Company ... QUICKTIME
VIDEO
Always funteresting: Harper's
Index
More Letters
* Mentally trapped
Parviz Kuhkan writes: This morning I read Laleh Khalili's account of
her trip to Abadan and Khorramshahr ["Palm
groves survive"]. It was very well written. Of course the things
she is describing are awesome, but there was also the style and the economy
and precision that served the telling.
Twice I broke down reading that part where she tells of the veterans
taking off their shoes to observe heart-felt respect they feel for those
killing fields when they visit their baked salty dusts. Compare this purity
with the mercenary posture and utterances of the vacuous "intellectuals"
and despicable "poets" etc.
Mentally trapped in a world of spent customs and habits, we are, all
of us, sleepwalking on a tight rope, that is also worn out, when we think
and talk about our society, its politics and culture.
* Iranian blood not enough
Cyrous Jame writes:
I visited the Iranian web site and I saw Andre Agassi's pictures ["Andre the
great"]. They are really nice pictures. However, I don't ever
recall Agassi talking or mentioning anything about his Iranian background.
As a matter of fact, I don't think he has ever acknowledged that.
Keeping that in mind, my question is why should we, as Iranians, try
to relate him to ourselves. In my opinion, to being Iranian has nothing
to do with having Iranian blood, but it has everything to do with one's
love and interest toward Iran, its people, its culture and its history.
Unfortunately, I can't see this interest in Andre Agassi despite the
fact that his father is an Iranian and, if I am not mistaken, served in
Iran's national boxing team. I think he is a great tennis player, but I
just can't picture him as an Iranian.
* Acting: Iranian actors needed in San
Francisco
Golden Thread Productions is casting for the following roles as part
of Six Plays- en short, a collection of short plays exploring life in and
after the Middle East. Male, 30-40's, female, 30-40's, 20's boy. Rehearsals
in July, evenings & weekends, in San Francisco Bay Area. Performances
in August at the Exit Theatre in San Francisco. Wed- Sat, 8 pm. Send headshot
& resume to Golden Thread Productions, BMP 153, 4096 Piedmont Ave.,
Oakland, CA. 94611... MORE INFO
HERE
Book of the Week
Iranian Nationality and the Persian Language
By Shahrokh Meskoo
Foreword by Ali Banuazizi
Translated by Michael Hillmann
In this insightful study of Iranian cultural history and national identity,
Shahrokh Meskoob, one of Iran's leading intellectuals, reviews the roles
of three social classes in the development and refinement of the Persian
language during the past one thousand years and gives the reader a fresh
perspective on Iranian cultural heritage and the struggle to forge a distinct
national identity ... GO TO BOOK
Recent
featured books
THE IRANIAN
Bookstore
Copyright © Abadan Publishing Co. All Rights Reserved.
May not be duplicated or distributed in any form
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More
news
Moderate Iranian press puzzles over suicide
of murders' mastermind
TEHRAN,
June 21 (AFP) - The mastermind of last year's murders of Iranian dissidents
was identified as a former intelligence official on Monday as the moderate
press here raised a number of questions about his suicide. Saeed Emami,
also known as Saaed Eslami, committed suicide by swallowing "vajebi,"
a highly toxic powder mostly used for hair-removal in Iran, while in the
public bath of a prison in the capital on Saturday ... FULL TEXT
Intelligence minister slams outcry over
arrested Jews
TEHRAN,
June 21 (AFP) - Iranian Intelligence Minister Ali Yunesi Monday attacked
the "hullaballoo" raised about the arrest of 13 Iranian Jews on
spying charges. "They were arrested a long time ago, but we did not
want to impede the course of the inquiry by making a public announcement,
but international Zionism published the news," he said, quoted on state
television. He added that the case had been submitted to the courts ...
FULL TEXT
Minister says Iran wants full ties with
Egypt
TEHRAN,
June 21 (Reuters) - A senior Iranian official said on Monday his country
wanted to re-establish closer ties with Egypt, and sharply criticised Islamic
hardliners who were trying to undermine them. ``The view of the government
and the Supreme National Security Council is to move toward a comprehensive
rebuilding of ties with Egypt,'' Ataollah Mohajerani, the government spokesman
and Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, told reporters ... FULL TEXT
Iran says holds suspects in general's killing
TEHRAN, June 18 (Reuters) - Hardliners on Friday unveiled a mural
in honour of the assassin of the late Egyptian president Anwar Sadat, in
an open challenge to moves by Tehran to improve ties with the big Moslem
Arab country ... FULL TEXT
Iranians protest against Iran says holds suspects in general's killing
TEHRAN,
June 21 (Reuters) - Iranian security forces have arrested several members
of an armed opposition group suspected of involvement in the assassination
of a top general in April, Iran's intelligence minister said on Monday.
Ali Yunesi also said that one member of the Iraq-based Mujahideen Khalq
group was killed in a clash with security forces in Southern Iran, where
the other suspects in the killing of Lieutenant General Ali Sayyad Shirazi
were arrested, state television reported ... FULL TEXT
"It was no holiday," say Italians
kidnapped in Iran
TEHRAN,
June 21 (AFP) - Three Italians held for a week by kidnappers in southern
Iran arrived here on Monday as the Iranian authorities denounced their abductors
as "enemies of the Islamic Revolution." "We were neither
beaten nor tied up, but it really wasn't a holiday," Lorenzo Termite,
one of the three, told a press conference at Tehran airport. "We never
knew what could happen to us." ... FULL TEXT
Foundation's leadership may change
21
June 1999 (Iran Report - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty) - Recent reports
about the involvement of an Iranian charitable foundation in a joint-venture
with a Norwegian oil exploration company reveal the political, economic,
and financial power of these para-statal bodies. These, in turn, indicate
that although the foundation's leadership may change soon, its activities
will not ... FULL TEXT
Zarrinkub recovering
(Iran daily) - Historian Abdol-Hossein Zarrinkub is recovering
at the intensive care unit of a hospital in Maryland after he fell seriously
ill on Saturday ... FULL TEXT IN PERSIAN
Mehran-Far's film in Sydney
Tehran,
(Iran daily) - "Derakht Jaan" a documentary by Farhad Mehran-Far
will be a screened at the Sydney Film Festival ... FULL TEXT IN PERSIAN
Captain Mahdavi-Kia
Tehran,
(Iran daily) - Mehdi-Mahdavi-Kia has been named the captain of the under-23
national soccer team for Friday's match against Lebanon ... FULL TEXT IN
PERSIAN
BBC
Persian Service
$ Rate
Updated June 21
The
dollar now offered at 850-882 tomans in the U.S. and 890 tomans in Iran
Source: Sehaty Exchange (U.S.) Tel: 602-595-0777
Business
news
The Web
Iran
Gaz & Sohan Ashrafi
It was about time traditional Iranian sweets established
a home on the Internet.
Beyond Iran
Emma Sergeant
The online gallery space of British artist Emma Sergeant
has many rooms, and while it's not always clear what the floorplan is, it's
nevertheless an intriguing tour of her life and work.
More
web sites
Quote Unquote
Poor love
aasheq-e beepool baayad shabdar bechineh.
(When povery comes in at the door, love flies out the window.)
"1001
Persian-English Proverbs"
By Simin Habibian
Photo of the Day
Afghan
Coke
Music
Musician of the Week
Vigen
* Dokhtaraan
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