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Abu Saeed
Shiraz
The best
In Shiraz you are painless
By Hamid Rafi
November 17, 1999
The Iranian
Shirazis are the best. Have you ever been to Shiraz? I was born in Tehran,
but I consider myself a Shirazi. My mother is from Shiraz and that's enough
for me to brag about it at parties, reunions and introductions. It gives
me a good feeling. I am a Shirazi and I am proud of it.
I remember this girl I met once in Los Angeles and she was introducing
herself to her American friend. "Hi I am Niloo. I come from Shiraz."
So her friend assumed Shiraz is a newly independent state in the old Soviet
Union or a city in France since she emphasized the "r " with
a French accent ... GO
TO FEATURE
Outlook
 Reformist party expects landslide victory in
elections
Teheran (dpa) - Iran 's reformist party, the Cooperation Front of Islamic
Iran (CFII), expects a landslide victory in February's Majlis (parliamentary)
elections, CPII Spokesman Mohammad-Reza Khatami said Tuesday.
``If there is no manipulation and no violence (by radical groups), the
CPII expects to gain two-third of the seats in the Majlis,'' Khatami, the
younger brother of President Mohammad Khatami, told the press in Teheran
... FULL
TEXT
Money
Money can buy a house
but not a home.
Money can buy a bed
but not sleep.
Money can buy a clock
but not time ... FULL
TEXT
Thanks to Leila Karimi Zand
More Letters
* Erotic literature not rare
Rasool Nafisi of Strayer
University writes: In respect to your piece "Let's
not talk about sex," I like to say that portraiture of actual
sexuality in Persian literature is not rare: Sadi has a section on "hazliyat".
Obayd is well known, and Iraj Mirza's erotic poetry is excellent.
But this genre of artistic expression was not popular with Iranians
because of their sophisticated and sublime taste in poetry -- and maybe
sex. Peter Chelkowski, the Nezami scholar, has extensively discussed sexuality
in the works of Nezami. Chelkowski argues that portrayal of sexuality in
Nezami is unmatched in world literature...
Talking of Obayd, to my estimation, his references to acts of sex are
not just for the sake of talking about sex. In fact, you find tremendous
social consciousness in his works. His satire targets the hypocrisy and
absurdity of the people in power, religious authority in particular. His
works may be evaluated along the lines of Chaucer, and of course Obayd
is more fun and more poignant ... FULL
TEXT
* Humiliating chadoris
Bushra Abbasi writes:
I think Iraj
Mirza not only humiliated chadori women, but instead of looking at
women in general, chose an individual and judged others accordingly. Not
only that, it is obvious that he has absolutely no idea about the teachings
of the Quran or the Prophet or even most basic principles of Islam which
highlights the fact that the hejab saves lives and families ... FULL
TEXT
* Politics: Fundraising for Rob Sobhani,
Maryland
There is a fundraising event for Rob Sobhani, U.S. Senate candidate
(Republican, Maryland). The Exploratory Committee Cordially invites you
to meet and support Sobhani
on Friday, November 19, at 7:00 PM at the residence of the Mr. & Mrs.
Amir Mousavian (17411 Circa Del Sur, South Gate, Fairbanks Ranch, Califoirnia).
Major Sponsor: $1000, Sponsor: $500, Benfactor: $250 For more information
or to RSVP, please call the San Diego Chapter of the Iranian
American Republican Council at 619-988-1000.
SELL
TICKETS ONLINE AT YOUR SITE
Books of the Week
* Ruzegaran
(1999)
History of Iran up to the Pahlavi dynasty
By Abdol-Hossein Zarrinkoub
* Zanaan
haramsaraa-ye Nasserdin Shah (1998)
Pictorial history
By Khosro Motazed and Abolghasem Tafazoli
* Baagh
(1998)
Short stories
By Parviz Davaie
* Qand
va namak (1998)
Tehrani proverbs
By Jafar Shahri
See more
Iranian books for sale
THE IRANIAN
Bookstore
Video of the Week
Divorce
Iranian Style
A new documentary that goes where Western camera s have never before
gone: into an Iranian divorce court. The film is directed by award- winning
independent filmmaker Kim Longinotto and Ziba Mir-Hosseini, an Iranian
anthropologist and writer, based in London, whose specialty is women's
rights and family law in the Mid-East.
THE IRANIAN
Video Store
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More
news
Former interior minister to start newspaper
TEHRAN, Nov 17 (Reuters) - A former Iranian interior minister is
to publish a new daily newspaper, in a bid to help fill the gap left by
the closure in July of the leading reformist voice, newspapers reported
on Wednesday. The first edition of Bayan, or Expression, is scheduled to
appear on Thursday under publisher Ali Akbar Mohtashami, a former militant
interior minister, the daily Azad said ... FULL TEXT
Khatami urges high turnout in Iran polls
ISFAHAN, Iran, Nov 16 (Reuters) - President Mohammad Khatami on
Tuesday urged Iranians to take an active part in February's parliamentary
elections, seen as a turning point in his struggle to reform the Islamic
government ... FULL TEXT
Bomb in Mashhad blamed on killers of intellectuals
TEHRAN,
Nov 17 (AFP) - A bomb that killed two people at a holy site in northeast
Iran in September was the work of a group headed by a renegade intelligence
agent accused of murdering moderates last year, Iranian radio said Wednesday
... FULL TEXT
Montazeri calls for freedom from house
arrest: paper
TEHRAN,
Nov 17 (AFP) - Dissident cleric Hossein Ali Montazeri, 78, once in line
to be Iran's supreme leader, has rejected measures to lighten his house
arrest, demanding "total freedom", a newspaper reported Wednesday
... FULL TEXT
Shamsolvaezin freed on bail
TEHRAN,
Nov 17 (AFP) - Reformist newspaper editor Mashallah Shamsolvaezin was freed
on bail Wednesday pending the press court's verdict following his trial
on charges of fraud and offending Islam, staff at his paper said ... FULL
TEXT
Abdollah Nouri to submit defence to anti-Islamic
charges Saturday
TEHRAN,
Nov 17 (AFP) - Iranian reformist Abdollah Nuri will submit his written defence
to the hardline Special Court for Clergy (SCC) Saturday, following his trial
for alleged anti-Islamic offences, his lawyer Mohsen Ramahi said Wednesday
... FULL TEXT
Oil minister urges MPs to approve fuel
price rise
TEHRAN, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh
has urged parliament to approve sharp energy price increases in order to
cut heavy state subsidies and curb consumption. Newspapers on Wednesday
quoted Zanganeh as saying that President Mohammad Khatami's government had
sought an annual 26-percent rise in the prices of fuel, gas and electricity
under a five-year economic plan, due to begin in March 2000 ... FULL TEXT
Iran National Petchem Co, Shell study new
petchem plant
LONDON, Nov 16, 1999 -(Dow Jones)- Iran 's National Petrochemical
Company has linked up with Shell Chemicals Ltd. and Elenac GmbH Kehl to
conduct a feasibility study for a new petrochemical complex in Iran , NPC
said in a statement Tuesday ... FULL TEXT
Iran may raise French wheat purchase
PARIS, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Iran may top up this week's purchase
of about 300,000 tonnes of French wheat by several hundred thousand tonnes
but the final amount could depend on how much export credit it receives
from France, analysts said on Wednesday ... FULL TEXT
Film awards in Italy
Tehran (Iran daily) - "Zendegi dar meh" (Life in fog)
directed by Bahman Qobadi has won first place at two short film festivals
in Italy ... FULL TEXT IN PERSIAN
19th century photos
Tehran (Hamshahri) - Some 350 photographs of Iran taken by a 19th
century French explorer have been dug up from UNESCO headquarters in Paris
and handed to Iran for display at a museum ... FULL TEXT IN PERSIAN
Top players
Tehran
(Iran daily) - Five Iranians on top-10 list of Asian soccer players in European
clubs ... FULL TEXT IN PERSIAN
Baqeri sick of Germany?
Tehran (Iran daily) - Karim Baqeri is considering leaving the German
soccer league and returning to the Azadegan league ... FULL TEXT IN PERSIAN
BBC
Persian Service
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Quote Unquote
Shiraz
How can I forget those mahtab parties at my great aunt's place under
the Shiraz full moon? How can I forget the stars; the same stars Sadi and
Hafez had gazed at? The smooth evening weather there is the essence of life,
the window to pleasure. In Shiraz you are painless.
-- Hamid Rafi
"The
Best"
The Iranian
November 17, 1999
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