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Nezami
Cover story
Her eyes
"Her eyes were so black they seemed to drain the room of
all its light"
October 4, 1999
The Iranian
Excerpt from James Buchan's A Good Place to Die, published
by The Harvill Press, London. This is the first major British novel to
engage with contemporary Iranian society for a generation. It is an epic
love story that opens in Isfahan in 1974 and closes in the same city twenty-three
years, a revolution and a bloody war later.
One afternon, 19 April, 1974, 23 Farvardin 1353, I fell asleep and woke
to a shop full of angels. Their voices had the character of light in the
dingy shop. I staggered up and saw, leaning against the high doorpost that
separated the two rooms, a girl in a black prayer-chador. I thought: She
thinks she's too tall, but she's not. Behind her, the bright voices of
girls wheeled and swooped like the pigeons in the courtyard of the Shah's
Mosque, but the person in the door was still. She had pulled her chador
up across her face and where the hem had risen up I saw the edge of a light
blue skirt, the uniform of the girls' secondary schools in Isfahan, and
white ankle socks. Her eyes when I looked at them were black, so black
they seemed to drain the room of all its light: their blackness was not
an absence of light, but was itself a light, of a kind I had not up to
that moment experienced or known to exist, beneath which the objects of
the solar world took on a melancholy futility ...
GO
TO FEATURE
Outlook
Khamenei tries to defuse clash
By JOHN F. BURNS
The New York Times
October 4, 1999
TEHERAN, Iran -- Iran's supreme religious leader moved decisively on
Friday to head off a fresh confrontation with the country's reformist
President, instructing hard-line Muslim clerics and their loyalists among
the police not to "take matters into their own hands" in a potentially
explosive dispute involving university students. Equally stunning, Khamenei
gave effusive backing to President Mohammad Khatami ... FULL
TEXT
Zoooom through the net
But connection problems raise reliability issue
Just this weekend I finally got a high-speed connection to the Internet.
With the Roadrunner service via the home
cable outlet I can now send and receive data at up to one million bits
of information per second (instead of 56,000 bits per second I was getting
with my standard 56k modem).
What does that mean? That means I can download an 11 megabyte file in
just over a minute, watch QuickTime or listen to RealPlayer files almost
instantly and upoload files many times faster. The service only costs $49
per month ($79 installation fee, including moden).
Downside: My connection has gone off and on several times since the
installation on Saturday. In fact the The Iranian Times was late
today becayse of this and I had no time to gather sports or arts news.
The technicians came over today (after I begged the local supervisor) and
said it was fixed. But it went down again. Therefore I am worried about
reliability. I might have had a slow connection before, but it was better
than no connection at all ... MORE INFO
More Letters
* Baseh digeh
Ali Fathi-Rad writes:
As if it is not bad enough hearing people put down your culture and ethnicity
all day long on the CNN, BBC, CBS, NBC; as if it is not enough to see Diane
Sawyer willfully try to misrepresent the facts and portray the Middle Easterners
as a bunch of wife beating savages; as if movies like Not Without My Daughter
are not enough; as if the whole of Western propaganda machinery is not
geared towards demonizing the Middle East, and Iran in particular; I have
to bear these stabs in the back from the likes of Laleh Khalili ["To
live or to be alive"] and this taazeh beh doraan resideh Saghie
Zarinkalk ["Khodeti"]
...
For you, Laleh Khalili, Iran has become something which you abuse to
gain self esteem. And interestingly enough, this is quite obvious from
your tone: "I am something else, perhaps unbecomingly unfeminine,
dangerous perhaps, unknowingly so". How you make me laugh. Romanticizing
that you are different from these barbarians, a "dangerous" revolutionary
to their backward ways. A female Che Guevara, are you? Yes, you ARE "something
else". Good for you. It takes no genius to point out Iran's social
ills, or those of the Third World, for that matter... FULL
TEXT
* Sayonara, my lazy nation
Saeed Derhami writes: I
enjoyed reading ["Persian
work ethics"]. To be honest I think as a nation we are sick to
our stomach. The very few symptoms that you have mentioned are just the
tip of the iceberg.
There are tens of other civilizations and nations that have been forced
off the stage of history to make room for more deserving ones. I'm not
talking about marhoom-e USSR. But look at today's Russia! My prediction
for Iran as a nation-state is this: DOOOOOOOM...!!! I hope I'll be proven
wrong in the near future but as you follow current world trends and Iran's
awful and stupid current regime there seems to be NO way out of our eternal
misery.
By all accounts, Iran has failed many tests in modernization in nearly
200 years. It's time to say: " SAYONARA my LAZY NATION ...!"
You did not deserve the chances of institutional evolution; you are not
selected to be a symbol of anything but backwardness ... FULL
TEXT
* Bookreading: * Stories of old Iran,
in Portland
Seven Shades of Memory, Stories of old Iran: Terence O'Donnell lived
in Iran from 1957-71 operating a farm from 1963-70 before returning to
America, where he wrote "Garden of the Brave in War", a memoir
praised by critics as "a gem" and "a literary classic on
a level with Out of Africa." "Seven Shades of Memory" is
his first collection of short stories. These stories show his prescient
understanding of the multifaceted nuances of Persian culture and the Westerners
who attempt to navigate through it. Book reading by Terence O'Donnell will
be held at 7:30PM Wednesday, October 13th, 1999, Smith Memorial Center
- Room 333, Portland State University. Info (503) 725 8566.
Books of the Week
* Nastaran-haaye
surati (1998)
Novel
By Reza Julaie
* Sharq-e
banafsheh (1998)
Novel
By Shahriar Mandani-pour
* Del
daadeh-gi (1998)
Novel in two volumes
By Shahriar Mandani-pour
See more
Iranian books for sale
THE IRANIAN
Bookstore
Video of the Week
Noruz
1378 (On Sale!)
Get two of the best-selling videos (total of 22 hours of entertainment)
for a combined price of just $99 and save $51. PLUS you will get two free
CDs (Googoosh & Moin) with your order!
THE IRANIAN
Video Store
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More
news
Play Prompts Arrests in Middle East
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - Two more suspects have been
detained in connection with a satirical play deemed insulting to Islam,
Iran's Intelligence Ministry said, according to the official Islamic Republic
News Agency. The ministry did not say in its report, which was carried by
IRNA late Sunday, when the suspects were arrested or whether they had been
detained with the co-editors of the play on Sept. 24 ... FULL TEXT
Nateq-Nuri echoes Khamenei's call for end
to faction fighting
TEHRAN,
Oct 3 (AFP) - Iran's conservative leader, parliament speaker Ali Akbar
Nateq-Nuri, Sunday echoed calls by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
for an end to the increasingly bitter faction fighting with reformers.
"Just as the leader said, the country needs unity in what it says and
what it does," Nateq-Nuri told Iran's conservative dominated parliament
... FULL TEXT
Leading liberal editor summoned to Iranian
court
TEHRAN,
Oct 3 (Reuters) - A leading pro-reform editor was summoned to Iran's press
court on Sunday in connection with an earlier case that saw his newspaper,
Neshat, banned for insulting Islam, a newspaper colleague said. Mashallah
Shamsolvaezin's court appearance comes a day after he and a colleague appealed
to reformist President Mohammad Khatami to break his silence on the mounting
pressures against the pro-reform press ... FULL TEXT
Editors ask Khatami to defend the press
TEHRAN,
Oct 2 (Reuters) - Two leading Iranian journalists appealed to reformist
President Mohammad Khatami on Saturday to break his silence on the mounting
pressures against his allies in the press. In an open letter to the president,
Hamid Reza Jalaiepour and Mashallah Shamsolvaezin asked Khatami -- who
has fostered Iran's independent press in his campaign for a civil society
-- to shield them from their powerful critics ... FULL TEXT
Iran says no date set for Khatami visit
to France
TEHRAN,
Oct 4 (Reuters) - Iran said on Monday that no date had been set for a planned
visit to France by Iran's reformist President Mohammad Khatami, Iranian
radio reported. Foreign ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi said the two
countries were discussing the timing of the visit. Banking sources in Paris
said last Thursday that the visit was due to take place on October 26-27
in principle, though no definite date was given ... FULL TEXT
Lawmakers seek Iran disclosure
October 4, 1999 (USA TODAY) -- A congressional committee has asked
for "full disclosure" of U.S. contacts with Iran, expressing concern
that Congress is being kept in the dark about overtures toward a strategic
country and longtime adversary. Rep. Benjamin Gilman, R-N.Y., chairman of
the House Committee on International Relations, sent a letter late Friday
to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. USA TODAY obtained a copy Sunday
... FULL TEXT
Iran rebuffs U.S. over Saudi bombing case
TEHRAN, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Iran has rebuffed a request from U.S.
President Bill Clinton to help solve the 1996 bombing in Saudi Arabia that
killed 19 American servicemen, saying it was an internal matter for the
Saudi authorities ... FULL TEXT
Iran denies plans to use force to free
Portuguese hostages
TEHRAN, Oct 4 (AFP) - Iran's interior ministry on Monday denied
reports it planned to use force to free three Portuguese nationals kidnapped
a week ago as efforts to secure their release remain shrouded in uncertainty.
"The interior ministry vehemently denies such reports," spokesman
Abolreza Bandi said, after Sunday's Tehran Times quoted a ministry official
saying Iran would resort to force to free the hostages ... FULL TEXT
Oman denies mediating between Iran, U.S.
DUBAI,
Oct 4 (Reuters) - Oman's foreign minister said in an interview on Monday
the Gulf Arab state was not mediating between arch foes Iran and the United
States and denied a press report that it had carried a letter between the
two capitals. Foreign Affairs Minister Youssef bin Alawi bin Abdullah told
the London-based Arabic-language al-Hayat newspaper that Oman did not carry
a letter from President Bill Clinton to Iran's President Mohammad Khatai
... FULL TEXT
Khatami opens Tehran's biggest international
trade fair since revolution
TEHRAN,
Oct 2 (AFP) - President Mohammad Khatami on Saturday opened Iran's biggest
international trade fair since the 1979 Islamic revolution, paying particular
attention to the stand of its largest European trade partner Germany with
whom ties have been strained recently. Crowds of people gathered around
the president, greeting and applauding him. More than 72 countries, 1,466
Iranian companies and 785 foreign firms are due to take part in the fair,
including Iranians representing two US drug companies ... FULL TEXT
NO SPORTS OR ARTS NEWS BECAUSE OF CONNECTION PROBLEM.
BBC
Persian Service
For the latest news,
interviews and features on Iranian current affairs ... LISTEN HERE
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Business
news
The Web
Iran
CinemaIran.COM
Boy what a wonderful site. Full of useful, organized information
on Iranian films. Just needs some photos and film clips. Dast-e veb-master
dard nakoneh :-)
Beyond Iran
The Life and Death
of the Berlin Wall
Ever notice how the passing of various pop and cultural
icons can make you feel old or nostalgic? Well, here's an important landmark
of bygone times: the Berlin Wall.
More
web sites
Quote Unquote
As if
As if it is not bad enough hearing people put down your culture and ethnicity
all day long on the CNN, BBC, CBS, NBC; as if it is not enough to see Diane
Sawyer willfully try to misrepresent the facts and portray the Middle Easterners
as a bunch of wife beating savages; as if movies like Not Without My Daughter
are not enough; as if the whole of Western propaganda machinery is not geared
towards demonizing the Middle East, and Iran in particular; I have to bear
these stabs in the back from the likes of Laleh Khalili...
-- Ali Fathi-Rad
Letter
to The Iranian
October 4, 1999
Sayonara
By all accounts, Iran has failed many tests in modernization in nearly
200 years. It's time to say: " SAYONARA my LAZY NATION ...!"
-- Saeed Derhami
Letter
to The Iranian
October 4, 1999
Photo of the Day
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