Headlines

* Karbaschi: Eyewitness to student clashes
* Sanctions: France sides against U.S.
* Region: Saudis make nice with Iranians
* Writers: 1st Iranian-American conference
* Soccer: Iran-1, Kuwait-1
* The Web: Museum of Contemporary Iranian Artists
* Quote: Royal joker of Bahrain

THE WEB

* Museum of Contemporary Iranian Artists: Links to various artists on the internet. Yari Ostovany has done a beautiful job putting this extensive site together.

* ParsDance: All about Persian dance music. It has the latest real audio clips from some of the most popular Iranian pop singers. Forwarded by jafarigm@email.msn.com

Any interesting web sites you would like to suggest?
Email us at Times@iranian.com

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KARBASCHI

* Eyewitness: Students clash outside Tehran University, (Gulf2000) - On April 14, there was a clash between students and the security forces outside Tehran University. Despite the Khatami Government's call two days ago for not going ahead with the planned political rally orgainized by the leftist Islamist students (ostensively for protesting Mr. Karbaschi's arrest ten days ago but entitled "unity of people, power of Khatami") and the apparent cancellation by the organizer yesterday in response to it, several hundreds students showed up outside the Tehran University main gate at 1:30 pm. Soon after they began chanting slogans, a police vehiecle approached to dispel the students. Then the core part of the students left the site and began demonstrating along the Enqelab Street... full text

* Clashes disrupt pro-mayor rallies in Tehran, (Reuters) - Iranian police in riot gear on Tuesday clashed with students demanding the release of Tehran's jailed mayor and arrested several protesters, witnesses said. Later on Tuesday, further scuffles broke out after hardline militants disrupted a meeting held in support of moderate mayor Gholamhossein Karbaschi at the Iranian Interior Ministry... full text

* Jailed Tehran mayor a pawn in Iran power struggle, (Reuters) - Tehran's popular mayor has become a pawn in a power play for control of the next phase of the Iranian revolution that toppled the pro-Western monarchy. Gholamhossein Karbaschi, who has been credited with rejuvenating the face of the decrepit capital, now wears prison uniform in Evin, the city jail that earned notoriety as the scene of some of the violent excesses of the early years of the 1979 Islamic revolution... full text

* Eighty writers and artists sign letter supporting Karbaschi, (Hamshahri) ... full text in Persian... Get Persian fonts from Hamshahri or Payvand.

* Hojatolesam Bayat: "Karbaschi's arrest is indirect attack on Rafsanjani", (Hamshahri) ... full text in Persian... Get Persian fonts from Hamshahri or Payvand.

* Analysis: Karbaschi a successful manager hated by the conservatives, (Hamshahri)... full text in Persian... Get Persian fonts from Hamshahri or Payvand.

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IRAN-U.S.

* France sides with Malaysia against U.S. sanctions, (Reuters) - France agrees with Malaysia that the United States has no right to impose sanctions on foreign companies that invest in Iran's oil and gas industry, a visiting French minister was quoted as saying on Tuesday. The official Bernama news agency quoted French Foreign Trade Minister Jacques Dondoux as saying that Paris opposed the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act of 1996... full text

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FEATURES

* Saudis make nice with Iranians, (New York Times) - For half a century, the Persian Gulf has held a crucial place in U.S. policy-making. Repeatedly, its oil and its leaders have drawn the United States into its sometimes deadly games, even as its rivalries and intrigues have confounded U.S. strategy. So the United States can end up preoccupied with the smallest events, on the assumption that they may be the prelude to something big. This is one of those times. Saudi Arabia, America's closest ally in the Persian Gulf, and Iran, one of Washington's most bitter foes, have been busy trying to charm each other. Nobody in Washington thinks the basic relationships among the three countries have shifted. ... full text

* POW's story a reminder of the brutal Iran-Iraq war, (Washington Post) - For 16 years, Falah Hamid's life was confined to a few square feet, two thin blankets in the freezing winter and rations of half-cooked rice. He lived because he refused to submit to death in an Iranian prison. "I said, 'I will not die in Iran. I will not die here. I will return to Iraq,' " Hamid, now 47, said with a tinge of bewilderment in his family home here. Hamid emerged from an Iranian prison this week in an extraordinary exchange of 5,584 prisoners, most of them Iraqis detained during the Iran-Iraq war... full text

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NEWS

* Khatami mends ties with Iraq, (Reuters) - Despite political woes at home, Iran's moderate president Mohammad Khatami has gained foreign policy points by breaking a logjam in ties with former foe Iraq, analysts said on Tuesday. The Iranian analysts said last week's swap of prisoners from the 1980-88 Iran - Iraq war, the biggest exchange since 1990, and steps by the two sides towards relaunching pilgrimage visits to holy Shi'ite Moslem sites in Iraq were the biggest achievements in bilateral ties in the past decade... full text

* Iran submarines use live ammunition in war-games, (Reuters) - Iranian navy submarines fired live ammunition at mock enemy targets at sea and on shore during war-games in the Gulf, an Iranian military official said on Tuesday. Captain Abdollah Manavi, spokesman for the ``Ettehad'' (Unity) exercises, said the three Russian-built diesel submarines also practised avoiding detection and countering threats by hypothetical enemy forces... full text

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ECONOMY

* Iran to raise overseas airfares in May, (Reuters) - Iranians will have to pay more for air travel abroad from May after the country adopts a weaker rial exchange rate for ticket prices, the official news agency IRNA said on Tuesday. It said Iran's state civil aviation body had told Iranian and foreign airlines to adopt the rate of 4,750 rials to the dollar in calculating ticket prices instead of the official rate of 3,000 rials used up to now... full text

* Official speaks on electricity consumption and production, (Hamshahri) ... full text in Persian... Get Persian fonts from Hamshahri or Payvand.

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DOLLAR RATE

Down slightly

* To send money to Iran, the rate is 525-535 tomans per dollar, depending on how much you wish to send.

* To send money out of Iran, the rate is 545 tomans per dollar.

Source: Sehaty Foreign Exchange, call in U.S.: 602-595-0777 or 500-288-8881. Preferntial rates for readers of The Iranian Times. Mention this code: BAJ 07

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SPORTS

* Iran-1 , Kuwait-1: Iran tied Kuwait in a friendly soccer match in tabriz Tuesday. First goal was scored by Jasim Howadi of Kuwait on a corner kick at 15 min into the first half. In the second half, Mansourian equalized on a penalty kick in min 60. Strikers Bagheri, Daie, and Azizi were not on the Iranian team. Payman Arabshahi payman@fermi.jpl.nasa.gov

"Dream Team" IRAN -- World Cup tickets now available!

Sportestan Publishing (USA)
ish@sportestan.com
Tel: 650-473-9792

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SATIRE

Worship thy husband

* (Some:-) Husbands thinking aloud. What counts is the last verse... click here

Got something to make us smile?
Send it to Times@iranian.com

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POETRY

* Parastoohaa-ye bahaari... a poem by Haydeh Razaghi

* Fereydoun Moshiri on CD

Fereydoun Moshiri's poetry reading last October in Berkeley, California, is now available on CD. For more information and orders, contact Radio Havaye Tazeh at: 415-673-4726.

Listen to Moshiri's reading of "Kucheh"... here's the poem's text

* Contest

Omar Khayyam Poetry Society invites you to enter our poetry contest. Prizes: First place $100, Second $75, Third $50. Winners will be announced and printed in THE IRANIAN in June 1998.

Subject: Longing places, memories, love

Format: Poems must be in English and emailed to <matteof@msn.com>. Include your name, address and phone number.

Deadline: May 10, 1998

Entry fee: $5 for up to three poems. You may send cash or check payable to R. Macroberts. Send to 1045 Walnut Grove, Rochester Hills, MI 48306, USA.

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ARTS

* On Wednesday, April 15 UCLA Center for the Performing Arts will present the premiere release of Monsters of Grace, (version 1.0) featuring scenes from a new digital opera in three dimensions by composer Philip Glass and director/designer Robert Wilson, creators of Einstein on the Beach, a landmark in 20th Century theater.... "Monsters of Grace" is scored for live amplified voices, woodwinds, keyboards, Macintosh computers, MIDI interface and custom-designed sampled Persian and other Middle-Eastern string and percussion instruments. The libretto for Monsters of Grace is based on the 13th century poetry of Jalaluddin Rumi, one of the worldÕs great poets and mystics who is credited to be the original whirling dervish... full text... Forwarded by nima@artnet.net

* The 41st San Francisco International Film Festival is scheduled from April 23 to May 7. There are two Iranian films; "Leila" by Dariush Mehrjui and "Season Five" a coproduction of Iran & France directed by Rafi Pitts. The full film guides is on line at: www.sfiff.org/fest98... For festival information, call 415-931-film.

* Iranian films in Washington DC: A festival of some recent Iranian films is planned in Washington, DC, during March/April 1998. The films are shown at the 300-seat Meyer Auditorium of the Freer Gallery. Tickets are free and can be obtained (up to two per person) on a first-come-first-served basis one hour prior to the program. Films being shown: March 8/13: Leila (Dariush Mehrjui), March 20/22: Det Means Girl (Abolfazl Jalili), March 27/29: Gabbeh (Mohsen Makhmalbaf), April 3: Beyond Fire (Kianoush Ayyari), April 5: A True Story (Jalili), April 17: The Abadanis (Kiarostami), April 26: Taste of Cherries (Kiarostami).

* "Taste of Cherry" U.S. screen schedules from the official Zeitgeist Film site... click here...Thanks to Payman Arabshahi <payman@fermi.jpl.nasa.gov>

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THE IRANIAN

Writers in Our Midst
First Conference of Iranian-American Writers

"Yeki bud, yeki nabud...." Once upon time was one of the lines of Arash Saednia's poems written in English, but it reflects the language, voices and experiences of someone who is "neither Iranian, nor American." Saednia's masterful poems capture the language and experiences of two cultures and reflect the emerging voices of a new generation of writers.These poems were among the first utterances of Iranian-American writers read publicly at a conference sponsored by the Middle Eastern Studies Program and the Department of Middle East Languages and Cultures at the University of Texas (UT) at Austin on April 3-4, on the UT campus... go to feature

THE IRANIAN Cover Stories

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PHOTO OF THE DAY

Laborer

* Laborer near Tehran bazaar... full image

Got any interesting photos?
Send them to Times@iranian.com

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NEED A BIOCHEMIST?

Seeking biotechnology or biostatistics position

I am a recent graduate with a master's degree in statistics. I have extensive knowledge of programming in SAS, SPSS, and MINITAB softwares in Unix, Windows, and mainframe environments. My undergraduate background is in biology and mathematics, which is why I am looking for a job in the biotechnology or biostatistics field as an entry-level employee. If there's anyone on this mailing list who is involved in the aforementioned fields or has some experience dealing with pharmaceutical companies, please email me at mazhar@students.uwf.edu. Thanks in advance.

Sincerely,

Mehran Azhar

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LETTERS

Overly friendly, backstabbing

I find myself married to an Iranian doctor who came to the U.S. in 1973. He is a very kind man. However, I find the "family thing" a bit too much. Iranian people, in general, are on the surface overly hospital and friendly (kissing, food giving, thank yous, hellos, etc). However, underneath they are power hungry, money hungry, backstabbing, critical, and extremely superficial. I much prefer to be stabbed in my front rather than kissed on the cheek and stabbed once my back is turned. I think Iranians give way too much attention to surface appearances rather than trying to be genuine people. I'm tired of the criticism of Iranians while they enjoy my country (U.S.). By the way, I love [Iranian] food and am a great cook. CMohammadi@aol.com

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BOOKSTORE

Book of the week

Khaterat-e Amirteymur Kalali
Edited by Habib Ladjevardi
1997, Iranian Oral History Project
Harvard University's Center for Middle Eastern Studies
Available from Iranbooks

Memoirs of Mohammad Ebrahim Amirteymour Kalali -- also known as Sardar Nosratwas a tribal leader, Majles deputy, and cabinet minister during Reza Shah and Mohammad Reza Shah's reign.
See feature in THE IRANIAN. Click here

THE IRANIAN Bookstore

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ACADEMIC

* The Society for Iranian Studies is hosting its Second Biennial Conference on Iranian Studies May 22-24 in Bethesda, Md. The Society is eager for a good attendance, and anyone who can make it is very welcome. Conference details at: //www.iranian-studies.org/confProg.html ... forwarded by Mahvash Shahegh <mshahegh@skipjack.soc.lib.md.us>

* The Faculty of Oriental Studies at Cambridge wish to make an appointment to a temporary, unestablished fixed-term post which carries responsibility for Persian language teaching from elementary to advanced undergraduate level, and involves a contribution to the teaching of Persian literature, particularly poetry. The person appointed will also be expected to contribute to the graduate teaching and research programme in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies. Further particulars and an application form may be obtained from the Secretary of the Faculty of Oriental Studies (Mrs D.M. Bennett), Faculty of Oriental Studies, Sidgwick Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 9DA, to whom applications (six copies, including a curriculum vitae, list of publications, and names and addresses of two referees) should be sent to arrive by 25 May 1998.

* Iran and the Region: Past, Present and Future Relations with Its Neighbors April 24-25, 1998 Portland, Oregon, USA The Center for Iranian Research and Analysis (CIRA) will hold its 16th annual conference in association with Portland State University's Middle East Center. For more information visit the CIRA website <//www-adm.pdx.edu/user/mesc/cira/>.

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NOSTALGIA

* Taft: Hairspray that doesn't stick

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MUSIC

* Aref, "Daryacheh-ye Noor"

(Get RealAudio)

Greatest pop CDs ON SALE!

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QUOTE UNQUOTE

Royal joker of Bahrain

You have three people in charge [in Iran]: You have Khamenei, and he is in charge of religion and terrorism. You have Rafsanjani, and he is in charge of business and terrorism. And you have Khatami, and he is in charge of internal politics, moderation and terrorism.

Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa
Crown Prince of Bahrain sharing a joke recently with a senior U.S. official visiting the sheikdom
"Saudis make nice with Iranian"
The New York Times
April 12, 1998

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