The Iranian Times

Friday, December 4, 1998 / Azar 13, 1377, No. 619


Googoosh.com

Sehaty Foreign Exchange

Shahin & Sepehr


    Baba Taher


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Googoosh's cybershrine
Finally an internet home for the most-loved Iranian

By Bruce Bahmani

Hello to all you lifetime Googoosh fans! I am happy to announce //www.googoosh.com is live!

You can hear many of Googoosh's best-loved songs in RealAudio format and browse one of the most extensive galleries of her fan pictures (depicting almost all of her many hairstyles!).

Everyone is encouraged to send articles, letters, features, photos, recollections, and basically anything relating to Googoosh. Be a part of Googoosh's cybershrine!

We will be constantly updating the site. Drop me a line to tell me how it looks and send me any suggestions you might have to make it better.

Above all, if you like the site, pass it along for friends and others to enjoy! ... GO TO GOOGOOSH.COM


Outlook

Backlash in Iran
Bronze statues of naked females are now OK, but live women face ever more restrictions

BY KAREN MAZURKEWICH
U.S. News & World Report
December 7, 1998

TEHRAN ­ She was so nervous she could not sleep the night before the exhibit opened. But when Sholeh Hojabr Ebrahimi's sculptures went on display at Tehran's municipal art gallery last month, they were a sensation: the first female nudes to be shown publicly in Iran since the Islamic revolution nearly 20 years ago.

Yet the news from Iran's political front is decidedly mixed. Islamic clerics may be giving ground on art, but not on real life. In a backlash against Khatami's reforms, the conservatives who dominate parliament are pushing for tighter restrictions on women. Their latest proposal would prohibit male doctors from treating female patients, paving the way for segregation of hospitals for men and women... FULL TEXT


    Anyway

Sound of Music - in Persian

Just one page with a few photos, a short note and a sound clip on Pedram Missaghi's Iran Media page. But ... GO THERE

More Letters

* Not because I'm a Bahai...

Bahareh writes: I read "The education of Mahdiyeh," and it certainly touched my heart. This world needs more people like yourself, people with a great deal of integrity, and insight: A mystic! I don't say this because I happen to be a Bahai, rather I say this because I see how open-minded and open-spirited you are. My best wishes to you in all your efforts in life.

* Lecture: Ferdowsi and language of Khorasan, Berkeley

After convening six months of Shahnameh Reading sessions on regular basis (every two weeks), Shahnameh Learning League (SLL) is proud to host Dr. Mahmoud Omidsalar this Saturday December 5th from 3:00 to 6:00 pm at 145 Dwinell Hall of Berkeley University.

This is the first of lecture series specifically tailored to further understand Shahnameh. Dr. Omidsalar's will present "Ferdowsi and the Literary language of Khorasan".


Book of the Week

The Assassin Legends : Myths of the Isma'Ilis

By Farhad Daftary

Since the twelfth century fantastical tales of the Assassins, their mysterious leader and their remote mountain strongholds in Syria and northern Iran have captured the European imagination. These legends first emerged when European Crusaders in the Levant came into contact with the Syrian branch of the Nizari Ismailis, who at the behest of their leader were sent on dangerous missions to kill their enemies. Elaborated over the years, the legends culminated in Marco Polo's account according to which the Nizari leader, described as the 'Old Man of the Mountain', was said to have controlled the behaviour of his devotees through the use of hashish and a secret garden of paradise.

Recent featured books

THE IRANIAN
Bookstore

New! Bestsellers
New! Books on Rumi

More news

AI calls for independent investigations into killings

3 December (Amnesty International) - Amnesty International has been alarmed by the recent killings of two prominent government critics -- as well as by other recent events -- in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The human rights organization calls upon the Iranian authorities to undertake immediate, independent investigations into these events, in accordance with United Nations "Principles on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-Legal Arbitrary and Summary Executions", and to make public the findings of any such investigations. Attacks against critics of the government within Iran have rarely been subject to impartial and open investigation in the past ... FULL TEXT

German banks talking to Iran on new loan - source

BONN, Dec 4 (Reuters) - A consortium of German banks is holding talks with Iran over a new $1 billion credit line, a German banking source said on Friday. `There are talks. They are at a confidential stage at the moment. There is no agreement which can be made public at the moment,'' the source told Reuters. Germany's government-backed export credit guarantee agency, HERMES, on Thursday denied an assertion by a top Iranian banker that an agreement on principle had been reached on the loan and said no new loans to Tehran were planned... FULL TEXT

Iran open for business but investors wary

LONDON, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Almost 20 years after the Islamic revolution swept away the pro-Western Shah, Iran is finally opening up to Western investment again. But foreign investors are wary of the terms and timing. A slump in oil prices, fierce international competition for investment capital and the ``buyback'' terms offered by Tehran are doing more to discourage foreign oil firms than a receding fear of U.S. sanctions, experts say... FULL TEXT

Omanis observing Iranian military maneuvers

TEHRAN, Dec 4 (AFP) - An Omani military team is observing Iranian naval exercises which kicked off Friday in the Oman Sea and the strategic Strait of Hormuz, in new sign of warmer ties between Iran and its Persian Gulf Arab neighbours. "For the first time, the programmes and information needed for the exercises have been communicated to the neighboring countries in the Persian Gulf. This is an evolution in the exchange of military information between the region's countries," Colonel Issa Golverdi said. ... FULL TEXT

Jannati warns U.S. tourists may be spies

TEHRAN (Reuters) - A top Iranian conservative cleric Friday blasted a recent visit by a group of Americans, warning that U.S. tourist trips could pave the way for spies. ``Our pessimism toward America will never subside. We must treat with suspicion anyone who comes from there,'' Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati said in a Friday sermon, carried by Tehran radio. ``As far as tourism is concerned, we do not have any ban...but if dubious individuals are to come and go, the way will be opened for espionage,'' said Jannati, secretary of the powerful Guardian Council, during weekly prayers in Tehran... FULL TEXT

Marriage turning into a crisis for young Iranians

TEHRAN, Dec 4 (AFP) - Marriage in Iran, which has one of the world's youngest populations, is turning into one of the country's biggest headcahes, with young people facing both traditional taboos and tough economic choices. There are about 10 million Iranians of marriageable age, who have found themselves frustrated in their search for happiness. Now state television has intervened in the search for a way out of Iran's "marriage crisis." ... FULL TEXT



$ Rate

The dollar now offered at up to 700-706 tomans

Source: Sehaty Exchange (U.S.) Tel: 602-595-0777

Business news


The Web

Iran

Canticles of Ecstasy

These are some images of Seyed Alavi's recent exhibition at the deSaisset Museum in Santa Clara, California, which consisted of a five room installation and two performances.

Beyond Iran

Great buildings around the world

A gateway to architecture from around the world and across history.

More web sites


Quote Unquote

A little corny

Yesterday is History,
Tomorrow is a Mystery and
Today is a gift:
that's why we call it -
The Present.

Unknown


Photo of the Day

Mount Damavand

More photos


Music

Musician of the Week

Marziyeh

Biyaa biyaa benshin... and listen.

Music artists index


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