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Baba Taher
Cover story
Beyond words
Will there be a response to growing attacks against the press?
By Abdolkarim Soroush
In the last three months, Iran's judiciary has closed down more than
a dozen moderate newspapers and magazines. Meanwhile a number of liberal
journalists have died under mysterious circumstances or been imprisoned
for their critical views.
Abdolkarim Soroush wrote the following letter to President Khatami after
the closure of Toos newspaper and the imprisonment of its top editors
some two months ago. Although the editors have since been released, Soroush
says threats against other moderate newspapers promted him to make the
letter public.
Excerpts from the letter were published by some Iranian newspapers last
week. Here's the full text (in Persian) :... GO
TO FEATURE
Outlook
ART IN REVIEW: Shirin Neshat
By HOLLAND COTTER
11/27/1998
The New York Times
Shirin Neshat 'Turbulent'
Whitney Museum of American Art at Philip Morris
120 Park Avenue, at 42d Street Manhattan
Through Jan. 15
Shirin
Neshat, born in Iran in 1957, is best known for self-portrait photographs
in which she appears in a body-covering black chador, the female garb as
dictated by Islamic tradition, with a gun barrel protruding from her robes.
Gender politics is her subject; the repression of woman, whether through
fundamentalism or cultural exoticizing, is her target.... FULL TEXT
Shah's Paykan for sale
"This car was a gift received by the Ceausescu family from the
REZA PAHLAVI, Former Shah of Iran... " ... GO THERE
Forwarded by Payman Arabshahi
More Letters
* Where are the "strategic thinkers" now?
Roshanravan writes: The tragic murder of Dr. Daryoush Foruhar and Mrs.
Parvaneh Foruhar did not get any reaction from all those highly-educated
"strategic thinkers" who regularly post their opinions on various
issues concerning "Democratic openings" under Khatami and his
"Dovom-e Khordad Miracle"!...
Why? Because this is how you can play a double role in exile: you can
play the role of a democrat who is for "dialogue" even with the
likes of Assadollah Lajevardi; and at the same time, you can float in the
heavens as a "strategist" who thinks in much bigger terms such
as the "future of Iranian nation, of oil, of ping-pong diplomacy,
of dialogue between civilizations" and a host of other such "khar
rang kon" issues... FULL
TEXT
* Art: Qajar symposium, New York
The Brooklyn Museum of Art and the New York University Hagop Kevorkian
Center for Near Eastern Studies are pleased to present:
RE-PRESENTING THE QAJARS:
New Research in the Study of 19th Century Iran
Friday, December 11, 1998 at NYU, 1 pm to 5:30 pm and Saturday, December
12, 1998 at Brooklyn Museum of Art, 9am to 5:30 pm
Expanding upon themes in the special exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum
of Art, "Royal Persian Paintings: The Qajar Epoch 1785-1925,"
the symposiumwill bring together scholars of art, history, and culture
to discuss issues of representation, identity, revivalism, and modernity
in Iranian visual imagery and culture. For a complete listing of locations,
who will be presenting, and which specific topics will be presented, please
visit:
www.nyu.edu/gsas/program/neareast/events.html
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.
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Khatami asks for student patience on reform
TEHRAN, Dec 7 (Reuters) - President Mohammad
Khatami on Monday told raucous students clamouring for decisive reform of
Iran's Islamic system to be patient and tolerant in the face of mounting
attacks by conservatives. Khatami, a scholarly Shi'ite cleric, was addressing
a Students' Day gathering at Tehran's Sharif Technical University, fielding
impassioned questions about his campaign to forge a pluralistic ``civil
society'' under the rule of law ... FULL TEXT
Liberal opposition editor banned for one
year
TEHRAN, Dec 7 (Reuters) - A court in Iran
has banned a prominent liberal opposition editor from heading any publication
for one year amid increased pressures against the moderate press, newspapers
reported on Monday. The ruling against Ezzatollah Sahabi came as Faezeh
Hashemi, editor of the moderate daily Zan (Woman) and daughter of former
President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, appeared in court to face charges of
``publishing lies ... FULL TEXT
Another writer disappears
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - An Iranian writer left
his home last week and has not been heard from since, adding to a recent
spate of mysterious disappearances, a Tehran newspaper reported Monday.
Mohammed Mokhtari, a poet and member of the Association of Iranian writers,
left to go shopping Thursday in the residential suburb in northern Tehran,
the Zan newspaper said. It said Mokhtari's family searched hospitals, morgues
and police stations but could not find him... FULL TEXT
Rafsanjani's daughter cleared
LONDON, December 7, 1998, (BBC) - The daughter
of Iran's former president, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, has been cleared
of charges of publishing false news in her liberal newspaper. However, the
jury at a press court in Tehran found Faezah Hashemi guilty of a lesser
charge of insulting a senior police chief ... FULL TEXT
Iran cut from U.S. list of drug countries
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said
Monday it had removed Iran and Malaysia from its annual list of sources
of illegal drugs, but said the two nations still bear watching. Iran's progress
was welcomed by the White House as a ''positive'' step, but officials said
the decision to remove it from the list was unrelated to a slow thaw in
U.S.-Iranian relations under Iranian President Mohammad Khatami ... FULL
TEXT
Reformists rally around Khatami - new party
formed
TEHRAN, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Supporters of Iranian
President Mohammad Khatami have launched a broad counter-offensive against
their conservative critics, seeking to regain the political momentum ahead
of key polls early next year. After weeks of set-backs and outright embarrassment
at the hands of the entrenched clerical establishment, pro-Khatami forces
have rallied strongly in a bid to revitalise a popular reform movement launched
with the president's surprise landslide victory in May, 1997 ... FULL TEXT... Also ... FULL TEXT IN PERSIAN
Iran's first gold
BANGKOK, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Iran's first gold
medal at the Asian Games in Bangko went to Seyed-Mahdi Panzvan who won the
snatch title with a lift of 122.5 kg. Chinese weightlifter Liu Xiuhua fought
off a bout of Thai flu on Monday to set a new world record and raise China's
first gold medal at the Asian Games in Bangkok... FULL TEXT
Hard win over lowly Laos
BANGKOK, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Iran, parading
most of their World Cup team, also came out on top of their first round
group with a 6-1 win over minnows Laos which was not as easy as the final
scoreline suggested ... FULL TEXT
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New quality literary/social magazine in Iran. In Persian.
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The Chilean writer's official site includes descriptions
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Quote Unquote
Action
Enough lovely words. Now is the time for brave action.
Abdolkarim Soroush
Letter
to President Khatami
The Iranian
December 7, 1998
Photo of the Day
Weightlifter wins gold
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Marziyeh
Biyaa biyaa benshin... and listen.
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