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Baba Taher
Persian Gulf
Tonban-e Abu Musa
Squeezing a laugh or two from the Iranian foreign ministry's
secret files
By Guive Mirfendereski
In the summer 1976, I visited Tehran to begin research for my doctoral
thesis on the legal status of Great Tonb, Little Tonb and Abu Musa, three
islands located at the strategic entrance to the Persian Gulf and subject
of a contentious debate first between Iran and Britain and since November
1971 between Iran and the emirates.
One very bright and very early morning, armed with a letter of authorization,
I descended on the ministry with a great and purposeful appetite for information,
with a hunger which had been whetted in part by the secrecy which the topic
commanded at the time. The prospects of research soon turned into a process
of begging for information ... GO TO FEATURE
Outlook
D-i-v-o-r-c-e, in I-r-a-n
Film views Iranian wives desperatelyseeking freedom
By John Anderson.
STAFF WRITER
New York Newsday
12/9/1998
DIVORCE IRANIAN STYLE. (U) (three stars)
Married women manhandled by Tehran's legal system get their day on the
screen. Nakedly honest and illuminating glimpse at our emerging ally's
lopsided legal system. Directed by Kim Longinotto and Ziba Mir-Hosseini.
In Farsi with English subtitles. At Film Forum, 209 W. Houston St., Manhattan.
ROILING ACROSS the screen like a medieval "Jerry Springer Show,"
the nonfiction "Divorce Iranian Style" is easy to digest, once
you grasp its most fundamental concept: Women under the kind of Islamic
law practiced in Iran have no rights. After that, everything makes perfect
sense ... FULL TEXT
Anyway
No sheep
From "Man in Contemporary Poetry" by Mohammad Mokhtari who
was confirmed dead December 9, one week after family members had notified
police of his disappearance:
More Letters
* It should be remembered
D. Nikkhah writes: Although it is nice to see Mr. Soroush also joining
the ranks of the disenchanted ["Beyond words"], it should be remembered that at
the begining of the revolution he was one of its great advocates and tried
to give it a respectable face. He mercilessly criticized people of other
convictions in radio and television and held high office. How sad that
we now forget and again give him room to speak on the same platform as
those that he oppressed with his views.
* Finally!
Nana Farshad writes: I am so happy that finally somebody is explaining
marriage laws in Iran to Iranian men abroad ["Tonboon-e faati"]. I don't think they have the
right to criticize a mother who is thinking of nothing but her daughter's
future. I wish there were more parents like that. As a wife and a mother,
I thank you.
* School: Farsi school in Maryland
The Iranian-American Cultural Society of Maryland currently sponsors
two Farsi schools in the Baltimore, MD areas of Columbia and Towson. More
information, including sample homeworks from the children, is available
at //www.zeba.com/iacs/edu.htm
Reza Shadmehr
reza@bme.jhu.edu
Book of the Week
I Heard God Laughing: Renderings of Hafiz
Edited by Henry S. Mindlin
Though he lived seven hundred years ago, Hafiz is still the most popular
poet of Persia, and one of the greatest love poets who ever lived. This
little book is perhaps the best introduction to his life and work. The
poems of Hafiz overflow with a profound appreciation of the beauty and
richness of life when seen through the eyes of love. -- The publisher,
Sufism Reoriented
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news
Another dissident author missing -- relatives
TEHRAN, Dec 10 (Reuters) - An Iranian dissident
author has gone missing in the latest disappearance of secular opposition
intellectuals, his relatives said on Thursday. They said Mohammad Jafar
Pouyandeh, a 45-year-old translator and author, had gone missing after he
left his Tehran office on Wednesday afternoon. ``We have contacted all relevant
authorities, including police, hospitals, and the morgue, with no trace
of him to be found,'' a relative told Reuters... FULL TEXT
Gloves come off in Iran's political struggle
TEHRAN, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Iran's powerful
conservatives have slammed President Mohammad Khatami for his staunch defence
of his ``civil society'' programme, taking aim for the first time directly
at the popular moderate leader. In a series of public statements and press
commentaries, the conservatives blasted Khatami's question-and-answer session
on December 7 before a university crowd hungry for social and political
reform, accusing him of playing partisan politics and defaming the divine
values of the Islamic Revolution... FULL TEXT...
ALSO... FULL TEXT IN PERSIAN
Iran resurrect hopes with 5-0 win
BANGKOK, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Favourites Iran
resurrected their hopes of a quarter-final place in the Asian Games soccer
tournament on Thursday with a crushing 5-0 win over Tajikistan. Iran, stunned
in their opening second round group match by a 4-2 defeat at the hands of
tiny Oman despite bringing their World Cup squad to Bangkok, went for goals
from the start against Tajikstan and were 3-0 up after only 17 minutes ...
FULL TEXT
Iran navy launches missiles to end Gulf
war games
TEHRAN, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Iran's navy fired
ballistic and cruise missiles in the Gulf on Thursday to end major war games
involving 50,000 troops, the Iranian news agency IRNA reported. It said
four Iranian-made Fajr-4 ballistic missiles were tested on the last day
of the Vahdat-77 (Unity-77) exercises in which 160 naval vessels and 120
aircraft took part... FULL TEXT
Russia will curb missile exports to Iran
if proven
MOSCOW, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Russia told the
United States on Thursday it was willing to tighten controls on exports
of missile technology to Iran if Washington provided proof of illicit transfers,
Interfax news agency reported. The exchange on Iran came as a high-level
U.S. team led by Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott met Russia's economic
supremo at the start of two days of talks on where Moscow is headed under
a new, more conservative government... FULL TEXT
Gorbachev to Visit Iran
TEHRAN (Dec. 10) XINHUA - Former Soviet President Mikhail
Gorbachev will pay a visit to Iran in January, 1999 to deliver lectures,
the Iran Daily said on Thursday. Gorbachev will come to Tehran at the invitation
of the International and Political Studies Center (IPSC) of the Iranian
Foreign Ministry, a source at the IPSC said. He will deliver lectures, attend
press conference and meet political experts and university scholars during
his stay in Iran, the source said, while not giving the exact date of the
visit.
Swedish award for Bani-etemad
TEHRAN, (Hamshahri) - A Swedish cultural organization
will award filmmaker Rakhshan Bani-etamd for her exceptional work in the
field of art and culture ... FULL TEXT IN PERSIAN
Afghani music
TEHRAN, (Hamshahri) - New music composed by the famous
Afghan artist Abdolvahab Madadi has just been released in Iran ... FULL
TEXT IN PERSIAN
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Quote Unquote
Fresh breath
Though Rumi (1207-1273 A.D.) composed tens of thousands of ghazals (odes
and quatrains) in Persian, his poetry is as fresh and immediate today as
the sound of one's own breathing.
Graeme Revell and Roger Mason
Vision
II: Spirit of Rumi.
The Iranian
December 10, 1998
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Mohammad Mokhtari
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