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Vahshi Bafqi
Cover story
Two-colored lollipop
Reflections on life in Iran and the U.S.
By Tara Bahrampour
"Are you Japanese?"
I laugh, and the [Iranian] shopkeeper realizes he is wrong. My wavy
brown hair, light skin, and slightly flat-lidded eyes are a mix of a lot
of things, but I'm not Japanese. On my mother's side I am English, Irish,
Scottish, Swedish, and German. My father's side is harder. Agha Jan's family
is said to have come from the Qashqais, a nomadic tribe that moves between
the mountains and the plains of the southern province of Fars. Baba says
that is why even the old ladies in our family go out every evening for
a brisk stride around the block, with the blood of the nomads pumping through
their legs...
"I'm half Iranian and half American," I answer in Farsi.
"Ah, do-rageh," he says, nodding. Do-rageh means
two-veined, or two kinds of blood in one vein, and whenever people say
it I think of my two bloods swirling together like a two-colored lollipop
... GO TO FEATURE
Outlook
Missing: Pirouz Davani
A special web page has been created for Pirouz Davani, a political activist
who left his home in Tehran on the 25th of August 1998 and has not been
heard from since. On the 27th of August foreign radio stations quoted reports
that he had been arrested.
Davani, born in 1961, is the party secretary and speaker of the Union
for Democracy in Iran, and an advocate of democracy and human rights. He
had been arrested twice before for his non-violent opposition to repression
in Iran... GO
TO WEB SITE
Anyway
Lovers stole jewelry to pay for wedding
TEHRAN, Jan 12 (AFP) - An Iranian accounting student and his fiancee
stole from jewelry stores to get the money to pay for their wedding but
ended up in jail, a newspaper reported Tuesday.
Abdolreza, 24, and his 19-year-old fiancee, Monireh, were caught stealing
gold necklaces and chains, sometimes replacing them with fakes, in eight
different jewelry shops around Tehran, the daily Iran said.
The couple confessed, but insisted they stole from the shops to pay
for their wedding.
"We're guilty of the charges, but we made a mistake," Abdolreza,
an accounting student, told a court here.
"We thought we could get married with the money and have an easy
life. We're not thieves, we ended up in this mess by mistake," said
Monireh.
Forwarded by Laleh Khalili
History
Revolution: 1979-1999
More Letters
* My vicotry
Shirindokht Radi writes: I am glad that you realized
that I tried to show the "domal"s of our culture without hiding
behind symbols ["In the Ring"]. You are absolutely
right; almost in all situations concerning Iranian women, defeat is certain.
But, the enlightenment of even one mind is a victory: that is my victory.
* Forum: U.S.-Iran Business Council
Forum
The Iranian Trade Association, along with our host, the Washington International
Trade Association will present the First Quarterly U.S.-Iran Business Council
Forum: " The Process of Engagement" on Wednesday, February 3
in Washington, DC ... MORE DETAILS
Book of the Week
The Arrest of Hoveyda
Stories of the Iranian Revolution
By Saideh Pakravan
"Besides evoking Iran's unique atmosphere [The Arrest of Hoveyda]... proves that history
can most tellingly be told when the key syllables of the word are taken
as the last two: story... This book is essential for all who want to understand
Iran." -- Peter Avery
"... a remarkable fiction. The author comes to political maturity
in the midst of the absurd and tragic events leading up to the overthrow
of the Pahlavi monarchy, the murder of her father, and the consolidation
of the power of Ayatollah Khomeini." -- Marvin Zonis
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news
Khamenei urges factions to end dispute
over killings
TEHRAN, Iran, Jan. 18 (Reuters) - Iran's supreme
leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Monday called on conservatives and moderates
to end a bitter dispute over the killings of dissidents. Khamenei's call
for calm came amid public concern over a new wave of killings in Tehran
which did not appear to be political in nature. There was wide concern among
residents of the capital after more gruesome murders in which a prominent
elderly engineer and his wife, and the wife of a prize-winning translator
were killed at their homes by unknown intruders last week ... FULL TEXT
New murders shake Iran
TEHRAN, Jan 17 (AFP) - Political killings and kidnappings, death
threats against intellectuals and dissidents, and violent killings of citizens
on an almost daily basis, have deepened a sense of insecurity in Iran ahead
of the 20th anniversary of the Islamic revolution. Iran has been gripped
by a vicious cycle of death threats and murders against dissidents and writers
as well as professionals, as rival political factions are locked in a power
struggle ahead of the anniversary on February 11 ... FULL TEXT
Russian ex-KGB blames West for Iran technology
MOSCOW, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Russia's FSB national
security service said in a newspaper interview published on Monday that
Iran possessed Western equipment which could be used to build missiles.
The United States placed sanctions on three Russian scientific institutes
last week and threatened further action, accusing Russia of providing aid
to Iran's missile and nuclear weapons programmes. But FSB spokesman Alexander
Zdanovich told the Sevodnya daily newspaper that Washington had provided
no evidence to back up its accusations ... FULL TEXT
MPs reject bill to liberalise car imports
TEHRAN, Iran (Reuters) - Iran's parliament
Sunday defeated a bill that would have removed a virtual ban on car imports
into the country. In a session broadcast on Tehran radio, deputies voted
against a budget item that would have allowed car imports subject to heavy
customs duties. Under Iran's protective laws, car imports are allowed only
in few cases, including when the payment for the vehicles is made in hard
currency obtained from exports ... FULL TEXT
Tehran film fest details
Tehran (Hamshahri) - Details of the Tehran international
film festivcal next month, including the names of the films and their directors
... FULL TEXT IN PERSIAN
Mayeli-Kohan: Think long term
Tehran (Iran) - Employing a foreign coach for the Iranian national
team will do no good if we only think in the short-term, said former head
coachMayeli-Kohan in an interview with Iran newspaper ... FULL TEXT IN PERSIAN
$ Rate
Updated Jan 18
The
dollar now offered at up to 714-718 tomans
Source: Sehaty Exchange (U.S.) Tel: 602-595-0777
Business
news
The Web
Iran
Soroush
publishers
The audio/video and publishing division of Iran's state
radio and TV organization (IRIB).
Beyond Iran
The
Elephants of Cameroon
Visitors can "join the North Carolina Zoo and a team
of researchers on an interactive project to track and study elephants in
northern Cameroon."
More
web sites
Quote Unquote
Untethered
Abroad, our lives had been unlike anyone else's. We had not fit into
any mold; compared to Iranian kids in Iran or American kids in America,
we had had a sense of being untethered in the world. We had traveled all
our lives; we were seasoned experts on jet lag...
Tara Bahrampour
"Two-colored
lollipop"
The Iranian
January 18, 1999
Photo of the Day
Ali Daei slippers
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Farhad
* Mard-e Tanha * Najva
* Windmills of Your Mind * Yesterday When I Was Young
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