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Sa'di
Abadan
Khoosheh
"I had to see it with my own eyes."
By Siroos Hozhabri
As the plane descended through the clouds, I had my first glimpse of
the land I missed so much, that beautiful flat land. We touched down at
Mahshahr Airport, walked out and the first breath of air, the salty, humid
air, brought back all the memories that were tucked away for more than
twenty years.
My father and I hired a car and drove to Abadan, about an hour away.
As we got closer, my heart started to beat faster and I became rather nervous
as if I was about to meet a blind date. Our driver friend Mr. Khorshidi
narrated our visit telling us that Abadan had been rebuilt. And thank God
for that. I don't know if I could endure seeing my town in ruins ... GO TO FEATURE
Outlook
Turbulent priest who shook world
By Paul Taylor
LONDON, Jan 28 (Reuters) - A frail, white-bearded man sat cross-legged
on a Persian rug in a suburban bungalow near Paris and spoke in a faint
monotone into a cassette-recorder. And the world trembled.
Twenty years ago next week, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, an ascetic
Shi'ite Moslem clergyman, returned to Iran to a tumultuous welcome to lead
one of this century's great upheavals -- the first Islamic revolution.
Exploiting a national network of mosques, the Shi'ite cult of martyrdom
and the strange indecisiveness of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Khomeini
replaced one of the Middle East's richest U.S.-backed oil monarchies with
an austere theocratic state ... FULL TEXT
Italians will weep
By Peyvand Khorsandi
Editor, E-RUN magazine
Every posh Brit I have met in the last decade has joked: "Oh, so
you're Iranian? Fan of the Ayatollah? Ho! Ho! Or do you prefer Salman Rushdie?
Ha! Ha!"
Ten years ago Not Without My Daughter was published and we spent much
energy convincing people that Iranians aren't all lunatics. One year later
Ayatollah Khomeini ordered the death of Salman Rushdie, an act which sent
many Iranian teenagers scrambling for Sicilian roots. Rushdie may have
lived in hiding, but he never had to pretend he was kidnapped from a village
outside Palermo just as he was learning how to spin a mouthful of spaghetti
onto a fork.
But today, thankfully, Uncle Khatami is changing things. We can now
bask in the fresh clerical cool. He's so hip we'll soon be wearing designer
turbans and chadors. Italians will weep... FULL TEXT
More Letters
* Foreign interference no myth
Maijd Abedi writes: While I must admit that conspiracy theories is prevalent
in popular Iranian culture, I was surprised that Guive Mirfendereski in
"The
blame game" cited the American-organized coup against Mossadegh
as one such example.
Putting aside the issue of whether Mossadegh's goverment would have
survived with or without the coup, it is well recorded by both American
and British archives that the events leading to the overthrow of Mossadegh
were directly orchestrated by the American Embassy with the aid of unscrupulous
Iranians who were paid handsomely ... FULL
TEXT
* Sponsorship: Learn Persian in Iran
From: William Hanaway <whanaway@mec.sas.upenn.edu>
The American Institute of Iranian Studies (AIIrS) hopes to sponsor an
eight-week course in the Persian language this summer at the International
Center for Persian Studies of the Dehkhoda Institute in Tehran. The course
would be open to U.S. citizens who have had at lease one academic year
of training in Persian and who are enrolled in a doctoral program where
a knowledge of Persian is essential to the student's research. AIIrS hopes
to be able to provide travel, tuition and maintenance for each student.
The course would begin on about July 1.
Interested students should apply to the below address, describing the
general topic of their dissertation research and giving their reasons for
wishing to attend such a course. They should also supply names, addresses
and email addresses of two referees, one of whom should be the student's
academic advisor.
Dr. Brian Spooner
Middle East Center
839 Williams Hall/6305
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Book of the Week
Daneshvar's Playhouse
A Collection of Stories
By Simin Daneshvar
In five intriguing stories, the formal detachment of Daneshvar's prose
reinforces her subtle revelation of repressive features in Iranian society.
. . . These seemingly simple stories disclose a rich culture in a time
of ferment and change, of women in chadors, held in contempt by the men
who control their lives. . . . This volume is a valuable addition to our
knowledge of Persian culture and the political complexities of modern Iran.
-- Publishers Weekly
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Board rejects moderate candidates -papers
TEHRAN, Jan 27 (Reuters) - A conservative
screening board has barred several prominent moderate backers of President
Mohammad Khatami from running in Iran's first nationwide local elections
next month, newspapers said on Wednesday. The daily Salam said Abdollah
Nouri, a key Khatami ally and former interior minister, moderate newspaper
editor Saeid Hajjarian and pro-Khatami student leader Ebrahim Asgharzadeh
were among about 50 Tehran candidates rejected by the board dominated by
the president's opponents ... FULL TEXT
Restrictions on Montazeri lifted - paper
TEHRAN (Jan. 28) XINHUA - Iranian authorities have decided to lift
restrictions on Ayatollah Hussein Ali Montazeri, the disgraced designate
successor of the late Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Musavi Khomeini.
An Iranian daily Tehran Times reported on Thursday that an informed source
revealed the decision to it, but did not give details of and the reasons
for the decision ... FULL TEXT
Letter to UN Human Rights Commissioner
25th January 1999, (IHRWG) - Dear Mrs. Robinson, we, the Iranian
Human Rights Working Group (IHRWG), would like to strongly urge you to take
action regarding the atmosphere of terror that has engulfed Iran as a result
of the disappearances and extra-judicial killings of dissident intellectuals
in the recent past ... FULL TEXT
Petition: Call for U.S. grain sales to
Iran
(Iranians
for International Cooperation) - URGENT ACTION: Support Senator Craig's
initiative to persuade the U.S. Treasury Department to permit grain exports
to Iran. Permitting sales of food commodities to Iran is an excellent way
to both relieve hardworking US farmers from depressed earnings and open
up healthy economic ties with our former ally Iran ... FULL TEXT
Details of Iran's participation in international
soccer games in Canada
Thursday, January 28, 1999 (Canadian Soccer Association) - The
Canadian Soccer Association is pleased to announce that the 1999 Canada
Cup of Soccer will be held in Edmonton, Alberta between Wednesday, June
2 and Sunday, June 6. Canada, Brazil U-23 Olympic team, World Cup finalists
Iran and Costa Rica will be competing in the four-team round-robin tournament
at Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium ... FULL TEXT
Esteqlal concentrating on Asian Cup
Tehran (Iran) - Esteqlal head coach Nasser Hejazi says he does
not care as much about the Azadegan league as he does about winning the
Asian Cup ... FULL TEXT IN PERSIAN
Wrestling matches for national team
Tehran (Iran) - Veterans and hopefuls are battling it out to secure
a place in the national wrestling team, although some notable names are
missing ... FULL TEXT IN PERSIAN
$ Rate
Updated Jan 27
The
dollar now offered at up to 750-755 tomans
Source: Sehaty Exchange (U.S.) Tel: 602-595-0777
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Quote Unquote
Kind
It's no use trying to be clever -- we are all clever here; just
try to be kind -- a little kind.
-- F.J. Foakes Jackson (1855-1941)
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Iran "prepares for celebrations"
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