Where were you on Aug 19, 1953?

On the occasion of 28 Mordad (Aug 19, 1953), I thought that by translating and summarizing parts of these recollections, some of which are quite fascinating and moving, we might see the past from different perspectives. In many ways, while Iran is being targeted on all fronts, whether right or wrong, the events of Aug 1953 are still with us in the most haunting way. Writers, scholars and people in general, Iranians and Americans alike, continue to be mesmerized with what really took place on those days when a nation’s destiny was changed overnight, trying to analyze these events and to find answers to the many questions they raise. Above all, more than that of any other Iranian political figure of modern times, Mossadegh’s legacy lives on>>>

The Iranian jigsaw puzzle

Although all serious analysts agree that there are a variety of possible options to deal with Iran, they usually accord the primacy of some type of alternative over the others, treating the rest as background. Logically, we need a policy that brings together options that by themselves are insufficient conditions. That is, “X,” “Y,” and “Z” may be necessary conditions but will not be sufficient condition unless they occur simultaneously or in a particular sequence. In dealing with Iran, three options appear to be necessary and sufficient: (1) economic cooperation; (2) diplomacy; and (3) security. The United States must be prepared to take the lead and synthesizes these three options into a smart diplomacy>>>

Big difference

Recent developments in Georgia have confirmed many fears, including that of mine, that Russia's imperialistic intentions are very serious and the democratic world needs no complacency toward such brutal acts against democratic movements of other nations, the one of Georgia in this particular case. When I wrote an article a few days ago about the events in progress I was thinking about a few issues that I was absolutely sure would come up in the comments I would receive. The questioning is absolutely legitimate and worth serious consideration and debate. We know that America did invade Iraq. We know what happened in Iraq after the invasion>>>

اجاره ی نور از اداره ی فرصت های از دست رفته

تا ماهی ها از رودخانه به دریا خودشان را برسانند مارسیا زودتر با دوچرخه به در خانه آمد. هوا نسبتا ابری توام با نور ملس خورشید بود .جلبک های سبز رنگ در حاشیه ی مرداب هواسازی می کردند. قایق های کوچک بادبانی از آن سوی دریای مانش به طرف بندر می آمدند .تا مارسیا در خانه را بزند مرده های کف دریا خودشان را به ساحل رساندند .با چشم های بی نور به سمت آفتاب دراز کشیدند و پره های بینی شان نم ماسیده در هوا را مشتاقانه فرو کشیدند. زنگ در خراب بود. چکش در با دست مارسیا به صدا درآمد. زودتر از من گربه ی خانم میشیگان پشت در بود. با هم سلامی و بوسه ای رد کردیم. مارسیا دامن سفید - مشکی گلدارش را به تن کرده بود. باسن گردش به تمامی خودش را در دامن نشان داده بود. آقای گربه خودش را به پای مارسیا یله می داد و پوست نرمش مارسیا را به وجد می آورد. >>>

Rus

Am I the only one remembering Malinin?
concentrating to become a bird or a cat
in those thin paperbacks on cheap paper
that crumbled after just a few reading?

Or in the first alternative theater
that showed film festivals for children,
those sparse Russian shorts, in woods,
a few kids lost among leaves of maple? >>>

Doostie khale kherse

This “friendship” that politicians and clerics in the Islamic Republic of Iran consider useful, is nothing more than a “doostie khale kherse”! Either Iran’s politicians have no problems with this one-sided friendship or they are ignorant of the fact that they are being played! When the Russians attacked South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Iran’s media blew this up into former-USSR-propaganda proportions! I don’t think Russian media even claimed this attack to be as much as a success as Iranian media did! >>>

Kissing all the frogs*

What does it take to be truly happy in life? Is it absolutely necessary to have a lover or a partner in life in order to be happy? Why are so many people out there looking, looking, and looking? Is our search for love a part of our yearning for our “personal legend” as reflected by Paulo Coelho? Can we have perfectly satisfying and rewarding lives without a love interest in the center of it? And, after all, how hard can it be to find someone? Most of us are looking for only one person in our lives, no more. If you think about it, there are more or less the same number of men as there are women in this world, give or take a few (million!) >>>

Stupid, and proud of it

Through centuries of living, learning, experimenting, experiencing, innovating and gaining vast knowledge, man has evolved to the next level. Today we are guided by our conscience and act with humanity; we no longer are bound by “one book”, rather we have many books to choose from for any aspect of our lives. Hitchens writes: “Literature, not scripture, sustains the mind … and the soul. … Religion spoke its last intelligible or noble or inspiring words a long time ago, … the devotions of today are the echoing repetitions of yesterday, sometimes ratcheted up to screaming point so as to ward off the terrible emptiness.” >>>

"چشمی هست که از اشک لبریز نشود؟"

وصیت نامه ها و نامه ها یی که می خوانید بخشی از اسناد جنایات حکومت اسلامی اند , این وصیت نامه ها و نامه ها,که در آستانه ی اعدام قربانیان نوشته شده اند, نیازی به تفسیر و تحلیل ندارند ,گلواژه هایی هستند که خود به روشنی سخن می گویند و هر کدام عطر خویش می افشانند, سخن و عطر شور زندگی و عشق به آزادی و آزاده بودن تا حد جان دادن در ره این عشق. می توان با نظرات سیاسی و عقیدتی این قربانیان مخالف بود اما نمی توان و نمی باید بر این همه شور وعشق چشم بست و به آنان که داس تاراج شور و شادی وعشق در دست داشته و دارند رخصت داد به تاراج گل هایمان ادامه دهند, و یا تاراجگری های ضدانسانی شان به فراموشی سپرده شود. >>>

We are all Baha'is

The criminal scheme of Baha’i-killing, of which the Hojjatieh Society was the standard-bearer and promulgator before the [1979] revolution – a scheme whose promoters came to power with the emergence of the Islamic Republic – is at its foundation a felonious concept intended to bring about religious cleansing through the murder of all Baha’is. If there had been no barriers to this planned genocide, such as international laws or global reaction, then no doubt by now the leaders of the Islamic Republic would have fully implemented their atrocious scheme.>>>

Uncovering a cover up

Iranian film director Khosrow Sinai has been awarded the prestigious “Knights Cross of the Order of Merit of the Polish Republic”. At a ceremony earlier this year in the Polish capital, the country’s president Lech Kaczynski bestowed the honour on the Iranian filmmaker in recognition of his services to the Polish Nation, and in particular for his documentary “The Lost Requiem”, made in 1982. Also honoured were five Iranian citizens of Polish descent, survivors of the “Polish Exodus” living in Iran>>>

From Bad to Worse and Beyond…

Discriminatory family law in Iran is on the brink of taking a few steps back! The “Family Protection Bill” passed swiftly and quietly during the first round of discussions of the legal and judicial commission of the Iranian parliament in July 2008, almost one year after it was drafted. Opposition to this bill has solidified one of the largest coalitions formed to protest a bill in recent years. An inclusive and strikingly diverse group of women activists, feminists, human rights defenders, as well as secular and religious groups (including some conservative women’s groups) are opposing this bill and demanding that the government take action to prevent it from passing through parliament for a final vote>>>