Life

China and Iran

China and Iran have retained a strong sense of utmost respect for one another’s cultures. Throughout history it has been obvious that despite not having a border with each other and yet the two have never been to war and have been “natural allies” the Chinese have been allies with Iran for over 1,000 years. As well this China and Iran have heavily influenced each other; Chinese art seems to have intertwined with that of Iran while early Chinese military seems to have heavy influence from Iran such as the Parthian shot. In my view Iran and China will remain close allies for at least another 1,000 years to come>>>

The Plight of Ehsan Abdoh Tabrizi

A friend and colleague, Ehsan Abdoh Tabrizi has been held in the notorious Evin prison since mid January of this year. A fourth year PhD candidate at the School of Government and International Affairs (SGIA) at Durham University, Abdoh Tabrizi went back to Iran in during the Christmas holiday in December 2009 to visit his family, especially to see his mother who has been stricken with MS. Abdoh Tabrizi is particularly close to his mother and her illness has been a source of great concern to him>>>

All The Shah's Men (2)

Tudeh Party which had expanded its influence and operations throughout the country by taking advantage of democratic atmosphere of the country, had found a good foothold among working class especially Iranian oil workers in southern province of Khuzestan. Oil, once again became a hot topic in the politics of Iran. Americans who had a long term plan to enter the oil business activities in Iran and had failed the first attempt due to meddling of Tudeh Party and Soviets during Prime Minister Sa'ed, did not intend to let others get away with sweet deals that they were getting from Iranians without sharing it with them>>>

'Illegal' Traveller

This book is the outgrowth of my own ‘embodied experience of borders’, of ethnographic fieldwork among undocumented migrants between 2004 and 2008, and of teaching courses on irregular migration and the anthropology of borders. It also emerges from my activities outside academia: freelance journalism, helping arrange events such as film festivals about border crossing, and volunteer work for NGOs helping failed asylum seekers and undocumented migrants in Sweden. In my years as an anthropologist, I have been astonished at how my informants’ experiences overlapped, confirmed, completed, and recalled my own experiences of borders>>>

کشتار ۶۷

رژیم روی افرادی که سابقه نزدیکی با مجاهدین در دهه ۶۰ را داشته‌اند حساسیت بیشتری نشان داده، تا آن‌جا که تعدادی از آنان را به مرگ محکوم کرده و زمزمه اعدام آنان را به راه انداخته است. به این ترتیب، رژیم گویی که از ریختن خون هزاران مجاهد در سال ۶۷ سیر نشده است و اکنون به دنبال آن است که هر مجاهد دیگری را که در آن سال از زیر تیغ جلادان جان سالم به در برده به قتلگاه بفرستد. از دید حاکمان، گویی که قتل عام سال ۶۷ هنوز پایان نیافته است و این جنایت هنوز ادامه دارد>>>

Ali is Free!

Many of you might not know about him, but for me it’s hard to talk about him without getting emotional, even though I have never met him in person. The first time I heard his name was 3 years ago when he was condemned to death. His case became widely visible, but he still remained in prison, until a few weeks ago! A week ago, I received an email that Ali was going to be freed. A few days later, my cell-phone rang and there was this warm shaking voice who said, “Hi, I am Ali!” >>>

کارنامه محمد رضا سوادکوهی

اگر رضا شاه به سلطنت نمی رسید و نام خانوادگی پهلوی را اختیار نمی کرد شهرتش احتمالاً سواد کوهی می بود و پسرش نیز محمد رضا سوادکوهی خوانده می شد. و شاید استفاده از این ترفند زبانی سرپناه مناسبی برای گریز از کولاک حب و بغضی باشد که هنوز نام و کارنامه شاه را دنبال می کند و امکان داوری محققانه در باره او را از ما می گیرد. تقارن حکومت آخرین سلسله پادشاهی در ایران با عصر ایدئولوژی نیز به دشواری کار می افزاید>>>

All The Shah's Men

Decades after Shah of Iran has been overthrown to accommodate implementation of certain policies in the region of Persian Gulf and Middle East to serve the interests of certain group of people in the world, we are still witness to the same propaganda nonsense that brought our nation to one of the lowest points in the history which is comparable to the times when Iran was overrun by Arab and Mongolian invaders centuries ago. To add more to this, one of the saddest issues of our time is glorification of ignorance under the guise of political correctness to justify and spread misinformation towards our history>>>

به یاد سه برادر

من در دهه اول پس از انقلاب، سه برادر را در مصاف مجاهدین با جمهوری اسلامی از دست داده‌ام، ولی کمتر در باره آن‌ها سخن گفته‌ام. این روزها، اما، دو نوشته مرا به یاد آنان انداخت. یکی درج متن «وصیتنامه» منسوب به برادر کوچکم محمد در رجا نیوز بود که به نقل از کتاب «قدرت، و دیگر هیچ» نوشته خواهرم طاهره در آن جا آمده است. و دیگری، یادداشت آقای هاشمی رفسنجانی به مناسبت سالگرد عملیات فروغ جاویدان/مرصاد در سال ۱۳۶۷ بود که بیش از هزار کشته از مجاهدین بر جای گذاشت>>>

Saaleh Akhar

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