The Iranian Times

Friday June 25, 1999 / Tir 4, 1378, No. 756


Sehaty Foreign Exchange


    Rumi


Poetry

I close my eyes
A poem

June 25, 1999
The Iranian

A poem by Nagmeh Shariat-Madar, a second-generation Iranian-American, currently a sophomore at a high school in Michigan.

I close my eyes

from the evil stares
the scandalous glares
the stupid dares

from the flip-up knives
the black-and-blue-eyed wives ... GO TO FEATURE


Outlook

Op-Ed
Mapping out a dialogue with Iran

By Ze'ev Schiff
Haaretz
June 25, 999

Anyone who has thought about the arrest of a group of Jews in Iran on charges of spying for Israel and the United States can't help but wonder why Jews who live in a place where the ayatollahs determine how minorities shall be treated and hand out death sentences to suit their religious and political purposes would elect to put themselves at risk.

For a Jew, living in today's Iran is like wandering in an unmarked minefield.President Khatami's declaration that Iranian Jews enjoy full rights is worthless. Khatami has not managed to grant protection even to his close associates who have been put on trial.... FULL TEXT


    Anyway

President Roosevelt in Tehran

In December 1943, the leaders of Russia, Britain and the United States met in Tehran to coordinate their efforts against Nazi Germany. While in Tehran President Roosevelt met with American soldiers at a hospital. Here's what he had to say ... FULL TEXT


More Letters

* Do something about it

S. Marvasti writes: What really disturbed me about mr Sia M's article ["Son, don't ever do that again"] isn't the poor state of health care in Iran Now and in the past, but his sense of anguish or detachment.

If you look at logically, at least nowadays everyone knows the dire straight position of Iranian economy, so much more than criticism is needed. We need people with vision, funds and the commitment to make a difference, and not tape recorders taping the misery we all know that exists...

It all comes down to believing that EACH and EVERY one of us CAN make a DIFFERENCE. And collectively, who knows how many lives and how many jobs we can save and create without the need to wait (forever) until a great government comes about ... FULL TEXT

* I hope you go to heaven

Dear Sholom,

Hamid Salamipour, M.D. writes: I was very impressed by your letter ["You belong in hell"], it proudly displays your open mind and impressive level of intellectual sophistication. Thank you very much for eloquently describing how all 60-something million of us think and act alike.

From your letter I infer that all the Jews think the same, all the Christians feel similarly about everything, and all the Hindus believe in one thing, .....oh, I almost forgot, all the Americans are ignorant bastards, all the Germans are Jew-killing Nazis, all Britons are colonialists, and all the Israelis are ultraorthodox radicals...

I hope you go to heaven, because I hope God (mine and yours are one and the same, like it or not) forgives you, and all the bigoted idiots like you, whether they are Muslim, Jew, Christian, or whatever.

A civilized Iranian
Boston


* Lectureship: Teach Persian at Manchester University, UK

Applications are invited for a post of Lecturer in Persian in the Department of Middle Eastern Studies, Manchester University (UK). The post will be held initially for five years. The successful candidate will have an excellent research record, and will have completed a PhD or be near completion. Informal enquiries may be made to the Head of the Department of Middle Eastern Studies, Dr Colin Imber, email: colin.imber@man.ac.uk ... DETAILS HERE


Book of the Week

The Legend of the Persian Carpet

By Tomie De Paola

    Children who've been told of the diamond's legendary hardness may question the ease with which this one is shattered. A king, accustomed to dwelling in a light-filled room where a large diamond creates a million rainbows, is bereft when it's stolen and smashed, and thereafter takes his only pleasure in staring at the fragments, away from the subjects who need him. An apprentice weaver comes up with the idea of making a magnificent carpet that will lure the king back to his duties. It works. But, unfortunately, neither the words nor the art here convincingly suggests the lure of the diamond's prismatic play or the carpet's intricate patterns. Readers will have to take these on faith. Still, Ewart's illustrations are prettily evocative of old Persia, and perhaps the tale will pique interest in this ancient art form ... GO TO BOOK

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More news

Iran receives biggest British trade delegation since 1979 revolution

TEHRAN, June 25 (AFP) - A high-ranking British trade delegation, the biggest since the 1979 Islamic revolution, arrived in Tehran early Friday, several weeks after Tehran and London normalized diplomatic ties. "It's the most important post-revolution mission of its kind," Darmott Graham, a coordinator of the six-day visit, told AFP ... FULL TEXT

French Jewish groups call for new protests for release of Iran Jews

PARIS, June 25 (AFP) - French Jewish organizations on Friday called for renewed protests nationwide to demand the release of 13 Iranian Jews whose arrest on charges of spying has provoked an outcry. They said that 13 public figures would chain themselves in front of the Iranian embassy in Paris on June 29 to denounce the arrest of the 13 Iranian Jews ... FULL TEXT

Rules on food, medicine sales to Iran due soon- US

WASHINGTON, June 25 (Reuters) - The Clinton Administration will publish rules governing the sale of food and medicine to Iran, Sudan and Libya soon, a top U.S. Agriculture Department official said on Friday. ``We're getting pretty close,'' Chris Goldthwait, General Sales Manager at the department, told Reuters, noting that there were only one or two details that need to be finalised ... FULL TEXT

Norway to lift trade curbs on Iran after Rushdie

OSLO, June 25 (Reuters) - Norway will lift export curbs on Iran and send an ambassador there in August after years of tension caused by a death order against British author Salman Rushdie, officials said on Friday. ``We are now open to receiving applications for exports to Iran,'' Erling Naper, head of the state-run Norwegian Guarantee Institute for Export Credits, told Reuters ... FULL TEXT

Iran slams Israeli raids in Lebanon

TEHRAN, June 25 (AFP) - Iran condemned Friday Israel's overnight raids in Lebanon that killed eight people and called for the international community to force Israel to stop. The attacks showed "the belligerent and aggressive spirit of the Zionist regime," Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Assefi was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying ... FULL TEXT

Iran offering Cambodia military aid: report

PHNOM PENH, June 25 (AFP) - Senior Iranian officials have visited Cambodia to offer military aid including training, it was reported here Friday. The English-language Phnom Penh Post said Commander-in-Chief Ke Kim Yan initially turned down an offer made three months ago for fear of upsetting western donors. But it said high-level private discussions had continued ... FULL TEXT

Ebrahim Nabavi's short stories

Tehran, (Neshat) - Ebrahim Nabavi, the daily Neshat's celebrated political satirist, has published two books of short stories ... FULL TEXT IN PERSIAN

Artists debate private tutoring

Tehran, (Neshat) - With the start of summer private art classes have mushroomed. Do private tutors need to provide their skills or should they be left unsupervised? Artists debate the issue ... FULL TEXT IN PERSIAN\

Persepolis looking for a sweep

Tehran, (Neshat) - Persepolis won the Azadegan League title this year. It is now looking for a second major title ... FULL TEXT IN PERSIAN

Esteqlal will name 22 players

Tehran, (Neshat) - Following its disappointing loss in the Asian Cup Winner final, Esteqlal has new coaching staff and some new players. The 22-member squad will be announced soon ... FULL TEXT IN PERSIAN


BBC

Persian Service


$ Rate

Updated June 25

The dollar now offered at 850-882 tomans in the U.S. and 890 tomans in Iran

Source: Sehaty Exchange (U.S.) Tel: 602-595-0777

Business news


The Web

Iran

Canada's Iranian Community Newspaper

14-year-old newspaper goes online.

Beyond Iran

Nature

The magazine where earth isn't considered flat.

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Quote Unquote

Closest to home?

This place is a good deal like home. I landed about ten days ago -- way over in Morocco. This in the nearest thing to the United States I have seen yet.

President Roosevelt talking to Americans at a hospital in Tehran

December 2, 1943


Photo of the Day

Good Year in Tehran


Music

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Parivash

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