The Iranian Times

Friday, August 4, 2000 / Mordad 14, 1379, No. 1036


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At war with your people
What good is peace if you have to kill and destroy for it?

By Najmeh Fakhraie
August 4, 2000
The Iranian

They usually carry worry beads in their hands; they always have really long beards and a ring on their finger. The army boots are also a must. I don't know why but it seems as if the memory of war must linger on and on forever. Some call them basijis, some call them eesaargars and most don't call them anything. The dirty looks on their faces when they see one in the street or talk about one in low whispers is enough.

They're mysterious creatures who seem to be controlling almost everything, if they are smart enough to get themselves into the system. Some are truly terrifying. Anyone who has seen photos of Masoud Dehnamaki's office knows what I am talking about. Pictures of dead people stuck to the walls, dirt and grenades all over the room, exactly like a war-zone. Makes you shudder to see what kind of people are controlling your country >>> GO TO FEATURE


Outlook

Constitutional Revolution Anniversary

BBC Persian Service

Today is the anniversary of the Constitutional Revolution. After almost a Century have the original aims of the revolution been achieved? Saeed Yekta talks to Dr Sadeq Zibakalam >>> LISTEN HERE

Still banging on that door

The Economist
August 5, 2000

HE IS the symbol of the reform movement, but can Muhammad Khatami bring about a fundamental change in Iran? A great orator, the president is now being ridiculed for talking so much and so fluently but never getting anything done. People have begun to wonder whether exposed toenail polish and "bad hejab" (a scarf loosely fastened to reveal bits of a woman's hair) will be the most concrete achievements to materialise from the dream of political pluralism and religious flexibility.

The president announced on July 27th that he would be running for re-election next May. This was premature. Presidential campaigns officially last only a few weeks and candidates usually enter the race a month or two before the election. But Mr Khatami delivered the news early, probably to boost his ailing reform movement. >>> FULL TEXT

Reformists in Iran, Despite Pressure, Speak Out More Boldly

The New York Times
August 4, 2000,

It was a Rip van Winkle moment.

Mohsen Kadivar, a mid-ranking cleric, had just been released after serving 18 months in jail for "disturbing public opinion" because he had branded Iran a religious despotism. As some 1,000 students gathered to honor him, Mr. Kadivar could not believe his ears.

"Religion has performed badly when it has gone along with power," said Hashem Aghajeri, a Tehran University professor, in an emotional speech in which he effectively called for an end to religious control that has dominated social and political life for two decades >>> FULL TEXT

Name an ice cream bar

The Pak dairy company has decided (forced?) to change the name of one its popular ice cream bars. It used to be called Magnum (the same as a similar ice cream bar in the U.S.). It has organized a competition for people to come up with an alternative Iranian name >>> GO HERE



More Letters

* Talk is cheap

Gary Sick's long expose on the pearls of wisdom spewed by Dick Cheny in various stages of political undress fails to show how this man, if elected, will fulfill the promise of "Better for Business." Whose business? Just like Gary Sick, Dick Cheney speaks with a forked tongue depending on the make-up of the audience...

Where his fudiciary responsibility to his shareholders dictates Cheney speaks against the Iran sanctions in order to secure for his company a favorable future legal position. And when approached just this week at the RNC in Philadephia, his people seemed to indicate, among other things, that the concern over the "Iran 10" and other issues stand in the way of any removal of sanctions, end of discussion.

The same bunch also referred to Yasser Arafat as a "terrorist" because of the failed Camp David talks.Talk is cheap and Cheney delivers it as well as anyone >>> FULL TEXT

* Pahlavis should learn

Parvin Darabi (www.homa.org) wirtes: I am so sad about the death of Shamlou. As a teenage girl I used to recite his poem "Paria" and loved it. I still do as a woman.

What is interesting is that according to the email no Islamic jargon was recited at his funeral ["Only ey Iran"]. The Pahlavi family should learn from this. So when they go for the Shah's yearly memorial they should not recite the Koran and Fatehe.

I am proud that Iranian people are finally getting freed from the years of Islamic domination and oppression.

* Inspiring Neshat

Stig Gunnar Ringen writes: I just saw Shirin Neshat's film in Donostia. At the museum I also saw "The Gun and the Gaze" for the first time, and both the film and the book, made a great impression on me, although I didn't get the time to see if there was any translations of the text on the photographs. As a revolutionary in this little country called Norway, this book, as well as the whole exhibition, inspired me a lot.


Music: Barbad ensemble in concert, Berkeley

Date: August 12, 2000. Place: Julia Morgan Theater, 2640 College Avenue, Berkeley. Tickets: $18.00 For Information and Reservation please call: (510) 840-8699 >>> DETAILS HERE


Books

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,

A Modern History of the Kurds
by David McDowall

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Nimeh-ye por
Novel by Khatereh Hejazi

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    Poetry

Translation of today's poem by Zara Houshmand:

The harvest of my pain was its own peace and remedy.

As low as I had sunk, I rose, faith restored from blasphemy.

Body, heart, and soul obscured the path, until

Body melted into heart, heart in soul, and soul in love itself.
-- Rumi
Previous translations



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More news

Rafsanjani says regime could lose confidence over economy

TEHRAN, Aug 4 (AFP) - Iran's clerical regime is in danger of losing the confidence of the people if it fails to address the nation's serious economic problems, former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani warned Friday. He said supreme religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has acknowledged that criticisms of the regime would be "proven correct" if steps are not taken to address the economic crisis >>> FULL TEXT

"Dastardly" US scheme on Jerusalem denounced

TEHRAN, Aug 4 (AFP) - US efforts to get the Palestinians to compromise on the issue of Jerusalem are a "dastardly deed," former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani charged Friday. During weekly prayers at Tehran University, Rafsanjani dismissed US efforts to broker a peace deal, accusing Washington of being on the side of the Israelis and trying to short-change the Palestinians >>> FULL TEXT

Russia, Iran to expand cooperation on nuclear power engineering, oil, gas

MOSCOW, Aug 4 (AFP) - Russia and Iran pledged to increase cooperation on nuclear power engineering, oil and gas Thursday at a meeting between Alexander Dondukov, minister for industry, science and technology, and Iran's visiting energy minister Habibollah Bitaraf, Interfax reported. The Russian minister's press secretary quoted the Iranian minister as saying that the volume of joint projects, worth some 500 million dollars (547 million euros), was inadequate and fell short of both countries' potential >>> FULL TEXT

U.S. oil back at $30 as OPEC supply disappoints

NEW YORK, Aug 4 (Reuters) - U.S. oil prices shot back up to $30 danger zone on Friday as lower-than-expected supplies from producer cartel OPEC refueled stubborn supply worries. September crude futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange ballooned $1.30 higher to touch $30 before settling just at $29.96 a barrel >>> FULL TEXT

Press clampdown paralyses reform course in Iran

July 28, 2000, Teheran (dpa) - Despite overwhelming victories in presidential and parliamentary elections Iranian President Mohammad Khatami seems to have ground to a halt with his reform efforts. The slow-down follows an extensive press crackdown by the conservative opposition >>> FULL TEXT

Venice: Iranian invasion

Tehran (Hamshahri) -- The upcoming Venice film fest will include several new Iranian films, including Jafar Panahi's "Daayereh" (The circle) which will be screened for the first time. The Makhmalbaf's, father and daughter, will also be there. One as a director, the other a jury member >>> FULL TEXT

Karimi: Me too!

Tehran (Cinema) -- Niki Karimi is not just a pretty face. She wants to lessen her movie roles and make her own film. Everybody else is, so why not her? >>> FULL TEXT

Poet tries acting

Tehran (Cinema) -- Poet/author Mohammad Ali Sepanloud will soon be acting in a film. He slips into movies "every 15 years or so" he says >>> FULL TEXT

Basketball: Iran win West Asian tournament

TEHRAN, August 4 (Iran Sports Press): The Iranian National Olympic Basketball Team defeated Syria 65-58 to win the West Asian Basketball Tournament and qualify to the Asian Basketball Championships to be held in Qatar later this month >>> FULL TEXT

State TV "agrees to pay" for soccer broadcasts

Tehran (Iran Varzeshi) - The state TV has agreed to pay a billion tomans this year for the right to broadcast Azadegan Leaguge matches. But no formal announcement has been made >>> FULL TEXT

Wrestling: Talaie and Khatbi join team

Tehran (Hamshahri) - With the selection of Mohammad Talaie and Behnam Khatibi, Iran's (strong) Olympic wrestling team (free style) is almost complete >>> FULL TEXT


BBC

Rhetoric over reforms

Iran's former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani once again emphasized the economic aspect of reform and warned that if unemployment is not tackled people will lose confidence in the Islamic Republic. Afshin Amirzadeh reports >>> LISTEN HERE

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Quote Unquote

What good?

There's been enough aggravation on both sides, whether you consider the Iranian occupation of our embassy in 1979 and holding hostages for over a year, or the shoot-down of the Iran airliner by a US naval vessel in 1988. It's been a tragedy in terms of the relationship.

-- Najmeh Fakhraie
"At war with your people"
The Iranian
August 4, 2000


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