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Baba Taher
Cover story
If Mahdi doesn't come
A reformer's guide to engagement
By Siamak Namazi
Our parents had it tough at our age. They lived under the despotic rule
of the Shah and had to decide whether to risk their elitist position and
fight for changes in the society they lived. We have inherited a challenge
that is even more daunting. We are not even sure which society we belong
to, and yet our motherland remains far from exercising the democratic values
we espouse. Even those of us, like myself, who have decided that Iran is
where our attention and love is most needed, remain confused as to what
to do and how.
I have been driving myself to nonplus grappling with this quagmire:
While I want to focus my intellect and love in making Iran a better place,
I fear success as much as I do defeat. After all, if I do manage to instigate
change for the better, have I not also fortified a draconian system, granting
it a longer life? But then how am I to remain a disengaged and silent witness
to the wide range of intolerable problems in my motherland? What if I contribute
to changes that do not reflect the wants and desires of the Iranian people
living inside the country? How do I even know what they are thinking and
what they need?
What follows is a silhouette of my personal plan to work around this
"dammed if I do, dammed if I don't" state. It represents a process
that has slowly brewed throughout the years in my mind and by no means
stands above critique. In fact, one of the main reasons for writing this
piece is to call on others to contribute to shaping these thoughts and
to work with me towards improving what I have called "A Reformer's
Guide to Engagement."... GO TO FEATURE
Outlook
9 November 1998, Volume 1, Number 1
You have before you the first issue of the Radio Free
Europe / Radio Liberty Iran Report. Prepared on the basis of materials
gathered for and by RFE/RL's new Farsi Service, this report -- which will
appear every two weeks -- will seek to provide an analytic perspective
on events and trends inside Iran and across the Persian Gulf region. We
look forward to hearing from you.... CLICK
HERE
SETI: Capturing aliens - on you computer
Forwarded by Payman Arabshahi
A new project is to be launched in April 1999 to harness the power of
hundreds of thousands of Internet-connected computers in the search for
Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI). You can participate by running a
screensaver program that downloads and analyzes radio telescope data. There's
a small but captivating possibility that your computer will detect the
faint murmur of a civilization beyond Earth... DEATILS HERE
More Letters
* Tarof is a virus
Simin Habibian writes: My family is from Azarbaijan and I was raised
in Tehran (I don't know if I would be considered bacheh Tehroon
or not!) and my husband's family is from Shiraz. I have not seen much difference
regarding tarof ["War,
Iranian style"]. This is an epidemic; it's a virus that has spread
all over... FULL
TEXT
* Minorities: Not an Iranian problem
Khodadad Rezakhani writes: The fact is, in Iran, we have never had the
problem of race prior to this. In your article ["Forgiving
Salm and Tur"], you point to Persian Iranians several times, and
then talk about "Indo-Europeans" and what they are. Well, do
you know, or do you not know what they are? How excatly do you define this
unusual being called a Persian Iranian? Is he a fictional being or is he
real? You refer to "ethnic minorities" of Iran, Kurds, Baluchs,
Turks, Qashqayis. Have you ever studied them? How are they ethnic minorities?
Do they have different physical characteristics? Or is their blood of a
different color than your given Persian Iranian?... FULL
TEXT
* Shahnameh: Ghaem Maghami in Palo Alto
Stanford's Persian Student Association (PSA) and Persian Center Proudly
Present: "An Evening with Saeed Ghaem Maghami on Shahnameh."
Saeed Ghaem Maghami, after years of research and work with the masters
of the Persian literature, presents his masterful narration of the Shahnameh,
one of the greatest works in Persian Poetry by Hakim Abolghassem Ferdowsi.
Date: Friday, November 20, 1998
Place: Stanford University, Tresidder Memorial Union, Palo Alto, California
Time: 7:00 PM Admission: $10 (General), Free (Students)
Information: (408) 295-1240, (408) 260-2838
Book of the Week
New Food of Life:
Ancient Persian and Modern Iranian Cooking and Ceremonies
By Najmieh Khalili Batmanglij
Click here to read about this book
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news
Rial falls to historic low on infaltion
TEHRAN,
Nov 9 (Reuters) - The Iranian rial fell to historic lows on Monday, losing
2.8 percent against the dollar since late October on inflation fears and
concerns that the latest Iraq crisis could lead to open conflict. Businessmen
said the U.S. dollar fetched as much as 7,050 rials on Tehran's illegal
but active black market, compared to about 6,850 rials in late October ...
FULL TEXT
MP calls for $10 barrel oil price in budget
TEHRAN, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Iran should base
its 1999-2000 state budget on an oil price of $10 per barrel, $2 less than
in the current budget, an Iranian member of parliament said in remarks published
on Monday. ``It would be realistic to set the price of each barrel (of
crude) at about $10 in the budget bill so that we do not face a budget deficit,''
Reza Abdollahi, told the daily Abrar... FULL TEXT
Crossed out: Abedazdeh, Azizi, Esteeli
Tehran, (Hamshahri) -- The Iranian national soccer
team in the upcoming Asian games will not include goalie Ahmad Reza Abedzadeh
or strikers Khodadad Azizi and Hamid Esteeli... FULL TEXT
U.S. firms lay groundwork for Iran oil
investment
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Smooth-talking American
oil executives, eager to pounce on lucrative deals in oil and gas giant
Iran, are busy handing out business cards in Tehran. Officials from major
U.S. energy companies, who are barred by their government from dealing with
Iran, are using oil conferences instead of boardrooms to explore future
opportunities in the Islamic republic, which is hungry for foreign investment...
FULL TEXT
Iran works on law to protect local software
TEHRAN, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Iran's parliament
on Sunday gave initial approval to a law protecting the intellectual property
of software developers in the country. In a session broadcast live on state
radio, deputies passed the outline of the government bill which would ban
the illegal copying of computer programmes registered by Iranian developers
... FULL TEXT
Forest fires rage for fourth day
TEHRAN, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Forest fires raged
for a fourth day in northwestern Iran on Monday, threatening one of the
country's main nature reserves, Iranian television reported. It said firefighters
have been unable to control the blaze which has destroyed dozens of hectares
(acres) of the 150,000-hectare (370,000-acre) Arasbaran forest since Thursday...
FULL TEXT
Girl wins 3rd place in world chess championships
Tehran, (HAMSHAHRI) - Atousa Pour-Kashian has won
third place in the under 10-year-old world chess championships... FULL TEXT
IN PERSIAN
$ Rate
The
dollar now offered at up to 700-705 tomans
Source: Sehaty Exchange (U.S.) Tel: 602-595-0777
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Iran
Qajar founder
A brief essay on Aqa Mohammad Khan Qajar in Persian. Remember
that this page is divided horizontally. To read the whole story, you need
to use the right-to-left arrow. Another gem from the center for the study
of contemporary Iranian history in Tehran.
Beyond Iran
Conspiracy Central
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Quote Unquote
Engage
So long as we sit idly by waiting for the situation in Iran to improve
on its own, we are but an apathetic group awaiting Mahdi's appearance in
one form or the other. We have to get involved and engage in the process
of change for the better.
Siamak Namazi
"If
Mahdi doesn't come"
The Iranian
Nov 9, 1998
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