The Iranian Times

Thursday, October 1, 1998 / Mehr 9, 1377, No. 574


Lily Afshar in concert

Sehaty Foreign Exchange

Shahin & Sepehr

CDnow


    Khayyam


    Afghanistan

    Standing against Taliban - together
    Afghanistan crisis calls for U.S.-Iran cooperation

    By Hooshang Amirahmadi

    The people of Iran want peace but not at the expense of national humiliation. Iran has a powerful and experienced military including the Revolutionary Guard who favor conflict as a means of regaining their fading prestige. Unlike the Soviet Union, Iran has cultural links to Afghanistan where the majority speak Persian and is more familiar with the harsh terrain of the region. Currently two million Afghan refugees live in Iran, most of whom despise the Taleban.

    Most seriously, the hard-liners in Tehran are calling for a tougher approach to the crisis and will roll back domestic reforms if the international community does not respond to Tehran's concerns. All the democratic gains of the Iranian people are at risk as is regional stability. This process has already begun: last month Tous, a popular Tehran daily, was closed down by the conservatives.

    All these facts point to the need for the United States to take the leading role in diffusing tensions between Iran and the Taliban. President Mohamad Khatami's visit to New York City to address the U.N. General Assembly was an extra incentive to act. The meeting between high level Iranian and American officials also indicated a further thaw in their icy relations... GO TO FEATURE

    New section

    Books

    Iran-U.S. relations

    Looking for books on Iran-U.S. relations? We have listed several of them which can be bought directly from Amazon.com. If you have any suggestions on recent books on this topic, let us know and we will include them in this section. GO THERE


    Anyway

    Any info on Mandana?

    Salam

    My name is Mana Birgani. I was sort of named after Mandana. The way my dad explains it to me is that they took the first part of her name -- "Man" -- and deleted the "dan" and kept the "a" -- hence Mana.

    Anyways I was wondering if there are any sites I can go to to find out some info on Mandana. I hear so much from other people but I can never find anything written on her.

    Thank you much

    Mana : )
    purr_fect_one@yahoo.com


    History

    Revolution: 1979-1999

    Meeting de Gaulle in Paris


    More Letters

* I love aviation

Kaveh Ghayour writes: In our own history, you never come across a reference to the term "Persian," a term you have used repeatedly in your article ["Forgiving Salm and Tur"]. "Iran" and "Aniran" ( i.e., non-Iranian) are terms used in the pre-Islamic era, when there is no talk of the supremacy of Persians (people who live in Fars and in general mainland Iran) over other ethnic groups living on the fringes of the Iranian plateau.

I do not disagree with you on all the points you have discussed in your article but then again, do not categorize all iranians as people with a sense of supremacy towards all third world people and an inferiority complex towards the first worlders, or as people who do not want their children to marry Blacks, etc. People are different in all societies... FULL TEXT

* Change will elevate our culture

Maryam Ovissi writes: Laleh Khalili's article ["Forgiving Salm and Tur"] was magnificent- Baa-RE-Ka-Laa!

Unfortunately, so many of us (Persians) know that this (superiority) mentality exists BUT the real challenge is what we can and should do in order to take our culture and people to the next level of co-existence in Iran and abroad.

Some feel that change would harm the authentic nature of culture, that changing cultural attitudes and norms will water down Persian Culture. FALSE. If anything, change will elevate our culture and people... FULL TEXT

* Radio show: Shahin and Sepehr on Radio Velayat

Join the dynamic duo as they help celebrate Radio Velayat's second anniversary. You may call (703) 876-9753 in the U.S. during the Silk Road radio show and talk to Shahin and Sepehr live on the air on Saturday October 10, between 11 am - 1 pm U.S. Eastern Standard Time.

Listen to cuts from their new CD "World Cafe" and hear about their upcoming tour schedule. Silk Road is rebroadcast every Wednesday, 10 am - 12 pm EST on the Internet at www.fcac.org/webr and click on "Listen Now."

You will need RealAudio to listen to this show. For more information about the shows on Radio Velayat you can call (202) 672-7203, or write to: Radio Velayat, P.O. Box 16275 Washington DC 20041, or email: babak@fcac.org


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Music CDs
Persian and general music CD store

 More news

Iran stages war games on Afghan border

October 1, (BBC) - Some 200,000 troops are expected to take part Iran has announced the start of another series of major military exercises near its border with Afghanistan. The manoeuvres are biggest Iran has ever staged - some 200,000 troops are expected to take part ... FULL TEXT

U.S. urges Iran not to execute condemned Baha'is

WASHINGTON, Oct 1 (Reuters) - The United States on Thursday called on Iran not to execute two condemned members of the Baha'i faith, which is considered heresy by Islamic fundamentalists. The State Department issued the call after Baha'is in France said on Tuesday that death sentences had been confirmed against two of their co-religionists imprisoned in Mashhad, northeastern Iran... FULL TEXT

Iran moderates, conservatives in row over election

TEHRAN, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Iran's moderates have voiced concern over the rejection of some of their candidates to a powerful state assembly by the conservative-dominated Guardian Council, newspapers reported on Thursday. The Servants of Construction, a party set up by top state technocrats who support reformist policies of President Mohammad Khatami, expressed regret in a statement over the rejection of a number of candidates for the upcoming elections of the Assembly of Experts, newspapers said... FULL TEXT

Khatami inaugurates 24th Tehran trade fair

TEHRAN, oct. 1, (IRNA) - president mohammad khatami inaugurated the 24th tehran international trade fair here thursday. in his opening speech, the president underlined the fact that commercial and industrial relations were very important factors for establishment of peace and stability in today's world ... FULL TEXT

ALSO: Hamshahri's's trade fair report in Persian

"The Wall" in Persian

TEHRAN, (Hamshahri) - Pink Floyd's "The Wall" -- which is an example of "mardomi" (popular) Western music -- has been translated into Persian in Iran ... FULL TEXT IN PERSIAN


$ Rate

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Sehaty Exchange (U.S.) 602-595-0777


Quote Unquote

Friendship

"Gar honari daari o haftaad eyb, doost nabeenad joz aan yek honar."

(If you have one virtue and seventy faults, a friend will see nothing but your virtue.)

From Simin Habibian's "1001 Persian-English Proverbs"


The Web

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