RESPONSE

The Obliterator

I remembered the innocent faces of our little nephews and nieces with a sparkle in their eyes

by Mostafa Rahbar
22-May-2008 (5 comments)
A while ago, the Hilarious Hillary “ate sugar” and threatened to obliterate Iran, the land that has given so much to the world. These contributions along with other images began to haunt my distressed head in seemingly endless spurts. I remembered the day when my friend Ali was driving me around in New York City and I had stopped him in front of the biggest post office in the world to proudly photograph the words of Cyrus the Great that adorns the building: “Neither snow, nor rain, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”>>>

INTERVENTION

Foreign interests

Britain, Mosaddeq and the 1953 Coup D’Etat

by sadegh
22-May-2008 (26 comments)
This essay will attempt to determine as precisely as possible the reasons that motivated British hostility toward Mosaddeq’s government. Was there a genuine fear that Mosaddeq was incapable of acting as a bastion to Communist pressure threatening to envelope Iran? Was British diplomacy simply a consequence of American pressure? At what point and why did the British Government conclude that Mosaddeq was ‘unnegotiable’ i.e. that his overthrow was the only plausible alternative?... Although the intention is to focus on Anglo-Iranian relations, one cannot thereby obviate the pivotal role of the United States which profoundly affected the unfolding of events.>>>

FAN

I am a Spartan and Proud, Mostly!

I feel closest to and consider myself a follower of Sparta

by Sasan Seifikar
22-May-2008 (5 comments)
I came to the Netherlands with my wife, Kirsten, in 2000. Even before I came here, I was looking forward to going to football matches and watching a lot of football. Here in Rotterdam where I have settled, there are three professional football teams that play in the Dutch first division (Eredivisie). The most well-known of these is Feyenoord which is one of the three top clubs along with Ajax of Amsterdam and PSV from Eindhoven. Then there is Sparta and Excelsior. Since I have been here, I have on many occasions seen all three Rotterdam teams play in their home stadiums. I have also had season cards and followed closely Sparta for three years and Excelsior for a year>>>

FOOD

The Summer Squeeze

I’m going to focus on light and refreshing meals and snacks

by Shabnam_Ghayour
21-May-2008 (14 comments)
In a vain attempt to get in shape for summer…(and not just summer, I may add) I have shocked my loved ones and done what I promised I would never do. I have gone on a diet. I always believed that if you eat sensibly and make small sacrifices (swapping butter for olive spread, swapping white rice and bread for brown and white potatoes for sweet potatoes etc…) you would manage to strike a balance between ying and yang and create equilibrium in your diet. Indeed this is still true… But for example how do you deal with break-ups or job stress and the like? Well a lot of us are emotional eaters and I would also fall into this category…>>>

OBSERVER

برای آیندگان

به بهانه سفر به ایران

by Mahvash Nasehi
21-May-2008 (12 comments)
نگارنده طی دو سال گذشته دو سفر به ایران جمعا" به مدت سه ماه داشته است . بر همین مبنا لازم دانستم مشاهدات خود را با علاقمندان به اوضاع ایران در خارج از کشور و از طرف دیگر جنبش فعال عدالتخواهی در ایران در میان بگذارم تا شاید بتوان با تبادل نظر و بررسی دیدگاه های مختلف نسبت به شرائط ایران ، در راه مقابله و خنثی کردن نقشه های دشمنان داخلی وخارجی قدمی برداشت . وظیفه عدالتخواهان ایرانی است که در این شرایط بحرانی به دور از هرگونه تعصب وتنگ نظری غیر علمی و با توجه به منافع ملی ومصلحت مردم ایران ورق های تاریخ را برای آیندگان با صفحات زرین حقیقت پر کنند . >>>

STORY

نتيجه نهاييِ زندگيِ آن زن

تقديم به كلاريس ليپسكتور

by Ezzat Goushegir
21-May-2008 (one comment)
همان روز بود، آخرين روز، كه وقتي آن زن به چشمهاي مردي كه دوستش مي داشت نگاه كرد، تصميم گرفت كه خودش را بفروشد. نه به او ... خريدارش را خودش مي بايست انتخاب كند. مردي براي تمامي سالهاي باقيمانده عمرش ... در نگاهش، ــ در نگاه همان مردي كه دوستش مي داشت ــ ديگر نه عشق بود، نه تمنايي براي لمس وجودش . . . وقتي زن مي گفت "وجود"، منظورش فقط جسمش نبود، بلكه چيزي ماوراء جسم. چيزي نامريي و لمس نشدني . . . در خيرگي نگاهِ مرد، تنش ناگهان يخ كرد. خيلي سعي كرد كه گرمي را به تنش بازگرداند، آن چشمها، آن چشمها كه او را نمي ديد، از پشت چشم هاي بسته اش به او زل مي زد. >>>

WAR

Why Republicans Might Attack Iran Before General Elections?

If an attack occurs, democratic nominees will be framed as weaker potential commanders-in-chief

by Omid Memarian
20-May-2008 (16 comments)
"Do you think that the Bush administration will attack Iran before the general elections in November?" I asked Congressman Henry A. Waxman(D-Calif.) in his office in Washington. He said this is impossible, and explained that Congress will not support the administration due to the current situation in Iraq and Afghanistan. He also mentioned that since the release of the National Intelligence Estimate, which clarified that the hardliner government in Tehran had halted Iran's nuclear weapon program in 2003, the possibility of going to war with Iran has decreased dramatically.>>>

GEOGRAPHY

What Do Google and Saddam Have in Common?

Google has turned itself into an enabler of those who would use name disputes to fuel conflict

by Trita Parsi
20-May-2008 (63 comments)
Google has a funny way of doing business -- one that involves muddying politics in the Middle East. In recent months, the organization has taken the unprecedented step to rename internationally recognized bodies of water. Google Earth has begun using the controversial term "Arabian Gulf" to the body of water traditionally and internationally identified as the "Persian Gulf." Now many may think: What's in a name? Why would this even be an issue? >>>

STORY

Sick of Goodbyes

I didn’t need to see this sorrow

by Azarin Sadegh
20-May-2008 (8 comments)
I woke up by the morning light. It was still too early, everyone else was sleeping. I panted in silence. Our new cell had long windows with a view of the prison backyard. A view to the sky. I looked at grey clouds and didn’t worry about the rain. The shadows of the night slowly disappeared and I distinguished shapes and objects, brightened by a timid blue sunrise. On the dirty wall by the bed, I recognized handwritten messages of old prisoners>>>

NAME

خواهر مرجان

دیروز سر کار توی فکر بودم که ناگهان کسی از کنارم گذشت و صدایم زد: خواهر مرجان!

by Mahasti Shahrokhi
20-May-2008 (one comment)
فرانسویان سخت شان است که نام مرا تلفظ کنند. "ه" را به کل حذف می کنند و نامم تبدیل می شود به "مایستی" طوری که گاهی دیگر با شنیدنش خودم را دیگر به جا نمی آورم. با لئا کمی تمرین تلفظ کردیم ولی می دانم یادش خواهد رفت. آدمها با شما آشنا می شوند با روحتان نزدیک می شوند و بعد،... دفعه ی بعد حتا اسمتان را هم یادشان نیست. این سالها خیلی ها مرا "خواهر مرجان" خطاب کرده اند ولی در سالهای اول سکونتم در فرانسه هرگز کسی مرا "خواهر مهتاب" صدا نزد. سالهای جنگ بود و جو ضد ایرانی خیلی قوی و رایج بود. بیخود نیست که مرجان ساتراپی وقتی داستان همان سالها را می نویسد در دوره ای از ایرانی بودن خود خجلت زده است و یک بار به ناچار خود را فرانسوی جا می زند و خود را "ماری ژان" معرفی می کند. >>>

MINORITIES

In god's country

The oppression of religious minorities, especially the Baha'i faith, is not incidental

by Jahanshah Rashidian
19-May-2008 (34 comments)
The Islamic Republic of Iran places the Shiite sect of Islam at the heart of the state apparatus. The Islamisation of all life, based on Khomeini's own interpretation of Islam, is the central policy of the Islamic ruling elite. Religious minorities, which include the Sunnite sect of Islam, Christian, Jews, Zoroastrians and Baha'is compromised about 10 % of the population after the Iranian revolution, most of them Sunnite Muslims who also suffer from discrimination as national minorities. In addition, increasing numbers of Shiites, especially after the inception of the IRI, are non-believers>>>

ACCEPTANCE

از بی قانونی به قانون مندی

پیشرفتی در احقاق حقوق شهروندی بهاییان

by oazadi
19-May-2008 (12 comments)
گرچه شاید خنده دار به نظر برسد اما از نگاه من دستگیری چند تن از سران بهاییت گام مثبتی در راستای احقاق حقوق شهروندی بهاییان است. فهم این نکته تنها در صورتی امکان پذیر است که در نظر داشته باشیم بنابر قانون اساسی ایران بهاییت در زمره اقلیت های مذهبی رسمی قرار ندارد. بر همین اساس بهاییان از حقوق مذهبی قانونی اقلیت های مذهبی نظیر حق تشکیلات اجتماعات مذهبی محرومند. با این حال همان قانون اساسی بهاییان را از حقوق شهروندی بهره مند می سازد. در نتیجه قانون اساسی به بهاییان حق داشتن تشکلات مذهبی را نمی دهد اما در عین حال به آنان حق می دهد تا از حقوق شهروندی چون تحصیل، اشتغال و امنیت برخوردار باشند. >>>

SUGGESTION

Flight attendants needed

A small but robust action can penetrate the icy wall between Iran and U.S.

by Midwesty
19-May-2008 (15 comments)
A few days after I wrote the piece on Iranian.com criticizing Bush’s administration of conducting brainless diplomacy towards Iran a piece of news came up that although it was refreshing but was unkindly neglected by the media. Am I surprised by US media’s behavior? Not at all! However this time, it was Robert Gates, United Stated Secretary of Defence that made the news. At his speech at American Academy of Diplomacy he urged more nongovernmental contact between Iran and the US that might eventually open a pathway to more substantive dialogue between the governments>>>

STORY

Behind the Garden Door

Prologue

by pomegranate
19-May-2008 (one comment)
I am sitting alone in the back yard of my house. It is summer, in the early afternoon, and the scorching sun has laid everyone low. All around me is quiet, not a car stirring anywhere in this little patch of American suburbia. I sit on a plastic chair in the midst of all the fruit trees my wife and I had planted. There are only a few and still quite young: a sour cherry, albaloo, that hangs its ruby fruit like jewels over my head, a peach, a pear and an apple tree. I look down to where a small fig is gathering root and spreading its leaves alongside the river of stone we had put down. There is a meandering path leading past a bench hidden by the branches of the California oak, and next to that, a sudden exhilarating shot of white from the stand of tall cala lilies, their petals open to the sky>>>

STORY

I Witnessed Two Murders

I saw it with my own eyes a man being killed

by Feshangi
19-May-2008 (6 comments)
It was two in the morning and I was the last customer left in the bar. I decided it was time to leave and head home. Since my car was parked in the rear of the building, I decided to exit from the back door and use the alleyway as a shortcut. It was very dark out there except for the full moon that gave a silvery hue to everything it touched. As I walked toward the main road, I heard a faint cry coming from somewhere to my left. I was afraid to get involved but my inborn curiosity was too strong to overcome. Very quietly I headed toward the sound>>>
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