Current Events

We will never be silent

I am Mehdi Saharkhiz, Proud son of the journalist and political activist Isa Saharkhiz. He is in jail for speaking his mind in opposition to the dictators that hijacked the elections in Iran. He was kidnapped in a way that his ribs were broken, he is kept in solitary confinement in an undisclosed location. My dad dedicated his life in order to depose the Shah and help with the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran—a republic that was supposed to be free and respect peoples’ votes, voices, and opinions. My father spent years fighting Saddam whom had illegally entered Iran's sovereign land and imposed a war against the Iranian people. He fought alongside his brother, my uncle, Saeed who was eventually killed in the war, and millions of other brave Iranians>>>

از لابلای اخبار

اگر شما هم مثل من این روزها با نگرانی اخبار ایران را دنبال می کنید، حتما مثل من حالتان زیاد جا نیست. من فکر نمی کنم حتی طرفداران معدود احمدی نژاد هم از اینکه کوچولوی ریزه میزه شون پیروز شده لذت زیادی برده باشند. به هر حال خشونت ها و قتل و جنایت های اخیر خیلی از پرده ها را برای خیلی ها انداخت و چهرهء واقعی حکومت ایران را هویدا کرد. اختلاف نظرهای سیاسی به کنار، هیچ ایرانی با غیرتی نیست که از دیدن صحنه های اخیر دلش ریش نشده باشد و به روح و جد و آباد هرچی دیکتاتور قاتله (چه فول سایز، چه نیم سایز) صلوات بلند ختم نکرده باشه. خیلی دلم میخواسته برم دنبال دلمشغولی هام، باغچه ام، کتابهام، شعر و موسیقی، اما امسال تابستان ما فعلا که همه اش پشت کامپیوتر و با دلهره برای ایران گذشته>>>

The All-Seasons Man

Iran's Non-President Mamuti has said he is sorry that "some people do not know" his side-kick, Esfandiar Rahim Mashai, the well-known "friend of the peoples of America and Israel". Most people, of course, would thank God they've never had to get to know a charlatan who can make Mamuti look honest and educated. Mamuti, who appointed Essi as his top adviser after Khamenei took extraordinary action to prevent him from becoming vice president, says he likes him "for one thousand reasons." People would normally say "one thousand and one reasons"; but of course Mamuti is not normal.>>>

Iranian You

I am part Iranian, part Danish. Mention of my Iranian blood stops people in their tracks these days. It used to be something that most outside our San Francisco bubble avoided. "Iranian". Not anymore. The world is watching, not enough, but the world is finally watching. So people want to know how I feel. What is this conflict about? How am I impacted as an Iranian woman? Yes, they hear the catch word of the day, "Iranian", and they want to know how I feel. Hm. I was on Facebook the moment the video of the now-well-known-then-unknown-and-nameless-woman Neda's death was released. I watched her die>>>

در باب نظام جمهوری یا اسلامی ایران

نظام در خود متناقض جمهوری اسلامی ایران دچار شدیدترین بحران هویتی خود در طول حیات سی‌ساله‌اش شده است. این نظام بر اساس تلفیق دو مفهوم متناقض «جمهوریت» مبتنی بر رأی و انتخاب جمهور مردم و «اسلامیت» كه حاكمیت را از آن خدا و «نمایندگان» او بر روی‌ زمین می‌داند شكل گرفته است. تناقض این مفاهیم در قانون اساسی این نظام جابجا متبلور است. علاوه بر این، تأكید بر این مفاهیم متناقض در مواضع و گفتارهای مراجع این نظام و به خصوص آیت‌الله خمینی فراوان دیده می‌شود. دو گفته مشهور او، یعنی «میزان، رأی ملت است»، و این كه اگر مصلحت نظام اقتضا كند می‌توان (نه فقط رأی مردم و بلكه) حتا اصول دین را هم تعطیل كرد، از نمونه‌های آشكار آن است. این تركیب متناقض البته پایدار نبود و روزی خواه ناخواه از درون ترك بر می‌داشت. و ترك امروز پیش آمده است. >>>

Point of no return

More than one month has passed since the ruling faction of the Islamic Republic tried to silence all voices of dissent by rigging the election results and staging a semi coup-d’etat. By now it looks like a large portion of young Iranians have come to share the views that many intellectuals and progressive forces have had since before the elections: a regime which is founded on injustice and fear is not reformable; a view that reflects the realities of the streets of Iran today. Meanwhile, the so-called reformists and their supporters outside Iran, who had received a severe blow on the night of the elections, saw their game of haggling within the system completely crushed and ruled out by the Supreme Leader>>>

In Their Own Words

After nearly a month of international focus on the civil unrest in Iran following the June 12 presidential elections, the G8 summit in Italy brought renewed global attention to Iran's nuclear program; the summit's leaders promised to reassess international outreach to Iran at the September G20 meeting in Pittsburgh. The following statements from U.S., European, and Israeli government officials on the status of Iran's nuclear program highlight the differing interpretations of Iran's nuclear deadline>>>

Revolution in my living room

The burst of publicity on the Iranian people’s peaceful freedom fighting has proven to be not always so peaceful through our television and laptop screens. In my house, such broadcasts are particularly poignant. YouTube videos are playing throughout the house, surrounding my parents and me with the sounds and struggles of the Iranian people’s bittersweet cries. We’re also surrounding ourselves with the sounds of loving and creative solidarity events like poetry readings and musical collaborations from all across the globe. Sometimes it feels like it’s all right here in my living room, right here in America>>>

شایسته تر نبود؟

تا آنجا که من خبر دارم و خوانده ام، آقای محسن مخملباف در این چند هفته، دوبار به پارلمان اروپا دعوت شده، بار اول به همراهی خانم ساتراپی و بار دوم به احتمالی تنها. در این هر دوبار، آقای محسن مخملباف نه از ایده ها و آرمان های من در مورد ایران حرفی زد، که چنین قراری هم نبوده است، و نه به اعتقاد من از این فرصت بسیار مناسبی که به دست آورد، استفاده ی کافی کرد تا در مورد اوضاع اخیر در ایران، به وسعت تظاهرات بی باکانه و تحسین برانگیز مردم در خیابان های تهران و شهرهای دیگر ایران، و به وسعت هزینه ای که مردم برای این شهامت خود پرداخته اند، روشنگری کرده باشد. از جمله ی این کمبودها، یکی هم استفاده ی خانم ساتراپی از یک سند جعلی علیه حکومت اسلامی در پارلمان اروپا بود>>>

Veil as Mandated

It seems some Muslims in the U.S. have only two things to worry about, Halal meat and veiling (hijab). While Halal meat can be found only in the freezer of ethnic food stores, the veil is visible everywhere, even around public swimming pools. It is considered the most distinctive, controversial, and often resisted sign of Islamic identity especially in Western countries. In some Middle Eastern countries like Iran and Saudi Arabia where hijab is mandatory, the so-called Islamic dress codes are stringently enforced by police. Occasionally, we see a video clip on YouTube of a screaming young lady resisting arrest or begging for mercy while she is being dragged by the so-called Iranian morality-enforcer police toward a waiting police car>>>