Current Events

Raw at Red Rock

I escaped. I left June gloom behind and took to the road, chasing the unknown into the desert. The music is at full blast; a feeble attempt to obliterate the sounds and the images of a world that has gone mad. And now on this balcony of a new fate I stand drowned and raw to the bone, staring at the Red Rock which is glowing in the afternoon Arizona sun. The iPod ear buds deliver the high and low decibels to my core, so that every cell, sinew and muscle is soaked in the music. I feel my hair stand on end. The heat, the rage and the utter helplessness join forces and pound at my heart; fistfuls of deep and dark guilt deliver explosions, one after another, to my soul. The dam opens; tears cascade down my cheeks, drenching my face, dripping on the steno pad where my thoughts scream out of my pen>>>

Optimism as Resistance

I am an Iranian citizen and I did not participate in the fraudulent June 12th presidential elections in Iran. This is the awkward position I find myself in now, having spent nearly three weeks watching millions protest the results of that election in the streets of Iran and around the world. This is the awkward position I find myself in, surrounded by a sea of protesters demanding “Where is my Vote?” at the solidarity rallies I’ve been attending in the city where I live. This is the decision I am reminded of every day, as I sift through the seemingly endless stream of information being disseminated on the mainstream news, YouTube, Facebook, and the blogosphere for hours every day. This is the decision I am reminded of as I try to find my way in the world of citizen journalism>>>

Up in arms

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The Real Situation in Iran

The situation on the streets of Iran, to get back to reality, has moved far beyond bean counting, and increasingly more radical slogans are raised on the streets. This has got the system seriously worried; hence their extreme crackdown. The larger political questions are enormous. Most essentially, how clear is the strategic vision here, and how foresightful can this spontaneously erupted movement be? Let us not lose sight of the fact that the people took to the streets as a result of an unexpected insult of an 'outcome' of a sham election they willingly participated in. That makes for a highly contradictory movement>>>

Shattered forever

The people’s uprising in our country not only resulted in the beginning of the end of the IRI regime, but it extensively changed the beliefs of not only some of us Iranians but also most people around the world towards the IRI regime. This is not saying that this uprising will succeed in overthrowing the regime, since the two crucial elements of any revolution has yet to see the light: strike and military rebellion. But what has happened is that by rejecting and exposing the previously thought miscalculations and misanalysis about this regime, its moral authority and its legitimacy and reason for staying is power has vanished. Many old beliefs of conspiracy theorism and many outdated and cold war era type analogies and analyses were thrown out the window>>>

پرچم مقدم است یا ایران؟

ایران روزهای پر فشار و سختی را می گذراند. التهاب فعلی در ایران نتیجهء کودتای انتخاباتی بر ضد رای مردم است. حق آنها است که از رای خود پاسداری کنند. آنها موسوی را به عنوان رئیس جمهور خود انتخاب کرده اند و حال نیز به دنبال مطالبهء رای خود هستند. در داخل ایران این حرکت خودجوش با چالشی به نام لباس شخصی ها و شبه نظامیان و سرانجام ولی فقیه روبرو است که سعی در لوث کردن این جنبش مدنی دارند و در خارج از کشور نیز با کمال تعجب و در عین ناباوری (حداقل برای من) اپوربسیون این وظیفه را ناخواسته (امیدوارم!) بعهده گرفته است. پرچم ایران تبدیل به هیزمی جهت شعله ور کردن آتش اختلاف گروه های مختلف ایرانی در خارج از کشور شده است در حالیکه درد اصلی جوانان ما اصلا این نیست. در حال حاضر نسل جدید ایران با یک کودتای واقعی روبرو هستند و می بینند که جلوی چشم آنان آراءشان قلب شده است، لذا آمده اند تا رایشان را پس بگیرند>>>

Seyyed Ali Shah

In your carefully chosen words, there is no sign of weakness. You were present in 1978, when the Shah gave that awkward speech and you know how it works. Give "them" a finger and "they" will ask for your whole arm. After all, then, you were one of "them". Now you are at his place. You are the shakhs e avval e mamlekat. And you are not going to repeat his mistake. No revolution is going on here. Just a number of loyal people having some difficulty with arithmetic and with admitting their defeat! You refused to give a fingernail! Nothing! Hichee! Rien! Nada de nada! Any sacrifice would only sharpen the appetite of the beast. There is no way for those future schoolchildren to mix you up with Mohammad Reza Shah, that wimp. You got guts>>>

After Khamenei's speech

I was thinking it is funny how distant events have touched my life. I remember watching khomeini's take over of Iran on TV while eating my dinner at college cafeteria somewhere in Midwest. Was still a teen and too inexperienced to understand how profoundly this bearded beast will impact my life. I recall thinking that he looked strange and not like anything or anyone I could relate to. Mullah's were supposed to be for Aghd and death and stuff like that. After that I was too busy working and studying to know what was taking shape in Iran in any real sense. Tony dislocated my right shoulder with a nasty twist during the afternoon wrestling warm up before I had to go to my 6 pm class and during break a classmate asked me about hostages which is how I found out about the take over of the embassy>>>

سئوال اينست، چه بايد کرد؟

در شرايط کنوني طرح اين سئوال از آنرو حياتي تر شده که بنابه گزارشاتي که از داخل کشور مي رسد، بيش از پانصد تن از نخبگان فکري و روزنامه نگاران، و عدهً زيادي از جوانان و دانشجويان معترض در داخل کشور بطور بي سابقه اي دستگير شده اند و مردم عادي، گروههاي مرجع اجتماعي، و گروههاي سياسي بيش از هرزماني با اين مسئله مواجه اند که واقعاً چه بايد کرد؟ اين نوشته تلاشي است براي يافتن پاسخي درخور به اين سئوال حياتي. براي شناخت شرايط کنوني لازم است نخست به اهمّ رويدادهاي چند روز اخير نظري اجمالي بيافکنيم: اول، خامنه اي بعنوان ولي فقيه مطلقهً نظام، در دعواي بين دولت و ملت، جانب دولت را گرفت. او با اين کارش، ماهيت دروني خود را بارزساخت، پرده از رخ کشيد و برخلاف خميني که مي گفت من به کمک ملت توي دهن اين دولت ميزنم، به حمايت از دولت انتصابيش شتافت تا به خيال خام خود به دهان معترضيني، که اکثريت ملت ايران را شامل مي شوند، بکوبد. >>>

کاش هرگز زاییده نمیشدم

بنده مسعود ده نمکی در پیشگاه ملت سوگند یاد میکنم که حامی مظلومان و دلسوختگان ایران زمین باشم و از عملکرد تیره و نابخردانه خویش در گذشته و همکاری و عضویت ام در گروه انصار حزب الله و فشار اعلام برائت و پشیمانی مینمایم و رفتار دیکتاتوری حاکمان امروز ایران را که با زبان دین و ائمه اطهار اقدام به دروغپردازی مینمایند و کاخهای قارونی از جواهر برای خاندان خویش میسازند را محکوم مینمایم. نفرین ابدی خداوند بر نظام توتالیتر و ماکیاولیستی حاکمی که امروز در ایران به شکل انفرادی خویش را ولی نعمت همگان میداند و خود را بر تارک ولی امر مسلمین جهان نهاده است. سربازان گمنام واقعی امام زمان را در شرایط کنونی به اجرای عدل و همدلی با مردم دعوت مینمایم و از آنان تجدیدنظر در ایدئولوژی شخصی و همسو با مصلحت واقعی مردم ایران را خواهانم.>>>