Vaghti Asheghi

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Be fair to Iran and Iranians

In 1970's, when I had just come to the US during Shah's time, American people were much friendlier towards Iranians. They sometimes confused us with Arabs and I had a hard time explaining to them that I had only seen camels in a zoo, but generally they liked Iranians. But in the US nowadays things are a little different due to so much propaganda against Iran. So I thought I should get these short facts out there at least to counter some of the negative propaganda, generally propagated by Israeli-influenced media>>>

2010 more like 1938

Neoconservatives, Reaganites and other militarily assertive factions in the United States are sometimes accused of thinking it is always 1938 (Britain's appeasement of Hitler at Munich) -- that there is always a Hitler-like aggressor being appeased and about to drag the world into conflict. There is sometimes merit in that charge. Knowledge of history can be as much a snare as a guide -- if it is wrapped in a dogma that distorts the current facts to match the preferred historic lesson>>>

Let her come home

Shiva Nazar-Ahari’s family is gravely concerned about the fact that her court date has not yet been scheduled despite the fact that she has been in temporary detention for nearly a year. Shiva is a journalist, human rights defender and women’s rights activist. A court hearing had been scheduled in June but was postponed for unknown reasons. Shiva is currently being held in the women’s ward at Evin prison. This member of the Committee of Human Rights Reporters has spent over 100 days in solitary confinement>>>

Mass of Moments

I have come to measure the speed
of my lost lover's madness.
-Remember him so much
that I am forgotten
Remember him so much, Ophelia,
that the rest have become a myth. >>>

بزرگ‌ترین جلاد جهان

موج اعدام باز در ایران بالا گرفته است. در چند سال اخیر آمار اعدام‌ها مرتبا رو به افزایش بوده و موارد متعددی از اعدام‌های گروهی گزارش شده است. اکنون خبر می‌رسد که خصوصیت «مخفیانه» نیز به این اعدام‌ها اضافه شده است. تعداد کسانی که در زندان‌های جمهوری اسلامی در خطر مرگ به سر می‌برند عددی چند هزار نفره را تشکیل می‌دهد. جمهوری اسلامی ظاهرا عطش سیری‌ناپذیری برای کشتن دارد و در برابر اعتراضات جامعه جهانی راه‌های تازه-ای برای ادامه کشتار خود پیدا کرده است: قتل مخفی و گروهی>>>

Do we want life to go on in Tehran?

These days, when I talk to my friends in Iran, hardly anyone, even the most politically active, talks about politics anymore. I’m certainly not claiming that my friends are a representative of the entire Iranian population – they certainly are not. But it was at first somehow disappointing to hear them disregard the latest political news the way they did. When just months ago, they were the ones filling me in on things I might have missed. Now, even when I bring up things like “did you read Mousavi’s latest letter?” or “did you hear about so and so’s outrageous prison sentence?” They are quick to change the subject>>>

The Weakness of the Islamic Republic

From the most religious layers of the society to the most secular ones consider themselves part of the Green Movement despite their different perspectives. In other words, it is the Green Movement that has defined itself so widely. But it does have a significant difference with the 1979 revolution. While in the 1979 revolution to be anti-monarchy was the point of agreement of many different and even opposing groups, in the Green Movement to be against the Islamic Republic is not the point of convergence for all active forces>>>

Ma bi’asser

The positive interpretation of ma bi’asser is probably not far away from the concept of ‘Lebanese resilience’ that one hears so much outside the country and witnesses it inside. As an Iranian, I have found this interpretation quite refreshing. An Iranian journalist visiting Lebanon not long after the Israeli invasion of 2006 told me about meeting a family outside the ruins of their house in south Lebanon. ‘That was our house,’ the father had said, laughing and pointing to the heap of rubble nearby, rather than telling a tale of misery, inviting sympathy, or pity.>>>

برده (6)

از سنجار تا نصیبین سفر پنج روز طول کشید. با این حال رنج آن بسیار کمتر از مسافرت از آدیابن تا سنجار بود. هر روز که از سنجار دورتر می شدند هوا خنکتر و ملایمتر می شد و بار دیگر کوهستان جای بیابان را می گرفت. چون دیگر خیلی از آدیابن دور شده بودند دلیلی نداشت باز هم از راه های فرعی و ناهموار به سفر ادامه دهند. بنابراین از مسیرهای اصلی و مطمئن به سفر پرداخته و شبها را هم در کاروانسراهای بین راه سپری کرده بودند>>>

Caravan

Guilty in the pleasure of
not fanning the coals of war,
of not being there,
not holding my voice over
the governing of
my poor countrymen>>>

Khoda Midooneh

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It would mean disaster

Jeffrey Goldberg has come away from his research convinced that the Obama administration is serious about Iran. But if the administration's strategy fails to stall Tehran's alleged drive for a nuclear weapon, then the president may face a terrible choice. Would Obama be willing to move to military action? If not, Goldberg suggests, it is increasingly likely that Israel will take matters into its own hands. I strongly doubt that Obama would choose to launch a pre-emptive war against another Muslim country in the Middle East. Neither do I believe that Israel really intends to do so>>>