Op-Ed

The big shift

The prospect of war over Iran's nuclear plans seemed to recede in mid-July 2008 after a marked change in United States attitudes to the country. This was signalled by the decision to hold direct talks with the Islamic Republic for the first time since the revolution of 1979 and the subsequent hostage crisis that did so much to embitter relations between the two countries. The outcome of the discussions held in Paris on 19 July was disappointing to western hopes of concessions from Iran over its uranium-enrichment plans, but the fact of the meeting has been hailed as a positive step that diminishes what had seemed to be the escalating risk of armed confrontation>>>

Raising expectations

The IRI’s biggest survival tools are: One, is the fact that the IRI has a tremendously strong propaganda machine, much stronger than any Western nation’s, including the U.S. Like Khomeini himself said, the revolution was a “cultural” uprising before anything. That discredits the argument some Iranians, who don’t want to listen to the regime itself, make, that the revolution was about the injustices the U.S did towards Iran, or the Palestinian conflict, or to give Iranians freedom, or dignity, or to build our country, and things of that nature. Two, is the fact that the IRI has convinced some Iranians to be happy with the “minimum”.>>>

ديگ بخار

طبعاً و منطقاً، نوک پيکان فشار ناشی از نارضايتی اجتماعی متوجه اعمال کنندگان و پاسداران «وضع موجود» ی است که به سوی «نامطلوب» شدن حرکت کرده است. و از آنجا که اين اعمال کنندگان و پاسداران در زمرهء کسانی هستند که نيروهای پليسی جامعه را در اختيار دارند و بوسيلهء آنها اعمال اراده و زور می کنند، نارضايتی رفته رفته از سطح فردی حرکت کرده و، پس از اجتماعی شدن، شکلی سياسی بخود می گيرد. در اينجا بکار گيری واژهء «سياسی» از آن جهت موجه است که نيروی حاصله از فشار نارضايتی اجتماعی در جهت از ميان برداشتن حاکميتی (از پدرسالار گرفته تا خداسالار) عمل می کند که منشاء و نگاهبان بی عدالتی و تبعيض، و دارای دستگاه های سرکوب است.>>>

Battle for the Soul of Turkey

A fortnight ago Turkish prosecutors indicted 86 secular Turks on terrorism charges for their alleged involvement in plots to topple the governing conservative populist Justice and Development Party ( known as the AKP), led by Prime Minister Recep Tayyib Erdogan. Though lips across the ideological spectrum were for the most part restrained and tightly buttoned, Aykut Cengiz Engin, a chief prosecutor has stated that the suspects, believed to include at least one former general and an opposition politician, were charged either with belonging to a terrorist organisation, or of attempting to instigate a military coup>>>

Zerangi

“Zerangi” in Persian can be loosely translated as “cleverness” and to be “zerang” is to be “clever”. Most, if not all the time in Iranian culture and society, a zerang person is seen in a positive light for he or she is intelligent, resourceful and independent/autonomous and is thus what most Iranians strive to be. To be a zerang person can be applied in many situations, both positive and sinister. For example, a person who knows how the American legal system works and is able to work it to his or her advantage is zerang. A person who is resourceful in business and has made something of himself/herself is zerang. However, a person who is able to cleverly cheat his taxes and screw the system and government is also zerang. >>>

تنها راه حل

استفاده از متد ِميشل فوكو (1984 ـ 1926) در بررسی مساله جنسیت و در امر حجاب احباری، چشم‌انداز نويني در نگاه فلسفی و جامعه‌شناسانه برویمان می گشاید. فوکو به خاطر نظریاتش درباره جامعه، سیاست و تاریخ از سرشناس ترین متفکران قرن بیستم است. فوکو جزو رهبران نظری پسا ساختگرایی و پست مدرنیته محسوب می شود. جهان خارج ‌از متن، خود بخودی فاقد معنا و حقیقت است. زبان، سخن و گفتمان، شكل‌دهنده واقعيات هستند و جهان خارج صرفاً از طريق زبان و سخن شناخته مي‌شود. قوکو نشان مي‌دهد كه نظام زبان تعيين ‌كننده فرهنگ و معناست. مضافا او نشان مي‌دهد كه چگونه كاربرد زبان يا گفتمان، همواره با كاربرد قدرت همراه است. نهادهای اجتماعي در چارچوب گفتمان، قدرت و کارکردهای اجتماعی خود را مستقر می سازند>>>

Two sides of a coin

It might seem like the US consul setting up shop in Iran is only going to help those who need visas to avoid having to go to Dubai anymore. But as small overtures always do, they end up becoming far more than they started out to be. This time there seems to be a huge wave of good karma pointed at this latest ray of hope. On one side you have the legitimizing effect of giving one of the most brutal and murderous empires Persia ever had, regional credibility, and the tough admission that the US policy of isolation for the past 30 years, was wrong>>>

The enemy has a face

The looming Iran-Israel confrontation has a seemingly deterministic quality to it. Listening to the politicians, one gets a sense that powers beyond our control are pulling us toward a 21st-century disaster. Yet a great deal of the force propelling us into confrontation is fueled by ignorance and dehumanization. Israel is demonized as "Little Satan," while Iranians are portrayed as irrational Muslim extremists. Indeed, mutual ignorance of our respective societies plays into the hands of the hard-line leaders who are calling for blood and destruction. They manipulate and distort; above all, they do everything to prevent us from recognizing that the enemy has a face.>>>

Wise move

Iran's insistence on enriching uranium in defiance of three UN Security Council resolutions, combined with a bevy of antagonistic threats aimed at Israel's existence has created an explosive recipe that may well precipitate a horrifying regional conflagration. For Iran's own best interests, its contentious leaders would be well advised to tone down their anti-Israeli threats, which have not been taken lightly thus far, and find a diplomatic solution to Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program. The recent Israeli air force exercises and American naval maneuvers in the Persian Gulf, which were countered by Iran's test-firing of a variety of missiles, have only heightened an already tense atmosphere. >>>

Persia is under attack!

First came the 300 Spartans; and now the Spiegel article! The 300 were bunch of good looking and brave guys who fought this vast army of nasty looking and savage Persians. Ok. I can take that; even though from that savagery not much is left in me. In fact I could've really used a bit of that when confronting my neighbors, kids, manager, lender, ..., and above all my wife! But all that looks a distant dream now :-) But what has kept me going in the last few decades is the fact that the first human rights charter has been attributed to Persians. The Cyrus Cylinder, which is a magnificent ancient piece if nothing else, is supposedly inscribed with the human rights charter as decreed by the king of Persia, Cyrus the Great>>>

Where it hurts

The fact is that Mullahs continue to ignore sanctions with little consequence for the regime even though Iran's economy is stagnating. What is the alternative? Will international sanctions produce the desired effect? Is there any chance to solve the dilemma with the IRI? Can the group of six results in a breakthrough? Is a military intervention a right solution? The answer to all of them remains negative. As long as the UN does not directly punish the plague of IRI, not people who already suffer from this totalitarian regime, a real solution is not available. The UN can consider various sanctions on the IRI: >>>

Truth behind the propaganda

Our country and people have sacrificed a lot, and I mean a lot, for IRI’s blind anti Israeli sentiments. Many countries, groups, parties and organizations..oppose Israeli actions, but none of them put a burden on their people as much as we have paid. We have become isolated, hated, we regressed, we paid human and material price, we have been threatened to be attacked, and we have been looked down upon by most of the world (with the exception of some fascist Islamist and lefty loonies), because of this stance. There is a different between opposing something, and “blindly”, opposing something. Some of the most outspoken Israeli critics are Israel’s friends, such as Turkey. So why is IRI acting like as it is? Below is some of the most common rhetoric used by the regime:>>>

پیشگویی

دولتهای غرب، از مجاهدین برای از بین بردن جمهوری اسلامی حمایت خواهند کرد. مجاهدین هم که در حرکتهای تروریستی استاد هستند (اتفاقا از نظر قدرتی اگر کسی از پس جمهوری اسلامی بتواند برآید، همین مجاهدین خواهند بود.) پس ایران تبدیل میشود به ناحیه ی جنگی، با تورم بیشتر، تلفات بسیار، وضعیت آشفته ای که مدرسه، مراکز دولتی و... را از حالت عادی خود خارج خواهد کرد. بعد از مدتی که ایران هر قسمتش دست یا مجاهدین یا جمهوری اسلامی خواهد بود، مردم مرتب کنترل خواهند شد، به طوری که (مثل شرایط افغانستان در زمان حمله ی طالبان به حکومت روسیه در افغانستان) حتی ترک کردن خانه به قصد رفتن به خانه ی دو کوچه آن طرفتر کار بسیار شاق، وحشت انگیز و خطرناکی خواهد بود. بعد از سالها جنگ احتمالا مجاهدین (به دلیل حمایت های مالی و داشتن اسلحه های مدرن که توسط غربی ها به آنها داده خواهد شد) پیروز میشوند. مدتی هم اوضاع به هم ریخته می ماند. >>>

Bombs or Miniskirts?

The Islamic Republic of Iran has developed a reputation as a threat to international security and stability. Its current pursuit of nuclear power has added a new chapter to its long story of menacing behavior. But while the international community has come to the conclusion that the Islamic Republic must be prevented from attaining a nuclear bomb, it has not resolved on how exactly to achieve this. A variety of strategies abound as to how to deal with the Iranian nuclear threat. Two of these strategies have become more increasingly debated with the passage of time. The first option offers military action against Iran while the second encourages dialogue with the Iranian government. Neither course of action, however, will achieve sustainable results>>>

Not just about women

Mainstream feminists who promote the foreign policies of Western Patriarchy, should understand that there are Iranian women who identify strongly with the second Carmen. Their experience of oppression as the first Carmen works only to amplify their sympathy for the other Carmen. So they will not welcome anyone who regards their culture the way Bizet’s 19^th century audience may have viewed his gypsy woman: irresponsible, uncivilized, futureless, and deadly. These women have already peeled away the practical and ideological justifications for the US drive for hegemony—oil and freedom—to find nothing but the mad Don Jose standing over them with a knife. >>>