Op-Ed

Attacks from Anonystan

I know some will have an almost irresistible impulse to accuse me being in favor of censorship, which I am most definitely not in favor of. However, freedom of expression does not include, the right, to viciously and unjustifiably assault a person. When the only purpose underlying a particular verbal or written utterance is to demean, humiliate and disparage a person so ruthlessly that his or her reputation is completely destroyed simply because they had the audacity to hold certain views or express certain opinions on a subject, it is not only illegal, it is immoral. An assault is an assault whether it comes in the real world or in cyber space just as cyber-libel is no less damaging as printed libel.>>>

کدام مخاطب در جبههء ملی؟

* فايل صوتی

سال ها است که با نام هائی همچون اديب برومند، هرميداس باوند، کورش زعيم، نعمت آزرم، حسن لباسچی، خسرو قديری، ناصر کاخساز، و فرزاد بستجانی آشنائی دارم؛ برخی شان را از نزديک ديده ام، با برخی از آنها محشور بوده ام، و برخی را از طريق آثار و نوشته هاشان می شناسم. و، پس، يعنی، اکنون بايد همهء اينها را جزو فريب خوردگانی بدانم که، نادانسته، به «راه مصدق» پشت و خيانت کرده اند؟

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Drumbeats of war... again!

On September 22nd, 1980 when Saddam's air force bombed all major airports in Iran, including Mehrabad International Airport, I went to the roof of our home in southern Tehran and watched the black smokes rising to the sky, with shock and despair. I never forget the sad and helpless feeling of that moment; my beloved country where I was born and raised was under attack! Suddenly, I remembered all the invasions that Iran (or Persia) had suffered throughout the history and I had learned about in school; the destructions, devastations and bloodshed that would follow.>>>

Iran's al-Qaida dilemma

Political assassinations are a rarity in the Islamic Republic, but Hojjatoleslam Hesham Seimori's murder is further disturbing for Teheran given its potential to provoke sectarianism in the oil-rich province of Khuzestan that is pivotal to the Iranian economy. Since 2005, Khuzestan has experienced a number of bombings of oil infrastructure and government offices, and the political atmosphere has not been this tense since the end of the Iran-Iraq War in 1988. Teheran has accused former Iraqi Ba'athists and Western intelligence agencies as instigating violence here, but never al-Qaida. >>>

The hydra

Legend has it that the Hydra with the body of a serpent and numerous heads, could never be harmed by any weapon, and if any of the other heads were severed another would grow in its place.  Attacking cattle and local villagers, it devoured them with its numerous heads, totally terrorizing the vicinity for many years.  According to legend, Heracles defeated the Hydra.

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Middle Eastern Super Power

One thing that no one can deny is the powerful international position of Iranian foreign policy makers that has made Iran an “Island of stability” in a very unstable region. While one cannot deny the role of the United States in making Iran a powerhouse in the region, yet the Iranian government has not sat quietly either. Many arguments can rise for the real reason behind the Islamic Republic actions in the world stage and the truth behind the Iranian policy makers to do what they are doing.>>>

We fell behind

We live at a critical juncture of Iran's history and as a nation we are facing critical challenges in foreign and domestic politics. Naturally there is not much room for philosophical contemplation at this time. Nonetheless I decided to take a critical view of one of the great Persian philosophers in order to provide a historical perspective for us as a nation so we can evaluate our strengths and weaknesses and don't become a victim of a naive pride.>>>

Meet your Beloved King

I am accepting the role of monarch, and just like Cyrus THE GREAT who wrote his Charter of Human Rights for his blessed subjects, I have prepared my own. I am presenting this Charter of Human Rights to you, so you can elect me as your tyrant... no, shit (that wasn't for you)... beloved king: 1) I announce that I will respect the traditions, customs and religions of the nations of my empire and never let any of my governors and subordinates look down on or insult them until I am alive (I will only let the security service, or personal militia, do all that while pretending to know nothing).>>>

The fall of Khatami

Although, Khatami delivered well on executing the laws but his evil twin in the parliament cost him his defacement. One thing that people weren’t aware of was that Khatami couldn’t convey everything single-handedly by himself. He needed the parliament to back him up on correcting small and minor laws that could bring some quick results through reforming trade laws, the tax laws, small but incremental women’s right, stopping the Reza Khatami, Navabi, Abdi, and Mirdamadi’s gang for harassing conservatives, and focusing on how to work with the conservatives rather than trying to uproot them. >>>

It all depends

A few days ago I was in an Arab coffee-shop. I was drinking tea, which is a common practise of Muslim countries, while listening to what the Arab men were discussing. I also heard one woman, I guess, but all I could see were men. They were seated, smoking, drinking tea, while watching Al Jazeera on a TV set mounted on top of the right corner of the room. I could not understand anything but some of the words, spoken by the Arab public, or said by the Al Jazeera presenter. I thought about joking about what the Arabs, and Middle-Easterners (including Iranians), usually talk about when they get together>>>

The rise of Khatami

In the spring of 1996 I was dismissed from college. The impact of the dismissal was so hard on my psyche that I became mentally disarrayed and socially disconnected for a while. The only thing I was seeing was to work hard, make money and flee from the hell hole. A year later at the end of one of those long and tiring days, one of my close high school friends called and asked if we could meet to see how things going on with us. At the same time I knew that there was every Wednesday night gathering at our old high school math teacher, Mr. N’s house. Bunch of geeky looking and politically active old classmates and college students were meeting there talking about nothing but politics>>>

The bottom line

Over two years ago, Iran announced that it plans to create an oil market, Iran Oil Bourse (IOB) which would trade for oil in euro instead of the U.S. dollar. It goes without saying that if such a market for oil and gas materializes in a reasonable time period; it will compete against New York’s Energy Market (NYMEX) and London’s International Petroleum Exchange (IPE). But more importantly the exchange of oil for euro becomes a serious challenge to the hegemony of the dollar as a world reserve currency and could spell a beginning of an end to the American empire>>>

گزينه های انحلال حکومت اسلامی

* فايل صوتی اين مقاله
ديگر در اين مورد ترديدی وجود ندارد که حکومت اسلامی به هيچ روی نمی تواند جلوه ای از جلوه های رابطهء مدرن قدرت و مردم و، در نتيجه، نمود خاصی از يک حکومت دموکراتيک باشد. در عين حال، اين حکومت ديکتاتوری، بخاطر متعهد نبودن در برابر مردم و خدمتگذار نبودن به آنها، صرفاً منشاء اشاعهء فساد و تباهی است.

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On the eve of a very real war

Most American-produced plays -- even the good ones -- are fluff when it comes to troubling contemporary issues. But Golden Thread's production of Motti Lerner's Benedictus, which I caught opening night at Portrero Hill's Thick House, is in an altogether together different class. Why? Because it presents its two principal characters -- Iran-born childhood friends, one Muslim, one Jewish, who meet at a Benedictine Monastery in Rome -- in the round. No pat movie of the week answers are provided>>>

Caspian cut

The President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin is about to make a landmark visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran. Aside from the obvious prestige this unprecedented official state visit affords the beleaguered IRI, it is also fraught with myriad of geopolitical, political as well as commercial minefields. The ostensible reason for the visit is attendance of summit of the Caspian Sea leaders. The summit agenda is to iron out a workable division of natural resources of the heavily polluted body of water, mainly oil and gas, amongst the littoral states>>>