Nostalgia

Thanks to this blogger, I found many of Dariush's songs on YouTube.

Perhaps it is because I recently saw a friend I had not seen for a long time, but listening to those songs brought back a lot of nostalgia and memories and -- sadly -- I felt the following had to be posted:



buye gandom male man, har tchi ke daram male to -- the smell of wheat is mine, all that I have is yours. The song was at the time of the Shah and granted Dariush some time in prison, I believe. The video seems to have been revisited, since it also shows a few clerics -- says quite a bit about our country and its successive leaders, doesn't it?

Outspoken insights

I remembered being quite depressed by Abbas Amanat's opinion piece in the New York Times last May -- I had expected more from him than once again indulging in the usual middle-eastern rhetoric of blaming others rather than doing a little introspection.

Well, on the contrary, Ahmad Zeidabadi never ceases to impress me, please read his piece in Rooz (although, and quite unfortunately, the English translation never renders the full content of the Persian).

Women and human rights activists

When most in Iran do not dare to come out and speak of human rights, these ladies demonstrate, write a petition open for signature, create a website, are prosecuted, and demonstrate some more and get arrested some more.

Their courage is remarkable, particularly as we all know too painfully that torture and rape is not unheard of in Iranian prisons.

Here's a remarkable piece written by one of them and translated by another, just a week ago.

Under the Skin of the City

When I saw this title on ISNA's photo gallery, I was drawn because of the lasting impression the film had left on me. And then, once again in a span of a week, I was too taken not to write about it, and yet, I can only put links to the photos of drug addicts taken in Southern Tehran.

Delos made in Iran...

... or more precisely Azerbaijan?

Robert Sole is a specialist of Egypt, but this time he decided to dedicate his column in Le Monde to Iran. The original story was relayed by Reuters: the island of Arezou (on the Urumiyeh lake) will be for women only.

The cycladic island of Delos (which also happens to be the birthplace of Artemis) was created from the body of Asteria fleeing Zeus' ardour, thus protecting her chastity.

The difference is: it was her own choice.

Where have you been, Arth?

I know... I am really sorry I missed these guys, and the release is a year and a half old, but it is so brilliant that there is no way I cannot post it.

Some months ago, a video from young Iranian rappers was all over the web, but Kiosk is something else... I think it is the first time I hear anyone singing the Blues in Persian. And the lyrics... most impressive.

Of course, this omission is due to the fact that I do not read Iranian.com, and it really seems that I should, as I fully agree with Behrouz Bahmani: the best lyrics are in the two songs "roozmaregi" and "zorbaye malayeri".

Well, I guess I have found some Noruz presents!

No comment

"Even if access and use of the nuclear energy requires closing down of other activities for 10 years, it is worth paying such a price", says our President.

Our country is in such great shape...

Too painful not to post...

... and yet I could not put the video itself on the blog either, so here's the link.

The other gory part, I hear, is that apparently one of the two "interrogators" is now a broadcaster in an IRIB weekly programme.

Where do you really stand?

I have just come across Javad Zarif's website, although it must be quite recent, if one looks at the dates of the articles posted. As a good friend of mine remarked, you will notice that there is not one photo with Mr. Ahmadinejad, although we all have seen how Mr. Zarif was dutifully passing notes to the President during the latter's press conferences at the UN GA both in 2005 and 2006.

I have mentioned a few times how unimpressive (to say the least) Mr. Zarif's statements and letters are, and his latest Op-Ed in the New York Times is unfortunately in the same vein.

He is soon to be replaced, I hear, and will no longer be the IRI's Permanent Representative to the UN in New York. I wonder if any paper will publish his pieces after that.

Recognition

Seems that my favourite Iranian artists are one by one making the headlines lately, first Bahram Beyzaie, then Marjane Satrapi and now Farhad Moshiri, who's painting "broke the prices record in the history of Iran's art sale" (along with two others).

I prefer his old work, the numbers and the jars, but hey, he deserves the recognition.

Baghe Anar (bis)

I went back to the garden and checked the lone pomegranate...



and as you can see, it was no longer there.

On the other hand, the oranges were reaching out to the cacti.

A story not to tell

What I admire most in Marjane Satrapi, aside from her talent, is her audacity. She has consistently broken Iranian taboos and written about things that should not be spoken of, of all the hypocrisy: like revealing that as an adolescent, she did drugs, like talking about "reconstructed" virginities. I know that many Iranians were offended.

And now she is making a film. The NY Times piece is already archived, but there is a good article and also a short video, both in French.

Future... what future?

In the past few days, a couple of analysis or criticism of Iran and its political structure, taking a look at its not-too-bright future, have been published in Rooz. The first one was by Ahmad Zeidabadi followed by the report of a conference given by Akbar Ganji (the English translation skips parts of the original Persian version, so I recommend that you read them here and here, respectively, if you can).

Interestingly, one states that "the real solution is in the hands of the country’s leaders" while the other "called on the people not to sit in their houses and expect changes, which otherwise would only make matters worse" but I agree with both articles.

Do as I say, not as I do

I read Mr. Abtahi's post last week but did not have a chance to react before now:

Isn't it strange that the "Head of the Interreligious Dialogue Institute" does not even realize what he is writing, and that when threading on thin ice, perhaps he should watch his steps in order not to crack it.

In order to cover-up for the recent attack on Christians because they are trying to "convert" Muslims in Iran, Mr. Abtahi tells us that "the present world is the world of dialogue among religions and their cooperation", and that although it is easier for Muslims to accept Judaism and Christianity, as they existed before Islam, the Christians, thanks to the Vatican II Council, have accepted to have a dialogue and cooperate with Muslims.

With all this thirst for dialogue among religions, I think one should ask Mr. Abtahi how he feels about the Muslim accepting the Bahais, who came after Islam? And why they are not included as partners in his Institute.

Of course, he does not accept comments on his blog, but I will email him the link to this post... and will let you know if he responds.

Baghe Anar

Yesterday, I was walking in a garden and noticed this pomegranate, hanging by itself on a leafless tree, having resisted the winter...

An Iranian Giant

This is one of the most breath-taking shots I have ever seen in a film, and I am sorry that this picture does not relay well the feeling one gets when seen on a screen.

Of course, you know that Bahram Beyzaie is my favourite (as can be seen from the link on the right), but I was glad to read that although he is (and has been for many years) censored in Iran, this remarkable Iranian artist, combining being a director, a playwright, a poet and so much more, has finally received the acknowledgment that his work deserves.

Neutrality or compromises?

Well I've either been too busy celebrating "shabe yalda" or following the adoption of the resolution on the human rights situation in the IRI, but I just noticed this tonight ... to find out that another blogger had posted about it earlier here and here.

However, I also noticed that a Swiss graphic designer spoke at the opening of the exhibition. Hmmm... Switzerland... just a week after her election, it's new President met with one of Iran's Deputy FM... and also, this year, it decided not to co-sponsor the above-mentioned resolution, although it had done so in the past... the rumour is that it hoped to be able to play a role in the negotiations on the nuclear issue. What did the Calmy-Rey quote in the IRNA release say? "Switzerland attaches special significance to bolstering relations with Tehran"? Maybe it also hopes that if the Security Council resolution passes, Iran will replace the dollar by the Swiss franc rather than the euro!

Look at me, I am the most outrageous!

Holocaust denial is a horrendous thing, there is absolutely no doubt about it. I visited Auschwitz some years ago and will never forget the weight that could still be felt, even just in the air.

But I am afraid I think that too much importance has been given to our Ministry of Foreign Affairs, its Institute for Political and International Studies and their conference full of void. I just checked today: front pages of the Guardian, Le Monde and the Frankfurter Allgemeine; most popular emailed article of the NY Times and no less than two pieces on BBC Middle East !

(sigh)

No wonder Mr. Mottaki looked so pleased with himself yesterday. What an incredible platform they are getting, and how smart a PR move...


Iran

The un-published photos

We all know this photo:



However, few, if none, of us knew the author. It now seems to be Mr. Jahangir Ramzi.

But as much as it might be important for some to know who to give credit to, what I found to be the real highlight of the article was to be able to see 26 other photos that Mr. Ramzi had taken at the same moment, like this one:



or that one:


All of them are here.

Iran Human Rights photos Kurdistan

ouch!... ouch, ouch, ouch!

The resolution on the human rights situation in Iran was adopted on Tuesday by the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly, with quite a large margin: 70 in favour to 48 against.

Of course, it was rejected by the government as "based on biased and distorted information", and it's result only due to pressure by the US and Canada on other governments.

Aside from the fact that I do believe that UN resolutions have an effect -- if not they would not go out of their way to get rid of them -- this year, our government had to face more than one defeat: firstly, the resolution Iran put forward on the human rights violations in Canada faced a humiliating rejection, with 107 votes against and only 6 in favour, but even more painfully, Iran tried to pull-out a procedural motion, called "no-action" before the actual vote and did not succeed, whereas the day before, Uzbekistan (probably still considered by some as our former colony) managed to have a similar motion pass and thus avoided a condemnation.

Iran Human Rights UN Canada