A sober reality check

Once again, I am too late for my posts... Last week, Mrs. Ebadi was in Paris saying how US sanctions were bad and Mr. Ganji wrote an Op-Ed in the Washington Post finally explaining why US money was so bad. But then, a friend sent me this and it takes us away from all the rethorics of human rights to what day to day life means in Iran ... particularly if you try to stand up for your rights, whether you be a woman, or part of any other group that would make you less good than the average.

Little stones

It had been too many years since I last tasted Sangak... my favourite -- while watching PBS' programme on Iran.

In perspective

Not having been able to access the internet regularly these days, I was planning to write about the Iranian ridiculous and misplaced pride and my receiving many emails boasting about Doris Lessing being Iranian (right...) but now I have heard that Emad Baghi has been imprisoned...

Useful Dialogue (for once)

Having missed a connection ended-up in one good thing: I flew Air France and therefore got a chance to watch an excellent French film, Dialogue avec mon jardinier (Conversation With My Gardener in English). Simple and yet profound, hitting to the core in impressionistic touches.

I don’t know if the DVD would be available anywhere else than in France … if not, perhaps you might want to book a flight.

Next?

There was indeed much of a hullabaloo at the visit of our President, but after all, it can be summed up in one word: denial. We knew about his first denial, now at Columbia he informed us that there are no homosexuals in Iran, and during his UN press conference he enlightened us with the fact that the Baha'is don't have a Prophet.

Clearly, after all that everyone will believe him when he says that Iran is not trying to get the bomb.

Above and beyond Mr. Ahmadinejad's gesticulations, the issue remains what is going to happen to our country. Initially, Mr. Abdi's recent interview made me quite depressed, then today I read Abbas Milani's excellent piece -- remarkably, they are saying the same thing.

An unhealthy (re)visit

A couple of weeks ago, Ms. Louise Arbour, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, was in Tehran, attending a Conference organized by the Non-Aligned Movement on Human Rights and Cultural Diversity. Those poor diplomats who fought tooth and nail nearly 15 years ago to maintain the universality and indivisibility of human rights at the Vienna Conference, against an Iranian proposal led by no less than Mr. Zarif himself, must really feel let down. One wonders who advises Ms. Arbour. She should know better than allowing herself to be manipulated into what is no small victory for Iran and its likes.

Moreover, I have a question: Did the High Commissioner take this opportunity to condemn the violations in Iran? Well, publicly, she couldn’t really; it would have upset her hosts... However, in her report at the Human Rights Council last Thursday, she indicated that she had raised a few points with her Iranian counterparts (she met with Mr. Mottaki, it seems).

At least the EU (through its Portuguese Presidency) and Canada used the opportunity to say that they were worried about the human rights situation in Iran. Don’t know why it was only the latter who got the brunt of Iran’s response.

Just an ordinary president

When I first started reading Ray Takeyh's Op-Ed, I thought he had learned from Haleh Esfandiari's lessons but no, he remains consistent in advocating Détente with Iran.

However, I was really glad that finally someone was openly saying (to the West) what we all knew: the Islamic Republic of Iran's policy is consistent, whether we have a Rafsanjani, a Khatami or an Ahmadinejad as president.

So I will slightly change Takeyh's conclusion and suggest that rather than raising the spectre of a dangerous and uncontrolled man perhaps one should look at the quite systematic policy of the country's rulers.

PS: for those interested, the text of the poem chanted by Shajarian in my previous post can be found at the end of this article

Point by point

Mourning

Due to a passing, this blog has not been updated. It will eventually resume.

Roots

Last week this photographer/blogger posted this:



Well, after all my grandfather was from Gilan...

In all fairness

Has any election in Iran not been rigged? And at some point wasn't Mr. Abtahi Vice-President for Legal and Parliamentary Affairs? One part of me resisted writing this (thus the delay) precisely because of the above-mentioned reasons, and yet, this time I have to say I enjoyed his post.

Baghe Anar (ter)

Although someone told me that my blog is a little confusing, because in the middle of serious matters, all of a sudden there is a photo of a pomegranate tree, I still felt that I needed to keep you abreast with the developments: a few weeks ago I returned to the garden and there it was, a beautiful and bright flower -- probably turned into the beginning of a fruit by now...

PS: for those who kindly email me: I respond to each and everyone of them.

Relativism

Today, the Spokesman of the Iranian Judiciary announced that Kian Tajbakhsh (along with Haleh Esfandiary) is accused of spying and acting against Iran's national security.

Mr. Tajbakhsh was collaborating with the Open Society Institute. But if having contacts with OSI is tantamount to spying, then perhaps someone else will also be in trouble when he returns to Iran...

To all the Iranians

Marjane Satrapi has won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival for Persepolis. Clearly, I have not seen the film but being a fan and having read the books I can imagine that it is a very well deserved prize.

Most likely, the IRI will not think so.

And yet, when asked to comment about the controversy in a press conference, she tried not to fuel the fire by saying that the film is humanist and could have been set anywhere in the world.

Other Iranians in Cannes have made veiled comments, which were subsequently unveiled...

Tonight, Ms. Satrapi herself added to her first comment by saying: Although, as I said, this film shows events that could happen to anyone in the world -- that one's life be affected by a revolution, a war... this particular story happened in Iran and I dedicate this award to all the Iranians.

Thanks Marjane!

PS: Kiarostami's contribution to the film in honour of the 60th Anniversary of the Festival was about women. Every single one of them would have been stopped in the street for bad hijab...

The Great Pretender

I am sorry...

This was the first comment that was left on this photographer's blog, responding to the question posed on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the 2nd of Khordad, what was your image of the next ten years at the time you were voting for Khatami?

The next comment is "Oh my! these people have no memory..."

Well, yes... but no, really...

It seems that our dear Minister of Foreign Affairs doesn't quite seem to be able to make up his mind, one days he says a thing and the next he really meant something else.

Of course, he was under pressure, having to match the statement Mr. Larijani had made the day before.

But we have to raise our hat to the man who prompted all this by saying: "Talk about adding Palestine to the map and not cancelling Israel."


PS: You will note, however, that at the end of the day, both Mottaki and Larijani agree that is it either the "claim" or the "bi-product" of Western media

Stormy weather

A few days ago, first hail



and then rain

The hard way

Thanks to this blogger, I found out about the site in support of Ms. Haleh Esfandiary's release. Very quickly set up and quite sophisticated. I don't think I have seen such a high quality site put together for any Iranian prisoner of conscience before, not even for Mr. Ganji.

I once heard Ms. Esfandiary speak at Asia Society in New York, on women's rights. That evening she said that Iranian women are protected by the Constitution...

We all hope that Ms. Esfandiary will be released very soon, Evin is no place to linger in, and I hope that when she returns to the US safe and sound she will take on the defence of those who will (unfortunately) still be suffering from human rights violations in Iran and who will not have the benefit of such public attention.

Naivete?!

So, the cat is finally out of the bag: Switzerland was working on a proposal to settle the nuclear issue. This explains why it has been turning a blind eye on Iran's human rights. Unlike all other Western countries, it recently abstained on the vote at the Human Rights Council and it did not co-sponsor the resolution at the UN General Assembly.

Trying to be a broker is not a bad thing per se, but not at the cost of human rights, particularly when we know what generally happens to Swiss proposals regarding Iran.

Kitsch in Qom