Tag Archives: Iran

Green Thursday

By Guest | Published: July 7, 2009

This Thursday is the tenth anniversary of the brutal repression of students in Iran.

Today a new round of repression is underway in Iran.

Here is something you can do about it. An anniversary demonstration at the Iranian embassy in London is scheduled for this Thursday, starting at 6 PM. Please wear green and come along to 16 Prince’s Gate, SW7. The nearest Tube station is South Kensington.

The only point – and I hope this leads other British bloggers to echo this call – is to show solidarity with the Iranian people.

In fact, as one Iranian exile tells me, people who “come selling newspapers and lecturing the people on what they should do” are not wanted. “Just join and express solidarity”, the exile says.

Please come.

****

Post by habibi

Posted in Activism, Democracy, Feature | Tagged | Leave a comment

Call to action on June 26 to commemorate Neda and in solidarity with the people of Iran

By Guest | Published: June 24, 2009

From Maryam Namazie

Neda Agha-Soltan, the 27 year old shot in the chest by the Islamic regime of Iran’s Baseeji security forces on June 20 died before our very eyes.

We witnessed her last breaths; and felt the rage of the millions on the streets of Iran.

In an interview with Persian media, her fiancé, Caspian Makan, said that some news sites had erroneously reported that she was a supporter of Mousavi. ‘This is not the case’ he said, ‘She was never supportive of either of these two groups. She wanted freedom; freedom for everyone.’

There are times in history when individuals or tragic events become symbols and, today, Neda has become ours.

She symbolises all the beloved we have lost to this indiscriminate killing machine. But she also represents the refusal to kneel and the desire for a life worthy of 21st century humanity.

Continue reading >>
Posted in Democracy, Feature | Tagged | Leave a comment

Iranian Protests Erupting

By Faisal | Published: June 21, 2009
Map of election results and return data *IranTracker

Map of election results and return data *IranTracker

This via IranTracker: Official results certainly seem to show an Ahmadinejad victory. The vote rigging accusation seems incidental despite the pleas of Ayatollah Khamenie. It is just one of a catalogue of recriminations and anger binding hundreds of thousands of Iranians into a mass passive insurgency against a brutal totalitarian theocratic government led by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

And this is the shape of that insurgency:


[Very disturbing - view with caution]

Continue reading >>
Posted in Democracy | Tagged | Leave a comment

Behind the Veil – Minarets of Menace/The Daily Show do Iran

By Retired | Published: June 18, 2009
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
Jason Jones: Behind the Veil – Minarets of Menace
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show
Full Episodes		 Political Humor Jason Jones in Iran
Posted in International Affairs | Also tagged , | Leave a comment

Support Our Comrades in Iran

By Guest | Published: June 17, 2009

Support the Iranian people’s struggle for democracy and freedom

There are demonstrations in front of the Iranian Embassy every day.

Protest this Thursday 18 June, 6-8pm – or any day – outside the Iranian Embassy in London,

16 Princes Gate, SW7 1PT

Spread the word via twitter, facebook, myspace and your email address book.

Show the Iranian people that they are not alone.

Show the Tehran regime that the humane world is against its vote-rigging and tyranny.

We don’t want to  post pictures of the murder and brutality that is being meted out to ordinary Iranians right now.  The photos and footage coming out of Iran are extremely bloody and very disturbing.

If you would like to see what is happening in Iran, here is one picture and one piece of footage.  The picture is from the protest clashes in Shiraz, the film footage is an Isfahan university student.

Continue reading >>
Posted in Democracy, Feature, Human Rights, International Affairs | Tagged | 1 Comment

Montazeri’s Letter

By Faisal | Published: June 16, 2009

Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri was one of architects of Iran’s Islamic Revolution. He was due to succeed Ayatollah Khomeini but this never transpired because of a falling out with the Majlis and Khomeini over policies that infringed or denied the basic human rights of the people of Iran. He has since earned the accolade of ‘Iran’s dissident ayatollah’.

For the last 30 years, Hossein Montazeri has been a vocal critic of the Iran’s domestic and foreign policy and an advocate of civil and women’s rights in the Islamic Republic.

Montazeri has published an open letter which has been translated into English and posted here.

In the name of God

People of Iran

These last days, we have witnessed the lively efforts of you brothers and sisters, old and young alike, from any social category, for the 10th presidential elections.

Continue reading >>
Posted in Democracy, International Affairs | Tagged | Leave a comment

Stealing the Iranian Election

By Faisal | Published: June 14, 2009

Iran’s Interior Ministry has declared President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner of yesterday’s election. This has been rejected by all the three opponents of Mr. Ahmadinejad, Messrs Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mahdi Karroubi, and Mohsen Rezaaee.

The second day of protests have flared up in Iran in retaliation against the re-election of incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. It is now an accepted fact that the Iranian election results have been rigged against the opposition candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi.

“When the leader did not respond to Rafsanjani’s protest letter,” said another man standing by, “I knew the game was over. We should have never voted in the first place.” He was referring to Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the head of Iran’s Expediency Council, who had written a letter to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last week, sharply criticizing Ahmadinejad’s accusations against him and his family in a TV debate, and asking that the leader ensure fair elections.

Continue reading >>
Posted in International Affairs | Tagged | 2 Comments

Iranophobia

By Retired | Published: May 23, 2009

Press TV is trying to promote a new -phobia.

The Syrian Foreign Minister urges certain Arab countries not to be deceived by Israeli media hype which tries to spread Iranophobia in the Middle East.

Too right, there are absolutely no rational reasons why Arab countries might be worried by Iran. None at all. It must be Iranophobia.

Posted in International Affairs | Tagged | 5 Comments

Iran and the US “retreat”

By Faisal | Published: May 22, 2009

Persian Night by the Iranian author and journalist Amir Taheri is an eye-opening work of journalism. In his book, Taheri draws out the rich and beautiful tapestry of pre-Islamic Iranian cultural history and it’s influence on the flowering of Islamic civilisation, arts, architecture and literature in Iran. This was a different Persia, before it was blighted by the brutal Shah dynasty of the Pahlavi’s and latterly, the Islamic Revolution of Ayatollah Khomeini and the present regime, on which he is ruthlessly clear-sighted.

Taheri’s recent article in the WSJ on Iran’s designs of expansionism in the face of Obama’s “perceived” retreat from the Middle East is insightful. Covering the dynamics of Iran’s engagement and real-politik with six of its immediate neighbours, Egypt, Lebanon, Bahrain, Morocco, Kuwait and Jordan.

Continue reading >>
Posted in International Affairs | Also tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Forced into Hijab: a response to Katharine Quarmby

By Houriya | Published: May 15, 2009

(This article of mine was originally published in First Draft, the Prospect Magazine blog, 18 March 2009)

In Britain, freedom of consciousness and liberalism thrive. Women can choose to wear the hijab (headscarf) or not, and so Katharine Quarmby can ponder at will its aesthetic and fashion implications. In Iran, however, such a luxury is unimaginable. A woman’s worth and modesty is dictated by misogynist Islamist clerics who force women to wear the hijab and throw feminists in jail for daring to protest for equal human rights.

Unfortunately, some do not appreciate the freedoms held in Britain. In a recent talk I attended, Alastair Crooke, a former MI6 agent, labels what we see in Iran as ‘Muslim values’, praising Iran’s leaders for using their ‘creative imaginative faculties’ to construct a society based on collective ‘Islamic’ norms. Most Iranian women recognise this as Khomeini’s politicisation of religion. Crooke rejected the idea that the Iranian regime abuses a woman’s human rights, as these are a ‘Western’ construct – Christian, capitalist and rooted in individualism.

Continue reading >>
Posted in Democracy, Fashion, Human Rights, Islamism, Secularism | Also tagged , , , | 4 Comments

  • Categories

  • Archives