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| Shams al-Emareh; The Qajar King's tower of power, giving him and his populous Harem a view over Tehran شمس العماره (c)NeoResistance |
Luckily, all the candidates are myred in infamy, and are opposed to each other. So, they can fight amongst themselves, and get their punch gloves bloodied; and annihilate themselves and work towards weakening the position of the supreme leader.
It will be a fun show to watch, but I am not planning to vote.
I voted last time, for the first time because I respected Mir Hossein Mousavi in the previous election (respected him for his performance during the Iran-Iraq was, when he was a prime minister. I respected him also, for having retired from politics into art and architecture).
If votes in Iran were actually counted, I would have considered voting strategically, choosing the thief over the war monger, for example. But votes will not be counted; the election will be rigged through several processes, first of which the guardian council. So, the incentive to get my hands DIRTY is nonexistent. I will not participate in the charade.
While these politicians fight each other, and the enthusiastic anticipating spectators watch them, analyse them, cheer them or boo them--campaigning for the least evil that implicitly promises to tame the supreme leader or the most stubborn one that promises to carry out the supreme leaders wildest dreams, far from the political spotlight, there are ordinary citizens who are working day and night to improve, educate, secure, beautify and build the society, from bottom up, from children. I want to give my attention to them.
Voila! Don't expect me to pontificate on the election. There are more important things to do for Iran.
22 comments:
Nice,
Thanks for your grate informations, I am working on, ASIAN AFFAIRS MAGAZINE.
Try to post best informations like this always
Indian media: Failings of a new forum
Dear Naj, I very much understand your frustration in view of the upcoming elections in Tehran and your experiences from the shame 4 years ago. But what is your view then on the political future of your country ? Where do you think change will come from ? From a "White Knight" like Gorbachov in USSR 25 years ago ? Or from peoples unrest, anarchy on the streets to wipe the mullahs regime of their offices ?
In greek mytholgy you have the concept of Katharsis (κάθαρσις), i.e. a new start requires a painful shock (if I understoud it right). But are the people in Iran ready for this ? Or is there a katharsis that lasts already for years, but still no sign of a renaissance of liberal, tolerant society ?
bets regards, Michael
I think I have to correct the notion that the iranian "society" is not Tolerant. I also have to correct the notion that "liberalism" in the western sense is neither what the majority of the IRanians seek, nor does it mean the same thing as it does for instance in France.
Iranians are never satisfied with their political systems; and never will be. BUT what Iranians are suffering right now is SANCTIONS, unjust sanctions imposed by them through the CRIMINAL processes imposed by the western governments.
I detest sanctions, sanction suporters, sanction apologists, sanction philosophers.
If the Westen world got its nose out of Iran's affairs, we will have reached stability far sooner. But as long as there is foreign meddling, there is paranoia about treason and traitors, and there is increased security and tyranny. You want freedom for Iran, go picket in your country AGAINST sanctions, AGAINST AGGRESSION, AGAINST BULLYING IRAN FOR NO REASON.
But if you think that the Western sanctions are to blame for the "... suffering of the Iranians ...", what was the situation before 2005, i.e. before these sanctions were imposed ? Sorry, don't tell me that Iran then was home of human rights, free people, a civil society with equal rights for everybody.
By the way, there is no aggression against Iran, no bullying of your country (No shouting "Margb bar Iran"). The West can differentiate very well between the people of Iran, and the IRI regime. There is the general unease with this criminal regime, which only stays in power by imposing terror onto its people, and by faking elections like in 2009. Therefore, the only countries who remain a close relationship with the IRI regime are other "defenders of humanity" like Northern Korea, Syria or Venezuela. If the sanctions are successful to liberate the Iranian people from the mullahs regime, I think they should be continued.
I did not try to make any argument about the Iranian society as a whole. I believe you when you say that the society is tolerant. In a historical context, it always was very tolerant, perhaps more than Western societies, and no government has the power to change this easily. I was talking about the political system. But if you are going to tell me in your next reply that the basidj thugs on their motorcycles, armed with guns and batons are send out by the Tehran regime regularily only to defend the civil rights and tolerance, and that the student protesters or civil rights activists are arrested at the notorious Evin prison only to enjoy a free and self-determined life, than I think I start to doubt if you are still the same person who on Dec 27th and 29th 2010 described in their blog the ordeal of prisoners and those sentenced to death for "Muharaba", or if the neo-resistance blog has been high-jacked meanwhile by a former staff-member of Press-TV.
best regards, Michael
Michael,
Iranians have been under embargo since 1981. It is only recently that the sanctions have taken a criminal turn.
The objective of the sanctions is to debilitate Iran's military growth (which under these sanctions is growing to be independent and this is not such a good news for other arms-dealing criminal on this earth) So, a militaristically powerful/productive Iran will 'upset' the "democracy!!!" in two ways: A) it will endanger the oil-flow; and B) it will create alternative weapon-vendors!
If you believe there is no aggression towards Iran, then you need to get informed better. Perhaps you can start by learning about the role Germany played in providing Saddam Hossein, chemical-bomb materials! ( for example this one
As much as I appreciate your concern for my people living under "imposed" terror; I assure you that the IRI's terror is not comparable to the terror of war and poverty that is clouding over people's sky these days. As for "faking election"; you have to realize that Iran has been a country of a SINGLE king, for as much as its history remembers. 30 years, in the history of a nation that lives on thousands of years of history, and needs to unite various ethnic groups under one umbrella, while fending off foreign invasion, is not so straight forward. Again, you must very well have learned from your own history that DEMOCRACY becomes very fragile when the national identity of a people comes under pressure from the outside; it just makes it easy for people to rally behind the fascist. Right?
No, the Iranian political system is not tolerant. But, keep in mind that the lack of tolerance is not just particular to the regime in power now. The opposition to this regime, in all its democratic aspirations is equally intolerant! In fact, there is, and has always been a stronger undercurrent of tolerance in the "civil society" of Iran that operates independent from the bickering of the intolerant egomaniac politicians. There are still a lot of grass root movements that are making a difference on a daily basis, but make sure they stay outside the radar of the "western" media; and their "democracy" cheerleading. The reason why IRanian rulers become INTOLERANT is that the political system in Iran is always set up as a function of treason! there is no TRUST! When there is no trust, then the rulers can kill their own kin. In fact, our history is full of such paranoid father/son killings! It is almost Oedipal!
As for those thugs (please refrain calling them basijis, as basijis were a volunteer army who stopped Saddam in its tracks, when your country and other Western democracies were arming Saddam to teeth, while sanctioning Iran), they are for hire gangs. Actually, you may have heard that even in 1953, such gangs were hired by your beloved Amrican/British to overthrow a democratically elected government. It was because of the history of that western-thuggery that the young students of post-revolution Iran, pre-empted another American coup, and occupied the American embassy and took hostages (paving the way for the neo conservatives' redemption after Vietnam loss! so it all worked out! What goes around,comes around, for ALL nations!)
There is always another side to all popular stories that fill the air; and we cannot dismiss them all without EXAMINING the motivation of the perpetrators.
Despite I don´t have a clue about who´s gonna get elected president of the upcoming elections in Iran, I think Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won´t be forgotten in the entire world.
Because of his wisdom, his intellect, his charisma and above all, his firmness to defend his nation from the really fucked up USA, Europe and the "state" of Israel.
Reminds me of Peron, very much, sometimes.
Sorry Naj if you feel uncomfortable with these words.
Best regards
Mariana,
Dr Ahmadinejad has left a country in ECONOMIC RUINES!
The impact of his mismanagement and the corruption of his administration, compared to sanctions, is multifold.
He is a pathological liar; and you will be caught fooled as history unravels if you keep believing his propaganda!
Dear Naj, I hope for a great future of the Iranian people, when politics become irrelevant for them, when they don't have worry about the economics, because everbody can follow its dreams and ideas and they don't have to be the proof that a whole nation can survive in political, economical and cultural isolation from the rest of the world. I think that the Iranian people don't deserve this, I don't think that traitors such as Ahmadinejad or Khamenei have any right to keep a whole nation as hostages for their illusionary, long-time obsolete battle for a third way in history. But they still try to insist that between the evil imperialism (US) and the even worse atheism (Russia), both with a terrible record of trying to interfere in Iranian politics, the only way of national independence is by following a dogmatic islamic politics. But this is not right, don't you think so ? There is no bipolar world any more, and nations nowaday define their international influence not by military power, but by its economic and cultural potential. But to raise this, people must have a certain degree of freedom, and also should have the power to easily get rid of a impotent government. The degree of state-sponsored corruption in Iran is dramatic, and it is the majority of the ordinary people suffering from this. And when the state propaganda always says that this is a glorious sacrifice on the path to final victory, than I am reminded very much on the phrases that I remember from East-Germany of the Soviet Union, or earlier from Nazi-Germany. And as you noted very well, "DEMOCRACY becomes very fragile when the national identity of a people comes under pressure from the outside; it just makes it easy for people to rally behind the fascists." But in particular in relation to your country, this is a huge propaganda hoax. Iran in fact was and is always considered from many in the West as an oasis of culture, education, creativity and tolerance in the otherwise backward middle east. Till 1979 there were very tight (sometimes even too tight) relationships between Iran and Germany. The relationships were governed by highest respect and the wish for mutual benefit. But this all ended shortly after 1979, not necessarily because the Shah was overruled, or because the industry was nationalized, but because of the massive violation of human rights by the mullahs regime. This is as simply as it stands here.
I really hope that Iran ones again becomes a strong, free and worldwide respected country, but the next elections for presidency (with many candidates already removed by the male-only Shura) dont give me much hope that this will happen soon. So I perhaps have to wait some more years to apply for a tourist visa again, after virtually being rejected this year. So we will travel next year to Tadjikistan instead. I think the people there are really much poorer than in Iran, but they understand that it does not help much to blame the rest of the world for this. My knowledge of the Russian language might even help me there to learn some basic persian words, since they use kyrillic letters to write Tadjik/Persian.
best greetings, Michael
Hi there radius (and hi to Naj also)
Since I was reading your last post on to this thread, I need to reply to some points. Sorry if my message extends very much.
It would be perfect for the iranians, just to live their lives as usual and don´t suffer an internal chaotic situation which is leading the economy to a real low, thanks to all the sanctions imposed by the western countries, sanctions that have been driven by the intenacional criminal (USA) and their allies.
Aren´t USA and their allies trying to squeeze the whole iranian scenario out of it? Do you think that the iranian people are dummies? My friend, they´re not like the americans, they are not brainwashed to death like the americans. They have minds, they have culture and are absolutely able to make a fair judgement and face the truth.
Do you really consider the islamic politics dogmatic? The glorious revolution of 1979 brightened everyone and spread an universal message of self-determination, independence and freedom from the colonial powers, encouraging other countries to take it as an example of bravery, culture, civilization ("the spirit of a world without spirit" according to Foucault).
Here we have USA, UK, Israel, killing people just for the very sake of it, in the name of money, without any pint of culture. And there is Iran, the birthplace of the finest civilization that ever existed.
And what about the freedom in western countries? What about the freedom of speech in the United States? What about the filthy propaganda which is delivered from the american media, from their president himself, by saying Iran is a danger to the whole world and that his task is to eliminate that threat.
WHY? Just because they are muslims? they are denying the facts: a powerful and rich country with selfdetermination and their capacity of providing themselves of anything, because we are talking about an an extraordinary people. The nation of Khayyam (my very 1st. poet when I was 8) and Shariati, my beloved philosopher...
"DEMOCRACY becomes very fragile when the national identity of a people comes under pressure from the outside; it just makes it easy for people to rally behind the fascists."
That is an overly simplistic statement. Could it apply it to America? Because many people is questioning the global management, the so called "big brother" treatment that USA imposes to other countries. How would you define democracy? They have democracy in the US? Have you read Tocqueville?
"(...) the massive violation of human rights by the mullahs regime. This is as simply as it stands here."
And the massive violations in Guantánamo, in Irak, in Afghanistan, even in South America, supporting the dictatorial regimes in the late 60-70s??
"I really hope that Iran ones again becomes a strong, free and worldwide respected country"
I really expect the international criminal to stop their filthy anti muslim propaganda, in the entire wolrd and understands, for once and ever, that Iran has the right to conduct and take care of their own business.
Mariana,
Dear Mariana; I have not had a chance to read and respond to radius yet, but you have covered some topics just as I would have.
BUT:
It is cool that you have read Shari'ati? Well so have I, when I was 14. When I was reading it, friends, much older than me, people who had 20-30 years more knowledge of history, politics, and the world in general, people who had fought against the Pahlavi regime and were discriminated against by the Islamic regime, smiled at me and considered me naive for being a Shariati fan.
Many years later, when I grew up, I figured out why. Truth is, Shariati was a reactionary but rhetorical second-rate philosopher. Actually, maybe he ws well ahead of his time; because he was constantly WARNING against the kind of religious dogmatism that is exercised by Iran's current rulers. So, if you are a true student of Shariati, then you would not be able to approve of what the Iranian regime (and particularly Ahmadinejad) is professing.
I agree with many of your points, but I encourage you to question your ability to argue authoritatively about Iran. Again, not that I do not appreciate your fandom. I do. However, as someone who happens to be well aware of American propaganda and other perils you point out (and in fact having dedicated a blog to it), I would like you to at least listen to the concerns I am raising. (of course, if you have a blog of your own that helps us know eachother more, that woudl be fantastic).
And here is my two penny:
Just because America is evil; and just because the Iranian regime denounced the American evil, does not make them an angel. And this argument goes both ways.
Radius,
I am compelled to respond to your first statement:
"I hope for a great future of the Iranian people, when politics become irrelevant for them"
Do you think that it is WISE or SANE for any nation to ignore "politics"? Don't you thik it is political ignorance in America and in Western Europe that has led to the general apathy and their facile-minded approach and understanding of the myriad complex issues "abroad"?
Do you think it has been advantageous to the rest of the humanity that in the 70s, the world suddenly became "apolitical", post-modern, after the wall fell?
In life EVERYTHING is political.
Every time you vote, you are exercising political choice. Every time you read on my blog, you are exercising political intelligence.
Politics is about how we relate to each other, to the world, to the institutions that maintain us as a group.
The reason why Iran is surviving in greatness is because it has been and will remain a political force in the world.
I totally agree with you that the Iranian nation does not deserve political and economic isolation; but the reason why Iran is isolated is because at the present moment, it is more advantageous for Israel and Saudi Arabia to use Iran as the scare crow. No one has empowered the neo-conservatives of the world as has Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. To many, he himself is a zionist agent; a fifth column, a spy of sorts with the mission to ruine Iran.
Even the supreme leader has stopped supporting this dubious character.
In any case, as peopel who are not living inside IRan, you, I and Mariana, have only ONE responsibility before the history: to stand up to bullies who are making it impossible for Iran to get out of isolation. The carrot and stick method has not worked, will not work.
The presidential candidates from ALL camps, reformist and hardliner are united in one demand:
IRAN WILL TALK BUT WILL NOT GIVE UP ITS RIGHTS NOR WILL IT SUCCUMB TO BULLYING.
Until the world stops bullying Iran, and deciding for its internal politics, we will not have any space to tackle other important issues such as human rights and civil freedoms. As long as the world keeps Iran in a defensive stance, we are a war state, and thus many liberties are limited.
Is this hard to grasp?
Michael:
"There is no bipolar world any more, and nations nowaday define their international influence not by military power, but by its economic and cultural potential."
Are you sleeping brother? Have you not noticed the world is already polarized between the "have" and "have not"? Have you not noticed the new boogyman "Islam"? or are you yourself too stuck on considering "dogmatic Islam" the "uncivilized new enemy" to consider it as a formidable force.
You say there is no bi polar tension in the world and that he world is not defined in terms of military power? if so, then what are US, and Israel doing stockpiling their military power?!
Yes I acknowledge Iran's terrorist actions in Germany; but if Germany is to sever ties with anyone who assassinated its so-considered political opponents abroad; then Germany should also sever ties with Israel, with the USA (and its drone attacks), and Russia.
It is time the world acknowledges its OWN political hypocrisy before preaching Iran!
Thank you!
Dear Naj
First, I want to thank you for publishing all my comments. I´m aware you don´t agree with me most of the time, but still you don´t block any of my messages. :)
About your questions related Shariati, I agree on what you said. I´m not that donkey. I know how he warned the iranian people about the danger of a teocratical kingdom, because his idea of an Islamic Republic had to be articulated in the idea of a direct democracy: power to the people. Concerning your critical comment towards AN, I guess he wanted to change the system and he just could not do it. Not that he is lack of cleverness, I think the man is a genius (my humble opinion).
In Latin America he is really apreciated and respected because of his attitude towards the yankee empire. Don´t you like that many people from outside Iran are backing your nation up, in order to face the criminal empire?
Let´s leave the Ahmadinejad issue for a moment.
I came to Shariati essays mainly for 2 reasons: 1) Karl Marx was my biggest source of inspiration to turn into a political scientist at the University of Buenos Aires. 2) My mother´s family came from Lebanon and I´m muslim.
Shariati´s red shiism and his islamo marxism is really significant to me, still nowadays.
On the other hand, I never said I was an "authorized" voice to lecture aout iranians situation from the inside, I cannot be aware of all the internal details of the regime. However, the love and admiration towards your home country leads me to read more and more about it, and reseach and learn from different opinions. It would be easier for me to post at an Ahmadinejadist blog. But I search in both ways.
Unfortunatelly, I don´t have a blogger account. I manage the bloody Facebook as a blog, to express my point of views. Does NR have a FB site too?
I´d love to exchange opinions on such diverse topics with you. If you like, feel free to email me anytime to mariana.polizzi@yahoo.com.ar
I´m afraid I´ll keep on browsing your blog, hope you don´t mind!
Best regards,
Mariana Fatima Polizzi Mane (yeah, i sign it with my full name!)
Hi MAriana, yes Neoresistance has a facebook account. look at the top right corner for the link.
"I am not that donkey" :)) Are you Iranian, Mariana? That is a very Persian expression :)
Just liked it!
Wish I was :)
Cheers.
To avoid upsetting somebody here again with my Western arrogance, I better ask your opinion about the validity of a recent article by an Iranian blogger. I acknowledge the complete absence in his article of any false blaming foreign powers for the situation in Iran. You might read his analysis posted to Iranian.com here by copy/pasting the following URL into another browser window (http://iranian.com/posts/view/post/15233)
regards, Michael
Michael,
if you start a conversation with admitting to your "western arrogance" then you can be sure, as your delegates who are 'arrogantly' negotiating with Iran, that you will not get too far.
What you need to really understand is that the voices from Iran are multiple. The article that you shared, by an unnamed writer, is beating the common Iranian-on-Neo-Con payroll drum. that we need a drastic change in getting rid of clerical monarchy.
Well, some other Iranians theorize that if Iran was indeed un-interested in monarchy, it will not have created a new one after it ousted the last one!
Reading multiple views, disambiguating yourself of the notion that the Capitalist-Western model of democracy is applicable to the entire world; and doing a comparative analysis of the power structure in countries like China, Iran, Russia, will hopefully mellow down your 'Western arrogance' to admitting that the "old world" may not be easily decipherable with a 300 year old post-Enlightenment psychological vocabulary.
Hi Naj, if you go through all my recent comments you should recognise that I did not used the word "deomcracy" as single time (except when citing your original own words). In fact I am very reluctant proposing the idea of deomcracy as an universal remedy. Looking around in history, claims of democracy were too often misused to sugarcoat extremims (every second violent militia in Africa claims to be a democratic movement). An democracy could not stop the rise of fascist ideologies in Europe neither. And not forget that the country where I grew up also called itself a democratic republic, despite the whole state was only concerned in protecting the ruling power of a single political party.
Therefore, I don't understand why in your last reply you suggest I should "...disambiguate myself of the notion that the Capitalist-Western model of democracy is applicable to the entire world...". I don't feel any obligation to do this.
But what I firmly belief is that people anywhere in the world and in every culture and political system deserve PERSONAL FREEDOM. Freedom of thought, of speech, of faith, of sexual orientation, of choosing a profession etc is A PREREQUISITE OF HUMAN AND SOCIAL AND CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT. The desire for individual freedom is deeply rooted in the human mind, and this is what distinguishes us from primates.
I would be extremely happy to see that Iran becomes a liberal society, where students are not shot dead on the streets for claiming their votes, where an actress is not sentenced to 90 slashes for wearing the wrong clothes in a movie, where a world-class writer is not put under a fathwa for a story that does not comply with the quran or where thousands of people are arrested for converting from the state-approved religion to another one.
regards, Michael
Michael,
"But what I firmly belief is that people anywhere in the world and in every culture and political system deserve PERSONAL FREEDOM. Freedom of thought, of speech, of faith, of sexual orientation, of choosing a profession etc is A PREREQUISITE OF HUMAN AND SOCIAL AND CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT. The desire for individual freedom is deeply rooted in the human mind, and this is what distinguishes us from primates."
I cannot disagree with you. In fact, I agree with you 100%. However, if you ask me, I would say freedom itself is a misused and misleading 'term'.
There are the freedoms that Iranians do have:
-Freedom of thought (else, how would the country have raised so many 'brains' to drain from)
-Freedom of speech (people are free to talk, but their may or may not be consequences. The consequence woudl correlate with how 'dangerous' the speech is and the danger is measured by how effective and how threatening to the objective of a particular interest groups it is.) For instance, CURRENTLY, people are openly critical of the government and its corruption, the government is openly critical of the parliament and the judiciary, people can nag and swear at all three. There is no uniting 'order' from above to shut people who criticize and I guarantee you that Iranians are far more vocal and critical, in EVERY aspect of life, than average citizens of the industrial world. For instance, take the women movement. But keep in mind, that a lot of times it is not the government that is limiting or harnessing the freedom of women and gays, it is the CULTURAL traditions; and the government tryng to appease and please its base which is old-fashioned, backward, and WEALTHY: it is the Bazaar!
Freedom of Faith: One of the tenets of Islam is "freedom of faith". We learn in school that in faith there may be no doubt. Jews, Christians and Zoroasterians are free to practice their religion. With the exception of Bahai's (who are considered a political cult, and indeed threatening to clergy because they advocate a milder modernized version of Islam), other faiths are not 'condemned'. Bahais can also practice their faith, as long as they don't preach or spread it. If they are caught advertising for their faith, they are in trouble. So much like how the communist party of china fears falun gong. But, no one arrests you, or prevents you from living just because you are Jew or Bahai or Christian.
-Sexual orientation: Iranians, as a CULTURE, are sexually uptight. There is a culture of don's ask, don't tell. People in general do not flaunt their sexuality. You would be surprised to know that "mullah culture" is considered 'filthy' because they are by and large promiscuous and also 'sexually graphic' in their sermons! It is a very curious and funny paradox in the society, but it deserves proper analysis and research. Sodomy is a sin, so is adultry; and if you happen to be caught by your enemy or your competition engaged in either, and then if you happen to be prosecuted in a small town and by a backward judge, then you can kiss your life goodbye. BUT, both sodomy and adultery happen in Iran on an hourly basis. The "sharia" itself has made it rather difficult to 'prove' and thus sentence such 'crimes'. Again, I am emphasizing that the media, and the "western Islamo-Iranophobia" make things sound FAR WORSE than they actually are.
- Choosing a profession: Give me one example where people in Iran are limited on professional choice and I try to decipher it for you.
(continues)
You give the following examples:
where students are not shot dead on the streets for claiming their votes, where an actress is not sentenced to 90 slashes for wearing the wrong clothes in a movie, where a world-class writer is not put under a fathwa for a story that does not comply with the quran or where thousands of people are arrested for converting from the state-approved religion to another one.
- By local estimates 3 million people flooded the streets on the day that Neda was shot to death. Do the math. How many fo those 3 million where "shot at?". Ask, why the government of IRan vehemently denied responsibility for shooting at Neda? If teh government was openly brutal, It would have said yes we killed her and we will kill more. And ask yourself why you do not raise questions when American protesters are killed by Israeli forces in similar protests.
- Actress sentenced to 90 lashes. Yup! But was she actually lashed?! As far as I follow her, she is free, lives in Iran and continues to openly speak her political mind on the facebook.
- Fatwa on Rushdi was given by Khomeini who is long dead. Rushdi and Muslims have a mutual hatred for eachother. I denounce all Fatwas. I denounce a lot of Islamic fundamentalisms; but I also question WHY, under WHAT HISTORICAL CIRCUMSTANCE did those radical voices drown ours? Seek the flood source!
- Thousands of people arrested for converting from "state-approved religion"?!?!?! Can you please point me out to the source of this information.
Now, I am not trying to say Iran is a FREE society. But I want to emphasize that the major problem in Iran is not freedom, it is not a top-down peril that is limiting the great Iranian society. It is CORRUPTION. I think the government of Iran is a cultural consequence; and this cultural consequence is in a process of revising, re-evaluating, and reforming itself. This process will be accelerated if Iran is accepted into the world community. Otherwise, the government will continue to behave like un enfant terrible.
In the face of INTERNATIONAL INJUSTICE that Iran faces, we have no room for crying justice from within.
Hi Naj, thank you very much for your detailed and very informative reply. I have to admit that I learned quite a bit from it, how complex the Iranian society is and how difficult it might be tu judge from the outside what is really going on.
So as you describe it, there seems to be a slowly arising willingness to accept the pluralistic social pattern of the people.
I only have to intervene at one of your remarks: You said it was "just" one person shot dead on the streets of Tehran during the 2009 upheavals. But wasn't it Muhammed (PBUH) who said that "what you are doing to a single of my brothers, I count you have done to the whole mankind" ?
And second, there were definitely many more who died later after being arrested to Evin.
regads, Michael
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