http://www.cais-soas.com/News/2007/October2007/30-10-overnight.htm
LONDON, (CAIS) -- The destruction of one of the biggest historical sites in the Chahar-Mahal Bakhtiari province by the Islamic Republic Ministry of Road and Transportation was reported by the Persian service of ISNA on Monday, October 22.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
What I Said
By David HorowitzFrontPageMagazine.com Tuesday, October 30, 2007
[The following is a speech given by David Horowitz at the University of Wisconsin last Monday as part of the university’s Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week program]
I understand that the cold weather set in just to day so I planned this event to warm things up. Actually, it wasn’t my plan to warm things up. The heat has been provided by a national hate campaign organized by the political left to intimidate and discredit the student organizers of the event and prevent the discussion they hoped to stimulate from taking place. Some of this hate crowd is present tonight. Yes, I can hear you. You attack this event by alleging that it is put on by racists and bigots and Islamo-phobes. I’m going to disappoint you, if you listen. This evening is not about prejudice against Muslims. On the contrary, this evening is on behalf of all those Muslims who are oppressed by Islamo-Fascism, which you would know if you read what we have said.
[The following is a speech given by David Horowitz at the University of Wisconsin last Monday as part of the university’s Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week program]
I understand that the cold weather set in just to day so I planned this event to warm things up. Actually, it wasn’t my plan to warm things up. The heat has been provided by a national hate campaign organized by the political left to intimidate and discredit the student organizers of the event and prevent the discussion they hoped to stimulate from taking place. Some of this hate crowd is present tonight. Yes, I can hear you. You attack this event by alleging that it is put on by racists and bigots and Islamo-phobes. I’m going to disappoint you, if you listen. This evening is not about prejudice against Muslims. On the contrary, this evening is on behalf of all those Muslims who are oppressed by Islamo-Fascism, which you would know if you read what we have said.
Salt Men to Undergo Surgery
http://www.cais-soas.com/News/2007/October2007/30-10-salt.htm
LONDON, (CAIS) -- The Archaeology Research Center of Iran (ARCI) plans to conduct a series of surgical operations on the ancient salt men of Zanjan’s Chehrabad Salt Mine, the Persian service of CHN reported on Saturday.
The project is being undertaken to complete archaeological studies and carry out other scientific research on the unique mummies, ARCI director Mohammad-Hassan Fazeli Nashli said.
The project is being undertaken to complete archaeological studies and carry out other scientific research on the unique mummies, ARCI director Mohammad-Hassan Fazeli Nashli said.
6th Phase of Jiroft Excavations Due
http://www.cais-soas.com/News/2007/October2007/30-10.htm
LONDON, (CAIS) -- An archaeological team consisting of Iranian and European archaeologists will start the 6th phase of Jiroft excavations in Kerman province.“A group of professional domestic and foreign archaeologists is to start the sixth phase of archaeological excavations in Konar Sandal, the small fortress, and Matout-Abad cemetery near Jiroft,” said archaeologist Nader Soleimani of Iran Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization (ICHHTO).
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Muslims defend veil
By KEVIN CONNOR, SUN MEDIA
The Conservative government's controversial plans to force Muslim women to remove their veil before voting is not needed because there are other methods to ensure who is casting a ballot, some Muslims say.
The legislation introduced Friday would amend the Elections Act in response to an Elections Canada decision earlier this fall that its officers could not legally require someone to show his or her face before voting.
The Conservative government's controversial plans to force Muslim women to remove their veil before voting is not needed because there are other methods to ensure who is casting a ballot, some Muslims say.
The legislation introduced Friday would amend the Elections Act in response to an Elections Canada decision earlier this fall that its officers could not legally require someone to show his or her face before voting.
U.S. and Turkey Thwart Armenian Genocide Bill
By CARL HULSE
Published: October 26, 2007
WASHINGTON, Oct. 25 — With backing from more than half of the House this summer, proponents of a resolution condemning the Armenian genocide were confident that they would finally prevail in their quest for Congressional recognition.
Adding to their optimism, Speaker Nancy Pelosi was a longtime backer of the resolution, which had been pushed mainly by her fellow Californians, and was committed to bringing it to a House vote.
Published: October 26, 2007
WASHINGTON, Oct. 25 — With backing from more than half of the House this summer, proponents of a resolution condemning the Armenian genocide were confident that they would finally prevail in their quest for Congressional recognition.
Adding to their optimism, Speaker Nancy Pelosi was a longtime backer of the resolution, which had been pushed mainly by her fellow Californians, and was committed to bringing it to a House vote.
Iranians Dismiss Sanctions From U.S.
By NAZILA FATHI
Published: October 27, 2007
TEHRAN, Oct. 26 — Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator on Friday dismissed the sweeping new sanctions announced by the Bush administration against an elite unit of the Revolutionary Guard in Iran as insignificant and said they would have no effect on the country’s nuclear policies, the news agency ISNA reported.
Published: October 27, 2007
TEHRAN, Oct. 26 — Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator on Friday dismissed the sweeping new sanctions announced by the Bush administration against an elite unit of the Revolutionary Guard in Iran as insignificant and said they would have no effect on the country’s nuclear policies, the news agency ISNA reported.
Friday, October 26, 2007
U.S. slaps unprecedented sanctions on Iranian military
Steven Edwards , CanWest News ServicePublished: Thursday, October 25, 2007
UNITED NATIONS - Against a backdrop of mounting talk of a military strike against Iran, the United States has slapped tough sanctions on Tehran's military - the first ever against a country's armed forces.
The measures, announced Thursday, target the finances of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps by banning U.S. citizens from dealing with some 22 Iranian government agencies, three state-owned banks and a number of individuals.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
"Peace and Stability in the Middle East and Beyond: A Hostage to Iranian Intransigence and Adventurism."
By Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi
It is indeed a great pleasure for me to be among you tonight. I cannot help but recall some wonderful memories of my first trip to your beautiful country, some 32 years ago! I thank you for the opportunity you have given me to share my thoughts and perspective on a topic that rightly preoccupies the world. My country Iran, under the tyrannical rule of a theocracy, has unfortunately become a source of premonitions and fear rather than inspiration and hope. I shall begin by describing the background to current state of affairs. It has to do with the build-up of a strategy which I call “politics of Shiite hegemony”. In a quick sketch I shall also describe the various building blocks connected with this strategy prior to proceeding to demonstrate how the clerical regime has abused the advantages it has gained as a result of this strategy. Iran of today and yesterdayLet me preface this presentation with a word about what remains uppermost in my heart and mind: My country Iran. Here, I should like to draw a clear line: As a nation-state and as a people, Iran and Iranians should not be confused with the clerical regime, and what it projects. Iran’s multi- millennia culture has suffered from the fundamentalist yoke, but is alive and defiant. Its strength has conditioned and reshaped the paradigm the Islamist regime had hoped to impose and perpetuate. This distinction is essential both for understanding Iran’s behavior as well as the dynamics it generates in the region.Late in August this year the Osnabrueck Symphony Orchestra from north-western Germany travelled to Tehran and played Beethoven and Brahms in Roudaki Hall – Tehran’s famous opera house. The previous year it was the Tehran Symphony Orchestra which had performed in Osnabrueck. This cultural exchange – a banal event in all other circumstances – was remarkable in some respects. If it evoked surprise and curiosity, even criticism in some quarters, for me, it was a comforting vindication of what I just said. But let me develop this thought just a bit more.Western classical music, to be sure, is not part of traditional Iranian culture, and yes it’s elitist. But the fact that the Tehran symphony Orchestra and the Roudaki Hall have survived the vagaries of these past three decades is yet another evidence that the forces of darkness, the cult of death, martyrdom and superstition has not conquered the spirit of our nation.We have seen more glaring examples of this reality in international film festivals, in world sport events, and still more in the unconquerable spirit of our women and in the daring defiance of our youth. Women have stood for their rights in a cult that prefers to relegate them to an inferior status as a household object. Our youth have defied and derided a regime which is not mindful of their future but is obsessed with the hereafter. The Iranian youth keep defending their right to live their age and the epoch in which they are born; that is to say in a world flourished by science and learning, and not mourning and martyrdom. People may have forgotten what that revolutionary paradigm might have looked like. At the onset of the Islamist revolution, in the shadow of kangaroo courts and massive executions, music of all kinds were banned from the airwaves. The universities were closed down and subjected to most vicious purges. The darkest names, the grisliest figures in our collective memory became the icons of the revolution; they were exulted and canonized.The core clique that dominated the revolution was of the same ilk as the Jihadists whom the world is now so familiar with. They came to power with a single-minded will to destroy past achievements and remodel our society after their medieval moulds. But Iran was and is a nation with a proud history and culture which in 1979 had behind it more than half a century of relentless and widespread reconstruction efforts. Yes, a theocracy was imposed on our nation, but it could not fully escape the imprint of that multi-millennia culture. This is one reason why Iran of today is the scene of stark contrasts, and its polity is so rife with complexities and contradictions.The Make-up of the Strategy of Shiite HegemonyHow did this state of mind resonate in regional politics, and more broadly in the international sphere? Let me first recall that thirty years ago Iran was still a force of stability in the region. Iran, under the previous regime, had succeeded to strike a balance between the principle of good neighborliness and its strategic concerns in the context of the cold war. Iran had aligned itself with America and the West for historical and geo-strategic reasons, but relations with the USSR were also friendly and productive. The old dispute with Iraq over a common stretch of waterway had amicably been resolved. So was an old claim of sovereignty over Bahrain. In the Persian Gulf, Iran saw to the safe flow of maritime commerce and the security of waterways. In Oman, Iran had intervened to help the sultanate quell a radically inspired insurgency. With the oil industry finally under full national control and the oil price optimized, my late father had held high ambitions for the future of our country. During the two decades before 1975, per capita income in Iran grew faster than in Turkey, while keeping pace with South Korea. By 1975, the level of per capita GDP in Iran had far exceeded those attained in Korea and Turkey. But the task remained unfinished, and in the zeal to achieve more and faster, a number of fatal errors were committed. This was the Iran that the revolutionaries inherited. I would like to dwell a little on foreign policy choices made at the onset of the regime, and its effects on regional dynamics. It will be seen that these decisions were not driven by national interest, but by ideology. Much of the choices made were underpinned on an ideological hostility towards the United States and Israel. Indeed, ever since the storming of the US Embassy in Tehran and the taking of hostages in November 1979, “militant anti-Americanism” has been the cornerstone of the clerical regime’s foreign policy agenda.Driven thus by a xenophobic claim to faith, the regime has moved quickly from its very outset to assert its Shiite identity by acting swiftly to mobilize Shiite communities in Iraq, Lebanon, Bahrain and elsewhere. The so-called “Shiite Crescent” label has only recently come to the vogue but there is nothing new about it. The first target in Iran’s strategy of Shiite hegemony was Iraq. When he came to power, Khomeini set out to replicate the Islamic revolution in Iraq. His ambition was to supplant the Baathist regime by an Islamic government modeled after the government he had himself established in Iran.The events that subsequently ensued, starting with Iraq’s aggression against my country in September 1980, are a matter of record; suffice it to say that, despite the very great sacrifices of the Iranian people which had succeeded in turning the tide against the Iraqi invaders by 1982, Khomeini refused the substantial offers of peace with reparations – and its attendant glory – in the vain pursuit of the same goals that had been at the heart of the conflict: Liberating Shiite holly places and establishing an Islamic Republic in Iraq. Six years and hundreds of thousands more Iranian casualties later, he realized he would not achieve that goal. In the end, his allegoric “chalice of venom” speech put an end to the longest conventional war in the century, and one of the bloodiest.As a result of Khomeini’s obstinate intransigence, Saddam Hussein had emerged from the eight-year war with Iran feeling stronger. Perhaps it was this notion of self delusion that impelled him to embark on a losing gamble in Kuwait. In any event, his invasion of Kuwait in August 1990 created a chain of events which has brought us to the present day situation that we face in Iraq and the region.It is no secret that policies pursued by Washington since the invasion of Iraq in April 2003 have created a new paradox. At least some of the objectives Iran had sought but could not obtain through eight years of war have now been attained as a consequence of American failures in Iraq. As a result, no one today disputes the fact that Iran exercises real influence in Iraq and that some of the current movers and shakers in the Iraqi government are figures who have a long history of collaboration with the Islamic leadership in Tehran.In Lebanon, the creation of Hezbollah was the second important building block that has now given shape to this now much talked about “Shiite Crescent”. Unlike what is often assumed, Hezbollah was not a product of Lebanon's demographic diversity and injustice to the Shiite community. Long before Hezbollah came into existence another Shiite entity under Imam Musa Sadr was active in Lebanon. AMAL, as that movement was known, was not just a politico-military outfit but was involved in social and community-based projects on behalf of Lebanese Shiites. The revolutionary regime in Iran was looking for a surrogate in Lebanon, and AMAL did not fit the bill. Consequently, as of the early 1980s, the regime’s henchmen – operating out of Damascus – set out to create a new entity that was launched in 1982 following the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. To supplant AMAL as the main Shiite movement in Lebanon, Hezbollah needed plenty of funds for its social projects, maintenance and training of its militia and other expenses which are currently estimated conservatively at half a billion dollars per year. Their benefactor was no other than the clerical regime in Tehran which was able to solicit the tacit support and assistance of Syria as well. A third element in the make-up of the strategy of hegemony has been the support of non-Shiite Arab extremist groups involved in Jihad against Israel. Again, the main Palestinian movement Fattah, headed by the likes of Yasser Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas, was seen as secular and ineffectual. Having over the years courted various extremist factions, the Islamic regime has today ended up embracing HAMAS and Islamic Jihad.Finally, to service its illusion of grandeur, the clerical regime has seen fit to embark on a clandestine nuclear weapons program in disregard of its obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty as well as the interest and security of the Iranian people. It has now been clearly established that, apart from keeping nearly two decade of secret activities under wraps, the Islamic authorities had also clandestinely shopped for centrifuges and weapon designs in the black-market with the help of such people as the nuclear entrepreneur, A.Q. Khan, who is now under house arrest in Pakistan. When the extent of the regime’s nuclear program was eventually disclosed in 2003, the regime’s response was to pose as an innocent victim of bullying by the United States and others, whom they accused of wanting to “deprive Iran of it inalienable rights to explore atomic science for peaceful purposes.” While this right is recognized under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, its exercise has never been unconditional. In fact, Article IV of the NPT stipulates that this right should be exercised in conformity with the two main premises of the Treaty: namely, non-production and non-acquisition of nuclear weapons. Today, however, the international community is expressing its serious concerns because all objective indicators point to a conclusion that the clerical regime is hell-bent on acquiring nuclear weapons in order to ensure the continuation of its bloodstained rule at home, and the sealing of its hegemony in the region. The Iranian regime’s disingenuous pretences about need for nuclear fuel independence are also in stark contrast to Iran’s dependence on hydrocarbon sources of energy. The regime in Iran has only just begun to tackle the scandalous situation of petroleum imports and subsidies. Almost 30 years into the clerics’ rule, Iran – of all places – imports 40% of its daily consumption of refined petroleum products from abroad. At a time when the country is so dependent on such a large quantities of gasoline imports for its day-to-day mundane needs, it is simply hilarious to watch regime figures pontificating about the country’s need for independence in the nuclear fuel cycle – particularly at a time when not even a single reactor has become operational. This ostrich-like posturing of course fools only the fools.Islamic Republic and Politics of Shiite Hegemony: Now I would like to turn to the central theme of regional politics, and see how the clerical regime makes use of the assets that it has acquired by design or default.It can be seen from what I have just outlined that the clerical regime has made use both of “soft power” – namely radicalization and manipulation of Shiite communities in the region – as well as “hard power” through heavy spending in armaments, including of course the very expensive nuclear weapons program, while at the same time retaining two parallel fully-fledged armies in the shape of the country’s regular armed forces and the “Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps” or IRGC, whose nefarious involvements in extraterritorial adventures in places like Iraq, Lebanon and Afghanistan has been the subject of so much discussion in the past several months.Moreover, through its recent calls for the destruction of the State of Israel and its outright denial of the holocaust, the clerical regime has today firmly established itself as the dean of the region’s so-called “rejection front”. Not even Syria is quite in the same league, while its ideological offspring, Hezbollah, has lent credence to this pretension. It goes without saying that this kind of provocative posturing does have its appeal to large segments of frustrated Arab and Moslem citizens across the globe.Hezbollah has indeed played a triple role, all of which suit and cater to the interests of Tehran’s theocracy: Firstly, Hezbollah has created a strategic buffer against Israel not just for the rest of Lebanon and Syria, but significantly also for Iran. Invariably, the summer of 2006 battles in southern Lebanon were seen as a proxy war between Iran and Israel, and by extension with America. According to most analysts, in any plan for a pre-emptive strike against Iran’s nuclear installations, Hezbollah is no doubt a factor that will need to be reckoned with.Secondly, thanks to Iranian petrodollars, Hezbollah maintains a gigantic welfare machine for the Shiite community. Finally, by the same token, Hezbollah has become a domineering political force in Lebanon acting to sap the country’s independence in favor of Syria, and preventing the more moderate political factions. Recent tragic events in Lebanon once again brought to light the vicious designs orchestrated by Iran against the democratically elected government of Lebanon. The clerical regime’s leadership of “the rejection front” is more pronounced in Palestine. The mullahs support HAMAS in its face-off with Al-FATAH and in its defiance of Israel. Other radical Palestinian groups who refuse to acknowledge Israel have equally been supported. The clerical regime thrives in the current impasse and would want to perpetuate it. As long as peace in the Middle-East remains elusive, Hezbollah, the Islamic Jihad, HAMAS and other clients of Iran and Syria could claim legitimacy among the Arab masses from which Tehran’s theocracy gains political mileage. If peace finally is achieved, the clerical regime would be nobody’s hero outside a strictly sectarian setting. In Iraq, the situation is equally complex. Iran drew unhoped-for dividends from the American venture in Iraq. As I already pointed out, forces that some 27 years ago were unleashed by Khomeini to overthrow Saddam Hussein and replicate the Islamic revolution are now in position of influence or power. But challenges to the ascendancy of the new Shiite-based ruling circle are taunting and relentless. There are Baathist remnants, dispossessed of power, who joined the disgruntled Sunni tribes in an insurgency to restore themselves to pre-eminence; there are the Al Qaeda linked insurgents who seek to oust Americans and the Shiite parvenu in order to gain a foothold. Some regional powers are concerned about Iran’s influence and Shiite ascendancy at the expense of the Sunnis. Within the Shiite factions also an undercurrent of enmity and resentment is palpable. Different rival militia groups attached to Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) or Muqtada al-Sadr have been engaged in infightings in a quest for ascendancy. They have penetrated the security forces and are involved in daily acts of kidnapping and murder.How do the ruling mullahs in Tehran exploit the situation in Iraq to their advantage? The first point to consider is that in the mullah’s psyche the instinct of self preservation is paramount. From this perspective, their first priority should be to get the American forces out of Iraq, and Afghanistan for that matter. The strategy to achieve this is simple! Prolong the current state of chaos and mayhem beyond the patience of the American public and the life-span of the current administration. To achieve this goal, the number of the American casualties in Iraq should go up; hence the supply of IED’s (Improvised Explosive Devices) and funding and training of various insurgents to exhaust the American will to continue with its mission in that country.The second priority is to ensure an enduring foothold in Iraq and perpetuate the Shiite ascendancy. The current Shiite ruling circle under prime-minister Maliki – in spite of having undisputable ties with Iran – could not fully be relied on as a long-term ally. The clerical regime is therefore seeking to build up a bogyman modeled after Hezbollah to act as its surrogate in any future civil war, thus ensuring the preservation of Iran’s influence in Iraq. Who other than Mugtada al-Sadr could fit the bill? The recent pull out of al- Sadr ministers and deputies from Maliki’s coalition is a clear indication of the rift, not just within the coalition, but also between Maliki and the Islamic Republic. It should further be noted that among the main Shiite poles of power, only al-Sadr fully subscribes to Iran’s objective of getting American and allied forces out of Iraq.There are similar policies and patterns, albeit on a smaller scale in Afghanistan, but in the interest of time I shall forego entering into that aspect. Does the “Shiite Crescent” and the politics being built around it make Tehran’s theocracy a great regional power? There are some analysts who argue that Iran has already emerged as a regional super power. As always there are some elements of truth in any hype, but in my view, such a premise is fundamentally faulty and flawed.The sheer size of Iran and its geo-strategic location no doubt imparts on Iran the status of a major regional power. This is a country of 70 million inhabitants spreading over 1.6 million square kilometers which includes the entire northern shores of the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea. The current problem is that the clerical regime has sought to impose its hegemony beyond what is inherent in its geo-strategic profile. This has in turn generated a strong current of opinion that advocates both engagement and negotiations with the regime. Nonetheless, today there are clear signs that the politics of Shiite ascendancy and regional adventurism pursued by Tehran is starting to backfire. In the opposite horizon, a new arch – that of a Sunni alliance led by a number of key Arab countries – is starting to emerge. Today, this confrontation is becoming more evident in places like Iraq and Lebanon where, armed with Arab funds and other material support, the Sunnis have started to copy the kind of structures the Shias have been developing in the past two decades. Negotiating with the Islamic Republic: Prior to concluding my remarks, let me say a few words about dialogue and engagement with the clerical regime. While such an approach is, as I just said, being advocated by a main current of opinion, there is another extreme who argue for the military option in the shape of military strikes, even all-out war. I have time and again expressed my firm opposition to any military solution. Moreover, the current talk of war could alienate public opinion inside my country and even unite it behind a much despised regime. Iranians in their great majority have friendly feelings towards the United States and the West. Therefore, it is important that they should not be let down.There is no doubt that dialogue must be privileged in all circumstances. But those who confuse the process with purpose and view negotiations as a panacea are in for disappointment. Henry Kissinger once rightly pointed out that "diplomacy never operates in a vacuum;" it succeeds when the parties arrive at a frame of mind or at a realization that the risks involved in non-negotiation outweigh benefits of preserving one's original position. The process of give-and-take that results from negotiation is incidental to that paramount realization. Have the ruling mullahs reached that mental threshold? The answer in my judgment is negative, although a resolute global strategy – short of resort to military action – could transform the current mindset. A few years ago we saw such a transformation in the attitude of Colonel Muamar Qaddafi in Libya.But here, I want to emphasize the following: I should like to strongly point out that no durable settlement of dispute with the Islamic Republic can ever be achieved, should that settlement be reached at the expense of the Iranian people. In clarifying this point even further, I must stress that while Iran’s nuclear ambitions are at present, the focus of international attention and scrutiny, most Iranians are hoping that the current level of unprecedented pressures will not only help end the current threat which the clerical regime is posing to regional and international security, but to also usher in a new era where notions such as freedom, democracy and human rights are all fully adhered to by a responsible government that is both of the people and committed to the future welfare of the people.My country, Iran, is youthful in its demographic properties, rich with a multi millennia culture and an alive and vibrant society. In our defiance of the ruling theocracy, my compatriots need and deserve all the moral help and support they can get in order to bring about fundamental change by establishing a system of governance that is in keeping with the imperatives of our time: a secular democracy in place of the current ruling theocracy. I thank you for your patience.
It is indeed a great pleasure for me to be among you tonight. I cannot help but recall some wonderful memories of my first trip to your beautiful country, some 32 years ago! I thank you for the opportunity you have given me to share my thoughts and perspective on a topic that rightly preoccupies the world. My country Iran, under the tyrannical rule of a theocracy, has unfortunately become a source of premonitions and fear rather than inspiration and hope. I shall begin by describing the background to current state of affairs. It has to do with the build-up of a strategy which I call “politics of Shiite hegemony”. In a quick sketch I shall also describe the various building blocks connected with this strategy prior to proceeding to demonstrate how the clerical regime has abused the advantages it has gained as a result of this strategy. Iran of today and yesterdayLet me preface this presentation with a word about what remains uppermost in my heart and mind: My country Iran. Here, I should like to draw a clear line: As a nation-state and as a people, Iran and Iranians should not be confused with the clerical regime, and what it projects. Iran’s multi- millennia culture has suffered from the fundamentalist yoke, but is alive and defiant. Its strength has conditioned and reshaped the paradigm the Islamist regime had hoped to impose and perpetuate. This distinction is essential both for understanding Iran’s behavior as well as the dynamics it generates in the region.Late in August this year the Osnabrueck Symphony Orchestra from north-western Germany travelled to Tehran and played Beethoven and Brahms in Roudaki Hall – Tehran’s famous opera house. The previous year it was the Tehran Symphony Orchestra which had performed in Osnabrueck. This cultural exchange – a banal event in all other circumstances – was remarkable in some respects. If it evoked surprise and curiosity, even criticism in some quarters, for me, it was a comforting vindication of what I just said. But let me develop this thought just a bit more.Western classical music, to be sure, is not part of traditional Iranian culture, and yes it’s elitist. But the fact that the Tehran symphony Orchestra and the Roudaki Hall have survived the vagaries of these past three decades is yet another evidence that the forces of darkness, the cult of death, martyrdom and superstition has not conquered the spirit of our nation.We have seen more glaring examples of this reality in international film festivals, in world sport events, and still more in the unconquerable spirit of our women and in the daring defiance of our youth. Women have stood for their rights in a cult that prefers to relegate them to an inferior status as a household object. Our youth have defied and derided a regime which is not mindful of their future but is obsessed with the hereafter. The Iranian youth keep defending their right to live their age and the epoch in which they are born; that is to say in a world flourished by science and learning, and not mourning and martyrdom. People may have forgotten what that revolutionary paradigm might have looked like. At the onset of the Islamist revolution, in the shadow of kangaroo courts and massive executions, music of all kinds were banned from the airwaves. The universities were closed down and subjected to most vicious purges. The darkest names, the grisliest figures in our collective memory became the icons of the revolution; they were exulted and canonized.The core clique that dominated the revolution was of the same ilk as the Jihadists whom the world is now so familiar with. They came to power with a single-minded will to destroy past achievements and remodel our society after their medieval moulds. But Iran was and is a nation with a proud history and culture which in 1979 had behind it more than half a century of relentless and widespread reconstruction efforts. Yes, a theocracy was imposed on our nation, but it could not fully escape the imprint of that multi-millennia culture. This is one reason why Iran of today is the scene of stark contrasts, and its polity is so rife with complexities and contradictions.The Make-up of the Strategy of Shiite HegemonyHow did this state of mind resonate in regional politics, and more broadly in the international sphere? Let me first recall that thirty years ago Iran was still a force of stability in the region. Iran, under the previous regime, had succeeded to strike a balance between the principle of good neighborliness and its strategic concerns in the context of the cold war. Iran had aligned itself with America and the West for historical and geo-strategic reasons, but relations with the USSR were also friendly and productive. The old dispute with Iraq over a common stretch of waterway had amicably been resolved. So was an old claim of sovereignty over Bahrain. In the Persian Gulf, Iran saw to the safe flow of maritime commerce and the security of waterways. In Oman, Iran had intervened to help the sultanate quell a radically inspired insurgency. With the oil industry finally under full national control and the oil price optimized, my late father had held high ambitions for the future of our country. During the two decades before 1975, per capita income in Iran grew faster than in Turkey, while keeping pace with South Korea. By 1975, the level of per capita GDP in Iran had far exceeded those attained in Korea and Turkey. But the task remained unfinished, and in the zeal to achieve more and faster, a number of fatal errors were committed. This was the Iran that the revolutionaries inherited. I would like to dwell a little on foreign policy choices made at the onset of the regime, and its effects on regional dynamics. It will be seen that these decisions were not driven by national interest, but by ideology. Much of the choices made were underpinned on an ideological hostility towards the United States and Israel. Indeed, ever since the storming of the US Embassy in Tehran and the taking of hostages in November 1979, “militant anti-Americanism” has been the cornerstone of the clerical regime’s foreign policy agenda.Driven thus by a xenophobic claim to faith, the regime has moved quickly from its very outset to assert its Shiite identity by acting swiftly to mobilize Shiite communities in Iraq, Lebanon, Bahrain and elsewhere. The so-called “Shiite Crescent” label has only recently come to the vogue but there is nothing new about it. The first target in Iran’s strategy of Shiite hegemony was Iraq. When he came to power, Khomeini set out to replicate the Islamic revolution in Iraq. His ambition was to supplant the Baathist regime by an Islamic government modeled after the government he had himself established in Iran.The events that subsequently ensued, starting with Iraq’s aggression against my country in September 1980, are a matter of record; suffice it to say that, despite the very great sacrifices of the Iranian people which had succeeded in turning the tide against the Iraqi invaders by 1982, Khomeini refused the substantial offers of peace with reparations – and its attendant glory – in the vain pursuit of the same goals that had been at the heart of the conflict: Liberating Shiite holly places and establishing an Islamic Republic in Iraq. Six years and hundreds of thousands more Iranian casualties later, he realized he would not achieve that goal. In the end, his allegoric “chalice of venom” speech put an end to the longest conventional war in the century, and one of the bloodiest.As a result of Khomeini’s obstinate intransigence, Saddam Hussein had emerged from the eight-year war with Iran feeling stronger. Perhaps it was this notion of self delusion that impelled him to embark on a losing gamble in Kuwait. In any event, his invasion of Kuwait in August 1990 created a chain of events which has brought us to the present day situation that we face in Iraq and the region.It is no secret that policies pursued by Washington since the invasion of Iraq in April 2003 have created a new paradox. At least some of the objectives Iran had sought but could not obtain through eight years of war have now been attained as a consequence of American failures in Iraq. As a result, no one today disputes the fact that Iran exercises real influence in Iraq and that some of the current movers and shakers in the Iraqi government are figures who have a long history of collaboration with the Islamic leadership in Tehran.In Lebanon, the creation of Hezbollah was the second important building block that has now given shape to this now much talked about “Shiite Crescent”. Unlike what is often assumed, Hezbollah was not a product of Lebanon's demographic diversity and injustice to the Shiite community. Long before Hezbollah came into existence another Shiite entity under Imam Musa Sadr was active in Lebanon. AMAL, as that movement was known, was not just a politico-military outfit but was involved in social and community-based projects on behalf of Lebanese Shiites. The revolutionary regime in Iran was looking for a surrogate in Lebanon, and AMAL did not fit the bill. Consequently, as of the early 1980s, the regime’s henchmen – operating out of Damascus – set out to create a new entity that was launched in 1982 following the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. To supplant AMAL as the main Shiite movement in Lebanon, Hezbollah needed plenty of funds for its social projects, maintenance and training of its militia and other expenses which are currently estimated conservatively at half a billion dollars per year. Their benefactor was no other than the clerical regime in Tehran which was able to solicit the tacit support and assistance of Syria as well. A third element in the make-up of the strategy of hegemony has been the support of non-Shiite Arab extremist groups involved in Jihad against Israel. Again, the main Palestinian movement Fattah, headed by the likes of Yasser Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas, was seen as secular and ineffectual. Having over the years courted various extremist factions, the Islamic regime has today ended up embracing HAMAS and Islamic Jihad.Finally, to service its illusion of grandeur, the clerical regime has seen fit to embark on a clandestine nuclear weapons program in disregard of its obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty as well as the interest and security of the Iranian people. It has now been clearly established that, apart from keeping nearly two decade of secret activities under wraps, the Islamic authorities had also clandestinely shopped for centrifuges and weapon designs in the black-market with the help of such people as the nuclear entrepreneur, A.Q. Khan, who is now under house arrest in Pakistan. When the extent of the regime’s nuclear program was eventually disclosed in 2003, the regime’s response was to pose as an innocent victim of bullying by the United States and others, whom they accused of wanting to “deprive Iran of it inalienable rights to explore atomic science for peaceful purposes.” While this right is recognized under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, its exercise has never been unconditional. In fact, Article IV of the NPT stipulates that this right should be exercised in conformity with the two main premises of the Treaty: namely, non-production and non-acquisition of nuclear weapons. Today, however, the international community is expressing its serious concerns because all objective indicators point to a conclusion that the clerical regime is hell-bent on acquiring nuclear weapons in order to ensure the continuation of its bloodstained rule at home, and the sealing of its hegemony in the region. The Iranian regime’s disingenuous pretences about need for nuclear fuel independence are also in stark contrast to Iran’s dependence on hydrocarbon sources of energy. The regime in Iran has only just begun to tackle the scandalous situation of petroleum imports and subsidies. Almost 30 years into the clerics’ rule, Iran – of all places – imports 40% of its daily consumption of refined petroleum products from abroad. At a time when the country is so dependent on such a large quantities of gasoline imports for its day-to-day mundane needs, it is simply hilarious to watch regime figures pontificating about the country’s need for independence in the nuclear fuel cycle – particularly at a time when not even a single reactor has become operational. This ostrich-like posturing of course fools only the fools.Islamic Republic and Politics of Shiite Hegemony: Now I would like to turn to the central theme of regional politics, and see how the clerical regime makes use of the assets that it has acquired by design or default.It can be seen from what I have just outlined that the clerical regime has made use both of “soft power” – namely radicalization and manipulation of Shiite communities in the region – as well as “hard power” through heavy spending in armaments, including of course the very expensive nuclear weapons program, while at the same time retaining two parallel fully-fledged armies in the shape of the country’s regular armed forces and the “Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps” or IRGC, whose nefarious involvements in extraterritorial adventures in places like Iraq, Lebanon and Afghanistan has been the subject of so much discussion in the past several months.Moreover, through its recent calls for the destruction of the State of Israel and its outright denial of the holocaust, the clerical regime has today firmly established itself as the dean of the region’s so-called “rejection front”. Not even Syria is quite in the same league, while its ideological offspring, Hezbollah, has lent credence to this pretension. It goes without saying that this kind of provocative posturing does have its appeal to large segments of frustrated Arab and Moslem citizens across the globe.Hezbollah has indeed played a triple role, all of which suit and cater to the interests of Tehran’s theocracy: Firstly, Hezbollah has created a strategic buffer against Israel not just for the rest of Lebanon and Syria, but significantly also for Iran. Invariably, the summer of 2006 battles in southern Lebanon were seen as a proxy war between Iran and Israel, and by extension with America. According to most analysts, in any plan for a pre-emptive strike against Iran’s nuclear installations, Hezbollah is no doubt a factor that will need to be reckoned with.Secondly, thanks to Iranian petrodollars, Hezbollah maintains a gigantic welfare machine for the Shiite community. Finally, by the same token, Hezbollah has become a domineering political force in Lebanon acting to sap the country’s independence in favor of Syria, and preventing the more moderate political factions. Recent tragic events in Lebanon once again brought to light the vicious designs orchestrated by Iran against the democratically elected government of Lebanon. The clerical regime’s leadership of “the rejection front” is more pronounced in Palestine. The mullahs support HAMAS in its face-off with Al-FATAH and in its defiance of Israel. Other radical Palestinian groups who refuse to acknowledge Israel have equally been supported. The clerical regime thrives in the current impasse and would want to perpetuate it. As long as peace in the Middle-East remains elusive, Hezbollah, the Islamic Jihad, HAMAS and other clients of Iran and Syria could claim legitimacy among the Arab masses from which Tehran’s theocracy gains political mileage. If peace finally is achieved, the clerical regime would be nobody’s hero outside a strictly sectarian setting. In Iraq, the situation is equally complex. Iran drew unhoped-for dividends from the American venture in Iraq. As I already pointed out, forces that some 27 years ago were unleashed by Khomeini to overthrow Saddam Hussein and replicate the Islamic revolution are now in position of influence or power. But challenges to the ascendancy of the new Shiite-based ruling circle are taunting and relentless. There are Baathist remnants, dispossessed of power, who joined the disgruntled Sunni tribes in an insurgency to restore themselves to pre-eminence; there are the Al Qaeda linked insurgents who seek to oust Americans and the Shiite parvenu in order to gain a foothold. Some regional powers are concerned about Iran’s influence and Shiite ascendancy at the expense of the Sunnis. Within the Shiite factions also an undercurrent of enmity and resentment is palpable. Different rival militia groups attached to Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) or Muqtada al-Sadr have been engaged in infightings in a quest for ascendancy. They have penetrated the security forces and are involved in daily acts of kidnapping and murder.How do the ruling mullahs in Tehran exploit the situation in Iraq to their advantage? The first point to consider is that in the mullah’s psyche the instinct of self preservation is paramount. From this perspective, their first priority should be to get the American forces out of Iraq, and Afghanistan for that matter. The strategy to achieve this is simple! Prolong the current state of chaos and mayhem beyond the patience of the American public and the life-span of the current administration. To achieve this goal, the number of the American casualties in Iraq should go up; hence the supply of IED’s (Improvised Explosive Devices) and funding and training of various insurgents to exhaust the American will to continue with its mission in that country.The second priority is to ensure an enduring foothold in Iraq and perpetuate the Shiite ascendancy. The current Shiite ruling circle under prime-minister Maliki – in spite of having undisputable ties with Iran – could not fully be relied on as a long-term ally. The clerical regime is therefore seeking to build up a bogyman modeled after Hezbollah to act as its surrogate in any future civil war, thus ensuring the preservation of Iran’s influence in Iraq. Who other than Mugtada al-Sadr could fit the bill? The recent pull out of al- Sadr ministers and deputies from Maliki’s coalition is a clear indication of the rift, not just within the coalition, but also between Maliki and the Islamic Republic. It should further be noted that among the main Shiite poles of power, only al-Sadr fully subscribes to Iran’s objective of getting American and allied forces out of Iraq.There are similar policies and patterns, albeit on a smaller scale in Afghanistan, but in the interest of time I shall forego entering into that aspect. Does the “Shiite Crescent” and the politics being built around it make Tehran’s theocracy a great regional power? There are some analysts who argue that Iran has already emerged as a regional super power. As always there are some elements of truth in any hype, but in my view, such a premise is fundamentally faulty and flawed.The sheer size of Iran and its geo-strategic location no doubt imparts on Iran the status of a major regional power. This is a country of 70 million inhabitants spreading over 1.6 million square kilometers which includes the entire northern shores of the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea. The current problem is that the clerical regime has sought to impose its hegemony beyond what is inherent in its geo-strategic profile. This has in turn generated a strong current of opinion that advocates both engagement and negotiations with the regime. Nonetheless, today there are clear signs that the politics of Shiite ascendancy and regional adventurism pursued by Tehran is starting to backfire. In the opposite horizon, a new arch – that of a Sunni alliance led by a number of key Arab countries – is starting to emerge. Today, this confrontation is becoming more evident in places like Iraq and Lebanon where, armed with Arab funds and other material support, the Sunnis have started to copy the kind of structures the Shias have been developing in the past two decades. Negotiating with the Islamic Republic: Prior to concluding my remarks, let me say a few words about dialogue and engagement with the clerical regime. While such an approach is, as I just said, being advocated by a main current of opinion, there is another extreme who argue for the military option in the shape of military strikes, even all-out war. I have time and again expressed my firm opposition to any military solution. Moreover, the current talk of war could alienate public opinion inside my country and even unite it behind a much despised regime. Iranians in their great majority have friendly feelings towards the United States and the West. Therefore, it is important that they should not be let down.There is no doubt that dialogue must be privileged in all circumstances. But those who confuse the process with purpose and view negotiations as a panacea are in for disappointment. Henry Kissinger once rightly pointed out that "diplomacy never operates in a vacuum;" it succeeds when the parties arrive at a frame of mind or at a realization that the risks involved in non-negotiation outweigh benefits of preserving one's original position. The process of give-and-take that results from negotiation is incidental to that paramount realization. Have the ruling mullahs reached that mental threshold? The answer in my judgment is negative, although a resolute global strategy – short of resort to military action – could transform the current mindset. A few years ago we saw such a transformation in the attitude of Colonel Muamar Qaddafi in Libya.But here, I want to emphasize the following: I should like to strongly point out that no durable settlement of dispute with the Islamic Republic can ever be achieved, should that settlement be reached at the expense of the Iranian people. In clarifying this point even further, I must stress that while Iran’s nuclear ambitions are at present, the focus of international attention and scrutiny, most Iranians are hoping that the current level of unprecedented pressures will not only help end the current threat which the clerical regime is posing to regional and international security, but to also usher in a new era where notions such as freedom, democracy and human rights are all fully adhered to by a responsible government that is both of the people and committed to the future welfare of the people.My country, Iran, is youthful in its demographic properties, rich with a multi millennia culture and an alive and vibrant society. In our defiance of the ruling theocracy, my compatriots need and deserve all the moral help and support they can get in order to bring about fundamental change by establishing a system of governance that is in keeping with the imperatives of our time: a secular democracy in place of the current ruling theocracy. I thank you for your patience.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
EU, Iran Hold Nuclear Talks
http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-10-24-voa6.cfm
By Sabina Castelfranco Rome24 October 2007
Castelfranco report (MP3) - Download 639k Listen to Castelfranco report (MP3)
European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said a meeting in Rome with Iran's new top negotiator on Tehran's nuclear program was "constructive". A new round of talks is expected to be held by the end of November. Sabina Castelfranco reports from Rome.
By Sabina Castelfranco Rome24 October 2007
Castelfranco report (MP3) - Download 639k Listen to Castelfranco report (MP3)
European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said a meeting in Rome with Iran's new top negotiator on Tehran's nuclear program was "constructive". A new round of talks is expected to be held by the end of November. Sabina Castelfranco reports from Rome.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week Day 1
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=24EB2433-F5F3-4473-8DCA-80513A48E4B0
By Peter CollierFrontPageMagazine.com Tuesday, October 23, 2007
“Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week Already a Success” - David Horowitz
The focus was on the violent oppression of Muslim women as thousands of students on campuses across the country attended and in some cases protested against speeches and panel discussions marking the first day of Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week
“Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week Already a Success” - David Horowitz
The focus was on the violent oppression of Muslim women as thousands of students on campuses across the country attended and in some cases protested against speeches and panel discussions marking the first day of Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week
Iran, Seven Faces of a Civilization
Documentary Screening and Discussion with Farzin Rezaeian
Iran: Seven Faces of a Civilization is an illuminating documentary by the creators of Persepolis Recreated showcasing numerous examples of some 7,000 years of Iran’s celebrated culture, art, and architecture. With excellent graphic reconstructions superimposed on images of actual architectural remains, this cinematic adventure recaptures the ancient treasures of Iran with interviews of over 70 internationally known scholars. Join us for this celebrated film’s premiere with gallery reception to follow.
Saturday, October 27, 20074:00 PM - 6:00 PMDodd Hall 121UCLALos Angeles, CA 90095
Farzin Rezaeian is an award-winning documentarian and educational film producer and director. He studied sociology, political science and communications at the University of Illinois in Chicago. For the past twenty years he has researched and written for many educational and documentary films that he has produced or directed. Persepolis Recreated and Seven Faces of a Civilization are his most recent productions.
Cost: Free
Special Instructions
Presentation will be bilingual (English & Persian)
For more information please contact
Peter Szanton, Center for Near Eastern StudiesTel: (310) 825-1455pszanton@international.ucla.eduwww.international.ucla.edu/cnes
Iran: Seven Faces of a Civilization is an illuminating documentary by the creators of Persepolis Recreated showcasing numerous examples of some 7,000 years of Iran’s celebrated culture, art, and architecture. With excellent graphic reconstructions superimposed on images of actual architectural remains, this cinematic adventure recaptures the ancient treasures of Iran with interviews of over 70 internationally known scholars. Join us for this celebrated film’s premiere with gallery reception to follow.
Saturday, October 27, 20074:00 PM - 6:00 PMDodd Hall 121UCLALos Angeles, CA 90095
Farzin Rezaeian is an award-winning documentarian and educational film producer and director. He studied sociology, political science and communications at the University of Illinois in Chicago. For the past twenty years he has researched and written for many educational and documentary films that he has produced or directed. Persepolis Recreated and Seven Faces of a Civilization are his most recent productions.
Cost: Free
Special Instructions
Presentation will be bilingual (English & Persian)
For more information please contact
Peter Szanton, Center for Near Eastern StudiesTel: (310) 825-1455pszanton@international.ucla.eduwww.international.ucla.edu/cnes
Monday, October 22, 2007
Discovery of a Sasanian Wine Production Workshop in Firuzabad
http://www.cais-soas.com/News/2007/October2007/22-10-discovery.htm
LONDON, (CAIS) -- Archaeological excavations behind Tangab dam in Firuzabad region in Fars province have led to discovery of a wine production workshop dating back to Sasanian dynastic era (224-651 CE).
LONDON, (CAIS) -- Archaeological excavations behind Tangab dam in Firuzabad region in Fars province have led to discovery of a wine production workshop dating back to Sasanian dynastic era (224-651 CE).
Azar-Borzin-Mehr Fire Temple Under Excavations
http://www.cais-soas.com/News/2007/October2007/22-10.htm
LONDON, (CAIS) -- A joint Iranian-Polish team has started excavations at the site of the Azar Borzin Mehr fire temple in Sabzevar, northeastern Iran.Iran's Archeology Research Center and a team from Warsaw University are studying the temple, a quadric-arch.Archeologists will work to figure out the plan and elevations of the building as well as the cultural elements of the area.
LONDON, (CAIS) -- A joint Iranian-Polish team has started excavations at the site of the Azar Borzin Mehr fire temple in Sabzevar, northeastern Iran.Iran's Archeology Research Center and a team from Warsaw University are studying the temple, a quadric-arch.Archeologists will work to figure out the plan and elevations of the building as well as the cultural elements of the area.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Police burtality in Canada is commom currency.
Please read below papers and will see how police are wild in Canada/Kanada eh.
"Cause of death in Taser incident still a mystery"
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20071016/taser_071016/20071016?hub=Canada
B.C.'s Coroner Service said it was unable to confirm a cause of death for the Polish man who died at the Vancouver International Airport on Sunday after RCMP used a stun gun to subdue him.
The deceased was identified as Robert Dziekanski, 40, of Pieszyce, Poland.
"Police in Canada probe second taser death in one week"
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jj_hD5m-__3j58KdhhIjVlefIZgA
MONTREAL (AFP) — A man suspected of drunk driving died in hospital overnight after police used a taser to subdue him, in Canada's second recent death plugged to the 50,000-volt stun guns, authorities said Thursday.
"Cause of death in Taser incident still a mystery"
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20071016/taser_071016/20071016?hub=Canada
B.C.'s Coroner Service said it was unable to confirm a cause of death for the Polish man who died at the Vancouver International Airport on Sunday after RCMP used a stun gun to subdue him.
The deceased was identified as Robert Dziekanski, 40, of Pieszyce, Poland.
"Police in Canada probe second taser death in one week"
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jj_hD5m-__3j58KdhhIjVlefIZgA
MONTREAL (AFP) — A man suspected of drunk driving died in hospital overnight after police used a taser to subdue him, in Canada's second recent death plugged to the 50,000-volt stun guns, authorities said Thursday.
Rebels kill 12 Turk troops
By Ferit Demir
TUNCELI, Turkey (Reuters) - Kurdish rebels killed at least 12 Turkish soldiers and wounded 16 others in an ambush on Sunday, prompting Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan to call crisis talks to consider a military strike against rebel bases in Iraq.
TUNCELI, Turkey (Reuters) - Kurdish rebels killed at least 12 Turkish soldiers and wounded 16 others in an ambush on Sunday, prompting Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan to call crisis talks to consider a military strike against rebel bases in Iraq.
Iran says ex-negotiator to go to Rome atomic talks
http://ca.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2007-10-21T124139Z_01_HAF139091_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-IRAN-NUCLEAR-TALKS-COL.XML&archived=False
By Edmund Blair
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Ali Larijani, who quit as Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, and his replacement will go to talks with the European Union's Javier Solana to try to defuse a row with the West, the Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Ali Larijani, who quit as Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, and his replacement will go to talks with the European Union's Javier Solana to try to defuse a row with the West, the Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.
8000-Year-Old Settlement Discovered behind Galabar Dam
http://www.cais-soas.com/News/2007/October2007/20-10.htm
LONDON, (CAIS) -- Archaeological excavations behind Galabar dam in Zanjan province ended after four and half month of continual efforts in the region. Discovering of more than 30 graves and burial gifts belonging to Chalcolithic (Copper) and Iron Ages, a number of architectural evidence ranging in date from Chalcolithic age to post-Sasanian period were among the most important achievements during salvation activities behind Galabar Dam.
Friday, October 19, 2007
Bush's War Rhetoric Reveals the Anxiety That Iran Commands
By Peter BakerWashington Post Staff Writer Friday, October 19, 2007; Page A05
When President Bush this week raised the specter of World War III if Iran manages to build nuclear weapons, he not only roiled the diplomatic world, he also underscored how much Iran has come to shadow the political dialogue both here in Washington and on the presidential campaign trail.
Turkey serious about N.Iraq incursion - minister
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL1973658
ANKARA, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Turkey is serious about sending troops into northern Iraq to hunt down Kurdish separatist rebels hiding there and is not bluffing, a senior minister was quoted on Friday as saying.
ANKARA, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Turkey is serious about sending troops into northern Iraq to hunt down Kurdish separatist rebels hiding there and is not bluffing, a senior minister was quoted on Friday as saying.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Oil Exploration Destroys Ancient Sites in Seimareh Dam Reservoir Area
http://www.cais-soas.com/News/2007/October2007/18-10.htm
LONDON, (CAIS) -- A number of archaeological sites have recently been destroyed in the Seimareh Dam reservoir area during exploration activities by the National Iranian Oil Company.
However, Archaeology Research Center of Iran (ARCI) Director Mohammad-Hassan Fazeli Nashli denied reports that a permit for the operation was issued, the Persian service of CHN reported on Wednesday.
However, Archaeology Research Center of Iran (ARCI) Director Mohammad-Hassan Fazeli Nashli denied reports that a permit for the operation was issued, the Persian service of CHN reported on Wednesday.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Pasargadae' Architectural Technology Under Review
LONDON, (CAIS) -- Excavations are underway in Pasargadae in Fars province, to shed more light on the socio-political structure of the world’s first governing system.
http://www.cais-soas.com/News/2007/October2007/17-10-pasargadae.htm
http://www.cais-soas.com/News/2007/October2007/17-10-pasargadae.htm
Sivand Dam Sparks New Rows About ancient Iranian Relic
LONDON, (CAIS) -- For the people protesting against it, a new dam [Sivand] near these sun-drenched ruins may be more than an environmental upheaval: in it they scent an affront to the country's pre-Islamic identity.
Railroad Threatens Persepolis
LONDON, (CAIS) -- The latest decision of the Islamic Republic Ministry of Roads and Transportation (IRMRT) on the construction of a new railroad which endangered the Achaemenid site of Naqsh-e Rostam now also poses a grave threat to Persepolis.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Turkish PM hopes Iraq incursion won't be needed
By Paul de Bendern
ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that securing parliament's permission to launch a major attack on Kurdish separatists in northern Iraq did not necessarily mean a military incursion was imminent.
ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that securing parliament's permission to launch a major attack on Kurdish separatists in northern Iraq did not necessarily mean a military incursion was imminent.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Iran's Supreme Leader Urges Boycott of US-Backed Peace Conference
Iran's chief religious leader is urging Arab nations to boycott an upcoming U.S.-hosted peace conference. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued the call Saturday during a sermon in Tehran.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Fourth Season Archaeological Research at 5000-Years-Old Taleb Khan Tappeh on the Way
LONDON, (CAIS) -- Fourth season of archaeological research at Taleb Khan (Tāleb Khān) Tappeh, located near the city of Zabol in Sistan va Baluchestan province has began to determine the exact age of the site and its connection to Shar-e Sukhteh (Burnt City) culture. The news was announced by Mahdi Miri, dean of the Archaeology faculty of Zabol University and the director of Excavation of Taleb Khan ancient mound.
Naqsh-e Rostam Undergo Further Studies
LONDON, (CAIS) -- Plans are underway to once again review the adobe forts and the ramparts near Naqsh-e Rostam, Fars province, which were earlier explored and the ground of Naqsh-e Rostam will be excavated to access the main floor of the site which is situated at the same level as that of Ka’aba of Zoroaster constructed during the Achaemenid dynasty (550-330 BCE).
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Iranian students protest president
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- About 100 students staged a rare protest Monday against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, calling him a "dictator" as he gave a speech at Tehran University marking the beginning of the academic year.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/10/09/iran.protest.ap/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/10/09/iran.protest.ap/index.html
Monday, October 08, 2007
West partly to blame for Iran's woes
In the mid twentieth century, US-Iran relations prospered. Many Americans celebrated Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi as a model king. President Lyndon B. Johnson pronounced in 1964: "What is going on in Iran is about the best thing going on anywhere in the world". During the 1970's Iran's Shah propelled Iran into becoming a dynamic middle-east regional power. The Shah implemented broad economic and social reforms, including enhanced rights for women, and religious and ethnic minorities. Economic and educational reforms were adopted, initiatives to cleanse politics of social upheaval were systematized, and the civil service system was reformed. When sectors of society rioted to demand even greater freedom, the Shah promised constitutional reform to favor democracy. In the face of Soviet and fundamentalist Islamic pressures, constitutional reform remained on the back burner, as the Shah built what on paper was the world's fifth or sixth largest armed force. In 1976, it had an estimated 3,000 tanks, 890 helicopter gunships, over 200 advanced fighter aircraft, the largest fleet of hovercraft in any country and 9,000 anti-tank missiles. The Shah used Iran's military might to address regional crises consistent with foreign relations goals of the United States. The Nixon and Ford administrations endorsed these efforts and allowed the Shah to acquire virtually unlimited quantities of any non-nuclear weapons in the American arsenal. Jimmy Carter and the Shah of Iran in November 1977 In accordance with the pleasant US-Iran relations then-existing, President Carter spent New Year's Eve in 1977 with the Shah and toasted Iran as "an island of stability in one of the more troubled areas of the world". Nonetheless, between 1975 and 1978, the Shah's popularity fell due to the Carter administration's misguided implementation of human rights policies. The election of Mr. Carter as president of the United States in 1976, with his vocal emphasis on the importance of human rights in international affairs, was a turning point in US-Iran relations. The Shah of Iran was accused of torturing over 3000 prisoners. Under the banner of promoting human rights, Carter made excessive demands of the Shah, threatening to withhold military and social aid. Carter pressured the Shah to release "political prisoners", whose ranks included radical fundamentalists, communists and terrorists. Many of these individuals are now among the opponents we face in our "war on terrorism". The Carter Administration insisted that the Shah disband military tribunals, demanding they be replaced by civil courts. The effect was to allow trials to serve as platforms for anti-government propaganda. Carter pressured Iran to permit "free assembly", which encouraged and fostered fundamentalist anti-government rallies. The British government and its MI6 intelligence agency also heightened the Shah's precariousness. The government-controlled BBC presented Iranians with a dossier of twenty hour newscasts detailing the location of all anti-Shah demonstrations and consistent interviews with the exiled outcast Ayatollah Khomeini, making a religious scholar few Iranians knew about into an overnight sensation. When the Shah was unable to meet the Carter Administration and British demands, the Carter Administration ordered the Central Intelligence Agency to stop $4 million per year in funding to religious Mullahs who then became outspoken and vehement opponents of the Shah. Unfortunately, the Shah's efforts to defuse the volatile situation in Iran failed, despite the grant even of free and democratic elections. Confronted with lack of US support and unleashed Mullah fury, the Shah of Iran fled the country. Subsequent to the Carter Administration's ill-conceived foreign policy initiative, Iran is now a dungeon. Ayatollah Khomeini's dictatorship executed the Shah's prisoners, predominantly communist militants, along with more than 20,000 pro-Western Iranians. Women were sent back into servitude. Citizens were arrested merely for owning satellite dishes that could tune to Western programs. American diplomats were taken hostage, and the Soviet Union invaded Iran's eastern neighbor Afghanistan as a result of this chaos, allowing it to secure greater influence in Iran and Pakistan. The struggle against the Soviets in Afghanistan, and the defeat of this invading Superpower with help from the United States under President Reagan gave rise to the radicalizations and emergence of Muslim zealots like Osama bin Laden. Moreover, within a year of the Shah's ouster, Iran on its western flank was locked into the Iran-Iraq War, in which the U.S. sided with secular Iraq and its military dictator Saddam Hussein. In retrospect, the Iran-Iraq War would never have occurred had Jimmy Carter not weakened the Shah's regime. This conflict cost the two nations more than 500,000 lives, including thousands of Iranians killed by Saddam Hussein's use of chemical weapons. The Iran-Iraq war triggered the rise of Saddam Hussein as a major power whose invasion of Kuwait was repelled by Desert Storm. The United States refrained from deposing Saddam Hussein in a continuation of the Desert Storm operation out of concern that the resulting "power vacuum" would be filled by Iran's Ayatollahs. Thus Jimmy Carter's misguided implementation of human rights policies not only indirectly led to overthrow of the Shah of Iran, but also paved the way for loss of more than 600,000 lives, Iran's rule by Ayatollahs, the Iran-Iraq War, Iraq's Invasion of Kuwait and Desert Storm, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the Taliban, Al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, and the mass murder of Americans and destruction of the World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001.http://www.answerology.com/index.aspx/question/2156079_West-partly-to-blame-for-Irans-woes.html
PS. The writers estimation on the casualties of Khomeini's mass mess is far too conservative.
It is estimated that over 1 million lost their lives in the 8 year long war with Iraq.
Over 425.000 were executed since 1979 and over 250.000 were imprisoned by the terrorist
regime while over 7 million left Iran on a self imposed exile. Yes this is the result of the British
revolution in Iran backed by Jimmy Carter in 1979.
PS. The writers estimation on the casualties of Khomeini's mass mess is far too conservative.
It is estimated that over 1 million lost their lives in the 8 year long war with Iraq.
Over 425.000 were executed since 1979 and over 250.000 were imprisoned by the terrorist
regime while over 7 million left Iran on a self imposed exile. Yes this is the result of the British
revolution in Iran backed by Jimmy Carter in 1979.
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
When King Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (Shah) Reigned in Iran
When Iranian ladies were as equal as men, and competed in all occupation , and there was absent of wall ceilling.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xyCytjkw7Y#GU5U2spHI_4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xyCytjkw7Y#GU5U2spHI_4
In Iran, Revolutionary Guards play growing role in economy, government
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/10/02/africa/ME-GEN-Iran-The-Guards.php
TEHRAN, Iran: They own car factories and construction firms, operate newspaper groups and oil fields and increasingly, serve in parliament or become provincial governors. To supporters, the Revolutionary Guards are the cream of the country's talent.
To the United States, they are simply terrorists.
TEHRAN, Iran: They own car factories and construction firms, operate newspaper groups and oil fields and increasingly, serve in parliament or become provincial governors. To supporters, the Revolutionary Guards are the cream of the country's talent.
To the United States, they are simply terrorists.
Agent of Byzantium, by Turtledove (Author)
A book review by Caesar M. Warrington
Imagine a 13th century Mediterranean and Middle East... -Where the territories of western and southern Europe won back by the Romans during the 6th century reign of Justinian were not only maintained but expanded. -Muhammad never developed Islam. Instead he converted to Christianity, becoming a holy man, and is now venerated as St. Moaumet. In the absence of Islam's rise, both the Roman and Sassanid Persian (which has by now engulfed the entire Arabian Peninsula) empires remain as the two superpowers, existing in a sort of medieval cold war. Into this world comes Basil Argyros, an agent of the Magistrianoi, the imperial secret police; sometimes he acts as a soldier, but more often he's a spy. During the course of his assignments as an agent of Imperial security, Basil also makes some exciting discoveries, thus making him an agent in another sense: as one who brings change and advancement to the Empire. From the Franks he steals a new weapon, recently cooked up by their monks--gunpowder. He returns from the lands of the Asiatic Jurchen nomads north of the Black Sea with an instrument we know as the telescope. He delivers to the emperor the secrets of printing, a recent Persian invention they've been using to foment insurrection in the Empire's eastern provinces. What perhaps is the most fascinating of all is Basil's witnessing the discovery of inoculation, made during a time of catastrophic plague in Constantinople. Basil's nemesis in many of these stories is the beautiful and deviously clever Persian spy, Mirrane. As the two of them match wits, they develop a mutual respect and admiration, eventually falling deeply in love. The Baen paperback edition contains the following seven stories: "The Eyes of Argos" "Strange Eruptions" "Pillar of Cloud, Pillar of Fire" "Unholy Trinity" "Archetypes" "Images" "Superwine" Only this edition contains the story "Pillar of Cloud, Pillar of Fire;" however, that story can also be found in Harry Turtledove's alt-history collection DEPARTURES (which also includes "Islands in the Sea," the story about Muhammad's aforementioned conversion to the Christian Faith.) As someone with a Ph.D in Byzantine studies, Harry Turtledove knows the peoples and times upon which he bases this alternative world, making it a fun, fascinating read.
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