Subscribe to RSSArchive for the ‘Iran- Social Issues’ Category:
Khomeini family vs Khamenei
The Tehran based Parsine news reported that in protest, the family of Ayatollah Khomeini may be moving to the city of Najaf in Iraq. The article analyzes the power of the Khomeinis, and whether the can challenge Khamenei.
Filling Montazeri’s shoes in Iran
Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri both boosted and in one case, betrayed the opposition in Iran.
What impact will his death have on their fate?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/dec/21/iran-ayatollah-montazeri-death
Tweet….Tweet…
I recently started twitting about regional affairs.
You can join my page here:
http://twitter.com/Meir_Javedanfar
Kind regards, Meir
Happy Birthday, President Ahmadinejad
Today, 28th of October, is a special day in the Ahmadinejad household. It is President Ahmadinejad’s birthday.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/oct/27/mahmoud-ahmadinejad-birthday-iran
Ahmadinejad has no Jewish roots
The Daily Telegraph recently published a piece which claims that Ahmadinejad’s family converted from Judaism to Islam after his birth. As the coauthor of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s first biography, I examined the article and its findings.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/oct/05/mahmoud-ahmadinejad-jewish-family
Iranian Students And Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
To read the full article, click here
http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/iranian-students-slamming-ahmadinejad-goes-viral/
Hossein Derakhshan Has Been Arrested In Tehran
By: Meir Javedanfar
17/11/2008
According to Jahan News, which is close to Iran’s Intelligence community, Hoessein Derakhshan, the Iranian blogger who visited Israel in 2007 from Canada, has been arrested in Tehran.
According to what the article says are “credible sources”, Hossein has admitted to spying for Israel. His
confessions are said to include some “intricate” points.
Jahan news talks about Hossein’s participation in a number of conferences in Israel. It says that Haaretz news paper described him as a friend of Israel. It then quotes Jerusalem Post and Haaretz as saying that Hossein had described Israel as a model of democracy, and that the Israeli and Turkish system of governance, and participation of religion in government was a good model for Iran.
It then goes on to say that Hossein had a picture in Jerusalem post under which he said “I want to humanise Israel for Iranians and to tell them that Israel is not thirsty for blood of Muslims, as propaganda from the Islamic Republic says”.
Note: It is true that Hossein was in Israel, on two separate occasions. However after his second trip here, he suddenly changed his opinion and started becoming vehemently anti- Israel in his blog. He also became a strong supporter of President Ahmadinejad and condemned Akbar Ganji and Ramin Jahanbegloo for being “pro regime change”.
Hossein returned to Iran about three weeks ago. Prior to his return, he started attacking Ayatollah Rafsanjani in his blog. It is possible that he fell fowl of a power struggle within Iran.
Tehran’s Tap Water Could Cause Cancer
By: Meir Javedanfar
12/11/2008
According to Iran Economist, Asghar Riyazati, the head of Tehran sewage system has declared that every year 4500 tons of nitrate enters Tehran’s sewage system. The nitrate then infiltrates water wells in the city where water is stored. The presence of nitrate at this level could cause cancer.
One of the most immediate problems noted by Riyazati is the lack of coordination and balance between construction of new water distribution systems and disposal of sewage.
What is even more surprising is that only 18% of Tehran is covered by the sewage network. (Its interesting to note that Israeli companies were involved in the design and construction of the Tehran sewage system in the 60s and 70s).
According to Riazati, without filtering, if the current situation continues, it would take 1100 years for the quality of water resources to return to their original caliber.
Noting the rise in pollution and deforestation in Iran, the environment is likely to become a more pressing issue during next year’s presidential elections in Iran.