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What impact will his death have on their fate?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/dec/21/iran-ayatollah-montazeri-death
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You can join my page here:
http://twitter.com/Meir_Javedanfar
Kind regards, Meir
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/oct/27/mahmoud-ahmadinejad-birthday-iran
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/oct/05/mahmoud-ahmadinejad-jewish-family
]]>To read the full article, click here
http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/iranian-students-slamming-ahmadinejad-goes-viral/
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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.
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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.
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Aradan, a small village in the Semnan province of Iran, is the birthplace of president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Its local population does not exceed 5000. Most are Persians. There are also some Gilak speakers. These are people who emigrated from the Gilan province, in northern Iran, where they have their own dialect. Aradan has an old Bazaar and a number of old mosques, which are in a dilapidated state. Its only tourist attraction is the grave of five Arab pilgrims, who died there on their way to the shrine of Imam Reza in Mashhad, in the 18th century.
Some of Ahmadinejad’s relatives still live there. Its population are understandably proud of Ahmadinejad. However, even here, the president has managed to disappoint. According to a recent article in the daily Telegraph, in Aradan:
“About 60 per cent of people are using opium these days, and about 12 per cent using crack, which will kill them within a few years,” said one official. “The problem is serious because of the underemployment; most people have only two to three hours of work a day.”
If the regime ever collapses, in my opinion, it is very probable that the start of its end will be traced back to the administration of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president. Because in terms of economic welfare, since the start of the revolution, life has never been so bad for so many Iranians.
Colin Freeman of the Daily Telegraph traveled to Aradan, and wrote a very informative article. Entitled “In President Ahmadinejad’s hometown in Iran, hope goes up in opium smoke”, it paints an painful picture of life in one of Iran’s poorest areas. I highly recommend it. You can read it here
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01/10/2008
With over 75% of the country below the age of 30, the subject of youth in Iran is one which comes up very often.
Questions which are often asked are: aren’t Iran’s youth restless and fed up with lack of freedom in their country? Is the lack of jobs likely to push them into another revolution? How do they manage to enjoy themselves in a country which is so religious and strict?
“I went to a party in northern Tehran”, said the reporter. “It was at a house, and in the garden, there was a swimming pool. The owners had drained the water. They had placed nice Persian carpets on the floor of the pool, and on them, about 50 people were having sex in the open air”.
This is just aspect of life for young people in a country, which on the surface looks like one thing, and underneath it, is another.
To find out more, I highly recommend the excellent podcast from BBC World Service. Called “Children of The Revolution”, you can download or listen to it online here
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