Kamangir (Archer)

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Kamangir | February 20, 2006 | Category Iran

“Nobody can remove a country from the map. This is a misunderstanding in Europe of what our president mentioned,” Manouchehr Mottaki, Iran’s foreign minister, told a news conference, speaking in English, after addressing the European Parliament. Mottaki also acknowledged the Holocaust, in which six million Jews were killed by Nazi Germany, despite Ahmadinejad saying in December that it was a myth.
Is it really end of Ahmadinejadism this soon? See the whole story here (see).

End of Ahmadinejadism?

Kamangir | February 20, 2006 | Category Iran

Eight candidates ran in the last presidential election in Iran. Except for Moein who was Khatami’s minister of science (see) and Karrobi who was the speaker of parliament (see), the rest were close to the right. It was a surprise that the right was unable to agree on a single candidate. Hence, Larijani, Ghalibaf and Ahmadinejad became the three more important right figures in the election. On the other side was Rafsanjai. Having the reputation of two times presidency and a couple of years of being the parliament speaker, Rafsanji has always been in power after the revolution. Many assume him as a Mafia in today Iran’s politics.

It was a total unbelievable result when Rafsanjasi lost people vote. It is mainly assumed to be because of popular gestures of Ahmadinejad, Rafsanjani’s and his family’s bad reputation of corruption, and the intentional tampering of the votes by the Islamic militia (Basij). When Ahmadinejad became the president, Ghalibaf was selected to be Tehran’s mayor, Ahmadinejad’s previous job. While Rafsanjani returned to his old job, head of the the console which intervenes when there are serious contradictions between the government and the parliament, Larijani became a member of the national security council. An organization that help the rule of negotiator in the nuclear affair.

When Khatami was president, foreigners were seeing Islamic Republic’s policies decided by two very different sources of power. While the right groups represented the clergy system, the left parties were fighting for freedom and welfare. After Khatami, many assumed the regime to become single-sounded. But, that was just a mirage; the right tribe started to tear apart.

Khameneii, as the supreme leader of the right wing, has the job of making equilibrium between hostile powers. He does not do this for the sake of calming down the tensions; he is more worried about himself. For example, Ahmadinejad has Mesbah in his support and it is known that if Ahmadinejad gains the total control, Khameneii should go to a long vacation. Having Mesbah as the supreme leader is among the first ambitions of an Ahmadinejad in total control.

Knowing different power tribes inside the Islamic Republic regime and their contradictions is a mandatory step before analyzing the affairs inside Iran. For example, when Ahmadinejad, out of nowhere, picks a title like “wipe Israel off the map” for his speech, he is trying to say “hey! guys! I am important, too”. Being a president of a country you have an Ace card, you can make everything the worst possible. Hence, when Ahmadinejad gave that speech, others realized that they can’t ignore him.

Ahmadinejad successfully converted Iran’s nuclear debate into a serious hostile situations. Now, Larijani, one of his opponents, answers to the question “don’t you think Ahmadinejad’s statement about Israel was nothing to hear from a president insisting that his country is pursuing a peacefully nuclear program?” asked by radio france (see see) in a live interview asked for by Larijani by saying “individual’s statements should not be assumed as the Islamic Republic’s official stand”. Does it mean Ahmadinejad is being removed from the nuclear crisis? I hope so.

Larijani continues by saying “we are ready for any supervision”.

Persian (Nasty) Joke

Kamangir | February 20, 2006 | Category Iran

THIS POST CONTAINS AN ADULT JOKE WHICH MAY BE INSULTING TO SOME IRANIANS.

I do apologize.

We, Iranians, have a serious sense of humor, and that’s nothing bad. Unfortunately, I can not translate a Persian joke. Because understanding one of them needs a peer understanding of Iranian culture and different ethnic groups in it. Assume this, “a Rashti comes home and sees all his children making noise. He beats them all except one. Somebody askes him why he spared that one. He replies, because he is a Seiied.” First, you have to know that,

1- Rashti is somebody from Rasht, the capital city of Gilan, a beautiful provice in northern Iran.

2- Rashti men are claimed to be not very jealous. On the other hand, Rashti women are assumed to be very open. So, it is said that Rashti women have open sex and their husbands do not seriously stop them.

3- It is generally assumed that Rashti men’s children are not necessarily his real offsprings.

4- For Iranians, Seiieds are respectful. A Seiied is somebody whose ancestor is a son of Ali, Muhammad’s son in law. You become a Seiied if your fathe is a Seiied.

Hence, the man knows that that boy in not his legitimate child. Do you see the point? Now, to make sure you understand similar jokes, think about “somebody asks a Rashti, why don’t you divorce your wife when she is doing all this. He replies, then I have to go to the end of the line.”.

Look at this picture (I took it from BBC Persian (see)). This is also kind of a joke. Though, I admit it is not seriously very funny. It is more of making fun of somebody. However, if you are not Iranian you should know some facts. When people gather in front of an embassy, they are not directly managed by anybody. It is more like there are central cores who talk to the police and let them know that a demonstration is to be held there and that they should not interrupt. Then people who are passing around gather. Some others come because the cores tell them to do so. Then somebody starts saying something. That somebody is mainly from one of those cores. The rest is best analyed by the chaos theory. Though, a serious question remains; which government lets chaotic gatherings to talk for him? Obviously, people like Ahmadinejad.

Being chaotic or deliberately managed, I see no point in covering a mule with some country’s flag. Hence, I do apologize to all English people.