Kamangir (Archer)

Dangers of Being an Iranian Blogger

Kamangir | February 26, 2006 | Category Iran

We open the page. There are no comments. Then, I click on the webstat icon. Azadeh asks “what is the number of visitors?” “There should be a mistake; it is showing something above six hundred!” Soon, we realize that actually a huge number of people have visited the comment about possible rule of Iranian Intelligence in another bombing in a shrine ten years ago (see). I am feeling great; the comment is referred to in different blogs including one political one, which I have know knowledge about its owners’ ambitions, (see) and daily dish from Time (see) (see these too (see) (see) (see)). However, I can see that Azadeh’s face pales.
When you are an Iranian blogger, increasing number of visitors does not always mean something very good. If among the six hundred people who read our comments, one, and only one, has links to the Islamic Republic, then we have to think twice when we decide to visit Iran. I try to ease the situations, “they can not arrest everybody!” Though, I am thinking about Iranians arrested because of what they wrote in their blogs. One of them was reportedly threatened to be raped, others went to jail. “People go to jail because of their blogs?” Mike was not able to understand.
When we started this blog, we selected an anonymous name “KMGR”. After we came to Canada, having a blog was more important. Here, we live with people who have heard of Iran only when it comes to talking about global terrorism, Israeli-Palestine conflict, and nuclear bombs. To be an Iranian, who does not deny his background, you have to show the world how real Iranians are and how illegitimate the Islamic Republic regime is. I have learnt how hard it is to put these two sentences in the same context, “Iranian government is doing a nasty job” and “Iranians are charming tender people”. One way to draw this controversial picture is to have a blog. And it is not for the sake of “helping Iranians out with their dictatorship”. It is more a way to prove that you are a legitimate human being with a cultural heritage distorted by a bunch of extremists.
“How many Iranian officials can read English?” “There are many Persian blogs, what are they going to do with them?” These are sentences that I use to convince Azadeh, and also myself, that Kamangir is not going to put us in trouble. Azadeh concludes like this “I do not want to see you behind the bars” and continues “I have no problem if we can’t return to Iran.” I am thinking “just because we tried to express ourselves?” Is freedom of speech this dangerous for the Islamic Republic?