Kamangir (Archer)

“The Iran Plans”

Kamangir | April 9, 2006 | Category Iran

I am feeling really stunned after reading Seymour Hersh’s article “The Iran Plans” (see). I am thinking about a naughty boy making noises in the backyard of a neighbor. What he does not know is that the man can be seriously mad.

Ahmadinejad seems to really think that Mahdi is coming to help him. What he does not seem to care for is that this US administration is ready to do the most outrageous actions when it comes to the nightmare of living with a nuclear Iran. I can’t imagine Ahmadniejad’s tone when having the nuke’s switch in his hand, he mentioned his ideas on the Israel and the West. It seems that many politicians in the West are in the same boat; nobody wants to see Ahmadniejad talking about “wiping Israel off the earth” when he really means it.

The only positive sign in the article was the fact that many think Iran is far behind having an actual Bomb. To make everything worse, an Iranian news agency proudly talks about the plan to announce “Iran’s fantastic achievement to reach to the peak of the nuclear science” (see). The report says that Iranian administration are to announce a national celebration for reaching to the enrichment technology. Something, the report says will overshadow the planed UN Security Council meeting. The point is that the moment diplomacy fails B52s will take off, something Ahmadinejad does not seem to bother very much.

Peeling Experience

Kamangir | April 9, 2006 | Category Iran

Azadeh says the method for peeling potatoes shown in this video (watch) does not work for all types of potato. Trying to apply the prescribed method to red potato, she says it made it was harder to peel and the final result was worse.

Strange News

Kamangir | April 9, 2006 | Category Iran

Strange news about war plans. Are they really going to attack Iran with Nuclear Weapons? (see)(see).

Complication

Kamangir | April 9, 2006 | Category Iran

Carrying Supreme Leader’s quotes, ultra-right groups like Basij protest against Iranian administration’s decision to have limited talks with the US regarding mutual concerns in Iraq. The signs read “Negotiating With the Satan? (Khomeini named America as the Great Satan)”, “There is no Meaning for the Dream that America Returns to Iran, Supreme Leader”, “Congratulations on the Coincidence of the Anniversary of Breaking Connections to the US with the Negotiations!”, “Negotiation, Why?”, etc. Carrying the late and the recent Supreme Leaders’ pictures and quotes, these people are demonstrating against the very Supreme Leader’s approval of the “talks” with the US. Sometimes, Iranian politics become a bit too complicated.

Politics of Daylight Saving

Kamangir | April 9, 2006 | Category Iran

Few weeks ago, Ahmadinejad’s cabinet decided to not to perform daylight saving, anymore. Knowing that some clerics were opposed to this aspect of modern world, for reasons like ““prayers would become confused””, my first guess was “he is doing something to make the clergy happy”.

Minister of Energy in Ahmadinejad’s cabinet has reportedly sent a letter to him asking him for abandoning the new decision. He writes that the decision has been based on no research. He proposes to Ahmadinejad to pretend to be quitting the new decision because of it being contrary to some previous law. In this way, the minister tries to give Ahmadinejad a way to not to damage his picture while also avoiding a serious problem (see).

One Picture, Many Details

Kamangir | April 9, 2006 | Category Iran

It’s interesting how much information a single image can carry. However, many of these tiny pieces can be recognized only by an observer who have lived in the atmosphere. For example, take this picture which is taken during the Friday prayers in Tehran. I see these items here.
1-The scarf around the man’s neck means he is seriously devoted to the aims of the Iranian Islamic militia, called Basij. I think the origin of this type of scarf returns to the Palestinian fighters like Arafat. Actually, Khameneii himself sometimes wears this scarf, which is called Chafieh (Persian چفیه) (see), and then it means the supreme leader is very angry.
2-The mask on the man’s face shows that he has suffered from chemical weapons during the war with Iraq. Many of these veterans face problems in their daily life. Furthermore, many of them have never been really separated from their old habit. Basically, there is the group of veterans who returned to the cities and were left alone with their pain. This group have a very serious reason to be angry. The second group are those who were gifted with positions in the society. For example, you can see many veteran soldiers who work in government offices or in Sepah. These people do their duty to the country as a second job, or maybe even as their first job. For example, whenever there is a protest against some bad guys in the west, many government clerks have to participate. In my point of view, the government have saved and even made stronger its connection to these really devoted people. Now, imagine what happens if you try to talk to these people about democracy or human rights. You will be actually talking about something which is out of their world; like somebody talking to you about the necessity of keeping your nose wet because otherwise there is a very high chance that Jupiter would collapse into Mars.
3-The text in man’s hand reads “اللهم عجل فی فرج مولانا صاحب الزمان Ùˆ احفظ نائب المهدی امامنا الخامنه ای” (it is Arabic). Means, Oh God! Please make Mahdi’s (Islamic Messiah) coming sooner and save his deputy Imam Khameneii.
4-The man has his fist up, which means he is shouting something like “Death to America” (Persian مرگ بر آمریکا). It was interesting for me to know that the common translation of this slogan as “Down to America” does not really carry the essence of the Persian phrase. Actually, when they shout it, they mean “I hope American government to collapse” if not “I hope all all Israelis die”. Thanks Mike for reminding this to me.
A veteran who has suffered in the holy war with Iraqi infidels (this sentence was actually used by Iranian propaganda during the war) and wears a sign which proclaims him as an Islamic fighters who is waiting for Mahdi and assumes to be following his deputy, I think this man is more dangerous than an atomic bomb. Given that he is praying for other nations suffering, I see no reason why westerners shouldn’t think Iranians are terrorist.

Yet, there remains one question for me, why is the text in Arabic? Because Mahdi can only read Arabic? Or does the man want the Arabic nations to read the sentence?

p.s. Afshin complains that I seem to mean that all Iranians are terrorist. Actually, I only tried to show how much bad Iranians present themselves plus the problems we build for ourselves, like sending people to a “holy” war and then having to face the consequences.