Kamangir (Archer)

Charming Mourning

Kamangir | January 31, 2007 | Category Iran

These days, all around the Shia world, Muslims mourn for the martyred Imam, Hossein the son of Ali. While this event is one of the essential pillars of Shia, it is also one of the sources of inspiration for political Islam. Khomeini called Moharram, this month in the Arabic calendar, “one of the two months which have kept Islam alive.”

The mourning starts at Moharram the first when Hossein is stopped in Karbala and reaches its peak in the tenth, when he is killed. That’s the reason behind the name Ashura, which means ten in Arabic. For the outer world, Ashura is a weird collection of craziness and brutality, thanks to the black suites, the slaughtered animals, and the strange music. These feelings turn into disgust when people see the suicidal scenes where people scratch their heads with daggers [called Ghame-Zani in Persian].

Fortunately, Ghame-Zani is no more practiced in Iran (although, I saw recent pictures of Ghame-Zani in Iraq). Forgiving the lust for blood and the exaggerated scenes of pretending to be very sad, Ashura is a big Iranian carnival. It has its own music and dance. I read recently in a blog that Iranian youth give and take the most number of phone numbers in Ashura nights, when people can freely spend the night in the streets.

Does anyone not like a crowded fun carnival, which if you attend, there is a chance Allah will forgive that tiny sin you have committed and thus you may have the chance to be accepted in the university entrance exam?

As it is Iran, everything is related to the politics; the blue banner reads “nuclear energy is our definite right”.

Below is a huge collection of Ashura images. Courtesy of ILNA, ISNA, FARS, MEHR, and these blogs: Test of Democracy, On The Orbit of The Life, Sepantra, Jozeph, and Futurama.

p.s. Please let me know if the title is not a valid English Sentence.

Update: Thanks Freida for correcting the typo in the title.

Hypocracy, or Who Cares?

Kamangir | January 29, 2007 | Category Iran

Fars writes “Palestinian martyr-seeking attack kills three Zionists”.

I am an engineering student and my expertise is to convert communication problems into optimization problems and then to solve them. Thus, very obviously, I have no expertise whatsoever in Israel-Palestine conflict, or in any other conflict in any other place in the world.

Reading that line I came with these probable scenarios,

1- The “martyr-seeker” goes into the resort, because Fars says the attack has happened in a resort, and gently asks everyone about their political/religious stance. Then, he/she politely asks the “good” people to leave the place as soon as possible. He/she also makes sure no kid is around. Then, probably looking at the sky, he/she blows himself up.

2- The “martyr-seeker”, and his organization, have come up with a very convenient theory; every Israeli is a Zionist. However, because it’s possible that kids, or a Palestinian, Christian, or any other non-Israeli (read non-Zionist), may be around, he/she follows the above procedure to ask non-Israelis to leave the place.

3- He/she goes in, rushes to pull the trigger, and doesn’t care who is killed. An attack in Israel is an anti-Zionist movement and thus is legitimate.

I am so looking for those people who blame Israel for their targeted attacks, “because innocent people might be around”.

The picture is from Lisa, taken in another attack.

Sepah: Abducting Americans is easy

Kamangir | January 29, 2007 | Category Iran

Sepah’s: Abducting Americans Is Easy and Very Affordable (PDF)

(Through Radio Farda)

Sepah, Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps [Iran's second army], internal journal, Sobh-e Sadegh [the real sunrise], published a short article in which the author, Reza Zaker, refers to the highly-spread pattern of American presence in Iraq, Afghanistan, Central Asia, Pakistan, India, Africa, Latin America, and even Europe. The article threatens that “abducting Americans and transferring them to any desired location is easier than buying a bunch of Chinese crap [probably referring to the sanctions]“.

Political bureau of the leader’s representative in Sepah reminds the abduct of American officers in Iraq, by the untrained military forces of Moqtada Sadr, and writes, “when American security officers are trapped by untrained and inexperienced forces of Sadr, or a top Mossad official disappears in Paris, or UK looses a boat in Arvand River, they must catch the message that their dreams are fake.” The article then follows by mentioning that even if all other means fail, money will pave the way.

Iran

Kamangir | January 29, 2007 | Category Iran

Images from Tehran, Iran you do not see everyday, plus a nice music.

Weapons of Mass Painting

Kamangir | January 28, 2007 | Category Iran

Wondering why USS Eisenhower “has left the Persian Gulf?” A website close to Ahmadinejad has the answer; “brave Sepah forces painted the Islamic Republic logo on on the side of the ship and this made American’s scared to death. Thus, they took off.”

p.s. Has the ship left the Persian Gulf?

Begging Russia?

Kamangir | January 28, 2007 | Category Iran

Khameneii met with Igor Ivanov, Russia’s Security Council Secretary. The “Supreme Leader” seems very weak and humble, at least to me.

p.s. With Kamangir’s counter going up, I am finding it harder to respond to the comments as they arrive. Sorry for that (and I must confess I find it appealing).

Iranian Activist Women Abducted (Update: We Won!)

Kamangir | January 28, 2007 | Category Iran

I am copying from Kosoof.

Three Iranian women’s movement activists have been arrested at Imam Khomeini’s airport Saturday morning.

Talat Taghinia, Mansoureh Shojaei, and Farnaz Seifi, journalists women’s movement activists, and members of Women’s Cultural Center, have been arrested Saturday morning while leaving Tehran to participate in a journalism training workshop in Delhi. After being arrested at the airport, the security officers escorted them to their homes, inspected their houses, and collected their personal belongings such as their computers, books, and manuscripts, and took them to division 209 in Evin prison.

Picture is from Librent.

Update: Lady Sun has more.

Update 2: Sayeh reports that they are released. She is fascinated by the united reaction of Blogestan. Congratulations, we won.

Borat

Kamangir | January 27, 2007 | Category Iran

For the record: Not only Borat is not funny at all, but also it is embarrassing.

“I Bomb Iran” (Updated: “I Will Eat Iran”)

Kamangir | January 27, 2007 | Category Iran

This is from Antony.

Mad Americans, crazy Zionists, warmongers and idiots apply here.

Update: This is how the guys in Mideastyouth responded,

Spiritual Child Abuse

Kamangir | January 26, 2007 | Category Iran

Fars has published pictures from “Hossain’s toddlers conference [implicitly means toddlers who are ready to fight for Hossain till 'martyrdom']“. Imam Hossain is the third Shia Imam, killed in Karbala, more than 1300 years ago these days. Since then, he has been the source of inspiration for Shias toward’s “martyrdom”. With all respect to all fellow Shias, I find this event, and tons of others similar to it, embarrassing and an obvious example of child abuse. Give me one reason why this is different from child molestation.

Silence of the Crowd, or How Fake Activism Thrives (Updated)

Kamangir | January 26, 2007 | Category Iran

Important Notice: Please read this note before reading this post.

This post is written for “The Persian Impediment“.

When Khomeini arrived in Iran, in that unexpectedly warm winter of 1979, he headed for Tehran’s cemetery. There, while technically the Pahlavi Dynasty was still in power, he expressed his serious will to overthrow the old order and to establish a new regime. Among other topics, he mentioned his plans to provide a prosperous life for Iranians, both on earth and in the heaven. Months passed and not only Iranians did not become wealthier, but also they began to get used to Iraqi planes flying over. The obvious question is, why didn’t any newspaper ask Khomeini why he had lied? As simple the question seems to be, the answer is even simpler; nobody dared to.

This is the obvious face of a dictatorship, where freedom of speech is ignored and you can spend years behind the bars if you are so immature to ask “silly” questions. But, is silence the only offspring of oppression? Can, in a very mysterious way, dictatorship cause activism? Let’s ask it this way, does speaking out against a totalitarian regime constitute the only ingredient of activism?

My Funny Accent

Kamangir | January 25, 2007 | Category Iran

Thanks to Antony, I spoke to Hagar Kohen, from ABC Radio National, about the experience of blogging (start listening from minute 6:22 link).

What? (Updated)

Kamangir | January 25, 2007 | Category Iran

Please tell me GenPet is a hoax.

Update: It is a hoax, kind of an awakening. See this.

Sleeping Ahmadinejad (Updated)

Kamangir | January 24, 2007 | Category Iran

No Comment.

Update: Saeed has composed a story for this picture.

Update 2: This blog seems to be the source of this picture.

Update 3: Ahmadinejad goes global! “Denying the Holocaust is an exhausting job…” (thanks UrbanInfidel for the link)

Update 4: Bahman believes that this picture is intentionally published to buy him some popularity.

Ahmadinejad, the Boring Speaker (Updated)

Kamangir | January 24, 2007 | Category Iran

- Ahmadinejad talked to the national television yesterday, about everything or you might rather say about nothing (see). He was so boring that even the TV anchor took a nap (watch).

- Fars broke the silence and reported that the Supreme Leader is neither having a heart problem nor he is suffering from cancer. “A severe cold has been the cause for the cancellation of a part of his daily schedule”.

- “With Your Permission” remembers Khamenei’s speech four years ago about this time. Then, the Supreme Leader was sure the Americans will not afford attacking Iraq,

You see they [Americans] are making lots of noise. It is their nature to yell and show off their power. Most of their power comes from threatening others. It is not like America has the power to attack another country without paying unaffordable huge costs.

The blogger then asks “Khameneii was sure no one dares o attack Iraq. Last night Ahmadinejad had the same idea about attacking Iran.”

Silent Drill

Kamangir | January 23, 2007 | Category Iran

It is no mystery that Sepah is conducting a missile test/maneuver in Garmsar, less than 100 kilometer southeast of Tehran. The strange event is that this time no photographer seems to have witnessed the event. I searched many Iranian news sources and also used Ghatreh and Parseek; those websites which have accompanied the regarding report with a picture have chosen decorative ones.

Alef concludes its report by writing “it is being mentioned in political groups that the major military maneuver of the armed forces will be held at the end of the sixty day deadline of the security council. In that maneuver, the new military equipment, which have strategic defensive importance, will be shown. The maneuver is planned for the end of Bahman (around February 20th)”.

Baztab in English

Kamangir | January 23, 2007 | Category Iran

You have probably heard the name Baztab very frequently here and also in other sources talking about Iran. In the struggle over power, Baztab represents and echoes a major fraction, also represented by Mohsen Rezaee. Now, Baztab has launched its English version. Keep an eye on it!

“Blast” in Mashhad

Kamangir | January 22, 2007 | Category Iran

Yesterday evening, 5:25pm local time, a massive noise followed by an earthquake-like vibration caused a blackout in a part of Mashhad, capital city of Khorasan Province (Persian text). Official sources talk about a 3.5-Richter earthquake, as the national television quoted the geography center in University of Tehran (Persian text). Some sources still relate the incident to an explosion, probably in a power dispatching center (Persian text).

Three years ago, Feburary 18 2004, a train exploded in Neishaboor (see the map), killing 300 people and destroying a nearby village (Persian text) (Persian text) (Persian text) (Wikipedia) (picture) (video). At the time, the rumor told that the train had been transferring nuclear substances to/from Russia. While after any incident, rumors, most of which are nothing more than total nonsense, start in seconds, a second blast in the same area will not cause less mysteries.

Update: Fars reports the incident (English text).

Don’t Nuke me, I don’t support Him! (Updated)

Kamangir | January 21, 2007 | Category Iran

This is an anti-war banner I have created. Feel free to use it in you blog and any comment is welcome. These are the smaller sizes. The HTML code for the banners is available in this file.

Addicted to Link

Kamangir | January 21, 2007 | Category Iran

Let me be really frank. I searched for Kamangir in Google News and … [the author jumps up and down here]. Thanks to my friend Antony, and his great piece “Bloggers of the world, unite” in The Sydney Morning Herald, Kamangir is at last receiving the attention it has always deserved!

Okay, I confess, I am only 27 years old and I am happy. Who hates attention? ;)

Iranian “Warlord” Sniffs the War

Kamangir | January 20, 2007 | Category Iran

Mohsen Rezaee during the war (the man standing at the middle). Very probably, many of these men have been killed in the war.

Mohsen Rezaee (see) quit his sixteen-year-old career as the Chief Commander of Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps in 1997 to enter the echelons of political power. Having become a commander when he was only twenty seven years old, he is not just another politician in the IR conglomerate. Since then, he has been the Secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council. He also announced he would run for president but a couple of weeks before the elections, he decided to pull out of the race and did not ran eventually (Thanks to the reader M for correcting couple of my mistakes).

Recently, after couple of Sepah commanders were killed in a plane crash and also in other accidents, Rezaee had been trying to wear the military uniform again. The Iranian sources give contradicting news about his presence in the army (see) (see). Furthermore, he is talking very frequently about how the situation should be managed (see) (see) and also his desire to return to the military forces (see).

He stated about a week ago “[after a Sepah Commander was killed] I wrote a letter to the supreme leader and expressed my preparedness for serving in the armed forces” (see). Then, he told ILNA reporter “Bush has started the offensive against Iran. This is the first time he is pursuing his plan secretly.” Later, he talked to a Saudi newspaper and stated “the US military plan for Iran has been designed seven years ago” (see).

Yesterday, he talked to the national television (Channel 2) (read) (watch). Giving details about Iraq, Iran, and Lebanon, for more than half an hour, he stated “the US will act [against Iran]“. To the surprise reporter’s question “so you are saying they will act, we will talk to you in a month, are you sure they will act?” he had this to say “they will act, I am telling you”. With his face filling the whole screen he insisted that “they will act” and smiled like a wise man who knows the whole story.

This is his idea about the way the offensive will be carried out,

The face-off will be mainly economical, political, and security-oriented. Americans will use sanctions to make serious economical problems for Iran. That will be used to increase social unrest. Then, the opposition will start the political movement and the MKO and other terrorist groups will cause security problems. It would not be a surprise if they also use collateral military actions, such as missile attacks to our nuclear facilities.

Watching the whole video I think Rezaee has surprised him and the people behind the camera. He concluded with reiterating his preparedness to “serve in any post”.

The “Leader” Arrives

Kamangir | January 20, 2007 | Category Iran

Important Notice: Please read this note before reading this post.

A short while ago, we welcomed others assigning us, Iranians, a “king” who is at the same time our “spiritual father”, too. Now, we have got a “student leader“. For those of you who are not familiar with the forged history of contemporary Iran, the first one is Hoder (Hossein Derakhshan) and the second one is Amir-Abbas Fakhr-Avar.

Guys! Come on! I am an Iranian and I can perfectly read Persian and I have lived in Iran for over a quarter a century and I follow the Iranian news sources and blogs every day. No one in Iran cares for these guys. I beg you. Please spend some time to know what is actually happenning in Iran.

Thanks Jack for the link.

Nuke-Sniffing UFOs

Kamangir | January 19, 2007 | Category Iran

Baztab reports that the green reptiles missed the friendly Iranians and thus spent more than an hour watching people in Boyer-Ahmad County, centered at Yasuj. The object is reported to have been very close to the ground and bigger than the stars. “It was like a ball with a reddish-yellow inside and brighter than the stars. It was clearly visible by the naked eye before it turned into a small point and disappeared.” Baztab concludes “our reporter has not been able to get any reaction from the local officials”.

A simple look reveals that our green friends may have other interests than just visiting the hospitable Iranians. Information sources (see) (see) (see) (see). Click here for the complete map.

Islamic Republic Fights Terrorism

Kamangir | January 18, 2007 | Category Iran

Dorri-Najafabadi

“Prevention of and Fighting with Terrorism” is the title of a workshop held in Iran by the Judiciary (see). “Iran has been a victim of terrorism and thus has the right to be a lead in fighting against it”, mentioned education deputy of the Judiciary. He also stated “According to Islam, morality is very important, even in the harshest situations. Islam is always advocating for peace and friendship. It pays extreme attention to people’s lives, assets, and respect”.

The Foreign Ministry’s representative in the workshop asked for attention to the roots of terrorism and also “to distinguish between terrorism and legitimate defence” (see). The prosecuting attorney, Dorri-Najafabadi, went further and gave examples from Quran against terrorism. He stated the first act of terrorism to have been committed by Qabil against Habil (see) [Habil and Qabil (Abel and Cain) were sons of Adam, the prophet. One of them was killed by the other one in a fight over their wives] .

It is interesting to remember that Dorri-Najafabadi was the Intelligence Minister when after the chain murders of intellectuals the ministry accepted the responsibility. Many believe that he was involved in what happened. No independent research was ever carried out on the subject and many engaged journalists were imprisoned, including Akbar Ganji.

Ahmadinejad: The Good-Looking Reporter

Kamangir | January 18, 2007 | Category Iran

Today is the 12th anniversary of the establishment of Iran Newspaper, the newspaper published by IRNA. Also today, after being a blogger for over five months, Ahmadinejad received a honorary reporters’ card. So, technically, effective today, Ahmadinejad is a journalist.

He was actually a very good-looking person today. This is him earlier today. Doesn’t he look cute?

p.s. Haji Washington suggests that Ahmadinejad must stay away from Judge Mortazavi, the judge responsible for sending many journalists behind the bars.