Kamangir (Archer)

As a Labor Day event, selected workers met with the supreme leader to “benefit from his thoughtful remarks”. While the faces show that many of these attendees are simply Basij-of-industry members, it seems that the administration cannot even trust them. To my count there are two layers of guards before the leader. The funny part [...]

With the Labor Day approaching, Kargozaran, one of the last remains of independent journalism in Iran, chose a rather outstanding text for the front page; “Request for the Right to Strike”. I am not sure what the law mandates, but attempt to strike is generally regarded as being against the national security.

Frankly, lately, Kamangir has not been updated as frequently as it used to be. That is mainly because of my efforts to carry out a rather radical moderation in Balatarin. The fact is, to my deepest sorrow, and joy at the same time, trying to crackdown on copy-and-paste blogging resulted in a bloody coup. The [...]

There are early reports of a sever attack in University of Amir Kabir (AKU), the most politically active university in Tehran. Reportedly, Basij members have distributed phony newsletters with the logos of student groups on them. The newsletter has reportedly contained material offensive to the administration, including a cartoon of the supreme leader. Then, Basij [...]

The Police Chief Commander met with grand ayatollahs to discuss the recent crackdown on the veil. Apparently, this was not a very simple meeting.  More pictures here.

“Yes …! You have understood it correctly! I am in war with you! What are you going to do to me? Will you delete me? You cannot kill a person because a person’s name rises by death. What are you going to do to my ideas?”

These are not the last words of Che Guevara. This [...]

It was clear that Police brutality in enforcing Islamic covering would cause objection and protest by the general body of blogestan. What was not so clear was that the more conservative bloggers would also rise against it. Koroush writes,

I don’t know who has mandated the veil in this general and inclusive form. Neither in history [...]

As you might know, the Islamic Republic has started a summer veil program to face “immodesty”. The conduct of this event has caused distress and objection all over the Iranian blogestan. For example, female bloggers have started a game titled “does everyone have to wear Chador?” At the middle of this social unrest, one picture [...]

I think all the moderation that I did in Balatarin finally paid off. Last weekend we were playing the fantastic Iranian game at-the-middle (Vasati), which is similar to Dodgeball, when I twisted my ankle and fell down. Since then, I have had a pain in my left ankle. Today, they gave me crutches and took [...]

This is the English translation of a post by Masih Ali Nejad. She is a reformist journalist, whom if I remember correctly was banned from entering the parliament building after her revealing stories made MPs frustrated. This post talks about a picture taken at the scene of the ungoing anti-immodesty raids by the Police.

A Child [...]

The anniversary of the Armenian Holocaust in Tehran (Google Map). More pictures here.

An Armenian church (location). The text on the banners from top to bottom: “April 24th 1915 is the anniversary of the massacre of more than 1,5 million Armenians by the Turkish government”, “Massacre is condemned, anytime anywhere”, “Turkey! Shame on you! For all [...]

Last night, Azadeh and I watched Bewitched. I should say I found the movie admirable in two aspects. One, it proved how much efficient Hollywood is in turning a ten-minute story into a one-hour movie. Two, I should thank Nicole Kidman for keeping her cloths on for the entire movie.
Aside from the humor, she played [...]

Just a quick note that I am playing around with Kamangir’s feed. I am trying to use Feed Burner to get statistics on feed usage. Please let me know if anything stops working. I am a total stranger to all this.

There is a new war going on in Iran, between the administration and students of Shiraz University (Balatarin). More than two thousand students in University of Shiraz gathered on the campus and refused to attend their classes (link). When the dean of the university tried to talk to them they interrupted him by chanting “liar! [...]

In an absolute coincidence, last year this day, I tried to clarify what the Islamic Republic means by the term “immodesty” (link). These days the same term is used very frequently in the streets of Tehran. While the administration is trying to regulate outfits and talks about men’s immodesty, for a portion of Iranians this [...]

Balatarin, the Iranian Digg, is rushing forward and similar to any other first-time experience, the practice of conversation in the Persian Blogsphere has its highs and lows. One of the threats in this route, to my understanding, is copy-and-paste blogging. As a moderator of Balatarin, I am accused of being tougher than necessary. Here is [...]

“In Full Support of this Godly Motion”
After angry protesters chanted against “immodesty” at the end of Friday Prayers, it was obvious that the Police was going to implement its harsh words against “improper public conduct”, as stated a short while ago. As the summer arrives, in the boiling and polluted city of Tehran, “the essentials [...]

A very obvious question for those who follow the news about Iran is that, if the Islamic Republic is such a cruel entity and if Iranian hate it so much, why do they not revolt against this oppressive system. The answer, or one of the answers, is that the regime has done a very cruel [...]

One of the arguments of Ahmadinejadists for his popularity is the hundreds of thousands of letters people give him in his provincial trips (background). These letters are mainly about people’s personal problem with a bank they have taken a loan from or with an employer who has fired their son. While the fact that people [...]

This is a Police announcement Bahman has found in Tehran. It carries the logo of the Islamic Republic Police. Here is the English translation of the text on the banner,
The Police Force of Tehran
According to the order of the Public Places’ Supervision [not the exact translation of the name, it is a part of the [...]

Today was the National Army Day in Iran. In many cities, army units marched in front of the administration figures, that would be Ahmadinejad in Tehran. Predictably, the Islamic Republic tried to link this national day to its ambitions. The banner in the picture below reads “peaceful nuclear energy is a fundamental necessity of [...]

Fars delightedly reports that the British sailors left Iran without their equipment. “riffles, ammunition, GPS devices, and their two boats are not handed over to the UK”, Fars writes.

Grand Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi, one of the topmost Shia clerics in Iran, gave his analysis of the Virginia Tech massacre (FARS).

The incident in Virginia Tech is a sign of deviation from faith in God, logic, and human emotions. There is a lesson in this event for everyone in the world. …the shooting proves how much [...]

Three days ago, students in a small University in the northern province of Mazandaran started a protest against the oppressive policies of the Islamic Republic. While student protests are nothing new in Iran, this time there is something indeed new. In three days, students have started a blog and have managed to fill it with [...]

Following the UFO-sighting two days ago, today, the air defense system at Isfahan UCF center became active for fifteen minutes. The official sources say that it has only been a drill to “measure the preparedness of the site”. Formerly, some city officials had connected the incident to a Basij rescue and metropolitan-war maneuver. The officials [...]