Kamangir (Archer)

Iran Minus Ahmadinejad

Kamangir | April 5, 2007 | Category Iran

Aside from Ahmadinejad, the Iranians are living their lives. That includes the second International Robocup of Iran which started today (IRNA). The participants of the two-day event are 361 teams, 17 of which are from other countries. More pictures here and here.

The Story Begins: Iranians Blame Ahmadinejad

Kamangir | April 5, 2007 | Category Iran

“It’s enough Mahmoud!”, By Nikahang Kowsar, Rooz.

The story of the British sailors ended happily, after they left Iran with backpacks full of presents from Ahmadinejad and the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution (Sepah), the same body who had arrested them. The fact is, the story has just begun for Ahmadinejad.

The conduct of the incident by the Islamic Republic was so bizarre that it almost overshadowed many important events, including the arrest of two activist women, who were subsequently transferred to the infamous Evin Prison. Especially, Ahmadinejad’s reference to “Islamic compassion” as one of the reasons for the release of the Britons was considered rather embarrassing by many bloggers.

Nahid Keshavarz and Mahboubeh Hossein Zadeh were arrested a few days ago on accounts related to fighting for women’s rights.

Haji Kensington asks why the compassion did not apply to the detained activists. Jomhour finds Ahmadinejad’s remark embarrassing when he responded to the question whether the sailors were traded for an Iranian diplomat (who was released yesterday) by saying “if we were to trade, we should have traded them for a hundred thousand people”. Maryam asks what the final outcome of all this has been for Iran. She uses the title “Fifteen-one for the UK”. Mahjad feels pity for the people who protested in front of the British Embassy, asking for a harsh fate for the sailors. He writes “this proved that we do not bow to what we do not like unless it is too strong”. To him, it was all “a silly soap opera“. Yaghi goes further and asks if this has not been a British plot to boost Blair’s popularity. Omid asks where on earth the highest administration figure shows up to say goodbye to a few detainees. Behrang compares this with the hostage-taking of the Americans about thirty years ago. He asks why what formerly was called “lack of dignity” is now addressed as “Islamic compassion”. Malakut finds Ahmadinejad’s comments silly, especially when he asked the British Government to not to prosecute the sailors for “admitting the truth”. Keyvan thinks what has happened is solely Ahmadinejad finding the chance to show up in front of cameras and journalists. Elnaz writes “when Ahmadinejad complained that a British mother has been sent to the front, the camera rolled on a female journalist’s face and she was smiling sarcastically”.

Nahid Keshavarz and Mahboubeh Hossein Zadeh with handcuffs on the way to prison (Farnaaz).

The conclusion is, the arrest of the British sailors brought about many results. Inside Iran, for many, the obvious outcome was feeling ashamed because of having such a president.