Minoudar (مینودر), a weekly magazine published in Qazvin province, was outlawed recently. According to the Iranian blogger Alikhani [Persian], the only reason mentioned yet is this hair salon ad, carried in an issue published two years ago. The actual reason, however, might be the magazine’s criticism of the governor of Qazvin for assigning his wife as his adviser.

My idea for this Halloween was massively rejected by Azadeh and another friend, for being “silly, nerdy, and not funny at all”. Therefore, with apologies to those who have already seen this last year, in “The Bogeyman, Or Ahmadinejad Pumpkin for Halloween“, I post last year’s Halloween pictures again.

It all started with a “smiling” picture of Ahmadinejad, which was then carved on a pumpkin. See the whole process in the photoblog.

The news was circulating the Persian media [Persian] and now has been announced by Amnesty International as a call for urgent action. Please link to the story and inform others. This has to be stopped.

Child offender Makwan Moloudzadeh, an Iranian Kurd, is believed to be at risk of imminent execution. He has reportedly been convicted of anal sex for the alleged rape of a 13-year-old boy. Makwan Moloudzadeh was aged 13 at the time of the alleged offence. His death sentence has been passed to the Office for the Implementation of Sentences and he is due to be executed in public, near his home.

…The witnesses and the two people who had pressed charges against him withdrew their claims after the trial. Under Iranian law, children (boys of up to 14.7 years) are to be flogged for homosexual acts.

… However, the judge relied on the “knowledge of the judge” to determine that penetration had taken place and that Makwan Moloudzadeh could be sentenced to death.

… During his trial, Makwan Moloudzadeh reportedly maintained his innocence. … He is reported to have gone on hunger strike for 10 days to
protest against his ill-treatment in detention. Prior to his trial and conviction, on or around 7 October 2006 Makwan Moloudzadeh was reportedly paraded through the streets of Paveh riding on a donkey, with his head shaved. People in the street shouted abuse and threw things at him. (source: Amnesty International)

As of the “knowledge of the judge”, Jafar Kiani was indeed stoned in that basis (see:Stoning WAS CARRIED OUT in Iran)

[youtube]KfA-sKVWUAc[/youtube]

“They brutally attack and slaughter mothers and children, all, at once. There is no creature more horrible that these people”. This was how a guest on a TV show on the state-run Channel 3 was introducing the Israelis to the spectators when the studio experienced a blackout. Accidentally, the microphones were not lost and the crew were not fast enough, so a “politically incorrect” sentence was aired.

Moussavi (the guest): “It was the Jews [who cut the power]“, laughs.

A Technician: Silence! Silence!

When the program restarts the anchor says, “We were saying that it was the Israelis who cut the power”.

Judaism is one of the few recognized religions in the Islamic Republic constitution.

Alef, a web site which represents a major group of conservatives in the Parliament, mentioned to be run by a top-ranking MP, published a piece about Kamangir yesterday [Persian]. In the report, the author writes,

A blogger claims that Fars News and Press TV have assigned false sentences to the Norwegian Foreign Minister [referring to: Did IRNA change Norwegian Foreign Minister’s Words?]. He [the website mentions my real name] claimed that the sentence “West must be more concerned with their own arsenal, rather than pointing at Iran and North Korea” is made up. The blogger mentions that he will follow the story with the Foreign Ministry of Norway. Fars News and Press TV have not reacted to these accusations yet. This is not the first time this blogger makes similar claims.

Then, Alef publishes a pictures of the author of this blog, accompanied by my real name, and follows,

Who is he [real name]? He [real name] is a resident of Canada whose blog is frequently referred to by the media and warmonger neo-con blogs (including Pajamas Media and Gateway Pundit). His blog is the number one source for anti-Iran news from the Iranian blogosphere, for the neo-con media. The content translated by him, regarding President’s speeches, Iranian missiles, stonings, executions, the social security project [Police raid against "immodesty" and alike], and so on, have been enthusiastically followed by the neo-con blogging networks. During last few months, he has increased his presence in the Persian blogging atmosphere, and also Iranian social networks, in order to direct anti-Iran content.

Shortly after this report, an Iranian blogger who first disclosed my real name started attacking me in a Persian social network, Balatarin [Persian]. He accused me of being a part of a “big filthy plot” against Iran. This coincidence has made some people making guesses about the source of the accusations made in Alef.

The matter of fact is, among the people who read this blog, and refer to it, there are certain people whom like, or adore, the current American administration. Nevertheless, I have always tried to be objective and not take parts. The mission of this blog is to give an accurate account of the events which happen in Iran. Having said that, I happen to agree with Alef on parts of their report and I am actually very satisfied if I have been able to help the news about stonings and executions escape the borders of Iran.

You might know that I was following strange claims on Islamic Republic’s Press TV, also mentioned in Persian in Fars News [Persian] and IRNA [Persian]. The claim is that the Norwegian Foreign Minister has urged the West “to look at their nuke arsenal”, rather than pressuring Iran to dismantle its nuclear program.

I managed to contact a few people in the Foreign Ministry, but being a freelance blogger I did not have a lot of chances there. So, I resorted to the next move, being contacting journalists I know. Thanks to Farid Pouya, I had the chance to talk to a Norwegian journalist. Then, another friend found the text of the speech and, well, it seems someone has “forgotten” to refer to many of the sentences Jonas Gahr Store said at the UN University in Tokyo.

Looking at the text of his speech at UNU, Press TV’s report fails to deliver a full account of his reference to Iran. Store said,

Today, resolving the issues of Iran and North Korea is critical. The continued international concern over the nuclear activities of the Islamic Republic of Iran and North Korea illustrates the need for compliance with the Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT), the demands of the UN Security Council and of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

…We have also seen some signs of positive development from Iran. The IAEA has made great efforts to resolve outstanding issues related to Iran’s past nuclear activities. But there are still too many uncertainties surrounding the present activities that have to be sorted out. Only Iran can deliver on that account. Iran must allow full and unconditional inspections by the IAEA. And it must comply with the demands of the international community to suspend all nuclear activities. By doing so, Iran would contribute to a negotiated political outcome to the benefit of all the parties concerned.

oth North Korea and Iran must be brought to realise that they have everything to gain by discontinuing their nuclear programmes. However, the challenges before us goes beyond Iran and North Korea.

There are still some 27 000 nuclear warheads in existence. This does not make sense nearly 20 years after the end of the Cold War. The disarmament process must be brought back on track.

The Islamic Republic media outlet, Press TV, misses the criticism and jumps to the sentence which seems to suite their purpose.

The challenge goes beyond Iran and North Korea. I believe that those who argue against these countries need to look at their own credibility to do so,

This sentence is indeed mentioned by Store, as seen in the video of his speech, but after a long introduction (Thanks to Jeremy Hedley from UNU for the link).

Also, the two Persian state-run sources provide two different translations of the sentence mentioned by Press TV. Fars writes a sentence which matches Press TV’s. IRNA, however, writes,

I believe that those who argue against Iran and North Korea need to look at their own nuclear warfare capabilities and reduce their own arsenal.

Update: Not everyone liked this: MP’s Website attacks Kamangir

Important Update: I had written,

Press TV’s report, however, includes

The challenge goes beyond Iran and North Korea. I believe that those who argue against these countries need to look at their own credibility to do so,

The second part of this sentence does not exist on the complete text, as provided by the UNU.

As Jeremey Hedley from UNU pointed out, the text does exist in the video of his speech, but not in the text of the speech. So, I correct this. He did mention this sentence but after a long discussion about Islamic Republic’s tense situation. The Islamic Republic media missed the introduction.

Islamic Republic’s Press TV published a report today claiming that the Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store has apparently criticized the West for focusing too much on Iran and “forgetting their own nuclear arsenal”.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store has urged the West to dismantle their nuclear arsenals instead of exerting pressure on Iran.

During an address at the United Nations University in Tokyo on Thursday, he said the world should address the issue of its nuclear arsenals.

“The challenge goes beyond Iran and North Korea. I believe that those who argue against these countries need to look at their own credibility to do so,” the minister added.

The same piece is carried on the Persian Fars News, where AFP is mentioned as the source [Persian].

I spent about an hour searching at Google and found absolutely nothing. Still, I wasn’t able to imagine that they could have just made it up. So, I have contacted the Norwegian Foreign Ministry. Let’s see what happens.

Update: Did IRNA change Norwegian Foreign Minister’s Words?

IRGC’s Basij just performed a 10,000 drill, named “Sovereign Iran”, in the deserts of central Iran [Persian]. Looking at the pictures taken at the event, and also following the news [Persian], this was a preparation for urban warfare. While the official news claim that Basij is preparing for “probable infiltration of the enemy to Iranian cities”, the fact that they are using riot police equipment had made me thinking that the “enemy” is probably going to have Persian names.See more pictures in the photoblog.

The Supreme Leader today attended the graduation ceremony of Sattari Military University [Persian]. There, they had prepared a “show” for him, through which soldiers with colored outfits visualized a sword piercing through an American flag which strangely enough had a Swastika on it.

I call this brilliant minds doing their best to offend others.

See more pictures in the photoblog.

The Persian people have had many festivities during the year, from which only Norooz, the celebration of the new year, and a few others have managed to survive. This year, University of Manitoba Iranian Students’ Association (UMISA) held a fantastic celebration for Mehregan, what some of us tend to call the Persian Thanksgiving. See more pictures on UMISA website.

Having a desk next to an office printer may be as bad as sitting next to someone who’s smoking, scientist says – CBC

This is a comment I recently wrote for The Manitoban, the University of Manitoba students’ newspaper. I should thank Michael Silicz, the editor of The Manitoban, for all his help.

An Iranian cure for an Iranian problem

The inevitable regime change in Iran and how Canada and the world can help

For a country with a double-digit inflation rate, regime change is only a matter of time. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s humiliation at Columbia University and the criticism that followed it in the Iranian government ranks was only one other sign that the group which rules the Islamic Republic is shrinking. It is a bitter fact, however, that during its 30 years in power, the Islamic Republic has successfully dissipated or humiliated any political alternative. This leaves no other appropriate option on the table, making the chance for a “velvet revolution” grim. Nevertheless, the regime is indeed under harsh and active criticism by a large group of people who do not constitute a classical opposition party.

A few months back, the Iranian judiciary announced that Jafar Kiani was to be stoned in public on charges of adultery. He and his partner were sentenced to death because they had lived together for more than 10 years after they carried out the Islamic marriage rituals without registering so. Soon the news was out that Jafar had in fact helped his wife, Mokarrameh Ebrahimi, who is still behind the bars, escape from an abusive husband who had been forcing her to sleep with strangers for money. The couple was arrested after her original husband raised charges against the couple.

In a matter of a few hours the Iranian “blogosphere” erupted. Posts shared phone numbers of government offices, and blogs invited everyone to call up and mention their disgust. The next day, the state-run media outlets carried reports about the “false mentions of a planned stoning.” It was a moment of joy and glory that unfortunately ended horribly. Only two weeks after that first announcement, judiciary officials transferred Jafar to a tiny village called Aghche-kand, in the province of Qazvin and buried him up to his waist. The next day many blogs carried pictures of the bloody stones which were used to kill him. Mokarrameh was called up to the prison administration the next day to be informed of her saviour’s fate. Nevertheless, probably because of the wave of disgust and condemnation that had followed the stoning, Larijani, the head of the Human Rights Commission in the judiciary, called the stoning “the personal decision of the judge,” although he defended stoning as a “punishment.” The tip, the pictures, and the updates about the stoning were all sent out by Persian bloggers inside Iran, but many of those who orchestrated the awareness cause were sitting in the security of their armchairs in North America and Europe.

After the first few months of shock, I have met with other Iranian students in Canada, and we have started to rethink the Sharia-based governance in Iran. The matter of fact is, the average Iranian youth is raised under the grip of the Islamic propaganda machine. As soon as they are free from the poisonous atmosphere of Islamic fanaticism, rational thinking kicks in. For many, this is through blogging, the modern means of international discussion and learning. The same people may once have considered stoning “a legitimate Sharia punishment,” but after they inhale freedom of thought they start to question. This questioning then spreads and infiltrates Iran through blogs.

If there is to be any chance for a democratic system to blossom in Iran, it has to start from the Iranian people questioning the irrational aspects of the Islamic practice that rules Iran. No smart bomb can ever target the dungeons of confusion and twisted argument that the Iranian regime has prepared itself to survive in. It is the Iranians, and only the Iranians, who can sneak into these ideological strongholds and shed some light. It is quite embarrassing, and at the same time quite common, to hear a well-educated Iranian speak of stoning, strangling, and other degrading actions as “acceptable” and “prescribed by the religion.” That’s because the chaos of the “War on Terror” has turned the focus away from the Sharia-based governance, the main source of these horrid actions, even helping it grow stronger.

Let more Iranians breathe freedom. No single Iranian has been ever involved in a suicide attack anywhere in the world. Our politicians speak of “martyrdom,” but, unless it has been to defend the motherland, no Iranian has ever reached for arms. It happens quite frequently that a person passing airport security with an Iranian passport is asked for a “random check”. Remembering the horror the 9-11 attacks caused, many of us patiently follow the orders. At the same time, many Iranians blame the inconvenience on the Islamic Republic for its financial and political generosity to terrorist groups. Persecuting average Iranians for what the regime of Iran, whose legitimacy is seriously questionable for many Iranians as it is, only serves in the favour of the Islamic Republic propaganda machine which seeks stories to prove the theory that “the West hates Muslims and/or Iranians.”

Accepting Iranian students into Canadian, American, and other universities in the developed world is the best way to help the Iranians communicate with the reality, not through the deceitful channels of the regime. These hardworking individuals not only bring creativity to their hosting countries but also act as sources to send out the message to the Iranian public that there is more to life than living under an Islamic dictatorship.

Two very good Winnipegger friends Julienne and Simon, and I chatted a few days ago in Tom Horton’s about Persian blogosphere. Some of the things we talked about is mentioned in the article “The power and pitfalls of ‘citizen journalism’“, by Julienne Isaacs, with files from Simon Charles, published in the University of Winnipeg Student Weekly.

Iran is a hotbed of active blogs. Impressively, Persian (Farsi) is the second-most common language of the blogosphere after English, tied only with French. Iranian youth connect online in ways that prove impossible in the country’s hard-line fundamentalist environment. They blog about politics, or to meet people of the opposite sex, or to speak out about what they see happening in the streets of their cities. Blogging is becoming so common in Iran that the mullahs, Iran’s religious leaders, have begun training bloggers in the Holy City of Qom, in an effort to keep the balance of voices in Iran from shifting too far from their agenda.

“Think of it this way,” Iranian blogger Arash Kamangir advised me in an interview last week. “Canadians use Facebook to talk about weddings. In Iran, people blog about public executions.”

I spoke over the phone with the bright and well-informed Canadian journalist Terry Galvin. An excerpt of our discussion has been mentioned in his new article “What Iranian Dissidents Need, and why they deserve more from North America’s left.”

In the United States, a debate is raging over whether dissidents in Iran should accept U.S. State Department funds aimed at assisting the regime’s adversaries (Kamangir says it’s foolish to take money from Americans; it just provides the theocracy with another pretext to criminalize dissent).

…”It makes a lot of difference to people in Iran when they see that people outside Iran are trying to help with protests and demonstrations,” Kamangir told me, “but there is also a lot of text and lots of images coming out of Iran every day. I just observe, and then I post things. I don’t really engage in theoretical debates. I just observe.”

Zahra Bani Ameri (زهرا بنی عامری), a twenty-seven-year-old medical student, committed suicide in a prison in Hamedan Province, after she was arrested by the Sharia Police.

Zahra was ranked 26 among hundreds of thousands of student who took the test to become a medical student, after she graduated the high school. At the time of the incident, she was a volunteer physician working in a rural area. According to the medical records, the cause of death was pressure on the neck, which happened 0n 9pm, last Sunday. Zahra had been arrested two days before that, on 10am, in a park, because of “questions regarding her marital status”. At the time she was accompanied by a boy, named Hamid. The next morning, 10 hours before the incident happened, her family were informed of the arrest, but they were not allowed to see her. She then called her brother at 8:45pm but her father was denied to see her at 9:45pm. Shortly after that she hung herself. The events took place when due to the Islamic Fetr celebrations the Police and the prison administration were not functioning at full capacity [Persian]. As before, the news was first denied as rumors [Persian].

In a letter, her father describes that both him and her daughter were humiliated by the Police. He also mentions that Hamid was very soon released on bail, partly due the fact that his father works for a government organization [Persian]. Reportedly, Hamid himself works for the local state-run television, as well [Persian]. Zahra’s parents have not disclosed any picture of her, or any other personal details, but her medical card has been published.

Official reports claim that she has used a banner to hang herself. Many ask if she had had the freedom of wandering around, dismantling a banner and consequently hanging herself [Persian]. That has caused some people to speculate upon a staged suicide, probably after she was raped inside the prison by the Police.

Many Persian bloggers condemned the incident, including Forough who describes how her brother’s shared apartment was raided in after she decided to spend a night in there [Persian].

The commander of the artillery unit in the IRGC stated [Persian] “On the first minute of any attack, 11,000 rockets and bullets will be fired at the designated hostile targets”. He added, “The first bullet will hit the 50-meter vicinity of the target. The fire control system utilized in Iran is unique in the world”. Stating that “online” watchtowers have any movement of the “enemies” under surveillance, Chahar Baqi added “The intelligent bullets that the IRGC has can target moving objects. Only a few countries have access to this technology.” “Although IRGC has these technologically advanced warfares, the central means of superiority in any battle is the faith of the martyr-seeking youth of Iran”, he concluded.

Former Mossad chief on Ahmadinejad: “Had he not existed, we would have had to create him. He is doing great things for us“, through Roman.

Iranian girls marched in a park in Tehran to celebrate a day without poverty. They held banners with pictures of the UN and also “Stand up, Speak out” slogans. For more pictures please refer to the photoblog.

You might be familiar with the concept of Tabarok, the act of touching holy places with your hands in order to get the blessing. Muslims, mostly Shias, do that in shrines and many other holy places. The people in the picture above are touching the footsteps of the Supreme Leader, according to some accounts. These Basij-looking young men are the backbone of the Islamic fanaticism which rules Iran. Any question why they are so passionate about “being martyred”?

Iran was ranked 166 (or 162?) in the Annual Worldwide Freedom of Press by the RSF, among 168 countries. The cartoon is by Nikahang Kowsar [Persian].

To Compete, Iranian State TV Adapts, through Aelia

State TV, which had a monopoly on viewership until satellite channels began to draw more viewers beginning in the early 1990s, has been trying to win back its audience for several years. One result: a spate of mini-series that depict love stories between characters who are not necessarily pious, and that allow women to show more of their hair — both of which have been considered un-Islamic.

Three students condemned to 7.5 years in total – Jadi @ Mideast Youth

You might remember that the former reformist president Khatami was under harsh criticism by the conservatives for having shaken hands with an uncovered lady in Italy and then sitting close to her (in which occasion we also talked about the proper hand-kissing method utilized on the Supreme Leader). At the time, many clerics asked for him to be tried and prohibited from wearing the clergy cloths, a very harsh punishment for a clergyman. That apparently is not how the conservatives react to all anti-Sharia actions.

If what happened to Khatami was in Italy, a country not under the jurisdiction of the Islamic Republic, during Putin’s recent trip to Iran the same conservatives showed that they can close their eyes on similar “sin”s committed “on the land of Islam”. This picture is taken in Mehrabad Airport, Tehran, and is published by the state-run media. The lady in short skirt is Putin’s flight attendant and you should know that as soon as any flight enters the Iranian air, all female passengers have to cover up. This lady, however, gets away with being unveiled and also shaking hands with a man. Well, that specific man is going to help the Islamic Republic fulfill their nuclear ambitions. So, who cares?

Petition to free Ayatollah Boroujerdi, through Gateway Pundit.

It is again that time of the year. October 17th 2004, in an attempt to write essays for the upcoming TOEFL exam, I started writing a blog titled “Kamangir” in blogspot with the secretive address kmgr.blogspot.com. If by any chance you like to know about the history of this blog, please refer to the Archeology Section in the appendix.

Some Statistics:

This figure shows the number of posts of this blog, and those of its Persian companion, in each month. Clearly, July, August and September have been very busy months, one of the reasons behind the “retirement”.

The “Retirement”

I think this is a good place to discuss the issues which led, and resulted from, the “retirement” post. Basically, Azadeh kept torturing me with lashes and other horrible instruments to make me stop blogging, or that’s what many people have told me half seriously half jokingly. The fact is, what happened was “blogger’s burnout“, as Frieda put it so well. So, I’ll keep blogging but blogging will not be my first priority anymore. That’s all and thanks for all your support, I did need it.

And, a Birthday Present for me, Please!

If this is not the first time you are reading something here, or anywhere else on kamangir.net, please leave me a comment. Tell me one thing you have liked on this blog and one thing for which you would have slapped me on the face if you ever saw me.

Appendix: Some Archeology:

The first post on Kamangir was this,

This is the birth of this weblog. I am not sure that I am going to continue this game, but it seems nice right now. My close friends will almost kill me when they read this phrases, because I have had long discussions with them against such nasty things as weblogs. I am not sure my opinion has changed massively….

I kept blogging in blogspot until at some point of time, which I am unable to determine, and for some reason, which I am not able to remember either, Kamangir moved to the fantastic blogging service WordPress at the address kamangir.wordpress.com. From this point of time things start to become clear.On 26 February 2007, at last, I got the domain kamangir.net, and I remember it was 11pm when I did that. By 4am the next day, Kamangir was up and running, although I needed a few more days to completely transfer posts and comments from the old place to here. Then, the original English Kamangir started to enjoy having sisters and brothers as a Persian blog and a Photoblog started here, on 1 May 2007. Finally, because of a fancy camera Azadeh got me for my birthday, a photography blog joined the team.

Iranians’ share  of the resources in the Caspian Sea. Source: The Sail, [Persian].

Putin’s visit to Tehran has made many Iranians worried that the regime may be planning to get the support of Russians for their nuclear ambitions even if that costs forgetting Iran’s rights to the Caspian Sea. The cartoon is from The Sail [Persian].