چشم انداز

By Abbas Djavadi — Recently, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq’s highest Shi’ite authority, urged voters to turn out for that country’s March 7 parliamentary elections. He warned that that failure to do so would “allow some to achieve illegitimate goals.”

To be sure, Sistani is no politician, though he is not apolitical, either. He doesn’t issue political or legal orders. He doesn’t direct Iraq’s policies on ethnic issues, oil exploitation, foreign relations, political parties, media, courts, or security. He just gives advice from his home in Al-Najaf.

Still, many in Iraq’s majority Shi’ite community follow him — not because he is an official “supreme leader” like Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and not because the Iraqi government requires the people to either follow him or face punishment, as in Iran. They follow Sistani because Iraqi Shi’a respect him as a religious authority, an influential marja, or marja-i taqlid (source of emulation).

Although it is difficult for even Sunni Muslims — let alone non-Muslims — to understand it, in the Shi’ite confession it is extremely important to have and follow a marja. Marjas provide advice and even make decisions when you are in doubt on religious, social, and even political questions. Marjas are recognized and respected ayatollahs, usually grand ayatollahs, who are qualified and accepted by the public to make decisions within the framework of Islamic rules and traditions.

… ادامه خواندن

By Abbas Djavadi — After Tehran’s massive state show of power during the February 11 celebration of the anniversary of the Islamic revolution and the harsh crackdown on all protests since the disputed presidential election in June, it would require extraordinary courage to stage even a small demonstration in Iran.

But a week ago, ethnic Azeri activists in Iran issued statements both in print and on the Internet calling for a demonstration on February 21, the UN’s International Mother Language Day. The statements called for education in Azeri Turkish, the mother language of around a quarter of Iran’s population of some 70 million people. Azeri Turkish is banned in Iran’s schools, and it is not even taught in Iranian universities. Azeri Turkish, the state language in the Republic of Azerbaijan, is close to the Turkish of Turkey, but quite distinct from Persian, Iran’s state language.

Every year on this day, thousands of Azeris staged demonstrations in the cities of Iranian Azerbaijan to call for language rights. This year’s protest was planned for Shahnaz Square in Tabriz, the capital of the province Eastern Azerbaijan.

But this year nothing happened.

A history student who identified himself only as Babak pointed to the “militarized security situation” in the country. “From early afternoon, hundreds — maybe thousands — of Basiji and plainclothes militia gathered on and around the square, which is a crowded and central place of Tabriz,” he said. Mobile-phone connections from and to this location were blocked, according to Babak.… ادامه خواندن

By Abbas Djavadi — Zahra is a nurse working at the Beheshti Hospital in the central Iranian city of Isfahan. Both Zahra and her husband, Arash, a physiotherapist, work hard, with a lot of overtime, to provide for their two children.

They complain about their relatively low income. Zahra, for example, earns 550,000 tumans a month, about $600, and says the abolition of government subsidies, as planned by President Mahmud Ahmadinejad, would further reduce their real income.

But the main reason why both Zahra and Arash voted for Mir Hossein Musavi, Ahmadinejad’s main contender in the presidential election seven months ago, was not their economic situation, Zahra says.

“Financially, we are surviving, somehow. But we want to live in a moderate and free society with better perspectives for our kids,” she says. “The election proved that our votes don’t count and everyday there are new restrictions and hostilities…. It’s as though we were constantly at war with ourselves and the world.”

… ادامه خواندن

By Abbas Djavadi — In the last three months, I have attended job interviews with 40 Pashtun journalists from Pakistan to work for Radio Mashaal, a new service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, RFE/RL, for Pakistan’s Pashtu-speaking people, especially in the regions bordering Afghanistan. For the broadcasts that start mid January, we had carefully short-listed the candidates from a long list of professional applicants. We were pleasantly surprised by the level of professionalism of these candidates and their dedication to all the high values we at RFE/RL stand for: free flow of accurate news and information ultimately helping to counter voices of extremism and intolerance and serving universal human rights and freedoms for all.

They came from different corners of Pakistan’s “Pashtu belt” — from Quetta in the south to Mardan in the north — as well as crowded multiethnic cities such as Islamabad and Karachi. They all worked for different Pakistani media outlets, both electronic and print. And everybody had a different story to tell. One had to emigrate from his native town in Balochistan to Karachi because of serious threats by the Taliban and pressure from local tribal leaders. Another had received warning letters from the Taliban hanged on the house door of her parents and a third one, a journalist and a popular singer, said he was forced to produce his new CDs with a pseudonym after receiving dozens of threatening phone calls from the extremists. Some others, obviously, had so far no noteworthy confrontation with the Taliban but felt that they could serve their professional goals better in an international and more professional media organization.

… ادامه خواندن

By Abbas Djavadi — December 27 is Ashura, the 10th day of the month Muharram of the Islamic calendar. It is commemorated to mark the day of martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, in the year 61 of Hijra (680 AD).

I grew up in a very traditional, religious Shi’ite family in Tabriz in northwestern Iran, during the shah’s rule. The predominant religious culture said that Imam Hussein, as a last, true defender and just follower of the Prophet and his cousin, Imam Hussein’s father, Imam Ali, heroically and selflessly fought with just a few dozen poorly armed, but absolutely dedicated and selfless followers against the bloodthirsty Yazid, the son of the Umayyad Caliph Muaviyeh outside of Karbala, in today’s Iraq.

Imam Hussein knew well that he couldn’t win against the well-equipped army of Yazid, himself a symbol of injustice, arrogance, and oppression. But he fought nonetheless and was brutally killed so that the idea of Shi’a, the just one, following the path of the Prophet and Islam, could survive –and win some day in future.

For teenagers like me in the 1960s, Ashura was a time of sorrow and grief, yes, but the schools were closed for a few days. We went out to see the processions: people wore black shirts, marched through the streets, sang “nohas,” poems of grief, and shouted “Ya Hussein-e Mazloom!”. “Hussein, Hussein, Ya Hussein.” Most of the marching people would strike their chests as a sign of grief. I did too, occasionally.

Some would strike their backs with chains and some – I’d heard, but never saw myself — would cut their heads with knifes so that blood streamed over their faces. It was all to say: “We are with you, Ya Hussein, and want to feel what you felt, and sacrifice our lives for the true faith, as you did.”

At that time, this whole commemoration was something traditional, ceremonial. It had nothing to do with politics. Then it was a religious and social event, the Ashura, a get-together. Remembrance and grief.

Now it is grief and politics, a lot of politics. Hate and a lot of slogans. “Down with…” or “Death to…” for political opponents — even those who are Shi’ite clerics — and moderates, and everybody and anybody who is not fully behind the current rulers of Iran.

… ادامه خواندن

(In Czech language)

Pro své přežití udělá íránský režim cokoli. Nedá se mu věřit

Pohřeb ajatolláha Alího Montazerího, na němž v pondělí protestovaly desetitisíce Íránců, byl poslední ukázkou, v jak vratké situaci se letos íránský režim ocitl. Sporné volby, radikalizace politiky, skrývání jaderného zařízení u Kómu, to vše letos vyneslo zemi znovu do role globálního hříšníka. Sblížení, které žádá Barack Obama, je v nedohlednu.

“Pro Íránce to přesto nebyl ztracený rok,” říká Abbás Džavadí, rodák z íránského Tabrízu, spoluzakladatel prvního zahraničního vysílání do Íránu (rádia Ázádí), autor několika knih o politice a historii regionu.

HN: Jak se Írán změnil od červnových voleb, co do rozložení moci? Kdo zemi nyní řídí? Ajatolláh Chameneí, jeho vlivný syn Modžtaba, nebo Revoluční gardy?

Nastala silná radikalizace politické scény. Dřív jsme měli vládu, parlament, shromáždění expertů, ale i určité vlivné figury, například Hášemího Rafsandžáního a další, jež nebyly součástí vládní kliky, ale byly v jistém smyslu tolerovány. Teď už nikoli. V zemi vládne vojenský, mesianistický režim. Vše se děje pod kontrolou Revolučních gard, jimi je zřejmě ovládán i samotný ajatolláh Chameneí, je na nich závislý.

… ادامه خواندن

By Abbas Djavadi – There are fears that the Iranian regime may intensify the crackdown on the opposition in the next few weeks.

Six months after a rigged presidential election wherein Mahmud Ahmadinejad was hastily confirmed the winner, the resistance has not disappeared despite tear gas, beatings, and hundreds of detentions, torture, imprisonment, and even killings.

At every given opportunity, there are demonstrations and protest actions calling for change and even challenging the rule of Spiritual Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Ahmadinejad’s most powerful supporter.

There is an even deeper division among clerics, with more openly criticizing the crackdown on protesters and others calling for a dialogue to save the system of the Islamic Republic.

Now imagine the following scenario: In order to split the ongoing resistance and prevent a further weakening of the clergy’s support for Ahmadinejad, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ intelligence service plants a few agents in the student demonstrations of December 4. Those agents tear posters of the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Rouhollah Khomeini. Other agents shoot video of them doing so, and state television shows that “processed” footage a few days later to convince the undecideds that the protesters are not only opposed to Ahmadinejad and his mentor, Khamenei, but to the Islamic republic as a system and its founder.

… ادامه خواندن

(In Persian)

تجربه یک ساله من با وبلاگ و فیس بوک

.حدودیک سال پیش من وب سایت — و یا طوریکه میگویند بلاگ و یا وبلاگ — شخصی خودم را باز کردم، همین که الان باز کرده و میخوانید . این کار دو دلیل اصلی داشت. اولا از جمع کردن مقالات چاپی خودم در پرونده های کلفت و سنتی خسته شده بودم و میخواستم آنهارا بصورت الکترونیک حفظ کنم. ثانیا هم مثل اکثریت کسانی که چیزی مینویسند میخواستم آنها را در دسترس علاقمندلن قرار بدهم.

اما دیوید هندرسن، دوست خوب من که  در این کار به کمک من شتافت  شاید طور دیگری به مسئله نگاه میکرد. باید سریع بود، باید با حد اکثر آدمها رابطه برقرار کرد. “کامنت” ها باید بدون کنترل قبلی منتشر شوند. بعد از انتشار اگر در کامنتی و نظری توهین و تحقیر و دشنام و اینها بود باید آنرا حذف کرد اما اینرا هم باید اعلان کرد که چرا آن کامنت حذف شده است. و باید به همه کامنت ها جواب داد تا نویسندگان آنها دوباره برگردند و وبلاگ را بخوانند. بر علاوه، نمیشود فقط گهگاهی مطلب نوشت. تا میتوانی باید بنویسی که خواننده هایت از وبلاگ نروند. هر روز هم باید ببینی که چند نفر وبلاگ را میخوانند. این تعداد هر روز زیاد میشود؟ با چه سرعتی؟ اگر زیاد نمیشود علتش چیست و چطور میتوان این مشکل را حل کرد؟
برای افزایش تعداد کاربران باید مطالب را با صطلاح “شر” کرد یعنی در پلاتفورم های دیگر و بخصوص شبکه های اجتماعی مانند فیس بوک، تویتر، مای اسپیس و غیره گذاشت تا دایره وسیعتری آن مطالب را ببیند.… ادامه خواندن

Speaking at a conference of Islamic countries’ national radio and TV networks, Iran’s President Mahmud Ahmadinejad recently said that the media are the main tool Western powers use to overthrow other governments. “Nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons are just a distraction. Today, the enemy’s main weaponry is the media,” he said.

Ahmadinejad is right in his recognition of the media’s crucial role. The heavily manipulated Iranian presidential election of June 12, in which the authorities hastily declared him the winner, could not have sparked massive nationwide protests without information and communication between those millions of people who felt that their votes had gone astray.

But Ahmadinejad’s fellow Iranian citizens will have a hard time comprehending the wisdom of blaming Western media for reporting about an election that was intended to whitewash the regime, but which ultimately shattered its legitimacy because information about the manipulation of the vote could not be suppressed as it used to be in the “good old times.” Now Ahmadinejad and his main mentor, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, primarily rely on rule by force — that of the Revolutionary Guards and Basij.

It is true that for years the Tehran regime has been jamming and blocking U.S.- or U.K.-funded radio and TV stations such as Radio Farda, Voice of America, and the BBC, and their websites. Filtering of the Internet was extended to Facebook and Twitter a few months before June 12. But how would Ahmadinejad explain the fact that well before the election, the authorities also started to ban reformist and relatively independent newspapers and to close their websites? And shortly before the election, they started disrupting the whole SMS messaging system and later almost all mobile phone systems that could enable Iranian citizens to communicate “politically dangerous” information to one another.… ادامه خواندن

By Abbas Djavadi – This coming Friday, September 18, is the “Day of Jerusalem” in Iran. Ayatollah Rouhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in chorus with some other Islamic countries and organizations, declared the last Friday of the month of Ramadan the “Day of Jerusalem” to demonstrate support for Palestinians and their drive to impose their sovereignty over this ancient city. Not that anything important will happen on this day, either in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian lands or Lebanon or Iran. There will be demonstrations in support of the Palestinians and condemnation of Israel. But since they have become a routine, they don’t attract much attention. In Iran, though, this year’s “Day of Jerusalem” has already acquired a special importance. The reformist groups, still alive and active despite brutal suppression, have said that on that day they will launch new demonstrations against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whom they accuse of rigging the presidential elections three months ago.

The slogan “Neither Gaza, Nor Lebanon — My Life Is Devoted to Iran” is currently very popular in Iran. Posters are being produced and distributed widely via the Internet. The question that is increasingly raised and discussed is: Why has the Islamic Republic made the Israeli-Palestinian conflict one of its main foreign policy priorities? To be sure, most Iranians probably feel sympathy for the Palestinians, who have to live in camps, in occupied territories, without statehood. But why is the Iranian government going far beyond sympathy, providing millions of dollars every year in weapons and cash to terrorist and semi-terrorist Palestinian groups? Why is the Islamic Republic even, as the Persian proverb goes, “a pot hotter than its soup,” supporting extremist groups such as Hamas, but not the Palestinian Authority that is recognized by Arab countries and the international community?

There is no doubt that Jerusalem, which is 2,000 years older than Islam, has a special importance, role, and religious value in Islam and the Koran. But many argue that the Islamic Republic is using this religious or “ideological” factor as a tool for its political and strategic purposes. Why then, they ask, in the case of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, is Tehran supporting not the occupied, Muslim and neighboring Republic of Azerbaijan, but the occupier, Christian Armenia?

Apparently, those attracted by the slogan “Neither Gaza, Nor Lebanon — My Life Is Devoted to Iran” are not much worried about whom Jerusalem should “belong” to, how the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should be resolved, or even which foreign country or organization Tehran should support. Their concern seems to be that Iranians are facing increasing unemployment and inflation. Iran is under international embargo because of its suspected efforts to develop nuclear weapons, but also because of its opposition to an Arab-Israeli peace and support for extremist groups. Consequently, 40 percent of its fuel is imported and the fear is that because of Ahmadinejad’s rejection of talks on Iran’s nuclear program, the embargo may even be tightened. Under these conditions, people ask, why are we spending millions of dollars for Hamas, Hizbollah, and other extremist foreign organizations? Why aren’t we spending those resources for Iran and Iranians themselves? Why are you persisting in a foreign policy that further isolates Iran as a country and makes individual Iranians suffer?

This year, “Jerusalem Day” in Iran is important for a different reason. Aware of the opposition’s calls for a demonstration of power on this day, Ahmadinejad and his main supporter, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, hesitated for a long time over whether to continue the traditional celebration. Khamenei’s final word in last week’s Friday prayer that the celebrations would be held as usual strengthened the opposition’s hopes that they could once again challenge what they call the “absolutist power of the Supreme Leader,” as well as their concerns that planned demonstrations may be brutally suppressed again.

Whatever happens, though, on this Friday’s “Day of Jerusalem,” two things seem unquestionable. First: three months after the presidential election and its obviously rigged results, the protest and reformist movement is under pressure, but still alive and active. And second: the slogan “Neither Gaza nor Lebanon –My Life Is Devoted to Iran” has put down deep roots in society. Even Mir Hossein Mousavi, Ahmadinejad’s main contender from the reformist movement, when asked about the Palestinian issue in an election campaign meeting last June, said that they (the reformists) surely support the Palestinians. But Iranians have other important problems to solve first.”

(Published on RFE/RL’s website, Daily Estimate, Spero News, Peyvand)… ادامه خواندن

For the past couple of months, we thought some kind of spring was coming to our beloved Iran. We deserved it, we thought, finally, after so many years of un-freedom, state-ideological one-way-turbo-course, and international isolation and humiliation. But after the much expected speech yesterday by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, it seems we are not in June or May, but still somewhere in December.

Khamenei declared incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner of the June 12 presidential election and warned that further mass demonstrations calling for a run-off or recount of the votes that are widely considered as rigged would be harshly punished. These actions, he said in a tone familiar from all his previous speeches, were provoked and organized by foreign countries, the United Kingdom, the United States, and their intelligence services and radio stations, in an effort to incite a “velvet revolution” against the Islamic Republic.

Changing the system through a “peaceful revolution?” Intelligence services? Foreign radios? The U.K.? The U.S.? We just had a presidential election set by you, with four candidates approved by you and your Guardians.… ادامه خواندن

By Abbas Djavadi – It was a night of fundamental change of the Islamic Republic of Iran. It was, however, not the change the overwhelming majority of the electorate indicated to be producing with their real votes yesterday, but a change in the ruling establishment of the country, an almost complete control by Revolutionary Guards, intelligence services, and the most radical forces of the regime.

Actually, everything seemed to be going fine until the polling stations closed at 10 pm Tehran time. By then, streets were green, the color of the favorite opposition candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi, who was generally expected to win with a considerable margin, by many estimates of late Friday even in the first round. Reformist newspapers had already started to announce Mousavi’s victory and the reformist candidate himself was calling the people for a national celebration on Sunday.

Everything started after voting ended and the Interior Ministry with the government-established Election Commission started to count the votes. As the incoming first figures from villages and small towns favored incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the reformers still kept their faith: “Ahmadinejad is stronger in villages that comprise some 30% of the population,” they said. “We will definitely win the cities.” This was while even one percent of the citizens from western Iranian villages and small towns hadn’t allegedly voted for Mehdi Karroubi, the other opposition candidate who, comes from the same region and enjoys considerable popularity in Lorestan and Kurdistan provinces.

… ادامه خواندن

Abbas Djavadi – The uncertainty over whether or not conservative forces in Iran will throw their support behind incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s bid for a second presidential term is dissipating. On April 25, a coalition of 14 conservative and clerical parties and groups announced that they will indeed support Ahmadinejad’s candidacy in the June 12 presidential election.

Coalition secretary Habib Asgarowladi said the group has “conveyed [to Ahmadinejad] some concerns” on the part of the clergy and political personalities. “But the consensus is,” he added, “that, under current conditions, Mr. Ahmadinejad best represents the thoughts and beliefs of the Imam [the founder of the Islamic Republic, the late Ayatollah Rouhollah Khomeini] and the Supreme Leader [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei].”

Under the Islamic Republic’s Constitution, the Supreme Leader has the ultimate decision-making power in all major political and strategic issues. Ahmadinejad has not yet officially registered to run for a second presidential term. Former Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Moussavi has announced he will run as the candidate of the “reformist” camp.… ادامه خواندن

By Abbas Djavadi – Dr. Hessam Firoozi (photo, left), a physician who has treated dozens of political prisoners in Iran including Akbar Ganji, Ahmad Batebi (photo, right), and dissident Ayatollah Borujerdi, was sentenced to one year in prison and sent to jail last week.  He was accused of “providing refuge” and of “hiding” political opponents and prisoners, including Mr. Batebi, while on leave from prison.

In an interview with Niusha Boghrati of Radio Farda, Hessam Firoozi’s spouse, Mahta Bordbar, said that meeting with political prisoners to provide medical assistance while they were on approved leave did not constitute “hiding” them.

They have appealed the court verdict, Mrs. Bordbar said, but “the decision has been made in advance and nothing can apparently change it.” (For the full report and interview in Persian, click here)… ادامه خواندن

By Abbas Djavadi – The Committe to Protect Journalists asked Iran to make public the charges against Roxana Saberi, an Iranian-American journalist who was arrested on January 31. Spokesmen of Iranian Foreign Ministry and Justice Authority had confirmed the arrest and added that the 31-old journalist’s accreditation had expired. Saberi is a freelance reporter for NPR and BBC. But official charges against Mrs. Saberi have not been announced. “At a minimum, she is entitled to basic due process,” CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon said in a statement. U.S. Secretary of State Hillay Clinton has also demanded the immediate release of U.S.-born journalist.

An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said Saberi was working “illegally” after her press card was withdrawn two years ago. Saberi’s father, Reza, was quoted by news agencies as saying  she was probably arrested for buying a bottle of wine. But in an interview with  Radio Farda, Mr. Saberi denied those reports and said that his daughter was doing a research after her accreditation was withdrawn.

An official of Tehran’s public prosecutor’s was quoted by ISNA  as saying that she will be released “in the next few days.”… ادامه خواندن

By Abbas Djavadi – A month ago, Aliyeh Eqdam-Doost was arrested in her native town of Fooman and transferred to the infamous prison of Evin in Tehran. Why? Because she attended a peaceful demonstration two years ago in Tehran of all those who wanted equal rights for men and women, from divorce to inheritance.

On the occasion of March 8, the International Women’s Day, the Women’s Committee of the Tehran-based Iranian Defenders of Human Rights issued a statement noting that their fight for equal rights remains as difficult and “cost intensive” as ever. “We consistently have to face repression, arrest, and imprisonment of those who fight against discriminatory laws and practices.”

Mrs. Eqdam-Doost was sentenced to three years and four months in prison and 20 strikes of lashes for attending the peaceful demonstration in defense of equal rights for men and women in Iran.  The blog “Taghyeer va Baraabari” (Change and Equality”) writes that the Court of Appeal confirmed her sntence to three years in prison. “She is the first [Iranian] women’s activist who has been sent to jail after a final court decision.”… ادامه خواندن

“By Abbas Djavadi – In Islamic law, there is a principle of respect for the human being and his or her life and property, irrespective of his or her religion, confession, race, and sex..”

This is a quote from no less an authority than Mohammad Mojtehed (left) Shabestari, a Shi’a Muslim cleric who has spent his life studying and teaching Islam in the Theological Seminary of Qom. He has written for prominent religious publications such as Maktabe Eslam, and and he taught on the Faculty of Religion at the University of Tehran until he was fired from the university last year — together with many other professors who were considered too moderate or too apolitical for the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Last week, Iranian government media launched a campaign against Shabestari. His recent speech in Isfahan was called ”blasphemy. ” In that speech, he has said: “If in a society the three concepts of God, power, and authority are mixed up, a political-religious despotism will find strong roots…  and the people will suffer greatly.”

Ahmad Khatami, the acting chief imam of Tehran and a member of the Experts Council, called Shabestari’s statements “blasphemy,” saying “this individual is opposed to the principle of Velayate Faqih,” the political theory that Iran’s Islamic Republic is based on. Under this system, an unelected Supreme Leader, acting as Valiye Faqih, has supreme authority over the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government at all levels of the state, while the elected government merely implements the Supreme Leader’s vision.

Shabestari responded with a written denial of the blasphemy accusations, saying the attacks against him are part of the conservative ruling elite’s preparations for June’s presidential election. He said their strategy is based on “lies, denunciations, and personal terror.”

Anything that does not fit the regime’s application of political Shi’ite Islam as a tool of government is dismissed as “blasphemy,” “infidelity,” and “Western-oriented” thinking that is to be eliminated from Iranian political scene.

The ruling elite’s distaste for any other views of Islam goes back to the first year after the revolution and is a fundamental characteristic of the Iranian system. Here are some of the most prominent examples:

Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Kazem Shariatmadari, a popular Marja’ (source of inspiration) for millions of Shi’ite Muslims who saved the life of the late Ayatollah Rouhollah Khomeini, the Islamic republic’s founder, during the shah’s regime, was arrested and put under house arrest in early 1980s for advocating the idea that Islamic clerics should not actively participate in government.

Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, a cofounder of the Islamic republic who Khomeini selected to replace him as Supreme Leader, was put under house arrest in 1989 for saying the Islamic republic’s policies infringed on freedom and violated people’s rights. Still living in Qom under house arrest, Montazeri enjoys considerable popular support, particularly among students and reformists.

In 2002, Hashem Aghajari, a devout Shi’ite and a reformist professor at Tarbiat Modarres University, was imprisoned for a speech he gave in Hamadan on “Islamic Protestantism,” in which he called for a “reformation” of Islam that would decrease the role of the clergy. He was twice sentenced to death for apostasy, but the sentences were commuted and he was released after paying a large fine in July 2004.

Ayatollah Seyed Hossein Kazemini Borujerdi was arrested in October 2006. He is a Shi’ite cleric who advocates the separation of religious and state affairs. He is still in prison and is reportedly suffering from several serious illnesses. The authorities also detained several hundred of Borujerdi’s followers who had gathered to prevent his arrest.

Hadi Ghabel, an outspoken cleric, was imprisoned last April. He was convicted of engaging in propaganda against the state and sentenced to 40 months in prison by the special Clerics Court in Qom. He was also defrocked and remains in prison.

Reacting to the campaign against Shabestari, Saeed Behzad — a devout carpet-shop owner from Tehran — noted that the Ahmadinejad government is not limiting its repression to “non-Shi’a” or to “non-Muslim individuals and groups.”

“Shi’ite or Sunni, Christian or Baha’i or atheist…. It’s not about your faith,” he told me. “You will come under fire if you even remotely question this regime and its practices.”

In the Islamic Republic, it’s not enough to be a Muslim. You have to obey and accept what they define as “real Islam,” a state ideology serving their “Velayate Faqih.” Anything else is “blasphemy.”

(Published also on RFE/RL’s website, Global Security)… ادامه خواندن

By Abbas Djavadi – The Iranian Writers’ Association has issued a statement protesting repression and persecution against “different groups of the Iranian society” in the recent months.

The report, dated February 23, notes that “in the last few months, along with the deterioration of economic and social conditions in Iran, a new wave of censorship, bans, citations to security offices, detention, arrests, and imprisonments as well as an increasing number of executions was observed in response to the worsening consequences of the social and economic crisis.”

The Association also criticizes the destruction of the Khavaran cemetery in Tehran, with hundreds of mass and individual graves of dissidents executed in the 1980s. The statement says the destruction of the cemetery is aimed at destroying the evidence of the “past crimes” and demands that the cemetery be turned over to the families of the dead and made available for investigation by a “just and fair” court process.… ادامه خواندن

By Abbas Djavadi – In separate statements, German Chansellor Angela Merkel and European Union expressed deep concern about the fate of seven Baha’i leaders who were arrested months ago, facing charges of “acting against Iran’s national security” and “spying for Israel.”

Merkel’s spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm quoted the German chansellor, saying that the detainees have not been informed about their charges and have no access to defense and a fair trial. “This would negatively affect Iran’s relations with the international community.” (For a detailed report in Persian, see Radio Farda’s report).

The Baha’i community categorically denies the allegations. The Baha’i faith, founded in Iran in the 19th century, is considered heresy in Iran and Baha’i faithful are persecuted for their belief. Baha’i faithful refrain from participating in political activities. Human rights organizations are concerned that the seven Baha’i leaders could be executed in the next few days or weeks.… ادامه خواندن

By Abbas Djavadi – On February 18, Iranian authorities destroyed a house of worship of Gonabadi dervishes. The house was attached to the tomb of the mystic philosopher and poet Nasser Ali at the historical Takht-e Foulad cemetry near Isfahan. The tomb itself, reportedly a UNESCO-protected cultural site, has not been damaged.

The house was a place for dervishes to gather, pray, meditate, and to read mystic poetry. The Sufi dervishes have been facing increasing persecution in Iran in the last few months. Many worship houses have been destroyed and dervishes have faced detention and mistreatment.

Dervishes are members of Sufi Muslim ascetic religious sects, known as Tariqah. There are hundreds of different Tariqah across Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Central Asia, Turkey, the Balkans, and in Arab countries. Gonabadi is one of the dervish groups in Iran. “Unlike mullahs, dervishes take the vow of poverty” (Wikipedia) and have a more tolerant and open understanding and reading of Islam than the official confessions of Sunna and Shi’a. In the West, Jalaliddin Rumi (Balkhi) (13th century) became the most famous Sufi philosopher and thinker. BBC News has decribed him as “the most popular poet in America.”… ادامه خواندن

By Abbas Djavadi – At the recent Munich Security Conference, Afghan President Hamid Karzai demonstrated optimism about Afghanistan. Things are improving, he said, and the West should provide more support to crack down Al-Qa’eda and other terrorist groups.  He categorically rejected the view that Afghanistan is a failed state.

What is a “failed state,” after all? If a government can’t physically control its territory, has no or limited monopoly on the legitimate use of force, can’t take and enforce collective decisions for the whole country, is unable to provide basic public services, and can’t represent the whole country in the international community, that state is a failed or failing one, depending on the level of these shortcomings.

Based on these criteria (see Fund for Peace), Afghanistan is a failed state. For years, it has been and still is one of the top ten failed states of the world, along with Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, Zimbabwe, and others.

… ادامه خواندن

By Abbas Djavadi – The US will lose its single super power role, but remain the most powerful nation, though less dominant.  A global multipolar system will emerge with the rise of China, India, and others. The power and influence of Russia, Brazil, but also Indonesia, Turkey, and Iran will probably grow.

This and much more could be found in the US National Intelligence Council’s Global Trends 2025 — A Transformed World, a 120-page comprehensive research pointing to probable (though not certain) trends of the world development in the next 15 or so years. The research is based on information gathered from numerous think tanks, consulting firms, academic institutions and hundreds of experts inside and outside the US.

In the new world order, more countries may be attracted to China’s alternative model rather than Western models of political and economic development. Investment in economic well-being will increase incentives towards geopolitical stability. Countries like Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan will face continued instability and state failure unless employment conditions change considerably.

Terrorism will not disappear from the Middle East by 2025, but its appeal could decrease if economic growth continues and unemployment is reduced.… ادامه خواندن

By Abbas Djavadi – Yesterday, deputy Tehran prosecutor Hassan Haddad was quoted by semi-official news agency Isna, saying that Iran’s seven imprisoned Baha’i leaders (see photo) will be going on trial next week on charges of  “acting against the Islamic Republic” and “espionage for Israel,” allegations that may lead to execution.

The Baha’i community categorically denies these charges. No evidence against them has been brought to light and their lawyer, Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi has been prevented from meeting with the imprisoned Baha’i leaders for nearly a year to review their files.

The Baha’i faith, founded in 1863 in Iran, is considered heresy by the Islamic Republic. Followers of the faith have faced persecution since its founding. But the wave of repression has intensified in the last 30 years. There are some 300,000 Baha’is living in Iran. Baha’is refrain from involvement in partisan political activities.… ادامه خواندن

By Abbas Djavadi – With former President Mohammad Khatami running for presidency on June 12, Iranians will have the choice between him and the incumbent president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Do we really need to argue why Ahmadinejad’s reelection would be a continuing catastrophe for both Iran and the world? During his four-year term, he has aggressively led Iran in a course of confrontation and isolation, both domestically and internationally. And he has mismanaged the Iranian economy to an extent that unemployment, inflation, and poverty are the top concerns of the people in this oil-rich country.

And Khatami? Now that he has announced his decision to run, almost all reports are boringly repeating the fact that he failed to deliver on most of his promises of reform during his two terms of presidency 1997-2005 — to the disappointment of many of his initial supporters. It’s all true. Khatami himself said at the end of his second term that his “hands were tied.” In most crucial issues he wanted to make a difference, he was torpedoed or simply ignored by conservative forces in unelected bodies like the judiciary, or directly by the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

… ادامه خواندن

I wrote this three years ago, on the 30th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution. I’d not say that much has changed in the last three years. Things have maybe gone even worse.

By Abbas Djavadi – Iran’s Islamic Revolution didn’t exactly start 30 years ago on February 1 when the Shah left Iran and exiled Ayatollah Rouhollah Khomeini returned home from Paris. Nor exactly on February 10, Bahman 22, when the Shah regime was declared overthrown and the provisional government of Mehdi Bazargan took over. It started at least a year or two earlier with demonstrations and strikes, speeches by Khomeini taped and distributed in the country and actions, occasionally harsh and brutal, by government forces. With increasing numbers of social and labor groups striking, pouring into streets and chanting anti-Shah slogans, millions, women, elderly people, youths, kids, workers, bazaris, unemployed, and finally soldiers and officers just demanding one thing: the Shah must go!

… ادامه خواندن

By Abbas Djavadi – In 2005, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected Iran’s president on the promise to distribute the country’s oil wealth among the poor. After his election, he approved grants and subsidies, disregarded advice by state budget office, and ordered the central bank to print more and more money. In one year, liquidity increased by 40%. Lacking incentives to invest, Iranians used the cheap cash to buy imports. This paralyzed domestic industries and caused skyrocketing prices. Within one year, the inflation rate was the fourth highest worldwide after Zimbabwe, Uzbekistan, and Burma. Currently Iran has an annual inflation rate of 17% (official) or 25-28% (experts) and an unemployment rate of 12% (official) or 25% (experts).

Iran’s economy relies almost entirely on oil revenues that make up 85% of the total government income. With the international price of crude reaching record highs in the last few years, Tehran could afford keeping the country afloat.  The dramatic fall in oil prices in the last few months, however, has  caused deep concerns among most Iranian economists that a serious crisis is looming.

The New Yorker speaks to prominent Iranian economist Mohammad Tabibian who says that in Iran, the spectrum of economic thought runs “from left to left.”… ادامه خواندن

By Abbas Djavadi – A group of Iranian writers, academics, artists, journalists, and activists from around the world signed an open letter to the Baha’i community, apologizing for the persecution of the Baha’i faithful in Iran in the last century and half.

Here is part of that open letter:  “… From the very inception of the Baha’i Faith, the followers of this religion in Iran have been deprived of many provisions of human rights solely on account of their religious convictions.

According to historical documents and evidence, from the commencement of the Babi Movement followed by the appearance of the Baha’i Faith, thousands of our countrymen have been slain by the sword of bigotry and superstition only for their religious beliefs. Just in the first decades of its establishment, some twenty thousand of those who stood identified with this faith community were savagely killed throughout various regions of Iran. “

In the letter, the undersigned Iranians (so far 42 individuals) ask Baha’is to “forgive us for the wrongs committed to the Baha’i community in Iran” and add that they will no longer be silent when “injustice is visited upon you.”

For the full text of the letter and the list of the open letter’s signatories, please click here.… ادامه خواندن

By Abbas Djavadi – South of Tehran, there is a cemetery called Khavaran with hundreds of individual and mass, unmarked graves. In the past, it was used as a graveyard for religious minorities such as Hindus, Christians, and recently Baha’is. Between August 1988 and February 1989, Iranian authorities buried here thousands of regime opponents who were executed in a wave of persecution that was the most massive after the executions in the first two years of the Islamic Revolution in 1979. 4,500 to 10,000 prisoners are believed to have been killed in this wave (see: Amnesty International).

Most of the graves are not marked by cemetery authorities. Flat earth covered by individual markings made by the families of those executed indicate mass graves of hundreds.

Last week, alarming reports from Tehran reached the West that Iranian authorities have started to destroy dozens of the ad hoc grave markings by bulldozer. The site has been partially covered by soil and trees were planted.

… ادامه خواندن

By Abbas Djavadi – Simin Behbahani, prominent Iranian poetess and women’s rights activist, received the “Simone de Beauvoir Prize for Women’s Freedom” in Paris on January 21.

The prize recognizes the work and actions of individuals who contribute to the freedom of women around the world.

At the Paris gathering, Mrs. Behbahani was representing Iran’s “One Million Signatures-Campaign” that aims at gathering wide public support against Iranian laws discriminating against women (information video on YouTube). Many of the signatories of the campaign have been detained or summoned to court.

French Minister of Culture Christine Albanel told the gathering that Iran’s One Million Signatures-Campaign started after a big meeting of Iranian women on June 12, 2006, in Tehran was cracked down. Mrs. Albanel added that the message going out with the Simone de Beauvoir Award is one to Iranian women that “You are not forgotten or abandoned…”… ادامه خواندن

By Abbas Djavadi – A specter is haunting the Islamic Republic of Iran — the specter of “soft overthrow.”

A week ago Iranian authorities announced that four individuals were soon to face a court process for plotting a “US-backed soft overthrow” attempt. Soon it was announced that two of them are well-known Iranian AIDS specialists, brothers Arash and Kamyar Alaei, who were arrested last June. The names of other two have not been yet disclosed.

Three days ago the two were sentenced to six and three years in prison, respectively. They were running HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention programs in Iran, travelling back and forth, and participating at international conferences on AIDS. Arash Alaei was also a post-graduate student at the Albany School of Public Health of New York.

No reason enough for being sentenced to prison under the Article 508 of Iran’s Criminal Code? It states: “Any individual or group cooperating in any form with hostile foreign countries against the Islamic Republic will be, if convicted, sentenced to one to 10 years in prison.”

… ادامه خواندن

By Abbas Djavadi – Could you imagine a Saudi Arabia where you have a parliament with elected representatives of the people elected by the people who select a government to run the country… with a king who just represents the country and keeps it together, but a head of government negotiating with foreign leaders oil production and the Middle East policy?

Or an Iran where Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei could be unelected in a free election and replaced by a liberal democrat.. and a Supreme Leader who congratulates the winner and resigns and retires and returns to the city of Ghom to perform his purely religious duties as late Ayatollah Khomeini promised in Paris before his victorious return to Tehran?

… ادامه خواندن

By Abbas Djavadi – “The Gaza conflict is a fitting end to the Bush presidency,” said Francis Fukuyama, author of The End of History, to Financial Times. “Israel is applying the original Bush doctrine in Gaza, which says that politics can be changed on the ground through military means.”

Military action may (or may not) change regimes on the ground at a very high price (Afghanistan, Iraq) but if a stable improvement is sought both for that nation and US national interests, both on security as well as hearts and minds of the civilian population, policies cannot be formulated and applied by ignoring legitimate desires and needs of that population, but by embracing and guiding them to a reconciliation of interests that would ultimately serve both.

The situation in Iraq has relatively stabilized while it is getting worse in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. In both Iraq and Afghanistan, however, most experts agree that these countries would fall into chaos, violence and disintegration would US troops withdraw tomorrow. Hope is now that the new US administration under President-elect Barack Obama would change the concept of “military can change politics on the ground” without addressing legitimate needs of the population in these countries.

… ادامه خواندن

By Abbas Djavadi – This is actually “no news” for today’s Iran. Iranian human rights organizations report that last Wednesday security forces raided the homes of 10 Baha’i families in Tehran, confiscated religious books, documents, and computers; and arrested six people. One of them was Ginus Sobhani, a former secretary of the Iranian Association of Human Rights’ Defenders led by Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi, until its office was closed two weeks ago.

The Baha’i faith is a religious community that was founded in 19th century in Iran. It is a monotheistic religion that believes in underlying unity of all religions with Baha’ullah, the founder of this faith, being the last messenger after Moses, Jesus, and Mohammad. The faith is considered heresy in the Islamic Republic of Iran. While other religious minorities such as Christians and Jews are recognized as “believers in the holy books” but still discriminated against, the Baha’is are harshly persecuted, and banned from education and state employment. Most recently, nine students of the University of Kerman were expelled from college for being Baha’is. Although not legally sanctioned, admitting to be a Baha’i is often reason enough for imprisonment, mistreatment, and occasionally execution.

… ادامه خواندن