- Latest Popular Stories, Instablogs Community by Ali85

In Iran, From Heroes to State Enemies

Ali — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:47:14 +0000

Mohsen Mirdamadi had been applauded as a hero by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini for helping to lead the takeover of the United States Embassy in Iran 30 years ago...

Behind Iran's Nuclear-Delaying Tactics...

Ali — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:37:39 +0000

On Sunday, officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspected for the first time a controversial uranium-enrichment facility under construction near Qum, Iran, after the hitherto-secret site’s existence was disclosed last month. Although their findings aren’t expected to be made known for a number of weeks, the officials are unlikely to have discovered much that would prove the case that Iran was trying to build nuclear weapons. For one thing, Iran has had a month since disclosing the site’s existence — according to Washington only after it was discovered by U.S. intelligence — to remove any incriminating evidence. But U.S. intelligence agencies believe the facility is not yet operational and is currently envisaged to produce low-enriched rather than weapons-grade material (despite the fact that it has been constructed in secret and apparently with a conscious view to withstand air attacks).

Amnesty: Iran sentences opponent to death

Ali — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 11:31:01 +0000

Iran has sentenced an accused member of an exiled opposition group to death, Amnesty International said Friday in an appeal for Tehran to rescind the ruling.

Mohammad Reza Ali Zamani was the first person to be sentenced to death in connection with the unrest triggered by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s disputed June 12 re-election, the human rights group said.

Using Twitter to defy the Government in Iran: Good. Using Twitter to defy the Government in Pittsburgh: Bad.

Ali — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 09:19:17 +0000

On Thursday, F.B.I. agents descended on a house in Jackson Heights, Queens, and spent 16 hours searching it. The most likely reason for the raid: a man who lived there had helped coordinate communications among protesters at the Group of 20 summit in Pittsburgh.

The man, Elliot Madison, 41, a social worker who has described himself as an anarchist, had been arrested in Pittsburgh on Sept. 24 and charged with hindering apprehension or prosecution, criminal use of a communication facility and possession of instruments of crime. The Pennsylvania State Police said he was found in a hotel room with computers and police scanners while using the social-networking site Twitter to spread information about police movements. He has denied wrongdoing.

Dutch Muslim group prosecuted over Holocaust cartoon

Ali — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 13:04:55 +0000

he Arab European League (AEL) is being prosecuted for insulting Jews by publishing a cartoon suggesting they invented the Holocaust, the Dutch public prosecution office said on Wednesday.

The office said it told the AEL, a lobby group for Muslim and Arab rights in Europe, two weeks ago that publishing the cartoon was illegal, but that it would drop the case if the group removed the cartoon from its website within two weeks and agreed not to republish it.

The AEL had already taken the cartoon off its website www.arabeuropean.org, but republished it, prompting the prosecution to proceed with the case. The group said it would remove the cartoon again but would defend the case in court.

Iran confirms Ahmadinejad victory

Ali — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:47:27 +0000

Iran’s top electoral body, the Guardian Council, has confirmed the victory of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the presidential election after a partial recount.

News of the decision, which comes after a series of protests by the opposition against what it says was a rigged ballot, was announced by state TV.

The 12-strong council is the most influential body in Iran and is currently controlled by conservatives.

Some 17 people are thought to have died during opposition street protests.

Iranians want freedoms on their own terms

Ali — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 10:28:51 +0000

Last year, while in Iran producing a documentary for public television, I observed freedom-loving people patiently making do under a repressive regime. It was clear that the people of Iran could ultimately win their freedom, but only if the struggle were organic and on their own terms.

Today, the relatively peaceful Iran I experienced is in turmoil. Watching the tumult in the streets — with pent-up anger and frustration directed not westward, but internally — I revisit my observations.

Iran’s ‘’Islamic Revolution’’ government appeals to the Iranian people’s deeply held values and a mistrust of the West. Walking the streets of Tehran, I saw a pride and dignity in the people. Iranians are smart and know what they want. One middle-aged woman — who clearly believed Western ways have turned America’s youth into sex toys, drug addicts and crass materialists — walked across the street specifically to tell me, ``We just don’t want our children raised to be Britney Spears.’’

I know the true nature of Irans regime: I was brutalized

Ali — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 07:29:50 +0000

Most reasonable people believe that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s reelection was a fraud, and that the leaders of Iran have lost any right they had left to rule. But there are still many people in America and Europe who do not entirely...

Bid to create worlds largest sandwich in Iran fails after crowd eats it before it can be measured

Ali — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 19:04:09 +0000

The meat had been cooked, the sandwich almost assembled and assorted Guinness Book of Records dignitaries were patiently waiting by to give it their official stamp of...

U.N. council imposes new sanctions on defiant Iran

Ali — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 05:59:31 +0000

The U.N. Security Council ratcheted up sanctions on Iran on Monday for refusing to suspend nuclear enrichment and other sensitive activities, but Tehran dismissed the decision as illegal.

There were 14 votes in favor, none against and one country, Indonesia, abstained. Previous sanctions resolutions were adopted unanimously in December 2006 and March 2007, but council envoys said Monday’s message to Iran was a strong one.