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Rumi
Drama
Wail or hail
Noruz celebrations with a tinge of wisdom
By Soma
Photos by Nader Davoodi
April 14, 2000
The Iranian
Photos here
What if the celebrations of Noruz and, say, Ashura coincided in a providential
year? What if the solar cycle of life concurred with the lunar one, the
sun-struck with the lunatic? What would happen if hot and cold came to
mix on a social scale?...
MAJLES NAMEH's story is straightforward. The king has died. There is
a struggle between his two sons to take his seat. The older son naturally
stands to inherit the throne, and the younger has his eyes on the prize.
The court is divided. The many wives of the respective heirs are alternately
jubilant and aggrieved, showing their emotional state by wearing colorful
and dark colors respectively. The wives of the older son want to celebrate
their imminent rise in status, while the wives of the younger are unhappy
about the status quo >>>
GO TO FEATURE
Novel
Conspiracy at Desert One
A novel
By Bernace Charles
The Iranian
Chapter Sixty >>>
GO TO FEATURE
Outlook
Jews on trial
The Economist
April 15, 2000
SHIRAZ
BY THE time the 13 Iranian Jews accused of espionage had their day in
court, all sides were searching for a graceful way out. Their trial in
Shiraz, the southern city where most of the accused Jews live, opened on
April 13th; it will continue on May 1st. But the charges were filed a year
ago, and the intervening period has been filled with the noisy outrage
of western governments and Jewish groups. Jewish leaders inside Iran admit
privately that they wish that their defenders in the West had been a little
less zealous in their support. And some senior Iranians concede that, if
their people had applied a bit of common sense before bringing the charges,
the whole episode would have been avoided >>>
FULL TEXT
Millions.. Then what?
An American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican
village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small
boat were several large yellow fin tuna. The American complimented the
Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch
them.
The Mexican replied, only a little while >>>
FULL TEXT
Thanks to Ramin Tabib
More Letters
* Khatami & Nouri are not the answer
Jamshid Entesari
writes: Notes on Mr Abdy Hashemi's "Final
destination: Democracy":
I do have big misgivings about "Hojjat-o-eslam" Khatami due
to his clerical training and the fact that he has been raised within the
current system (and "aaghebat gorg zaadeh gorg shavad garcheh baa
aadami bozorg shavad") and I hold him personally responsible for the
atrocities committed by the present regime. However, I am still prepared
to give him the benefit of doubt and reserve my final judgment on his performance
after possibly his second term when he would have had the opportunity of
taking advantage of the newly elected "reformist" members of
the parliament. I also reserve my judgment on the Mr Hashemi's assertion
about "fantastic transition to a near-total civilian rule" supposedly
being achieved under his "leadership" (if the word really applies
to what is going on in Iran).
I have no argument about Mr Hashemi's statement that "the Shah
and his puppets ..... believed in the total eradication of opponents".
Although I would like to know who does he refer to as Shah's puppets and
where does Khatami stand in this analysis. Should we consider him a Rafsanjani's
or Khamenei's puppet by the same decree? As far as I am concerned the "revolution"
replaced one tyrant with another one, albeit several times more vicious
and fierce >>>
FULL TEXT
* You owe me
Sahar Nahrvar writes: I am
a young student, and I was born in Iran. The politics of the region has
always fascinated me. Right now as I was reading these comments I cant
believe what I see in despair and in the sentiment of "let sleeping
dogs sleep".
I would like to point out to the older generation that you owe me and
the rest of my generation , including the student demonstrators, an explanation.
I was raised in an affluent family and all they ever talk about is the
money that was lost not democracy.
You the former rulers and the former teachers, need to explain to me
why I should be terrified to visit my country of birth. Yes the West was
involved; Russia, England, and the U.S. were involved -- but only because
we let them get involved. You let them get involved.
And please don't sit in your armchairs across the world and tell me
to let sleeping dogs sleep. Let's find out about our past and then we can
talk about from now on. We cannot fix a machine when we don't know where
it is broken.
* Do it right!!!
Mariam Nahavandi
writes: Why can't you get all the junk out [of the Registration
page] and put all the interesting and up to date stuff in the front - in
the beginning so we don't have to go through all this mess to find something?
Do it right!!! Can't we get it right in this country [U.S.] either??!!
Meeting: Iranian Writers Association
(in exile), London
The Iranian Writers Association (in exile) will show a documentary film
about Ahmad Shamlou in London on April 18th. The documentary includes interviews
with Ayda Shamlou, Simin Behbahani, Bahram Beizaie, Iran Darroudi, Mahmoud
Dolatabadi, Mohammad Ghazi, Mohammad Hoghoughi, Abbas Kia-Rostami, Javad
Mojabi, Zia Movahed, Esmail Nouriala, Ali Sepanlou, Pouran Soltani, and
Nasser Taghvaie. Date: 18th April 2000. Time: 19.30pm. Place: Conway Hall,
Red Lion Square, Holborn, London.
Books & Music from Iran
Check our fourteen new books from Iran including an authoritative history
of the Achamenid empire, writings by leading reformists, Forough Farrokhzad's
complete works, exquisite books of classical poetry with miniatures, Manichaean
psalms and more! >>>
GO HERE
New music albums
* Taherzadeh, Manochehr: Aakharin
barg * Eyvazi, Mohammad Reza. : Rangin
kamaan * Banan.: Shaakh-e
gol (2) * Ta'rif, Sadiq: Maah
baanoo * Lachini, Fariborz: Paaeez-e
talaaee ... >>>
GO HERE
THE IRANIAN
Bookstore
Music store
Video
NEW: Champions:
Iranian national soccer team
Three hours of interviews, trainings, matches, Biographies, and fans
of Iranian National Soccer Team, covering Iran's soccer history from 1978-2000.
Premium quality. Produced by: Alireza AmirGhasemi & Behrouz Deravi.
THE IRANIAN
Video Store
Copyright © Abadan Publishing Co. All Rights Reserved.
May not be duplicated or distributed in any form
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More
news
U.S. sanctions imposed Iranian entities
for alleged missile technology transfers
April 14, (U.S. State Department daily briefing) -- Spokeman Jamed
Rubin: We have imposed penalties on North Korean and Iranian entities for
knowingly engaging in missile technology transfers. These penalties willbe
announced in the Federal Register very shortly >>> FULL TEXT
Khamenei defends "legal violence"
to maintain order
TEHRAN,
April 14 (AFP) - Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday
defended "legal violence" to keep order in the Islamic republic
after riots erupted following the reversal of election results. >>>
FULL TEXT
Khamenei rejects "US-style" reform
TEHRAN,
April 14 (AFP) - Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday
rejected any "US-style" reforms in the Islamic republic, saying
they could destroy the principles of the Muslim faith >>> FULL
TEXT
Albright cautiously welcomes Iran's delay
of Jews' trial
WASHINGTON,
April 14 (AFP) - Iran's decision to postpone the trial of13 Iranian Jews
charged with spying for Israel was cautiously welcomedby US Secretary of
State Madeleine Albright >>> FULL TEXT
Khatami facing political challenge in secret
trial of Jews
TEHRAN,
April 14 (AFP) - The trial of 13 Iranian Jews, which has againthrown the
international spotlight on the Islamic republic, could harmPresident Mohammad
Khatami's plans to improve ties with the rest of theworld >>> FULL
TEXT
Iranian Jews may be pawns of power
SHIRAZ, Iran (AP) - Thirteen Iranian Jews on trial for espionage
may be caught in the power struggle between reformistsand hard-liners in
Iran's government >>> FULL TEXT
Iran In Talks On S Pars Gasfield With Shell,Gazprom-Paper
April 13, 2000 TEHRAN -(Dow Jones)- Iranian oil officials are negotiating
the development of phases four and five of the South Pars gasfield with
Royal Dutch/Shell (RD) and OAO Gazprom (R.GAZ), the " Iran Daily"
newspaper quoted an oil ministry source as saying Wednesday >>>
FULL TEXT
Khayyam for the blind
Tehran
(Hamshahri) - For the first time Omar Khayyam Rubaiyat has been published
in Persian braille for the blind >>> FULL TEXT IN PERSIAN
Old as new
Tehran
(Hamshahri) - Old movie houses in Tehran and the provinces are gradually
being renovated, including Tehran's "BB" and "Royal"
theaters which have been renamed "Payam-e Enghelab" and "Ferdosi"
since the revolution >>> FULL TEXT IN PERSIAN
Emamzadeh
Tehran
(Hamshahri) - Emamzadeh Mohammad and Ebrahim near Oroumiyeh get a face lift
>>> FULL TEXT IN PERSIAN
Ansarifard attributes downfall to Jalal
Talebi
Iran Sports Press - In an interview with IRIB on Friday, Mohammad-Hassan
Ansarifard, veteran member of the Iranian National Team in 1980s, credited
the downfall of the Iranian National Team to Jalal Talebi and members of
the coaching staff. "The performance of the Iranian National Team in
Asian Cupqualifiers against teams that are low ranked, was disappointing
toour people >>> FULL TEXT
Daei: "When was last time our clubs
played well?"
Iran Sports Press - With video clip: In an interview with 'Sayree
dar Varzesh' on Friday, Iranian and HerthaBerlin star striker Ali Daei said
Iran's performance in the Asian Cup willbe better as the opponents will
be stronger. "I promise that in Asian Cup we will play better >>>
FULL TEXT
Parvin: "We still haven't received
the tapes"
Iran Sports Press - With video clip: In an interview on Friday,
Ali Parvin, the head coach of PersepolisClub, said the players joining the
team from the National Team mustbe on the same level of fitness as the others.
"We began our training on March 25th. The only problem has beenthat
we did not have the National Team players until now. TheNational Team's
training in Cyprus has made those players tired >>> FULL TEXT
BBC
Taziyeh in London
Taziyeh, the Iranian Passion Play has come to London. A
group of actors have been invited by the Islamic Centre of England to perfom
Taziyeh. The programme runs from April 12-16 2000. Behzad Bolour previews
the performance and talks to Azim Mousavi, director and Abulfazl Mohammadi,
perfomer >>>
LISTEN HERE
BBC Persian
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Quote Unquote
Wail or hail
Our moments of sorrow and felicity are infinitely close and reversible.
On a social scale, these moments are political fodder -- wail or hail --
for the powerful to make use of.
-- Soma
"Wail
or hail"
The Iranian
April 14, 2000
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