Iranian of the Day

These are sad and shameful

These are sad and shameful days for our country, however; we will defeat these thugs and we will see our D-Day, God willing.

Khar Jan

You are a very wise Khar[affectionately of course dear sir], and you nailed the point.

Many oppose everything so they could be called opposition, but when it comes to action, well they have things to do !

Regards

-YT

FYI/Surreal Republic By Niki Koohpaima

Photos: Surreal Republic By Niki Koohpaima

//www.payvand.com/news/09/jun/1083.html

How much are you guys spending?

Don't these guys work for a living? I am sure they are being compensated for all their time otherwise who would have this much free time. Where is all this money coming from?

There will be another for-Mousavi-human-chain today ...

20 of Khordad, on Vali Asr St. both  south-north and north-south this time connecting in the middle.  stay tuned for videos and be proud of what 'the collective will' can do!!!

Iranians will vote for anyone to get rid of AN

Even for someone like Mousavi with his dubious record as PM.

A good article on this (note the last two paragraphs)

//www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle...

Iran demonstrators aim to see off Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's 'empire of lies'

It was open insurrection, a rebellion of a sort seldom seen in the 30-year history of the Islamic Republic, an eruption of pent-up rage against the repressive Government of President Ahmadinejad.

“Death to the Government,” chanted the several thousand Iranians packed into a football stadium in Tehran. “Death to dictators,” roared the young men and women, draped in green shirts, ribbons, bandanas and headscarves to signal their support for Mir Hossein Mousavi. “Bye-bye Ahmadi,” they sang as they waved a sea of banners for the man who hopes to topple Mr Ahmadinejad in the presidential election on Friday. “Don’t rig the election,” they added for good measure.

Women have suffered particularly badly under Mr Ahmadinejad, and twentysomethings sporting sunglasses, make-up and dyed hair beneath their mandatory headscarves shouted themselves hoarse as speaker after speaker promised an end to repression, despair and the “empire of lies”.

“I feel danger every second I’m on the street because of the morality police,” an arts student called Nina said. As she was speaking another young woman way back in the mêlée scribbled a note and passed it forward. “We need freedom. We want big change. We don’t want liar government,” it declared.

Men and women scaled the floodlight pylons for a better view. Hundreds more crammed on to a nearby overpass. Astonishingly there was not a policeman or basij (Islamic vigilante) in sight, further evidence of how the regime seems to have relaxed — or lost — its grip in the final days of an election far more competitive than anyone had expected.

The biggest roar of the afternoon was reserved for the main speaker, Zahra Rahnavard, Mr Mousavi’s wife. “You’re here because you don’t want any more dictatorship,” she declared. “You’re here because you hate fanaticism, because you dream of a free Iran, because you dream of a peaceful relationship with the rest of the world.” The candidate himself was nowhere to be seen, but that hardly mattered because the crowd was inspired by a hatred of Mr Ahmadinejad rather than a love for Mr Mousavi.

To anyone arriving in Tehran this week it would be easy to assume that Mr Mousavi was an Iranian Barack Obama. The capital appears convulsed by Mousavimania. It is festooned with posters of his bearded face. Fanatical supporters career around the city in their cars, honking their horns and shouting slogans.

In truth Mr Mousavi, 67, bears more resemblance to Bob Dole, who failed to unseat Bill Clinton in 1996. The bespectacled former Prime Minister lacks charisma, is an uninspiring public speaker and was trounced by Mr Ahmadinejad in their televised debate last week. Aides said that he was resting before another television appearance, which was perhaps a mercy because his wife — like Elizabeth Dole — is a more compelling performer.

Most of the crowd yesterday were too young to remember Mr Mousavi in his previous incarnation as Prime Minister from 1981 to 1989, and that may be a good thing too. He steered his country’s economy through the Iran-Iraq War but was a zealous revolutionary who brooked little dissent and has been accused of being behind the massacre of political prisoners.

He retired from politics for 20 years and devoted himself to art and architecture — he designed several prominent buildings in Tehran and his paintings sell for substantial sums. He says that he wants to save Iran from the “danger” of Mr Ahmadinejad, but he is hardly a reformist.

His candidacy had to be approved by the Guardian Council, a body of senior clerics not known for its liberalism. He is seeking to appeal to disaffected conservatives as well as moderates. His platform is one of managerial competence and stability. He wants better relations with the world but would not suspend Iran’s nuclear programme. He promises greater equality for women but has no plans to challenge the political system.

Mr Mousavi’s campaign has skilfully employed the internet and text messaging to circumvent the statecontrolled media, but it is almost certainly financed by Hojatoleslam Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former President regarded by many as the embodiment of the corrupt Establishment.

It is a measure of how much Iran’s urban middle class loathes Mr Ahmadinejad that they have thrown their weight behind Mr Mousavi’s imperfect candidacy, and that so many liberals who would normally refuse to vote lest they legitimise the regime are prepared to do so this time.

“I didn’t know anything about Mousavi until a few days ago, but I’d vote for anyone to get Ahmadinejad out,” one English-speaking Iranian woman admitted last night.

Khatami had a big role in

Khatami had a big role in improving the climate in Iran, though still many crimes were committed. And as my relatives told me, the atmosphere is much better und more positive than 1997, people know the elected president must also be supported after the elections; they want to seize this opportunity.

I hope every single one of those sitting on their lazy, fat, hopeless asses will never see Iran again.

Big Boy

Thank you.  The significance of participating in these elections are, in my mind, firstly, not to foreclose the POSSIBILITY of positive change by allowing the continuation of policies, particulalry foreign diplomacy, of the last four years, which could bring war and catastrophe on our beloved country, and secondly, not to give up a democratic right of participation, no matter how deficient and distorted it might be, because it is only the act of participation that empowers those democratic institutions.  My family, who were part of that chain, described the scene to me and I was again moved to tears seeing all that energy and hope in this video.  

Rock the Votes!

This is not our revolution

This is not our revolution or our parents' revolution.  This is their revolution.  And they should chart it as they see fit.  It may not even be a revolution by our standards and just a glimmer of hope for some small change.  The people in this video are voicing their democratic voice and I applaud them.  At the end of the day if Moussavi does win, in reality not much will change.  It is evident however that Iranians are sick of the status quo.   Amnesty International has gotten many cases within the last few weeks of arrests.  Iranians are assembling, protesting and campaigning under oppression.  I think it's admirable.  Good on them!

Khar, You are pretty smart for a KHAR! R U sure U R not a Fox?

Very good comment! Thank you! BTW Your NIMROKH photo is very impressive. nice ligting! U no I am kidding!

VOTE!

I have a question for some folks on this blog and others regarding Iranian election (or any election for that matter) you say (shout) that you believe in democracy also you want CHANGE and you are against this and that but I remember clearly what you said about U.S 2008 election last November. Back then you were saying that the election will not get you anywhere, remember!? So now I ask you Sir/Madam what kind of voting do you believe in? Obviously you  believe in neither  the American nor the Iranian kind or democracy in general! Perhaps you only believe in one thing which is; your way or highway. I got news for you, with that kind of thinking you deserve Ahmadinejad’s and the GW Bush’s of the world and bastards like them for your leaders!

Big Boy is on target!

Big Boy talks about facts. His detratcors are simply misinformed. Let's look forward, not back. Not back. Not back!. .

Big Boy ignore these badbakht cynics

Big Boy is 100% right in his analysis. These dying generation of Monarchists and MKO  supporters live in some unknown reality where they think a revolution is coming and glorious Reza Pahlavi or Rajavi will be the pick of the people.  Or these fools think a military strike on Iran will bring democracy. 

The anti-vote people offer nothing as an alternative. They just sit and complain. 

Where is Kadivar? he needs to come and call all of us who will be voting "arabs" and "Hamas" etc - unfortunately before his eyes, the masses are voting and taking part and he and people like him will continue to proclaim that we're all fools and paid agents. 

Kaveh N.

Yes, we all hope, hence we all...I mean the great majority, will vote.

As for the "enemy", well, you call them the enemy...they call you the enemy...Iranians at war with Iranians. If this is what you want for the future of Iran, I am glad that you are part of an ever shrinking minority.

Lets see what happens next.

ROCK THE VOTE!

Iranian people should ignore Rajavi and Pahlavi "opposition"

The Rajavist and Pahlavist-led opposition failed to attain power on the backs of Saddam's invasion, despite their support for Iraq during the Baathist invasion. Now, they are trying to undermine the regime by another route, namely by calling for a boycott of the elections. When will they realize that they lack significant popular support, other than on the comments section of Iranian.com?

As much as I hate IRI, I still vote for Hossein,not Barack, Mir!

I wish we could get rid of IRI, but that is easier said than done! Good changes are incremental! IRI can be reformed, and if we elelct Hossein, we would witness the beginning of the change, not the end!

Eventually, we'll change IRI for the better! This is only a start! And I don't care for all those nay sayers! They are mostly living in a comfortable place in the west.

Israel would be pissed if Hossein wins! It would lose the enemy it craved for! What would be her excuse then? Now they would have to find a new one, if Hossein wins! HOnestly, we should never become a friend of Israel regardless, since they are not trustworthy! They are bucnh of self serving foxes that we can live better without them!

Barack Hussein VS Mir Hossein! Cool! May be now they can work things out! I hope they get rid of rafsanjani and sons first!

If US/ISrael think not having ahmaghinejad would mean tehy could then follow their expansionist/imperialist/ blood sucking plans in Iran; they are gravely mistaken! We want independence and freedom from ouside as well s inside!  peace! 

ملت چه راحت گول میخوردند

صلا توی این مناظرها فقط زر زدند .هیچکدومشون برای مقابله برای گرانی, دستگیریهای بی چون و چرا, فقر, زندانی یک مشت بیگناه ,نویسندها, دکتر خلاصه آدم حسابیا, بهایها, هیچی نگفتن.انگار نه انگار. موسوی هم پارچه ورمالیده توی حرفش همش از امام نکبتش تعریف میکرد.
نه برنامه مشخصی دارند نه توان انجامش. خدا کنه ملت یکهویی بریزند کله آخوندها را بکنند..
آقای بیگ بوی شما از بدبختی کشورت خوشحالی میکنی؟

Big Boy

What you are talking about is not the "beauty", but rather the "hope". We all hope that push won't come to shove. We all hope that things will change for the better. We all hope for more freedom and openness. But in a world where your adversary (the IR) has no qualms about suppressing freedoms, prohibiting real choice, refuses to acknowledge the rights of all, and looks upon killing people as just part of the job, it is an unrealistic hope.

oh god no!

not the pahlavieeeeez!

Kaveh N.

That's just it.  The beauty of all this (to the disappointment of the Shahi crowd and MKO) is that "push" won't come to "shove".  There will be a gradual move towards openness and freedom (cynics don't see it, and it is okay).

So, bottom line is, Iranian people still have hope for a better future and that is why millions upon millions upon millions will go to the polls and vote for their candidate.  Lets see what happens.  

ROCK THE VOTE!

Big Boy

While you acknowledge the existence of "people power", you are neglecting to acknowledge the existence of the power of the ruling regime.

This regime has shown it will stop at nothing to impose its will at home and exert its influence outside of Iran.

Most anywhere else in the world this would be nothing more than the social experiment you're understandably and over-optimistically believing it to be. But these people have no intention of relinquishing one iota of their stranglehold. Please do not fool yourself into believing that if push comes to shove, Khamenei is going to pull a Pahlavi and announce, "I have heard the voice of your revolution".

Sarcasm

I might say this though, all those people in the video, specially that yawing kid looks exactly like a fully ARMED Sepahi doesn't he? How about that bleach blond lady?
;-)

-YT

Kaveh N

Change does not come easy, change does not come overnight, change does not come with violence (well, not the kind'a change one would like).  Khatami challenged the establishment and the establishment pushed back, as expected.  But it was one heck of an experiment in shaking up the status quo.

People power is on the rise once again and people will demand change.  Will Iran become a Pahlavi democracy tomorrow...wait...scratch that, there was no democracy back then, what I mean is, will it happen on a massive scale and Saturday morning?  No.  Is there an evolution in Iranian politics? Absolutely! 

Compare what is happening now with a few years ago.  The cynics would say no, nothing has changed.  There is no debate.  The press does not criticize the government, everything is the same as 1984.  There is no arguing with those people who are quite blind to reality. 

No doubt there have been let downs.  But then again, some people are let down unless Pahlavi goeas back to his palace...others want Rajavi and will be let down with anything short of this.  To those people, who are still living in 1979, I'm sorry but you will live out yours lives being let down.

so bottom line is, this change is slow but lasting and I for one prefer slow and lasting change as the political establishment evolves and matures rather than another violent revolution sending Iran back 30 years, or Israel and the US bombing Iran to the stone ages in the name of "regime change".

In the meantime, ROCK THE VOTE for a much better and brighter future for Iran.

Melat, people, folks, hamvatans, ladies, gents........

This is just another election in which one IR who happens to be more EVIL than the other one might give away his seat.

that is all, this is not a revolution, and as one of the commentators noted, day after the election, our poor souls in Iran will start yet another 4 years under this regime, at least HOPING and DREAMING for a short while that the LESSER EVIL guy could make their lives bit less miserable. That is all, nothing else, nothing more.

Ones who think boycott is going to bring down the regime are the ones who truly live in lala or[LA] land, and not the ones who have to deal with these goons 24/7/365.

Some of you guys must be so deeply detached from Iranian dynamics today that think those people do not understand your philosophy. Fact of the matter is, any given young man or young woman in the streets or in the universities in Iran have such a deep grasp of the events, and correlation of those events to their daily lives that is truly amazing and astonishing.

You seek a debate? go to any Iranian university, pick a subject and watch how they mop up the entire floor with you guys in a blink of an eye, I dare you, I'll even fork over the ticket[coach section only]. ;-)

Regards.

-YT

VOTE GREEEEEEN!

This footage along with all the other footage on these historic elections and their debates are all PROOOF that Iran is moving towards a DEMOCRACY! How ironic that we are doing so under an Islamic Republic!

LONG LIVE THESE DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS! VOTE GREEN!

Incremental and slow change ...

اگه فقط تونستید ۳ تغییر مثبت و سازنده در این ۳۰ سال اخیر در ایران نام ببرید ...مگر اینکه ۳۰ سال زمان خیلی‌ کوتاهی‌ باشد برای حتی تغییرات جزئی !!!!چه ساده است بیرون گود نشستن و .....اگه عزیز از دست دادن و شکنجه رو تجربه کرده بودی حرف از تغیر تدریجی‌ نمیزدی ، هموطن. نمیدونم بعد از صدها سال هنوز بنی‌ آدم اعضای یکدیگرند ؟؟؟؟

Big Boy

A continuation of Khatami?

That explains why in the 2004 farce, reformist candidates who would have supposedly continued Khatami's agenda were prohibited from candidacy by the Guardian Council.

Khatami was viewed as the best opportunity for a connection between the IR and the rest of the outside civilized world, and when Khamenei saw that, he made sure that the continuation of Khatami's agenda would be undermined.

Rafsanjani is part of the "old guard" and he still lost to this miserable peasant Antarigedah, excuse me, Saborjian. And comparatively speaking, Rafsanjani is practically left wing!

Don't trick yourself into believing all of this. It has proven to be one letdown after another. Expectations are way too high.

To Kaveh, Roodabeh et al.

Take it easy you guys!

People in Iran, specially the youth do not think as deeply as you and some of the commentators on this site do! They are just living for the moment, full of emotions and excitement, they do not even think about the future! In fact, everybody in Iran is living for the moment!

These youngsters are just trying to have some fun taking advantage of this temporary lax atmosphere created by this farce of an "election"! this happens every four years! I remember four years ago, some young girls with heavy make-up while dancing, giggling and shouting for "Hashemi", took off their headscarves completely!

Next week, all this will be over and everybody has to go back to their dull restricted lives!

Substantive change...ummm...

Nobody is suggesting that Iran will go to sleep Friday night and wake up the next morning Switzerland (since we all love Switzerland).  But this is a continuation of the Khatami revolution which for the first time during this regime gave Iranians the confidence to ask questions and demand a bettter future.  Khatami was brilliant in that in a very subtle way, he set Iran on a different path.  And now, people line the streets and chant against the government.  Do that in China and see what happens.

Incremental and slow change is what Iran needs, not a sudden revolt.  That will lead to civil war and nobody (except the Shahi crowd and the MKO) wants that.

ROCK THE VOTE IRAN, the future is bright.

افعی کبوتر نمی‌‌زاید

ما را چون میشود عزیزان؟ !  چرا ما یک باره فراموش کردیم که با چه رژیم خونخوار و دیکتاتور طرف هستیم . چه گونه انتظار داریم رابین هود ایران دکتر موسوی یک شبه قوانین زن ستیز و ضد انسانی اسلامی را با حضور ولایت فقیه تغییر دهد. مردم هم این انتظار را ندارند چرا که تجربه خاتمی خائن را دارند. با این حرکت مردم تلاش میکنند مقاومت منفی‌ خود را نشان دهند و این یک تجربه خوب برای دیدن قدرت مردم است . مردم قدرت با هم بودن را تجربه میکنند. در این انتخابات شخص مهم نیست .چون همه کاندیدها از کسانی‌ هستند که سوگند یاد کردند که برای حفظ نظام اسلامی جان فدا کنند. یک کاندید خارج از افراد رژیم در بین کاندیداها نیست .  این ولایت فقیه است که حرف آخر را میزند. برای همین هم هست که انن روزا صدایش در نمیاید. چون میداند هر وقت بخواهد میتواند همه معادله را عوض کند . مردم هم میدانند که چیزی برای باختن ندارند.بالاتر از سیاهی رنگی‌ نیست.ولی‌ این راه را پیدا کردند که خشم خود را خالی‌ کنند.احساسات و شعار برای تغییر بنیادی کافی‌ نیست