Shorts

Ms. Saberi

First of all I would like to wish Ms. Saberi well and sincerely hope that she will be released and returned to her family.

However I also like to touch on a few points.

Mr. Ghobadis letter is primarily an emotional appeal which is understandable but devoid of any factual relevance to indicate innocence in the face of the severe charge of espionage leveled against Ms. Saberi.

Is it possible that she may have had some activities that could be construed as espionage looking from the perspective of the highly stressed and possibly paranoid judges and prosecutors?

Is it possible that she was a spy?

Is it also possible that she is completely innocent and a pawn in an international game of chicken between Iran and US?

I do like to address the underlying issues relevant to the first two points and finish off with addressing the the third point. 

As Iranians we all know too well that there
is a widespread conviction in Iran that western countries are
attempting to overthrow the Islamic Republic through a "velvet"
revolution spearheaded by NGOs, charities and other international
organisations.

Gosh, gees, where on earth would the Iranians get that idea from?

Could
it perhaps be aggravated by the fact that it is official US government policy to overthrow the Iranian government? With plenty of recent precedence to back it up.

Frankly,
only an idiot would not regard it as pretty likely that the US and UK
and israheli governments are actively engaged in espionage and destabilisation
operations aganst Iran, and that some at least amongst the "NGOs, charities and
other international organisations" are implicated in those activities
either knowingly or unwittingly. History proves beyond dispute that
such methods were used by western intelligence agencies during the great game of the 19th century and early 20th century and the Cold
War, and there's no reason to suppose they've changed their methods
that much, just because they profess to be the true guardians of democracy and human rights.

I know nothing about the particulars of this
individual case, but I don't see why we are automatically expected to
believe that pro-western bloggers and journalists aren't spying
for the US or engaging in anti-government activities when they are accused of
doing so by the IR.

I suspect even a few of the many hundreds or
thousands of people detained without trial or charges by the US regime
and its client states around the world may have been guilty of anti-US activity. Just because
governments are incompetent doesn't mean they are always wrong.

Ms
Saberi should get a fair and open trial, as anyone should, but as far
as her actual activities are concerned I'll reserve judgement till further facts are provided and we become better informed.

Both the US and the Iranian government are paranoid. At least the IR has
plenty of history to back it up and the excuse of being directly under threat of attack and invasion by the wealthiest and most
powerful state in the world with a proven track record of espionage,
sabotage, assassinations, instigating war of aggression and aggressive use of force, rather than facing just a few
Arab cave-dwellers who were incidentally trained by the CIA, Mossad and MI6.

Has Ms. Saberi been waterboarded, by the way, or stripped naked and forced to stay awake for several days or being exposed naked to attack dogs for the pleasure of her mentally deranged guards? The answer is a clear NO. BTW, I dont recall hearing of such charges when Haleh Esfandiari was released and returned to her family and loved ones in the US.

Having said that I would also like to address the third point, 

Is Iran responding tit-for-tat to the continued detention in Iraq of Iranian citizens on espionage charges?

That sounds very possible to me.

My guess is she'll be released on appeal, and some of the Iranian's the US has locked up in Iraq and severly tortured will get to go home to their families at last.

I
don't think Iran has anything to gain by putting her in jail,
but she'll be a useful bargaining chip to free up some of Iran's people
banged up in Iraq.

Not much fun for Roxana or her family, but then
there are many more Iranian's in god knows where in Iraq who's continued
incarceration, torture and abuse is wrong and reprehensible.

Time for a prisoner swap I think.

تخصص اين حكومت

تخصص اين حكومت در گروگانگيري و معامله روي انسانها براي پيشبرد اهداف شوم خودش است. تا آنجا كه به حكومت ولايت فقيه و رئيس جمهورهاي رنگ و وارنگش در هر دوره اي و حالا احمدي نژاد برميگردد مسئله زنداني كردن خانم ركسانا صابري جاي تعجب ندارد. اينها همانطور كه ديگر هموطنان خاطرنشان كرده اند در اين زمينه پيشينه هايي مثل زهرا كاظمي را دارند. در اين داستان فقط يك جا هنوز جاي تعجب دارد و آنهم موس موس كردن دولت آمريكا و كلا غربي هاست. هرچه شما (آمريكا و اروپا) بيشتر ناز اين رژيم را بكشيد و مماشات كنيد او بيشتر هار و جري تر ميشود كه از شما تلفات بيشتري بگيرد. او سفره ننگين را مي اندازد و شماها با كمال تاسف سر اين سفره از جيب مردم ايران مي نشينيد و بر درد و رنج اين مردم چشم مي بنديد و با زبان بي زباني به ملا ميگوييد كارت را بكن و به همين صورت ادامه بده. كم از شما در عراق و افغانستان كشته گرفته و بازهم ميگيرد؟ چرا خودتان را علاف كرده ايد؟ آقايان مگر نه اينكه در هركجاي اين دنيا يك بمب كه منفجر ميشود بايد سرنخ آنرا زير عباي ملا پيدا كرد؟ البته شما اينها را خوب ميدانيد ولي منافع كوتاه مدت تان شجاعت را از شما گرفته است.
ولي لازم ميدانم يادآوري كنم كه اين حكومت فقط يك زبان را مي فهمد يعني با يك زبان ميشود با او مكالمه كرد آنهم زبان قدرت است. هر زبان ديگري را او به مثابه ضعف شما تلقي ميكند.
وقتي ميخواهيد ملا را آنطرف ميز ديپلماسي بگذاريد مطمئن باشيد كه چيزي جز فتنه نصيب تان نخواهد شد كه البته ضرر اصلي را هم مردم مظلوم و محروم ايران ميكنند و قيمت وقت تلف كردن شما از جيب ما ايرانيان ميرود و بس.
اميدوارم به هوش بياييد. ما حتي كوتاه مي آييم و از شما هم نميخواهيم انسانيت بخرج دهيد بلكه به منافع خودتان هم كه بنگريد اين راهش نيست.

Dear Bahman Ghobadi

Your letter is brave and timely.  I am sad and very sorry for your horrible ordeal and sincerely hope your letter would help your dear friend by securing her release.  I hope you will be happily and safely together again.  I am sure your close knowledge of Roxanna's life in Iran, is a blessing that could establish her innocence.  

Nobody is innocent

What was she doing in Iran? Why is it that IRI is not arresting me or my family despite all the nagging they do about the regime? Why would IRI pick one woman out of millions and arrest her with such a fanfare? If IRI was so evil as some would like to portray then why didn't they simply shoot her in a dark alley? Wouldn't that be by far easier and less attention grabbing? I don't know this girl but I know there have been quite a few such individuals who are after fame, glory and money at the expense of putting a whole nation in danger. The "revolutionaries," the "human rights activists," etc. I think what Iranian nation would say is, "Please stop! We don't need activists! You are killing us with the sanctions and bad publicity that you bring to our country. Please stop killing our young with your activisim!"