Iranian of the Day

Ignore AGED LOSERS!

Here's a great link that Moosir provided back in Nov. explaining "who is Parsi"

//iranian.com/main/blog/moosirvapiaz/who-...

Given this news, I only repeat my comment there, with a big congratualtion to Mr. Parsi:

"Brilliant ideas expressed eloquently!

This interview captures the best of Trita's book, and much more, thanks to the clever questions by Kreisler.

Iranian community in the US is lucky to have such a smart and
hardworking person like Trita Parsi representing a large majority of
Iranian Americans.

His intellect, knowledge, and a healthy energy by which he gets
things done, clearly scares the dwarfs. Thank you MOOSIRvaPIAZ for a
fantastic link. This link should clear the "who" and "why" of attacks
against Trita."

Reading comments here, I'll just add:

Naturally a dwarf would find the fact that Trita has achieved so much at such a young age,  not an added positive towards Parsi's credentials, but as a negative!  Everything is relative :-)

forget Al Qaeda and Chavez...

think illuminati.

forget the bloody alavi foundation. think AL QAEDA. HUGO CHAVEZ

look let's get to the heart of the matter and we know the spigot has plumbing to all the evils in this world. why limit yourself to alavi?

Anyone knows the Connection between Alavi foundation and NIAC?

seems like they are in the same family.

Think Alternatively

Dear Darius, 

 I am with you for a regime change, but you are a victim of a campaign by the neo-cons and even possibly AIPAC to push for severe sanctions or military actions in Iran.  There is a saying here in the US that those who ignore history tend to make the same mistakes again and again.  Let's see: 

1. Severe sanctions? Does that sound familiar?  Remember that the hated Saddam regime was under severe sanctions for over 10 years.  The Iraqis could not even fly an airplane without permission.  During that time, the only ones who suffered were the weak, the needy and the common people of Iraq.  Meanwhile, Saddam, his tribe and his elite guards prospered through the sanctions by creating a black market.  Saddam even pushed for some of his most glamorous palaces during this “severe sanctions era” while scores of Iraqis perished because of lack of medical care and hunger.  Right next door, Iran has been under sanctions for 30 years and certain folks have earned billions because of similar black markets.  Did I mention that the same sanctions have caused Iran Air planes to fail in unprecedented numbers.  Moreover, neighbors of Iran, including Turkey (a NATO ally), have already stated that they will not abide by any sanctions against Iran.  Selected/targeted sanctions against the regime and its personnel are fine, but broad-based sanctions will only hurt the people we love.  

2. Military action?  There is absolutely no end to the things that can go wrong if there is a limited military action or a massive invasion in Iran.  There are plenty of publications to dismiss #2 as not a viable alternative.  Have you thought about the casualty list both on the US and the Iranian sides and how the whole region will be inflamed if the neo-cons get their wish?  I do not know about you but I still have folks that I care about in Iran, and I certainly do not want the US military personnel to suffer due to the aggressive policies of a few. 

 What the neo-cons do most effectively is to shoot the messenger if they cannot argue with the message, and that is exactly what is happening with all the attacks against Trita Parsi and NIAC.   Will I be a target too since I spoke out?  Probably yes, but that will let Trita do his job, whether the job is in the modification of policies on the hill, preserving the University of Chicago Perspolis artifacts from lawsuits in the legal courts, or getting apologies from insensitive celebrities / politicians regarding Iranian-Americans. 

With the current level of unrest within Iran, the alternative choice is to exert pressure from the outside, to support the efforts of the folks in the inside, and one day, the Azadi square will really be azad.  Once free, the people of Iran will choose the flag that best suites Iran, and not you or me half way across the world.  Nonetheless, I will give you the last word.  Keep talking and hopefully we will figure out how to bring this regime to respect its own people.  Thanks for your consideration.

MM if by groups with"Certain Agendas" You mean Regime Change ...

Then indeed

I WAS, AM AND WILL BE FOR REGIME CHANGE !

REZA'S CALL: An Iranian Solidarnosc by DK

Even if Carrying the  Shiro Khorsheed FLAG ( which to me is a Legitimate one since I grew Up with it and NEVER Accepted Nor Endorsed the ARAB SICKLE that has replaced the Persian Lion ...) May Offend YOU : 

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=och26QdEEF8

Call me a Racist if You wish if that is the only excuse you can find to make Trita and NIAC appear as victims ...

I consider Trita Iranian as any other Iranian on the planet No Less No More.

I have Many Decent Zoroastrian Friends I grew up with and one who happened to be my best friend back when I was in Shiraz when I attended the Shiraz International Community School which since was closed down by the Islamic Republic. He was no other than the son of Farhang Mehr ( former Minister of Education during the Shah) :

You can see Mehr having a very cordial but firm debate with the former President Khatami when he visited Boston University in which Mehr defended the plight of the Iranian Zorastrian community in Iran whose Rights have been plundered by the current regime:

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=djArOFSkhD8

But You Are free to continue Lobbying for the IRI to Reform itself into an Islamic Democracy as You have been doing through Your IRI Apologist Think Tanks who are amongst NIAC's advisory board too ...

Just don't claim to speak in the name of a Community you hardly understand where they came from nor what were the reasons they were sent into exile ...

I can name them clearly if you wish ( One of them being one of the Sadri Twins ) but my point is not to slander them but simply point directly to their own political views to which they are perfectly entitled to. I simply don't share their views and assessments on Iran and how to deal with the Regime.

People can take A look through Sadri's articles here

//iranian.com/ahmadsadri.html

Or in various seminars he gives with his likeminds :

Seminar on Iran's 2009 Election Precursors, Observations, and Consequences

To see he does not make unanimity amongst every reader and certainly not amongst ALL Iranian Americans ...

And whose views are even criticized by other scholars like Masoud Kazemzadeh who isn't even a Monarchist but a respetable scholar and supporter of the Iranian National Front members as well as a close friend of Abbas Amir Entezam the Longest Political Prisoner in Iran

HISTORY OF VIOLENCE: Amir Abbas Entezam Chained to Hospital Bed (1990's)

Amir Entezam similar to Reza Pahlavi ALSO Supports A Referandum and asked people NOT to vote in the sham Elections everyone was so keen and enthusiastic about thinking naively that it was a democratic one.  

As I said I don't consider Trita an Agent of the IRI but I do consider him as an IRI apologist as we understand it who believes that : 

The Revolution that took  place back in 1979 ( when he was only 5 years old )  is Legitimate and there is no going back so the best we can do is Reform the IRI into a Democratic Islamic State.

So YES You guys have been Lobbying for Khatami at Worst.

Khatami, Democracy, & Islamic Republic

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUza-yhd9dM 

Maybe even unknowingly to youself as members of this NIAC which is supposed to be Un political ...

But Even if its 23 % Lobbying ... in My Book is STILL LOBBYING !

So basically you guys believe that we can Reform the Islamic State into a Democratic one by supporting the Reformists ( who by the way also include the likes of dubious personalities as Rafsanjani" the Millionaire Mullahs FORBES" , the late Khalkhali, but also Hoveyda's assassin Hadi Ghaffari who also happens to demand the end of the Velayeteh Faghih ).

You did not expect the Uprising after the Elections nor the Violent Clampdown of Peaceful Protestors because YOU IGNORED the TRUE NATURE OF THIS THEOCRACY YOU CLAIMED WAS DEMOCRATIC !

Well I suppose  George Galloway ( Hamid Dabashi's buddy ) and PRess TV would agree with Trita and NIAC ...

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=qL3yhzV2wWU

I doubt However that Most Iranians would !

NIAC Organization's creation back in 2001 out of the blue and with the STAUNCH Support of the Iranian Online Medias  that need no presentation and whose political preferences ( if not orientation ) was staunchly Pro Reform to say the least and Not Regime Change !

Well Now You are at CrossRoads despite ALL Your Efforts to disqualify the Iranian Opposition in Exile which YOU want to reduce to oblivion and boil down Simplistly as WAR MONGERING NEO CON Sympathizers ..;

Well look at what journalists working for the "PRO WAR MONDGERING NEO CON" VOA TV which another of your members Houman Majd FALSLY PORTRAYED is Doing for Iranians today:

//iranian.com/main/2009/dec/studeni-di-iran  

Aren't the Members of these Iranian Opposition Groups some of which ARE ALSO IRANIAN AMERICAN entitled to having different views and don't they too DESERVE AS MUCH RESPECT AS ANY OTHER MEMBER OF YOUR SO CALLED GRASSROOT ORGANIZATION !

YOU TOOK A POLITICAL STANCE AND AS SUCH YOU BEHAVED AS A NEW POLITICAL PARTY AND NOT AS A PURELY  COMMUNITY ORIENTED ORGANIZATION !

So Sorry Folks But Even AFTER ALL THIS TIME  I won't Give YOU a Break ! ;0)

BOOK: EVEN AFTER ALL THIS TIME By Afschineh Latifi ( A Memoir )

Unless of course I have my account Blocked for simply expressing my Opinion Frankly and Bluntly as an Independant Iranian American expat with an AMERICAN PASSPORT (driven away from my country by the Same People YOU EXPECT US TO SLEEP WITH ) and who is looking for a more legitimate organization to represent my interests than one created by someone barely 5 years old when he left Iran in 1978 and who only holds a dual Swedish and IRI Passport !

NOT EVERYONE IS AS CLUELESS AS JON STEWART

But Jon Stewart has the Excuse Trita Parsi Doesn't have : He isn't Iranian ! ...

So Sorry Folks Even at the Expense of Repeating myself One More Time ...

EVEN AFTER ALL THIS TIME  I won't Give YOU a Break ! ;0)

BOOK: EVEN AFTER ALL THIS TIME By Afschineh Latifi ( A Memoir )

Best,

DK

Trita Parsi

Congratulations my friend on your latest prize to be added to your impressive list of accomplishments.  Keep up the good work. 

I have been reading some of the comments here and shocked at the veracity of the tone.  Back around 2001, many of us helped Trita form NIAC so that we have a voice in D.C. to overcome prejudices that WERE so prevalent in D.C..  Nowadays, NIAC is being targeted by certain "groups" with hidden agendas.  As consistent as these characters are in their criticisms, I bet that they have a set of talking points that were emailed to them and now they are doing the bidding for their bosses.  This sorta reminds me of the Bush administration who portrayed all anti-war folks as anti-American.  And now we are being portrayed as anti-American?  It is time for us, the Iranian-Americans, who by the way, David Frum portrays as more Iranian and not enough American, to speak up and not let the talking-head robots dictate as to who NIAC represents.  By the way - if not Trita, then who else speaks for us?  Darius?  Give me a break.

As well as a voice for the Iranian-American community on the hill and the White House, NIAC has joined forces with IABA to save the ancient Iranian artifacts at the University of Chicago.  As the Paynand link states: “The artifacts excavated from Persepolis are under threat of being seized by a legal defense team and auctioned off as compensation for a 1997 terror bombing attack in Israel.”  To help prevent this tragedy, please see: //capwiz.com/niacouncil/issues/alert/?alertid=12930356

If you want to see some of the alternative reporting, by legitimate journalists like Andrew Sullivan, that have cleared Trita and NIAC from the current smear campaign, see the following links:

//original.antiwar.com/sahimi/2009/11/20/the-israel-lobby-the-neocons-and-the-iranian-american-community%C2%A0/

//zamaaneh.com/analysis/2009/11/post_1231.html

//swampland.blogs.time.com/2009/11/17/sane-iranians-attacked/

//www.niacouncil.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1553&Itemid=59

//undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2009/11/the-iranianamerican-lightning.php

//www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2009/11/16/washington-times-smears-trita-parsi/

//www.ips.org/blog/jimlobe/?p=310

//www.juancole.com/2009/11/neocons-islamic-marxists-attack-iranian.html

//andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/11/send-it-to-lake-right-away.html

//www.niacouncil.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1551&Itemid=59

//www.niacouncil.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1549&Itemid=59

//www.niacouncil.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1550&Itemid=59

//www.niacouncil.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1546&Itemid=2

//www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/03/naic-and-j-street-progres_n_343008.html

DK: That is what most

DK: That is what most countries do when they free their prisoners of war and are given asylum. They are called on to duty to become spies whenever required of them. So sad.

Absolument ;0)

Agreed !

DK jaan I think our fathers' generation were "dashing", not us!

Everything is sacred.

Anonymouse Jaan Thank You ;0)

Yes but like JJ he also was very uncomfortable with his second first name. His Real name was Kioumarz but his mother insisted on Ruhollah because she was quite religious where as his father was very secular minded. It became a joke in my family because we used to tease him when he would curse Khomeiny ;0)

Also My Mom always called him "Kadi" in Iran but in France "Kadi" is the grocery carriage you carry when you want to buy your goods in a Mall and carry them. ;0))

Se we had to use our imagination and come up with a solution for his French Passport name.  

To make the long story short : When we left Iran for good he looked for another name with an "R" He hesitated between René and Raoul. But My mom who is French said René may be the best compromise for is can be read "Re-Born" in French.  

So he became known to friends and colleagues here as René-Kiomarz or René.

To my he was Always DAD ! ;0)

Thank you for your kind words,

Dariush

PS: I think Everyone's Father must be dashing and I am sure so is Trita's. To be quite honest Trita himself looks quite dashing.   

DK jaan ur father looks dashing. His middle name was Ruhollah 2?

Everything is sacred.

Vildemose The Only Savaki I know who got away with it ...

Was Hossein Fardoust And He became a Double Agent ! ...

By turning the Shah's SAVAK into the IRI -SAVAMA

Hossein Fardoust

He was the Shah's close friend and classmate from the years in La Rosay.

In April 1987, Fardoust appeared in public for the first time in a television "interview" with Islamic authorities. He described and denounced the life of the Shah, his court, and the corruption and dependency of the government he had served in.

All the others captured were either Executed or recruited to work for the new SAVAMA.

So How the Devil did Trita's Father get Arrested as a SAVAKI and then manage to convince the court that he was not one ?

The Judges at the Time were Not even Judges but Mullahs and Cut throats who were in charge of purifying the nation of all Taghoutis ...

Even A Christian Priest had his son executed by the Regime at the Time so imagine a Zoroastrian ? ... 

When were the Islamic Courts EVER Fair in their judgments to distinguish between a Real SAVAKI and a NON SAVAKI ?

Farrokhro Parsa was Executed accused falsly of being a Prostitute and ca bahai without the slightest evidence.

JAVIDAN: Farokhroo Pārsā (1922-1980)  

So many Innocent people from a Simple Soldier to the Officers were executed immediately after a trial.

So how could someone like Trita's Father escape such allegations so easily ? ... Even Go back and clean his reputation ?

Abbas Amir Entezam Was the Islamic Republics  Ambassador to Sweden and was accused of working with the Americans and as a Result has become the Longest Political Prisoner in Iran.

See Article by Fariba Amini:

Perseverance and honor: Interview with Abbas Amir-Entezam

payvand.com/news/06/feb/1191.html

So Simple Question :

Did the Authorities demand something in exchange ? Did he keep ties with the Regime over the years ?

Maybe Trita should give us the full picture for the sake of clarity and transparency. His explanations are VERY VAGUE  to say the least !

This is Not a VENDETTA against him, his family or his religious or ethnic background but simply a question of Transparency in knowing who is the man who is supposed to represent us as a community after all.

My humble Opinion,

DK

didani Your Right regarding Houshang AmirAhmadi

AmirAhmadi was lobbying for the IRI at the time when Khatami was flirting with the west and his dialogue of civilization. Amirahmadi organized the meeting with Madelaine Albright  the former Secretary of State during Clinton and where she made excuses for the so called CIA Led Coup against Mossadegh's government in 1953 to the Mullahs ( as if the Mullahs were qualified for speaking in the name of mossadegh)

Here is Gary Sick contributing to his website:

//www.american-iranian.org/pubs/aicupdate/aicupdate06072006.html 

AmirAhmadi went as far as even meet Ahmadinejad in Iran:

See his photo All smiling with his buddy President :

//www.iran-resist.org/article4832

This is his profile

//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hooshang_Amirahmadi

and official website:

//www.amirahmadi.com/

But I think no one really takes him seriously ... But he seems to have alot of money to sustain himself and his organization through donations from generously naive Iranian Americans.

You know the saying " Fool me Once, Fool Me Twice ..."  LOL

Congratulations Trita

Congratulations Trita Parsi.

He is intelligent, and makes a world of sense. A person who is passionate, yet logical. Much like the many Iranian youth living inside Iran today. The same youth who are demanding their basic rights and freedoms. This is the generation that is going to transform Iran for the better.

Darius Kadivar: sure looks like Gary Sick!

Complicating the matters even more, I saw him (Gary Sick) in a gathering at New York's Asia Society organized by Hooshang Amir-Ahmadi in the late 1990s ... Hooshang who? Same guy who was running for Iran presidancy?

Let us check out the Clip

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYZc2EZdBic

Mola Nasredeen Since Your Asking ? Here is who was My Father !

I have nothing to hide.

Here You can even look at his photo.

//www.rozanehmagazine.com/JylyAugust05/ADariusDad.html 

He was Saving Lives on BOTH Sides Before, during and After the Revolution and in the Line of Fire.

Now Go and Join YOUR CAMEL HERD in the Green Pastures of Palestine Your Home Country !

Thank you DK jan. That bit

Thank you DK jan. That bit of history sheds more light on Parsi's father's motives to leave Iran and push his son to start his political activities in the US rather than Sweden. Ah, what a tangled web we weave...

Mola Nasredeen Don't Blame the Messenger ;0)

It Seems it was Harry Kreisler's Business ...

I'm simply answering Vildemose ...

DK, that's non of your business who his father was!

Who was Obama's father?

Who was your father?

Dr. Trita Parsi is the voice of Iranians in America

By far and away, Dr. Trita Parsi is the voice of Iranians, Iranian Americans and Americans in the United States.

It is time for truth.  Dr. Parsi has single handedly slew the dragon of ignorance and barbarism that has inflicted diaspora Iranian mentality for over 30 years.  Bravo.

vildemose : Conversations with History - Trita Parsi

Harry Kreisler Conversations with History - Trita Parsi 

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVGqDfX_pgA

Brief Summary

Born : Khouzestan

Left Iran with his Family RIGHT BEFORE THE REVOLUTION in late 1978

Grew Up in Sweden

Lived in the US on an on and Off basis since the 1990's and permanantly since 2001

About his Father:

BEFORE REVOLUTION: Father was Critical of some of the political policies of the Shah and was arrested for some time.

AFTER THE REVOLUTION:Father was accused of being a SAVAKI (aka collaborating with SAVAK) and arrested. Trita says his father went back to clear his name and was arrested but liberated after some time after proving he was innocent ...

He must have had a very good lawyer cause I don't know many people accused of being SAVAKI had the same luck.

One of my own Classmates in  my community school in Shiraz was the son of a man accused of being a Savaki. That was in 1980 already and Khomeiny had declared an amnesty.  We found out much later on when the boy didn't show up at school and his father appeared on the  local TV news and I immediately recognized him because he used to bring his son to school. He had grown a beard and looked very tired. We all thought he was an engineer but he was accused of being the head of the SAVAK of Shiraz. I recall him as A nice looking educated and very polite man.

The local news announced that he had returned to deliver himself after Khomeiny had announced his General Amnesty after weeks of hiding in the mountains of Shiraz. The news later announced that he had been executed early in the morning. We were all Shocked by the news. 

A few Weeks later Kamran ( that was the boys name) came to school and we were dumbfounded. He was never very talkative but I will NEVER FORGET his sad smile. He wouldn't say anything just smiled sadly with empty eyes looking in the sky to avoid our looks. We later found out that his mother was expecting another child but lost it due to stress I suppose and other complications.

Then one day Kamran dissappeared and we never heard of him again. I have No idea what happened to this poor boy and his family ? Was he sent to the War Front like so many kids with a plastic key on the neck ( as a Passport for Paradise as the mullahs used to say )during the Iran Iraq War or did he manage to leave the country like so many others ?

I will never know ...

So DOCTOR PARSI's Father  must have been VERY LUCKY !

Oh by the Way Zoroastrians to which DOCTOR PARSI's Father Belonged to have always been under the protection of the Pahlavis so his story sounds strange regarding his fathers arrest during the Pahlavis ... All the more that he was not according to Parsi a Political Activist,

But well that is what he claims ... Who am I to contradict him ? ...

But If I also understand

But If I also understand Trita Was born in 1974 and was therefore 5 Years Old in 1979 ...

Well THAT in itself Explains ALOT ...

This is a major point Darius that you raised. I have to read his book for further comments -if any- but by this brief introduction presented here, I can see that this has affected his vision in many more ways than a simple prejudice about the past regime.

Thanx VPK

Indeed my comment was about Berzizinski - who else?  Trita is a nobody - just an unsuccessful lobby for the mullhas.  

Excellent post Mr. Kadivar - to the point.   Thank God for the internet, fooling nations is not as easy as it once was.   

Don't get me wrong I am not

Don't get me wrong I am not trying to be Patronizing nor claiming that he is not an intelligent person or doesn't have a point.

I simply  understand better why he seems to have totally overlooked the experience of the "exiled" Iranian community and their Share of the Story in the Revolution of 1979 ...

Others Simply May have a Different Reading and Experience of the Revolution Than Doctor Parsi ....

BOOK: EVEN AFTER ALL THIS TIME By Afschineh Latifi ( A Memoir )

Excellent observation  of  Parsi's low expectation for Iran and  setting the bar so low for Iranian democracy. Why was his father arrested?? Was he a clergy or a communist?
 

DK, you're awesome

That's all I have to say......

Didani was that Gary Sick with Brzezinski in the clip? ~0.34 sec

Just Curious

I looked at your video here :

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhFleLinwEM

Since you seem to be informed on the subject is that Gary Sick( to his right ~0.34 sec)  who accompanies Brzezinski  to Pakistan ?

This is even Before Charlie Wilson's War ...

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgx5WkwSJzU

Well I guess when Reagan's administration is accused of having created the Taliban it was thanks to the work of his Democrat Predecessors. He picked up the job where they left it but its the BAD BAD REpublicans who as usual take the blame for 9/11 ... ;0)

Recommended Listening :

Gary Sick and Trita Parsi speak about U.S. offers to attend direct talks with Iran on  Take Away program:

//www.thetakeaway.org/stories/2009/apr/09/us-offers-attend-direct-talks-iran/

Gary Sick is today senior research scholar at Columbia University he used to be principal White House aide for Persian Gulf affairs from 1976 to 1981. More on Gary Sick here

CONGRATULATIONS

DAMESH GARM.

To: I Have a Crush on Alex Trebek

There is no one named "mikhail burzkinski". Do you mean 

"Zbigniew Brzezinski" ?