DEATH - VERTISING ? Mehrangiz Kar Claims Husband was No More a Monarchist

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DEATH - VERTISING ? Mehrangiz Kar Claims Husband was No More a Monarchist
by Darius Kadivar
06-May-2011
 

Were Pourzand's tragic fate been an intimate family affair, I would have definitively not brought this up in a blog, but given that the family have presented this death in political terms, it seems to me that we in turn as mere outside observors also have the right to have a political view on their motivations ( if any and / or however sincere) in presenting this tragic incident as a political statement by the late film critic/journalist. 

In a recent interview with Radio Farda, lawyer and human rights activist Mehranghiz Kar claimed that her former husband Siamak Pourzand (a prominent journalist and film critic who commited suicide at the age of 81 ) was a Reformist and did not believe in the Monarchy for which he was accused and imprisoned for by the IRI. ( listen Audio Interview with RADIO FARDA).

Mad Men Opening:

( NOTE : To Watch Double Click Here)


 


I must admit that Mrs Mehrangiz Kar's interview with radio farda puzzled me for a number of reasons. To begin with I believe Mrs. Pourzand was divorced from her husband and was no more living with him for many years all the more that he had remarried ( according the the same interview or was living with someone else) so to claim that she knows exactly the motivations that led to her husband's suicide by claiming to speak in his name seems rather presumptuous to say the least.

A Letter by Siamak Pourzand read on Pourang's TV Show in LA TV 1989:

 

Some reasearch on the internet also led me to discover vague fragments about Siamak Pourzand's family history such as the fact that he was married to Mehrangiz Kar, and that he has three living daughters, Azadeh and Liliy Pourzand living between Canada and the US and another daughter Banafsheh under the marital name of Banafsheh Zand Bonnazi, who apparently lives in NY and is also an activist and editor of Iran Press online magazine known for it's Pro Monarchist and Neo con sympathies.  Pending confirmation, I believe that Azadeh and Lili Pourzand are the daughters of Mehrangiz Kar where as Banafsheh may be the daughter of Pourzand's first wife.


Kar herself  recieved In 2002, the National Endowment for Democracy's Democracy award from the hands of then U.S. First Lady, Laura Bush, Other recipients of the same award have been prominent Iranians ranging from Mahnaz Afkhami, Simin Behbahani or Azar Nafisi  if I am not mistaken.  ( more info here)

Now the NED was precisely one of the organizations which were equally under attack by the likes of Shirin Ebadi and NIAC founder Trita Parsi for being a nest for Neo Cons and against which the two latter were actively campaigning because they deemed that it was created to promote Regime Change in Iran and serve as a financial aid to equally MKO and Monarchists or any other group opposed actively against the regime of Tehran.

Having recieved the above award, Mrs.Kar therefore could not fall in any other two categories other than Pro MKO or Pro Monarchists in terms of political loyalty. Given that she definitively is not a Pro MKO what other option is left ?  

Now that her personal loyalties may have shifted since 2002 like many others and particularly since the 2009 Elections in Iran that made us all jump on the Bandwagon of the so called "Green Movement" is her right. That is not truly the subject of this blog but rather her claims that her ex husband was no more a monarchist nor believed in Regime Change per se but had become a staunch pro Reformist.

I may be wrong but It seems to me that she is trying to capitalize on Pourzand's respectability as a film critic to shed attention on her own Political views ( i.e: Jomhurykhahy) than honestly acknowledging that he was probably sympathetic to the cause of the Monarchy.To be Pro Green and Monarchist is not necessarily incompatible.

After all Iran's Crown Prince Reza also claims to be one:

Reza Pahlavi's message on the Anniversary of the 1906 Constitutional Revolution in Iran

 

I don't ;0)

 

FED UP WITH POLITICAL CORRECTNESS: Ahmadinejad is NOT my Prime Minister !


How YOUR "Green" Color Was Chosen & By WHOME !

 

SATIRE: I voted ;0) 

But then How does she know for certain that Regime Change is something that her former husband did not ultimately aspire to ?

Committing suicide is Not an ordinary gesture even in the form of a Protest.Regardless of how intimately one may know someone To claim to know the exact significance of such a gesture seems far fetched.To suppose that Pourzand killed himself out of desperation or even in protest to the regime which left him no other choice is one thing ... But to claim that the gesture was in support of Reforming the Islamic Republic is another.

Well How the devil does she know ? Who knows for that matter ?

I'm not sure to claim so outwardly hardly a few days after Pourzand's tragic death that "Look Fellows this is what Siamak actually wanted to tell us by committing suicide" is particularly respectful towards the memory or intellectual legacy of the man.

Human Beings are complex, and no one's life particularly a long and rich one like that of this eminent journalist and film critic can be boiled down to a given irreversible act like the one which took the life of Mr. Pourzand and another fellow compatriot not so long ago who happened to be a Persian Prince.   

Even the Pahlavis did not try to claim otherwise in regard to Prince Ali Reza's gesture other than the fact that he suffered from depression for many years.Suicide is as Mysterious as birth itself. One can always find a coherent explanation to the gesture but never a definitive one.Otherwise might as well claim that Hemingway killed himself in protest towards American Capitalism or in Support to Fidel Castro's Cuban Revolution.

Another reason that makes me suspect Mehrangiz Kar's conclusions as genuine is that I have heard through reliable sources that she had met the Crown Prince along with Azar Nafisi a few years ago (prior to the elections in Iran) at his home in Virginia to talk about the situation in Iran and notably regime change.

But it appeared that the meeting was a disappointment to both.

Apparently RP spoke all the time but wasn't particularly listening to both ladies suggestions.

Where they probably expected a dialogue they were greeted with an hour long exhausting Monologue instead.

It's unfortunate but maybe RP was just not particularly receptive or focused on that particular day. Dunno maybe he Woke Up late, quarreled with his wife or had a bad night. No one is perfect all the time ...

Whichever the reason, if true Mehrangiz Kar was apparently disappointed and left with a negative impression of the heir to the Peacock throne.

Could that explain her change of heart ? Wanting to appear in the name of Posterity as a potential PREEEEEEZIIIIIIIIDEEEEEENTEH MAHBOUB of the Future IRANICAN Republic of her Dreams ?

SATIRE: The Burqa Republic of Our IRANICAN Dreams ;0)

If so I wouldn't be surprised given that megalomania is probably one thing  most Iranians share in common regardless of their political affiliations and Mrs. Kar doesn't seem to be an exception to the rule:

Amir Jahanchahi: Iranian Idiot of the Day by eroonman

All the more that She was also considered as a potential candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize which ultimately went to Shirin Ebadi ...

On the otherhand there seems to be something of a family feud in this family story given the contrast between the way the daughters speak about their father.

Mr. Pourzand did not leave a letter to explain his gesture, even if there is little doubt that it resulted from the inhuman and humiliating treatment he recieved eversince his arrest and condemnation to 11 years of prison for anti regime activities.

No one has the right to judge such a gesture no matter how dramatic.

Yet it is difficult not to draw parrallels between this recent desperate gesture and that of the late Persian Prince a few months ago.

Two violent deaths barely a few months apart: One jumped off a building, the other finished himself off with a Gun Shot.

Yet neither appear to me as Martyres of a given political cause but rather victims of the collateral damages that were inflicted on two generation of Iranians because of what happened to our nation 32 years ago ... 

Either way Mrs. Kar's interpretation of Pourzand's final gesture doesn't convince me in her otherwise touching revelations on the last years of her husband's activities and humiliating treatment by the IRI.

With due respect to Siamak Pourzand's family in their grief, But it seems to me that intellectual integrity and honesty commands clarification on behalf of people who on one hand are awarded by organizations which have in the past advocated regime change and who now hypocritically claim they never did or allow themselves to speak for other's who are no more here to confirm or not their claims.

My Humble Opinion,

DK

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Interview with One of Pourzand's daughter's

Lili Pourzand  


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BBC persian with Lili Pourzand

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Interviews with another of Pourzand's daughter's

Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi


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Mahmoud in Manhattan: Interview With Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi :

Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi interviewed amidst demonstrations against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi on another TV Show aired from LA Nahadeh Mardomi:

Banafsheh Zand with TV Host Gaem Maghami :

Part I:

Part II:

Related Blogs:

UN CERTAIN REGARD: In tribute To Siamak Pourzand (1930-2011)

THE PERSIAN SPHINX: Crown Prince Reza's Press Conference on Brother's Demise

MAD MEN IN TEHRAN: Donald Draper Promotes Hilton Hotels for Tehran Destination

Related Critical Outlook Blogs:

GUNFIGHT AT OK CORRAL: Co-Starring Fakhravar & Batebi ?

LOST IN TRANSLATION: NIAC Welcomes Hamid Dabashi on Advisory Board

COLUMBIA PRESENTS: Academic Excellence With Hamid Dabashi & Sadri Bros

WOMEN KNOW YOUR LIMITS: The Shah's Post Mortem Apologies to Barbara Walters and Oriana Fallaci

FINALLY GETTING IT RIGHT: Shirin Ebadi say's "I Don't believe in an Islamic Declaration of Human Rights"

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