MOSSADEGH

نفت نامهٌ موحّدی

تمام استدلال موحد بر این اساس مضحک استوار است که مصدق وقوع کودتای دوم را هم میدانست

by Ramin Kamran
16-Apr-2009 (one comment)
چند سالی از انتشار کتاب «خواب آشفتهٌ نفت، دکتر مصدق و نهضت ملی ایران» Vol 1 2 3 نوشتهٌ محمدعلی موحد میگذرد. آنچه بالاخره وادار به نوشتنم کرد ارجاع های بیموردی بود که دیدم چند جا به این کتاب داده شده است و نیز استفاده هایی توأم با سؤنیتی که برخی اشخاص از آن میکنند. از همهٌ اینها هم گذشته دیدم مدتهاست که نقد کتاب ننوشته ام و جا دارد که بعضی نقدها را که نسیه مانده است تأدیه کنم. یکی از مشکلاتی که در تاریخ نگاری و تحلیل تاریخی دوران مصدق وجود دارد این است که هنگام سنجش سیاستهای وی در درجهٌ اول به وجه نفتی آن و سیاست خارجی توجه میشود و بخش داخلی آن که اصلی بود و متوجه به تجدید حیات میراث مشروطیت در سایهٌ امری قرار میگیرد که در نهایت وسیله ای بود برای رسیدن به هدف داخلی نهضت ملی>>>

COMIC BOOK

Dark Ages

Interview with the creative team of Rostam: Battle with the Deevs

by Darius Kadivar
13-Apr-2009 (3 comments)
Probably one of the greatest lessons in the Shahnameh is when it warns us of the “enemy within”. One that resides in our own persona and nurtures a self destructive impulse when we lose self confidence, start lying to ourselves and thus break the old Zoroastrian Oath of “Pendar Neek, Goftareh Neek, va Kerdareh Neek” aka “Good Thoughts, Good Words and Good Deeds”. It is then when our soul becomes corrupt, our virtues dissolve into a potion of ignorance and True Pride is replaced by Arrogance ... Thus seems to be the dilemma facing Iran’s greatest hero Rostam in Hyperwerks and its creative team’s adaptation of the third book: Rostam: Battle with the Deevs. >>>

PAHLAVI

Who was who

Interview with Dr. Abbas Milani about his Book, "Eminent Persians"

by Farrokh_Tehranzadeh
06-Apr-2009 (5 comments)
"The title, Eminent Persians, is a borrowing that’s from a famous book in English called 'Eminent Victorians.' It’s by Lytton Strachey and it is a mini biography of Victorian figures – a dozen of them - and I had read the book. It’s a very wonderful book and I loved the title. And Eminent Persians simply had in my mind a better echo, and for a title one of the things you look for is an echo... I generally believe that 'Persian,' which was what we were called in all the Indo-European languages before that infamous decision of 1935 by Reza Shah to change it. It’s a much better way of referring to us. It has 2500 years of history behind it...">>>

NOVEL

Rooftops of Tehran

First novel I read by an Iranian-American male. I found it refreshing and unique.

by Nasim Bagheri
06-Apr-2009 (3 comments)
Rooftops of Tehran touches on every human experience from love to loss. Seraji unabashedly poses the questions for which answers simply did not exist. His deep awareness of the human spirit shows through Pasha’s character, who while naïve, is a logical and extremely emotional character trying desperately to make sense of the insanity around him. The reader is lost in the tale just as Pasha is lost and thus finds himself more than simply empathizing with the protagonist. The reader feels the emotions just as deeply as Pasha does – thanks to the brilliant story-telling of Seraji. Seraji captures the delicate and poignant action of Pasha to plant a rose bush in the street for the martyr from the neighborhood>>>

POLITICS

Puzzle of Persia

Islamist tyranny in the land of moderates

by Arash Monzavi-Kia
28-Mar-2009 (3 comments)
During the post revolutionary period of 1979-82, after fighting and eliminating most of the internal opposition; ayatollah Khomeini and his allied clergies established their Islamist tyranny over the entire Iranian political, military, financial, judicial, and cultural affairs. Since then, a puzzling Persian theocracy has plagued the Middle Eastern politics and become a prime source of emulation and support for most militant Islamists. To consolidate their tyranny, lucrative industries, banks and major companies were confiscated and controlled by the Islamist instruments (Bonyads). The Iranian military was purged and then subjugated to the constant oversight and scrutiny of the Revolutionary Guards>>>

IDEAS

The Tyranny of Dead Ideas II

A market without government involvement is like a lawn mower without a bag

by varjavand
26-Mar-2009 (3 comments)
There is a cause and effect link between economic success and your aptitude. In addition, economic status connotes moral and social merit. The American nation, Mr. Miller seems to suggest, is moving toward a dangerous social duality because of a skewed reward system. He predicts a class war between “lower upper class” and those who are getting “ultra rich” undeservingly by harvesting the fruits of capitalism. He explains: “The widening chasm between rich and poor threatens our democracy. Ultras are not simply reaping the rewards of the free market, but are benefiting from a rigged compensation system in the boardrooms and on Wall Street that are likely to reward mediocrity as success.”>>>

MEMORABLE

داستان یک شیر واقعی

داستان یک شیر واقعی

Children's book (1973) by Akbar Nemati: Story of a True Lion

by Orang Gholikhani
24-Mar-2009 (one comment)

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1979

Bahar Aborted

When all hell broke loose in Iran

by Arash Monzavi-Kia
20-Mar-2009 (6 comments)
Islamists tried to cancel the 1979 Nowruz celebrations, in order to maintain their unending cycle of mourning and fighting. The Hezbollah was determined to take over the entire government apparatus, expel the liberal technocrats from the ministries, crush the Kurdistan uprising, and reinvigorate the populace around their banner. However, their mindless repressive tactics (Chomaghdari) had alienated most political activists; and their lack-lustre fundamentalist slogans could not attract the vibrant young population. Since his arrival, ayatollah Khomeini had not helped their cause either, as his Qom lectures were normally tedious and erratic>>>

HERITAGE

History for youth

"Ancient Iran" on its way into public libraries in North America

by Massoume Price
16-Mar-2009 (one comment)
When the idea of producing high quality books for young readers about Iranian history and culture was conceived, one of the first and most important goals was to get these books into public and school libraries in North America. For many reasons beyond the scope of discussion here and despite the importance of Iran in the world stage for centuries, Iranian history does not have its rightful place amongst the history of civilizations. When the book was first published, my daughter sent a copy of “Ancient Iran” to her Professor of Ancient Near Eastern studies at our local University. The response was “Great, I did not know Iran was this fascinating, maybe I should include some topics from Iran in my course”.>>>

REVOLUTION

The Outbreak that Changed the World

Khomeini’s resolve was unrelenting

by Arash Monzavi-Kia
10-Mar-2009 (18 comments)
In the autumn of 1978, everything started to fall apart. The rebellion spread to universities, then schools and finally to factories, offices and even the oil industry. Widespread strikes paralyzed most government functions and large-scale desertions weakened the armed forces. In secret, Shah was terminally ill, but would not relinquish any real power to his hand picked governments or even the army generals. During the past 15 years of his despotic reign, every decision and action was so directly dictated by him, that the whole country fell into a state of convulsion, as he was being tormented by an incurable cancer and an implacable enemy>>>

IDEAS

The Tyranny of Dead Ideas

Letting Go of the Old Ways of Thinking to Unleash a New Prosperity

by varjavand
02-Mar-2009 (5 comments)
We Iranians are obsessed with many things; the healthier obsession is with our kids. We often brag about them stridently. We take pride in their success particularly in education and in their careers. We claim, for instance, that they earn more than we do. But do they really? Not according to Matt Miller, the author of a very intriguing book entitled The Tyranny of Dead Ideas. In this book, he explains how the current economic crisis has changed our collective perception of many axiomatic ideas that we have believed in for so long, albeit erroneously>>>

PAHLAVI

The ‘Fun’ Hoveida Years

The Shah channelled billions into massive military purchases and grandiose projects

by Arash Monzavi-Kia
28-Feb-2009 (34 comments)
During the great oil boom of the 1970’s, the irrational exuberance of the Iranian upper classes and the unquenchable greed of the royalty played havoc with the domestic economy. Hoveida’s half-baked plans for hasty modernization and the Shah’s expensive upgrades for the army, created a number of economical and social dislocations. That deluge of projects, which were unnaturally fuelled by the soaring oil prices, played havoc with the fledging Iranian economy and infrastructure; creating cyclic booms and busts, deficiencies and speculations, inflation and hoarding>>>

POLITICS

Shah vs. Khomeini: Round 1

The Shah steadily turned from a constitutional monarch to a deranged tyrant

by Arash Monzavi-Kia
20-Feb-2009 (23 comments)
After the 1953 coup, Shah’s reign as an autocratic monarch started. Similar to his father’s rule, soon the parliament became a rubberstamp of the royal decrees, and the political rights were in effect suspended. However, it still took the Shah another decade before he could gain the absolute power over his court, the army and the Persian nobility. Meanwhile, he had to contend with his family, who were forcing him into divorces and remarriages; the power-hungry generals of his army, who were planning coups behind his back; and the older and wiser nobility, who were trying to teach and mentor him! Besides, the country was dirt poor and most people were illiterate and living in abject poverty>>>

VIEW

1953 to 1979

Mosaddeg’s saga, a precursor to the Islamic Revolution?

by Arash Monzavi-Kia
13-Feb-2009 (19 comments)
Unfortunately, Mosaddegh’s second year in the office unravelled all the gains of his first! He proved to be much better as the speaker for opposition than the leader of government, and much more resourceful in weakness than tactful in power. His emotional and authoritative style (my way or no way) soon upset and aggravated most of the nationalist and Islamist allies, who gradually turned into sworn enemies. Finally, when Mosaddegh lost the majority support in Majles, he simply dissolved it, in order to prevent the parliament from voting him out of the office! >>>

BOOK

Time to choose

A dialogue not with the mullah regime, but with the Iranian people

by Tina Ehrami
10-Feb-2009 (89 comments)
The son of the late Shah exposes his vision of a different Iran which is democratic, secular and integrated in the international community. This includes a project to accomplish a society capable of answering to the aspirations of the Iranian people, the foundation of a democratic parliamentary regime in which the constitution is founded on the universal principles of human rights, the establishment of a nation guaranteeing the liberty of all, a national reconciliation like the model of South Africa, and finally the separation of state and religion>>>
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