Other Postings

Comments on Iranian-Americans’ Protests in the United States

By Simin Royanian. July, 2009

I would like to ask what the purpose of these actions is. Usually, protesters and those who go on hunger strikes do so for a cause or demand that is not supported by those in power, is in opposition to the prevailing narrative, and/or is not reflected in the main media.

Full article -> http://sn.im/iramphs

. . .

One would hope that American peace and justice groups, having learned from the CIA coups d'etats and the interference in even the labor organizations and creating "labor strikes" against Salvador Allende, and having learned from all the machinations of the FBI against the Black Panthers, and many more, would hesitate, and study, and do research, and ask important questions, before they jump on the bandwagon.


Thanks, Dr. Paul, for Telling the Truth!

Complete transcript:


Countries that Enrich Uranium

By Jack W., 2009-10-05

In respect of uranium enrichment, we may accurately ascribe to Iran the following characteristics:

  • She enriches uranium.
  • She belongs to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT).
  • She is not granted Nuclear-Weapon State status under the NPT.

According to a 2007 report published by the US Department of Energy ( http://www.osti.gov/bridge/servlets/purl/932144-njhbTH/932144.pdf (PDF)) (source for which countries enriched and which belonged to NPT but not for which had nuclear-weapon status), the same description also applies to the following countries:

Brazil, Germany, Japan, and the Netherlands.

So what I would like somebody to 'splain to me, is why is it that the Western media are on Iran's case all the time and accusing her of developing nuclear weapons, but not the cases of Brazil, Germany, Japan, and the Netherlands? What is so special about Iran as a member of NPT?

A good place to respond would be the online discussion forum of Women for Peace and Justice in Iran: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/women4peaceiniran/


Video: Interview with Simin Royanian on the 2009 Presidential Election in Iran, Part One

(of four parts)

Q: Who is your candidate of choice in the 2009 Iran elections and why?

Q: Some argue that Ahmadinejad's speeches are harsh against the west and that causes tension; do you agree?

Q: If Iran is in such a good position domestically, then why are people protesting against Ahmadinejad?

Q: So are you suggesting that young Iranians are actually protesting against the core values of the Islamic Republic instead?

[Video]


Video: Interview with Simin Royanian on the 2009 Presidential Election in Iran, Part Two

Q: So, if young Iranians want change, do you see these protests as a means for them to get those changes, or not?
A: I believe that this may not serve their interest . . .

Q: Don't you think that the Islamic Republic has made it so difficult for Iranians to be able to get change the legal way that protesting is the only answer?

Q: What do you think the western powers want?

Q: What do you think the US is doing to flame the fires in [the] Iran protest, if they are doing anything at all?

[Video]


Video: Interview with Simin Royanian on the 2009 Presidential Election in Iran, Part Three

Q: Some may argue that the privitization of Iran [sic] may be to its benefit, instead of the way it is now.

Q: Are you suggesting that Iranians in Iran should stop protesting?

Q: [It's] not fair to compare [the] US [to] Iran, since it is much easier to get a permit in the US for protest than it is in Iran.

Q: [Whom] does Ahmadinejad represent and [whom] does Mousavi represent?

[Video]


Video: Interview with Simin Royanian on the 2009 Presidential Election in Iran, Part Four

(continues answer to question from previous part)

Q: What is your opinion about Iran's involvement in Palestine?

Q: What does an ideal Iran look like to you?
A: Of course, I would like to see a socialist government. But at the minimum, . . . I would like to see a secular government, because I believe in equality among all [people]....

[Video]


Link: Financial and Corporate Interests Mobilize the Left

"Imperialism is so much easier when the one sector that ought to be against it, can so readily be manipulated into acting on its behalf."

Complete article:


On the Coverage in the US of Iran's Presidential Election of 2009

The coverage of the Iran elections in the US media is far from an objective news report and lacks any professional journalistic standards. . . . [more]


Link: We Will Come and Take You To Your Dream Land

"I just returned from Iran. I spent close to four weeks in the midst of the protests and participated in lots of the events. Here are some facts (my observations) ..."

. . .

[Paraphrasing interviewee's statements about the opposition abroad] "'They are a bunch of idiots sitting in the comfort of their secured and air-conditioned houses, [engaging] in part[y]ing, drinking and having fun, and every once in a while stick their heads out of their . . . and give us direction: Go ahead, get on the streets, protest, destroy the regime, prepare the country for our return, we will come and take you to your dream land.'"


Link: Open Letter to United For Peace and Justice (UFPJ)

Dear UFPJ's Leadership Group,

UFPJ has asked in its Action Alert of 7/9/09 that people join the "United 4 Iran" Global Day of Action on July 25. Is UFPJ confident that the leaders and proponents of this action are not being financed by NED and other "pro-democracy" fronts awash with some of the $400 million that the U.S. Congress has provided to the National Endowment for Democracy, the CIA, the USAID - U.S. Agency for International Development and others for the explicit purpose of subversion, acts of sabotage, financing, equipping and training upper echelon Iranian-Americans who are ready to serve the U.S. foreign policy objectives of infiltrating and penetrating the security spheres of the Iranian nation?…

Complete letter:

While we're at it, why not quote one of those reader comments right here? Reader commentator Mike Shaw says (dated 2009-08-27 and retrieved 2009-10-04):

Dear Mr. Ommani, I heartily thank you for this open letter which really is a "tour de force" exposing UFPJ's ignorance (or perhaps US political establishment collaboration) regarding the Iran elections. As a anti-imperialist, anti-war activist from the US I can bear witness to UFPJ leadership's tendency to Democratic Party collaborationism, pacifist hypocrisy and political treachery. I'm just so happy to have see their vile mistakes on this issue exposed for the record. I am always impressed by your articles, keep up the excellent work.


For changes of intermediate age, see our Forum.


The dates given below indicate when we added the links to our change log. They are not necessarily the dates of original authorship or posting of the articles themselves (ours or others').

2005-03-25

Antiwar Demonstrations in Iran

Women's Rights in Iran revised today to show correct date of the Seneca Falls meeting. Thanks to the writer who alerted us to the error.

Iranian Women Celebrate International Women's Day

Iran/US Relations as of 2005-03-02

2005-01-11

Comment on Malik's op-ed "Whose War Is It Now?".

2004-04-16

Kerry Even Worse for World than Bush?

2004-02-17

New photo from Mars (this came by many-times-forwarded e-mail; don't know whom to credit):

2004-01-15

Greens Not Allowed to Fly, considered "terrorists" by US government.

2003-12-30

Earthquake in Iran -- In times of trouble, our humanity comes first. Rescue workers from everywhere, including the USA, are in Bam helping to save lives. The image of all people helping each other without regard for borders or religion is the ideal of the world. And it can be acheived if we do this for each other all the time and not wait for natural disaster to strike.

---

Iranians, both at home and in the diaspora, should look across the border to Iraq to understand what the US will do to Iran, and stop spending all their political energy opposing the Islamic Republic, which isn't the biggest danger.

2003-12-29

"Saddam as Reality Celebrity", by Mark Steel, columnist for for The Independent (UK).  Quote:

And there must be a chance that if Saddam confesses to executing hundreds of "common thieves," to invading sovereign states for oil, to fiddling elections and handing positions of power to his idiotic sons, instead of being hung[*] he'll be made next year's Republican candidate for president.

* We do take exception to the suggestion about hanging Mr. Hussein, because we oppose capital punishment. In fact we think that Presidents Hussein, G. H. W. Bush, Clinton, and G. W. Bush should be tried at the Hague court for crimes aginst humanity and war crimes. Since there is no capital punishnment at the international court, they would if found guilty be imprisoned, just as the war criminals of World War II were.

2003-12-19

Washington Post: "Rumsfeld Visited Baghdad in 1984 to Reassure Iraqis, Documents Show", Dana Priest and Vernon Loeb.

". . . the administrations of Reagan and George H.W. Bush sold military goods to Iraq, including poisonous chemicals and deadly biological agents, . . ., and undertook discreet diplomatic initiatives, such as the two Rumsfeld trips to Baghdad, to improve relations with Hussein."

---

An example of the iron boot of fascism today: "U.S. Arrests Iraqi Union Leaders", David Bacon, Pacific News Service, Dec 10, 2003.

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"Is Iran Building Nukes? An Analysis", William O. Beeman and Thomas Stauffer, Pacific News Service, Jun 26, 2003 -- Part 1, Part 2.

2003-11-14

What You Mean "We", White Man?

2003-10-31

Commentary on the news:

US media keep repeating a contention from high levels in the US government that much of the resistance they encounter in Iraq is from foreign fighters who cross borders into Iraq.  However, their commanders don't agree, as the Washington Post reports on 2003-10-29:

SINJAR, Iraq -- Commanders of U.S. military forces responsible for monitoring the border between Iraq and Syria say there is no evidence from human intelligence sources or radar surveillance aircraft indicating that significant numbers of foreign fighters are crossing into Iraq illegally.

-- "Commanders Doubt Syria is Entry Point" by Vernon Loeb.

2003-10-29

Added photo to home page.

Members of the 720th Military Police Battalion (United States of America) usher out a child during a raid on a house alleged to be that of a prominent member of the Baath Party. Photo: Lucian Perkins, Washington Post, 2003-10-26, page A27.

Added photos in both entries below.

2003-10-27

Commentary on the news:

New York Times reporting on Bush' speech to Australia's legislators: "Similarly, he welcomed Europe's intervention to get Iran to stop its nuclear program." This is a lie because Europe supports Iran's right to continue its nuclear energy program in compliance with the nuclear nonproliferation treaty (NPT). "On High-Speed Trip, Bush Glimpses a Perception Gap" by David E. Sanger, 2003-10-24.

Prime Minister John Howard of Australia, center, kept two Green Party lawmakers away from President Bush, far right with his head turned from the camera, after Mr. Bush's speech to Parliament Thursday. The legislators had heckled Mr. Bush during his speech, criticizing his foreign policy. Photo by Graham Tidy.

Kudos to the Green legislators. Proportional representation approaches democracy more closely than the "winner take all" system practiced in the USA.

2003-10-18

Women for Peace and Justice in Iran endorses event organized by National Network on Cuba and DC No War on Cuba Movement.

It is our honor to be able to express solidarity with our sisters and brothers in Cuba in their just struggle for self determination, as we support that same struggle for the people of Iran and the people of the world everywhere. The peoples of both countries come under threat from the same source -- the US imperialist government, as do many other people all over the world. The people of Iran have always stood in solidarity with the people of Cuba. Ever since the 1979 revolution in Iran, the relationship between the two nations has strengthened. The people's movement is spreading everywhere, as witnessed most recently by the movement of the workers, peasants, and students in Bolivia. We believe that it is only with the solidarity of all the oppressed peoples and nations of the world that we can save the world from the oppression of global capital and the threats of the US military.

¡INOCENTES!

¡INOCENTES!

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WE DEMAND THE FREEDOM OF THE FIVE CUBAN CITIZENS HELD HOSTAGE BY THE US GOVERNMENT.

LONG LIVE THE CUBAN REVOLUTION!