The Brilliant and Extraordinary Abjeez of Iran!

Delivering a marvelous song for the people of Iran.

Columbia University Presents: “Iran after the Election”

New Yorkers, mark your calendars for December 5th.

In what looks to be the most important academic conference on the post-election affairs of Iran, Columbia University will host a who’s who of Iranian scholars, activists, and journalist for a conference entitled “Iran After the Election.”

Featured speakers will include: Asef Bayat, Hamid Dabashi, Gary Sick, Abdolkarim Soroush, and Richard Bulliet among others.

This will be the event for those wishing to know everything and more about what happened in Iran last summer and what to look for in the coming months. Best of all, the event is free and open to the public!

For more information visit:

http://www.sipa.columbia.edu/mei/iranconference/Home.html

Iranian Reform Movement Changes Tactics

If Roger Cohen deserves the Pulitzer for commentary, Borzou Daragahi and Ramin Mostaghim deserve the prize for their outstanding coverage of the Iranian unrest for the Los Angeles Times.

In a story published today, the reporters discuss how reformist leaders have been regrouping and prepping for other forms of civil disobedience including a national strike.

From the article:

…Now that it appears Ahmadinejad is on his way to being sworn in as president, they are trying to tarnish the government’s reputation and credibility.

Observers said the reformist camp appeared to be trying to gather public momentum for a national strike or another day of mass protests in defiance of Khamenei, who the opposition says broke tradition and made himself fair game for political criticism by openly siding with Ahmadinejad.

“The supreme leader has confronted the emerging opposition and has lost his fatherly role for the nation,” said one analyst, who spoke on condition he not be identified. “Thanks to the rigging of the election, for the first time in the past 30 years an opposition group from both the grass-roots and the educated and well-off walks of society has emerged and asserted itself.”

The letter by the Islamic Participation Front, Iran’s main reformist political alliance, blasted Ahmadinejad and his supporters as “the conductors of a coup against the republic with the worst and most violent methods.”

Roger Cohen on Tavis Smiley

The whole program should be up tonight on pbs.org. In the meantime, enjoy this clip.

Amazing new series of photos from the ongoing Unrest in Iran

You can check out the whole series right here.

The Daily Show’s Brilliant “Behind the Veil” Series

Jon Stewart is one of America’s greatest treasures. Through his Daily Show broadcasts he manages to repeatedly grab the collective American conscience by the neck and shake. More remarkably, when it’s all done, we still love him.

Over the years he has famously skewered the cable news networks, the Bush Administration, and the financial news networks but last week, Stewart’s Daily Show managed to bring tears to the eyes (I am sure) of countless Iranians in Iran and abroad.

Just one week before the Iranian elections fiasco, Stewart sent Daily Show “correspondent” Jason Jones to create a weeklong series called “Iran: Behind the Veil,” a complete send-up of Orientalist cable news reports that attempt to portray Iran (and other Muslim societies) as a backwards and savage place.

Jones’ brilliant pieces manage to show what Iranians and those who have visited Iran have known all along, the joke is on the media.

If you missed the series last week, be sure to check out the links I have provided here. The very last piece for the “Behind the Veil” series (embedded here) even manages to take a poignant turn. Bravo Jason Jones, Bravo Jon Stewart!

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3

Jason Jones: Behind the Veil - The Kids Are Allah Right Daily Show
Full EpisodesPolitical HumorJason Jones in Iran

Persepolis 2.0 Covering the Iranian Elections

Someone has taken the graphic styling Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis and updated it for the web to cover the recent Iranian elections…let’s see how long until they are sued out of cyber space. Until then, you can check out the website right over here.

A Very Provacative Pro-Mousavi Speech in Iran’s Parliament

I don’t know who this Hajj Ahgha is however, it must be said that he certainly has guts. He ends this Pro-Mousavi speech delivered two days ago at the Iranian parliament (Majles) by saying that those who oppose Mousavi are not competent enough to “run a bakery.” Whoa!

Iranian Insiders Maneuvering for Control

A very interesting article from today’s Guardian about the political maneuvering of Iranian insiders. It appears that the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has made ambitious enemies from both the left and the Iranian right. All the while, chants of “God is Great” continue to grow louder and louder from the roof tops of cities throughout Iran.

From the article:

…reports that Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani is plotting to undermine the power of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Rafsanjani’s manoeuvres against Khamenei come as tensions between the speaker of the parliament, Ali Larijani, and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also appeared to be coming to a head.

Mass demonstrations on the streets against the election results have been effectively crushed by a massive police and basiij militia presence that has seen several dozen deaths and the arrests of hundreds of supporters of defeated candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi. But the splits within Iran’s political elite are deepening.

In the past few days, Larijani - who was fired by Ahmadinejad as chief negotiator on nuclear issues with the west - has announced his intention of setting up a parliamentary committee to examine the recent post-election violence in an “even-handed way”. In response, Ahmadinejad supporters within the parliament have discussed the possibility of impeaching Larijani.

This might get very nasty, very fast. It will be very interesting to see, in the end, who wins and who loses. No matter what, many questions will remain about how the interntional community will approach a radically different Iran.

Let’s hope the wishes of the millions of Iranian supporters do not get forgotten in the process.