Discontented Iranians Have Found a Place to Call Home

"As evidence that the Iranian community is "growing by the day," as Hashempour puts it, the number of Iranian students in UAE universities has soared to 11,500, from just 2,400 three years ago. Iranians are said to own more than a third of all luxury apartments on the outskirts of Dubai, the UAE's commercial hub. The Iranian Business Council, formed less than 15 years ago, has more than 400 members."

Well it should be no suprise that Iran's "brain drain" is only continuing to rise. Now it's not just the western countries that benefit intellectually and financially from our youth, but it seems fate is not without a sense of irony because the Arabs are now too. With more and more of our great patriots and nationalists dead or dying (who have either been slain in the early years of the revolution, or are dying now from old age and grief), we look wiery-eyed to our youth, pulled in two directions between the revolution their parents handed down to them, and the future which they strife to create for themselves.

However, many are finding themselves deadlocked, leading an existence that could barely qualify as a life, with no promise and and no reprisal. And so it seems that it is not just Iran itself that is at constant threat of disintegration, but rather our own brethern. With more and more of our brothers and sisters shipping off to Europe, America, and now Dubai, to surely incorporate themselves into new lives and escape the turmoil of their homeland, it seems as if its not just parts of our mainland that are being stripped away and lost to foreign nations, but rather our own blood, our own people.


And specifically regarding Dubai, it should not be forgotten that Dubai is also where all the Iranian money that's not stored away in a Swiss bank, has been reappropriated to in order create luxurious and lavish retirement homes and retreats for Mullahs in case things get too hot. However, Iranian money isn't the only thing the Mullahs have exported there either, perhaps even more lucrative would be the underage prostitutes and sex slaves. While half the country is either doped out on heroin and morphine, selling themselves into prostitution, starving in poverty, or all three, dirty Arab Taazi filth is defiling and using our innocent children and women for their own sick and sexual pleasure. Illegal prostitution, kidnapping, and human trafficking are one of the biggest exports and investments of this regime and the vast majority of the WORLD has no clue.

"Nothing is more threadbare than the claim of Islamists to defend Muslim womanhood. Islamist radicals (like the penny-a-marriage mullahs of Iran) are the world's most prolific pimps. The same networks that move female flesh across borders also provide illegal passage for jihadis, and the proceeds of human trafficking often support Islamist terrorists. From Jakarta to Kuala Lumpur to Sarajevo to Tirana, the criminals who trade in women overlap with jihadist networks. Prostitutes serve the terror network in a number of capacities, including suicide bombing. The going rate for a Muslim woman who can pass for a European to carry a suicide bomb currently is more than US$100,000. The Persian prostitute is the camp follower of the jihadi, joined to him in a pact of national suicide." - Spengler, (Jihadis and Whores)

Our country is literally being raped in every sense possible. This just disgusts me so infuriatingly that I am at a loss for words. There is just so much wrong, so much, with everything. I don't even know what to do sometimes, and it's such a terrible feeling to feel so helpless. I hope we have the strength to overcome such vileness and barbarianism soon. I pray for the innocent victims who have suffered so much to have the courage and will to stay strong and have hope. In times like these, we must look back at our roots, go back to our ancestors, and derive strength, to overcome the evil that has unleashed itself amongst our country and our people.

Payandeh Bad Iran
Zende Bad Azad

The Generation of Iranians Overseas

Today, 27 years after the Revolution, thousands of Iranians find themselves residing overseas, mainly in countries like the U.S., Germany, or Great Britain. This dynamic "resituation" and migration of Iranians, though often referred to as "brain drain" (and rightfully so), does possess its perks as well.

Unlike the Shah's era, where thousands of protesters could pour into the street, place flowers in soldiers' barrells, and scream death to the shah, such actions today would land you, your spouse, or you infant child, a quick ticket to Evin (if you're lucky) or more likely, the gallows (better known as construction cranes). Many people ask (mostly non-Iranians), "Why don't the Iranians just have another revolution like they did with the Shah? If they did it then why can't they do it now?" It is for this very reason, genuine fear. Fear of death, of torture, fear for your family. Iran has been held captive by the chains of fear and religious manipulation for almost three decades, and by this point, the people will do just about anything just to feed their families, let alone worry about politics.

This is where the we, the generation of Iranians overseas, come into play. We are supposed to be the voice that true Iranians within Iran cannot speak. We are looked upon by them to spread the word of truth to the world, and to fight the Islamic Republic in the ways they cannot. We cannot honestly expect the people of Iran to fight back when they have no assurances that their sacrifices won't be in vain. Unless they know that we are fighting for them, and we are fighting with them, where could they possibly derive any sense of hope from, especially after all these years?

We are the light. We are the blessed. It is a CRIME to enjoy the privileges and freedoms we do in such prosperous countries and not pay back our dues. We have an obligation beyond our riches and prosperities to realize that unless we contribute somehow to cause of freedom, we have singlehandedly worked to bring it down ourselves. "Evil prevails when good men do nothing." No quote could be truer. So when we sit by idly, maybe or maybe not watching the events in Iran, shopping and driving our BMW's, as 90% of Iranian Californians do (shame upon them), who is really to be held accountable? Us or the Mullahs? At least the Mullahs have made it clear they couldn't care less about Iran, we know that, and wouldn't expect anything good to come from them. But our own blood? The shame and defeat then lies with us, and in our apathy, we in turn become the sabotuers.

However, to those who are actually trying to make a difference, those of you who spend hours sucked into the web (in the seeming Iranian "e-movement") and who genuinely know you would die for Iran, and would do anything to do more, dorood bar shoma, I salute you, you are what the soul of Iran beats for. And by the same logic, I know most of the people who read this feel the way I do, and are genuine patriots, but those who this post is really about, wouldn't be here reading this anyway. And what a great shame it is.

Becoming Americanized can be a great thing if in doing so you learn from the fibers of this great political system and use such knowledge to aid your mothercountry. Otherwise, your just another tricked out L.A. Persian, who equivocates being an Iranian to eating polo-khoresht, sparingly speaking broken Farsi to his grandmother, and listening to the occasional Googoosh hit. If this is you, spend less time putting up pictures of your Mercedes on MySpace and more time reading about what's actually going on in the country that's sheltered and nurtured your ancestors for thousands of years.

Tell the Department of Justice to prevent ancient Persian Artifacts from being sold!

Ask the Department of Justice to submit a brief;


A legal battle over the seizure of ancient Persian artifacts is underway between victims of a 1997 bombing in Jerusalem and the University of Chicago, the Oriental Institute, and the Iranian government. At stake is an extremely valuable collection of ancient Persian tablets from Persepolis – an integral part of Iran’s heritage – that the bombing victims wish to seize and auction off as compensation for physical and mental damages incurred from the bombings. (For more backround on the Chicago Persian heritage crisis click here)

It is imperative that the Department of Justice intervenes and prevents the seizure of these valuable relics.

Click here to send a letter to Peter Keisler, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division at the Department of Justice, as well as to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales urging them to prevent the seizure.

As political tensions have risen between the United States and Iran, the case has begun to receive international headlines. Manouchehr Mottaki, the Foreign Minister of Iran has threatened to cancel proposed negotiations with the US while Hamid Reza Asefi, the Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman, has called on the US to show a quick and serious reaction to the case.

Meanwhile, Iran has called for the United Nations and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to intervene citing what it feels is a violation of several international conventions protecting a nation’s cultural history.

The case has also managed to fuse strange bedfellows as even the United States Justice Department has, on several occasions, expressed interest in the case. Fearful of the dangerous precedent the case could set to allow American assets abroad to be seized, the US Justice Department has submitted a brief arguing against the Illinois Court’s ruling.

Discovered in Persepolis in 1933 and lent to the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute for research, these 2,500 year old clay tablets contain invaluable and detailed information about the culture of the people of the Persian Empire. The Achaemenid (or Persepolis) clay tablets were loaned to the University of Chicago in 1937. They were discovered by archaeologists in 1933 and are legally the property of the National Museum of Iran and the Iran's Cultural Heritage Organization. The artifacts came with the understanding that they would be returned to Iran. The tablets, from Persepolis, the capital of the Persian Empire, date to about 500 B.C.

The tablets give a view of daily life, with things like daily rations of barley that were given to workers in nearby regions of the empire. These tablets were sent to the capital to keep track of how they were paying workers. Gil Stein, director of the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago, said that details largely concern food for people on diplomatic or military missions. Each tablet is about half the size of a deck of Playing cards and has characters of a dialect of Elamite, an extinct language understood by perhaps a dozen scholars in the world.

Stein called it "the first chance to hear the Persians speaking of their own empire." Charles Jones, Research Associate and Librarian at the Oriental Institute and tablet expert compared them to "credit card receipts." Most of our current knowledge about the ancient Persian empire comes from comes from the accounts of others, most famously the Greek storyteller Herodotus. Stein added, "It's valuable because it's a group of tablets, thousands of them from the same archive. It's like the same filing cabinet. They're very, very valuable scientifically."

The university's Oriental Institute had been returning them to Iran in small batches. The Institute had already returned 37,000 tablets and fragments to Iran and were preparing another shipment when Strachman intervened. Gil Stein, director of the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago said, "The Iranians are understandably furious about this. You'd have to imagine how we would feel if we loaned the Liberty Bell to Russia and a Russian court put it up for auction."

The dispute at question arose on September 4, 1997, when explosive devices set off in Jerusalem by members of Hamas wounded 200 individuals, including five Americans who have now decided to sue the Iranian government for their alleged role in sponsoring the attack.

The United States District Court in Illinois ruled in September of 2003 that the victims of the bombings had established their right to seek relief and awarded them damages of $423.5 million. Citing their mistrust of the US legal system, an Iranian representative was notably absent in the proceedings which US district Judge Ricardo Urbina cited as a critical reason for his default judgment against Iran.

Since then, David J. Strachman, a Rhode Island lawyer, has asked the Federal Court to confiscate and auction off Iran’s assets in the US, including the aforementioned artifacts to compensate the victims.

The decision has since been appealed and challenged by lawyers defending the University of Chicago and Iran on several grounds which include the invocation of a “sovereign immunity” principle that notes that governments cannot be sued like ordinary citizens.

This argument was denied by Judge Blanche M. Manning in a hearing last month, as she rejected the University of Chicago’s attempts at asserting immunity on Iran’s behalf. After denying the validity of Iran’s claim that it faces “numerous practical barriers” to receiving a fair trial, Judge Blanche confirmed an earlier Court’s decision that only Iran could assert its right to immunity.

Persistent in their defense of Iran, the University of Chicago plans on appealing the decision by August 21st as the case is scheduled to move up to the 7th circuit court. Iran, meanwhile, has filed for a special appearance in the hearing next month which has added a new dimension to this entangled legal dispute.

The university had argued sovereign immunity, i.e, under federal law, "certain property owned by foreign governments is protected from court judgments. HOWEVER, there is a law in effect that states that is if a nation is a blantent sponser or advocate of terrorism, the assets of that nation may be repossesed internationally without reperation. This situation is a reality, and there is a very unclear, dark cloud, howevering over it. We cannot let this happen, we MUST not let this happen. The situation is totally unacceptable.

These are the few remnants of our granduer ancient and noble heritage! Do not let envious foes once again loot what little is left of our history! These artifacts are PRICELESS and due to the lack of recording in our history, are the few artifacts documented by Persians themselves and not Westerners, describing ancient life in the old empire. It is vital that these artifacts be protected, preserved, and kept in the hands of the Iranian nation, not sold to lucky Western entrepenuers on the black market for millions of dollars who'd like to add a nice "Persian piece" to their dining room.

Compelling the Justice Department to file a brief in support of Chicago University is an initial step in this campaign, and it is vital that we make as much noise about this as possible. So make noise, send letters, spread the word, if the courts and juries and lawmakers see there is an an outcry coming from the Persian community against such evilness, then it is much harder for them to grant the case to the plantiffs. It is absurb that an entire nation and culture has to suffer for the loss of 4 families. They want to strip us of our 2,500 year heritage, because some assholes that had nothing to do with us or our heritage, attacked them. This is absolutely absurd and backward, and I for one will not stand for it.


Click here to send a letter to Peter Keisler, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division at the Department of Justice, as well as to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales urging them to prevent the seizure.

Payandeh Bad Khake Iran Ma!

Iranian Activist Seeks U.S. Support

A leading Iranian student activist is calling for the Bush administration to directly fund opposition groups seeking to topple the theocratic regime in Tehran.

Manucher Mohammadi escaped from Iran last month after his brother and fellow democratic activist, Akbar Mohammadi, died in Tehran’s Evin prison. Manucher Mohammadi says his brother was severely tortured during seven years in prison and ultimately died from his injuries.

Mohammadi arrived in the U.S. earlier this month and has taken a fellowship at Washington’s National Endowment for Democracy. He says he’s using his time in Washington to meet senior Congressional and administration officials, such as Elliot Abrams, the National Security Council’s point man on the Middle East.

“I’d like the U.S. government to lend spiritual support to the Iranian opposition…and to support it financially,” Mohammadi said at a news conference held at Freedom House today. “We need to develop a plan of action and put it to work.”

The U.S. Congress has allocated $75 million this year to promote democracy in Iran, much of which will go to radio stations beaming programming into Iran. It’s unclear if Mohammadi’s organization, which he’s calling the Anti-Dictatorial Front, could be eligible for U.S. government funding, which is distributed through the State Department.

The Mohammadi brothers achieved prominence in 1999 for helping to lead major student protests against the Iranian regime. They men were subsequently sentenced to 15 years in prison.

-END ARTICLE-

I think we're beyond the point of pleading the help of foreign superpowers who's primary agenda is NEVER that of our own. This is our battle and it is apparent that the only people who truly care about democracy in Iran are Iranians themselves. There CANNOT be any other reason to support freedom and referendum other than simply wanting to see Iran free. Have we still not learned our lesson? America and Britain's historical presence in Iran, has done nothing but crush the democracy we once had, and pour salt on the wound left thereafter by CREATING the Islamic Republic! Enough is enough. Why are we still pulling at the pantlegs of countries who's deeds and actions are not even worthy of being classified as destructive, but in reality, saboteur?

We are in this mess because of foreign powers. Thanks to the CIA and MI6 in the 50's...our first chance at democracy was crushed when propaganda and false flag operations were launched against democratic and secular Mossedegh (falsely idenifying him as an anti-muslim, communist), to protect what of course, oil interests. Then again, when our next ruler, Shah Pahlavi, proved too progressive for American liking, once again they shot out the legs from beneath us and plundered us into the Islamic Dark Ages with their new found toy, Islam. And now AGAIN, they say they support regime change in Iran. We have gone through three different governments (Democratic Republic, Monarchy, and Islamic Rule) and still, they are not satisfied. And in each one they have played a pivotal role. Does all this foreign meddling not make you sick?

Iran is ours, and no one else's. Iran is our fight, not the West's. If they truly want to aid the cause of democracy in Iran, they can do so by preventing known terrorists like Khatami from getting a visa and safe passage into the United States to preach at Marriots about how he supports the west and disapproves of Islamic terrorism. The man who himself was responsible for the 1999 attacks of pro-democracy student activists in Iran! They can help us by not giving the IRI chances to succeed and get stronger by leaving buffers like Sadaam Hussein alone. They can help us, by making our plight known to the world and protecting Iranian interests and heritage here and in Europe.

The sooner we realize that this is our fight, and that this is our country, the sooner we can redirect our energies and resources toward a cause that we bled and cried for. Don't let the West have a hand in our revolution, they only want to the see their interests protected. They could care less about ensuring that the sun continues to set on the remains of great Perspolis or that our women can walk freely in public, displaying their world-renowned Persian beauty to the entire world. If their hearts are not with us, we don't want their support. Because even if they help us, and we do win our democracy, don't think that there part is over, they are going to stick around and protect their investment; exactly like how they did 27 years ago.

Be wise. This is a landmark moment in Iranian history. These are some of the darkest years we have been through as a nation, and though we have survived and maintained our heritage throughout the conquests of Alexander, Ghengis Khan, and even Islam, if we do not continue to throw wood on this fire, the flame of revolution will wither and die. We are known for our resilience to opposition, and it's time to live up to that title once again.

The only crime is apathy. A crime which keeps the good scared and the evil rich. Evil prevails when good men do nothing.

God Bless Iran!

PAYANDEH BAD KHAKE IRAN MA!
ZENDE BAD AZAD!

Call to All Iranians; Make Your Voice Heard

These last 25 years of Islamic Occupation of Iran have been some of the darkest hours in our history. The Mullahs are forcing our great nation of Iran back to the dark ages and not only do us Iranians in the U.S. not band together and create a mass politcal movement in congress to put pressure on the Jomuryee Eslami (Islamic Republic), but some don't even reconize the threat and absolute terror this government instills in the hearts of its people, as well as its threat to the rest of the world.

To all Iranians in Iran, America, and Europe: You are the children of our beloved motherland. The land that has sheltered us for thousands of years. We are one of the first and oldest peoples in the world and for too long has glory of the Persian Empire been spat upon. It is time for us to stand up and rise against our oppressors. For us in America, who are significantly more well-off and are not stricken by the grief of poverty, politcal oppresion and death, lobby in congress, make your voice heard. If not able to pass legal action, then at least make this country and the rest of the world aware of one thing: REGIME CHANGE. You'd be suprised how much of the world isn't aware of our problem. And the Mullahs are too strong to be combated within Iran at the moment, at least until we are able to create our own movement and/or para-military force within Iran.

Until then, make the world aware. Send out the message of 'Regime Change.' Send these Mullahs back into the dark, miserable holes that they crawled out from. Take action. Take it now. This is your country, these are your people, this is your duty as an Iranian. Don't let our sweet land of Iran fall to these barbarians. I myself and a few others and trying to get involved politically in American politics to aid the fate of our brothers in Iran, as the Jews in America do for Israel. (And they have been extremely successful) At least so they know they Iranians have a voice and are unwilling to be treaded over. Without a voice we are doomed. So lets rise once again.

Support your brothers in Iran, America, and Europe. The time for injustice and politcal persecution is over. Now is the time for Iran to once again to be it's majestic and noble self. We will rise once again.

Payandeh Bad Khake Iran Ma!

Your fellow brother,

Arian