IRAN RISES

A Request for an Interview

Evan@qlineorientalist.com (Evan Siegel) — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 22:24:07 +0000

Late last August, one Reza Saiedi sent a message to my old friend Norman Finkelstein requesting a written interview with him: Dear Norman, Salam/Shalam Despite Western attempts to isolate Iran internationally, the upcoming Non-Allied Countries summit will be hosted by Iran. In order to generate greater public awareness of this, I’d like to interview some [...]

Ahmadinejad Did Say He Is for Wiping Israel off the Map–And Why It Doesn’t Matter

Evan@qlineorientalist.com (Evan Siegel) — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 18:05:56 +0000

I haven’t weighed in on the artificial debate over the whether or not Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s famous sentence at the October 2005 World without Zionism conference could be translated as, “Israel should be wiped off the map.” The meme has spread in progressive circles that there is some grounds for [...]

Sayyed Mohammad Khatami congratulates Asghar Farhadi on “A Separation”

Evan@qlineorientalist.com (Evan Siegel) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:15:11 +0000

In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate. Mr. Asghar Farhadi Your valuable cinematic work, sir, which has enjoyed widespread approval of the good and wise Iranian audience and has now been recognized on an international scale and has become a source of pride for yourself and our dear country, is a sign of [...]

Declaration of 175 Activists to Oppose War by Suspending Uranium Enrichment and Shutting Down the Military Nuclear Program

Evan@qlineorientalist.com (Evan Siegel) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 01:30:30 +0000

I strongly disagree with the thrust of the following declaration, but believe that it is important because it reflects the feelings of many Iranian opponents of the current Iranian government. I will post my thoughts on the matter on a separate page. I’d like to thank Setareh Sabety and Mina Siegel for reviewing the translation [...]

The Islamic Republic of Iran’s Gholam Shakuri Hoax

Evan@qlineorientalist.com (Evan Siegel) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 04:05:58 +0000

The American government alleged that one Gholam Shakuri was a high-ranking officer in the Islamic Republic of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards and a co-conspirator in a fantastic plot to murder the Saudi Ambassador to the United States. (For a good summary of this affair, see Gareth Porter’s excellent reporting.) On October 17, Mehr News Agency [...]

Yalda Night

Evan@qlineorientalist.com (Evan Siegel) — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 19:07:07 +0000

Yalda Night by Siavush Kasrai I opened my eyes this morning to my beloved’s face. I gazed at myself in the pure mirror of her visage. I arrayed a feast among the warriors And cried out among them with a hundred shouts. I sat and clutched the hem of my beloved’s robe And begged all [...]

The 1980 Qarna Massacre

Evan@qlineorientalist.com (Evan Siegel) — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 09:58:16 +0000

On September 2, 1980, the village of Qarna witnessed a massacre committed by Revolutionary Guards. Behdad Bordbar, an Iranian Kurd living in exile in Scandinavia, asked some of his fellow-Kurdish refugees about their recollections of this now little-remembered act. The translation is taken from Radio Zamaneh, http://zamaaneh.com/humanrights/2010/09/post_703.html. A video of one of his interviewees speaking [...]

The Endless “Tawana”1 Mousavi Case

Evan@qlineorientalist.com (Evan Siegel) — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 20:38:15 +0000

On May 19, 2010, Omid Habibinia, a self-described media analyst who played a key role in publicizing the Taraneh Mousavi story, denounced it for the hoax that it is. My first introduction to this event was a comment posted by one Mina dated June 14, 2010 on my article decrying Amnesty International’s embrace of the [...]

Call for Hunger strike To Support Iranian Hunger Strikers

Evan@qlineorientalist.com (Evan Siegel) — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 16:37:19 +0000

Dear Freedom Loving People! The oppressive Islamic Republic regime has turned Iran into a large prison for people by denying them their basic human rights such as freedom of expression and association. Within this general prison are specific locations such as the notorious Evin prison that the regime locks up political activists that mostly have [...]

Iranian Journalist for Time Magazine in Prison

Evan@qlineorientalist.com (Evan Siegel) — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 22:09:27 +0000

Reza Rafii-Forushan, an Iranian stringer for Time magazine, appeals his frame-up in the following open letter. The Persian original is published on RAHANA’s website. His Eminence Ayatollah Amoli Larijani While submitting my greetings, God is the Manifestation of truth, He loves truth and is disgusted with lies, for piety only takes form in truth and [...]