Global Voices » Iran

Iran: Beautiful nature

Fred Petrossian — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:10:35 +0000

Here is a blog publishing the photos about Iran's northern province, Gilan. It lies along the Caspian Sea.

Iran: No War, No Dictatorship

Fred Petrossian — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:57:11 +0000

Gahneveshteaye Ali writes [fa] that Green Movement demonstrated in New York both against war and dictatorship. The Iran based media preferred to ignore them.Watch the photos here.

Iran: Blogger was sentenced to 14 years in prison

Fred Petrossian — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 16:49:14 +0000

Several bloggers reported that Mehdi Khazali, a blogger and publisher was sentenced to 14 years in prison. The blogger was sentenced to 90 lashes too. He can appeal this sentence.

Iran: Leader's website blocked in Saudi Arabia

Hadi Nili — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 14:37:47 +0000

Iranian sources say [fa] that Saudi Arabia has blocked Iran Leader's site Khamenei.ir. This sources says this website is blocked because of Ayatollah Khamanei's remarks on “Islamic Arab Spring”. Iranian user on Friendfeed believes [fa]: This could be a start for a cyber-war between Iran and Arabia.

Iran: Blogger under pressure to give TV confession

Fred Petrossian — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:31:27 +0000

Iranian blogger Hossein Ronaghi Malki is under pressure to give TV confession according to his mother. He is serving a 15 year prison sentence in Tehran.

Iran: A surprsing Maquette to remember Khomeini

Fred Petrossian — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:10:09 +0000

Iran remembered the Islamic Revolution Leader,Ruhollah Khomeini's return to Tehran in 1979 by creating a maquette .You can see the photos. A user in Balatarin writes it is a ridiculous show and a kind of idolatry.

Iran: “Using Twitter and Facebook for supreme goal”

Hadi Nili — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:49:06 +0000

Iranian Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance says [fa]: “As long as global powers are using Facebook and Twitter for their purposes, people of the region should use them to develop their supreme goals”. However, social networks including Facebook and Twitter are blocked inside Iran.

Iran:American Accent for Persian Speakers

Fred Petrossian — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:15:19 +0000

This video shares insights for Persian first-language speakers who wish to improve their pronunciation, word stress, and intonation in American English.

Iran: Official launch of Cyber Police

Hadi Nili — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:11:20 +0000

Iran police has announced [fa] the official launch of Iran cyber police in Tehran, Iran capital. The deputy commander of this cyber police says that 40 percent of cyber crimes take place in Tehran.

Iran: Police controls a Facebook group, arrests its administrators

Hadi Nili — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:24:23 +0000

A Facebook group called “Daaf and Paaf” (means hot persons) fell under control of Iran's cyber police. Iran's cyber police announced [fa] on the group's Facebook's wall that “the administrators of this group have confessed to promoting banality”. This group had an online competition for choosing hot Iranian men and women.

Iran: Asylum seeker committed suicide

Fred Petrossian — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:22:25 +0000

Several bloggers reported [fa] that Mohammad Rahsepar committed suicide in a refugee camp in Germany. The blogger says that “rich Iranians, politicians in exile,…should help these asylum seekers who live in terrible camps.”

Iran: Military applause for death penalty

Hadi Nili — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 18:39:20 +0000

The Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution (Revolutionary Guards) has appreciated [fa] the death penalty for Saeed Malekpour, a web developer accused of running porn websites. The “center against organized crimes” at this army announced there are some other cases for porn website administrators in near future.

Iran: ‘Hostages in Syria are not military’

Hadi Nili — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 19:39:33 +0000

Free Syrian Army says it has taken hostage seven Iranians, five of whom were allegedly soldiers complicit in the Syrian government's crackdown on protesters. But an Iranian in Friendfeed writes [fa]: “They show a card as a document to show that this people were affiliated with military but that card is a proof that you did the military service which is mandatory for every Iranian man. They might be killed for that simple card which means nothing”.

Iran: ‘The pain of sanctions'

Hadi Nili — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 21:18:21 +0000

European Union has adopted an oil embargo against Iran. Faren Taghizadeh, a presenter at BBC Persian TV posted [fa] in Facebook: This is one of the adversities of being a journalist that you should talk about the pain of your people in details with a smile on your lips. But this smile is not the whole truth.

Iran: Sanctions Bite, and the Iranian Currency Falls

Fred Petrossian — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 22:43:18 +0000

Iranians are facing a financial tsunami as the national currency (Rial) loses value day by day as sanctions against Iranian oil and the banking system get tougher. The Rial was trading at nearly 20,000 to the U.S. dollar on Saturday on the black market, compared to 18,000 Rials a day earlier.

Some bloggers blame Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for failing to keep his economic promises. Fasl tazeh says [fa]:

One dollar is currently traded at about 2,200 tomans (22,000 Rials) and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took a trip to Mashhad to talk about Taziyeh [religious art].

Nikahang Kowsar, Image from Roozonline

Harfayi az Tahe Del says:

The Iranian regime [Velyate Faghieh] took Iran and its people hostage for its useless nuclear energy…. The economy is collapsing… dark days are ahead of us… with prayer nothing will get changed… This regime and its nuclear energy only gave th Iranian people poverty and misery.

The blogger Sight writes [fa] ironically, that is it a bad thing that “most of our people became millionaires. You need to have one gold coin to have one million tomans”.

Hamdel writes [fa]:

… People consider the Islamic Republic's political and economic situation unstable and they exchange their Rials to Dollars, Euros and gold. The Islamic Republic moves into the direction that there is no hope for economic and political improvements. Concerning the economic situation, we can compare Iran to a bankrupt company. In regards to foreign policy, Iran is in the worst situation of the last 30 years and is led by Iran's Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei. More and more workers become jobless and people's purchasing power is declining.

Dara2011 predicted fall of the Rial a couple of weeks ago. The blogger says [fa]:

… since the Islamic Revolution, Iran's leaders do not care about the economy and just want to remain in power. During Ahmadinejad's presidency the economic situation has deteriorated more. A Dollar was around 70 Rials in 1979 and now we buy at 14,000 rials because the Dollar is on its way to becoming 2,000 rials. Does Iran become Middle East's Zimbabwe, with a national currency without value?