Posted on 09/18/2004 9:01:00 PM PDT by DoctorZIn
The US media still largely ignores news regarding the Islamic Republic of Iran. As Tony Snow of the Fox News Network has put it, “this is probably the most under-reported news story of the year.” As a result, most American’s are unaware that the Islamic Republic of Iran is NOT supported by the masses of Iranians today. Modern Iranians are among the most pro-American in the Middle East. In fact they were one of the first countries to have spontaneous candlelight vigils after the 911 tragedy (see photo).
There is a popular revolt against the Iranian regime brewing in Iran today. I began these daily threads June 10th 2003. On that date Iranians once again began taking to the streets to express their desire for a regime change. Today in Iran, most want to replace the regime with a secular democracy.
The regime is working hard to keep the news about the protest movement in Iran from being reported. Unfortunately, the regime has successfully prohibited western news reporters from covering the demonstrations. The voices of discontent within Iran are sometime murdered, more often imprisoned. Still the people continue to take to the streets to demonstrate against the regime.
In support of this revolt, Iranians in America have been broadcasting news stories by satellite into Iran. This 21st century news link has greatly encouraged these protests. The regime has been attempting to jam the signals, and locate the satellite dishes. Still the people violate the law and listen to these broadcasts. Iranians also use the Internet and the regime attempts to block their access to news against the regime. In spite of this, many Iranians inside of Iran read these posts daily to keep informed of the events in their own country.
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This daily thread contains nearly all of the English news reports on Iran. It is thorough. If you follow this thread you will witness, I believe, the transformation of a nation. This daily thread provides a central place where those interested in the events in Iran can find the best news and commentary. The news stories and commentary will from time to time include material from the regime itself. But if you read the post you will discover for yourself, the real story of what is occurring in Iran and its effects on the war on terror.
I am not of Iranian heritage. I am an American committed to supporting the efforts of those in Iran seeking to replace their government with a secular democracy. I am in contact with leaders of the Iranian community here in the United States and in Iran itself.
If you read the daily posts you will gain a better understanding of the US war on terrorism, the Middle East and why we need to support a change of regime in Iran. Feel free to ask your questions and post news stories you discover in the weeks to come.
If all goes well Iran will be free soon and I am convinced become a major ally in the war on terrorism. The regime will fall. Iran will be free. It is just a matter of time.
DoctorZin
U.N. Agency Demands Iran Suspend Uranium Enrichment Program, Will Judge Compliance in 2 Months
VIENNA, Austria Sept. 18, 2004 — For the first time, 35 nations in the U.N. atomic watchdog agency demanded Saturday that Iran freeze all work on uranium enrichment a technology that can be used for nuclear arms and said it would judge Tehran's compliance in two months.
The resolution passed by the agency was its toughest yet on Tehran but didn't go as far as the United States had sought by saying Iran will automatically be sent to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions if it fails to meet the demands by November.
U.S. officials, however, insisted the 35-member board of the International Atomic Energy Agency must refer Iran to the council when it meets again on Nov. 25 if Tehran doesn't comply.
"The issue is whether or not they're going to give up nuclear weapons" by the November meeting, U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton told The Associated Press. "The ball is in Iran's court."
"The time for decisive action is approaching," said Jackie Sanders, the chief U.S. delegate to the IAEA board meeting. "To wait until the IAEA finds the nuclear weapons ... is to wait until it is too late."
The United States says Iran's nuclear program is aimed at producing weapons, a claim Tehran denies.
The resolution passed unanimously Saturday said the board "considers it necessary" that Iran suspend all uranium enrichment and related programs. And it expressed alarm at Iranian plans to convert more than 40 tons of raw uranium into uranium hexafluoride the gas that when spun in centrifuges turns into enriched uranium.
It also said it "strongly urges" Iran to meet all demands by the agency in its investigation of the country's nearly two decades of clandestine nuclear activity, including unrestricted access to sites, information and personnel that can shed light on still unanswered questions on whether Tehran was interested in the atom for nuclear weapons.
It called on the IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei to provide a review of the findings of a more-than one year probe of Iran's nuclear activities which Tehran insists are strictly tailored toward generating electricity.
Suggesting that the Islamic Republic could answer to the U.N. Security Council should it defy the demands, the resolution said the next board meeting in November "will decide whether or not further steps are appropriate" in ensuring Iran complies.
The Americans praised the text, saying it showed the world was united against Iran's nuclear program.
"This resolution sends an unmistakable signal to Iran that continuing its nuclear weapons program will bring it inevitably before the (U.N.) Security Council," Sanders told reporters.
ElBaradei described the text as reflecting "the collective will of the international community," adding: "The resolution is very clear as to what is expected of Iran in the next few months."
The last board resolution in June had been less insistent on the issue of suspending enrichment, a process that can develop material for nuclear weapons, or fuel for an energy program, as Iran says it intends.
Still, the text approved Saturday appeared to fall far short of what the Americans had wanted coming into the meeting when it opened Monday.
Washington had pushed to drop mention of countries' rights to peaceful nuclear technology and fought for an Oct. 31 deadline, with the understanding that if Iran failed to comply the board would then automatically begin deliberations on Security Council referral.
The phrasing accepted instead left it up to the board to debate what action if any to take when it reconvenes Nov. 25 should Iran be found to have ignored the demand to freeze enrichment or other conditions.
Iran's chief delegate to the meeting asserted that Washington was frustrated in its main goals "putting (a) deadline of Oct 31, (and) second an automatic trigger mechanism."
"Both were neglected, and we have nothing like this in the resolution," Hossain Mousavian told reporters.
In a telefaxed statement to the AP, German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said the resolution "underlines the concerns of the international community of states regarding the Iranian nuclear program."
Still, indirectly contradicting U.S. assertions that Iran automatically belonged before the Security Council, chief German delegate Herbert Honsowitz suggested the resolution did nothing more than empower the board to "set the stage ... on how this issue can be dealt with further in the IAEA."
Bolton, the U.S. undersecretary of state, said that unless Iran fully meets all conditions of the resolution the board would follow America's lead come November.
"The odds are the Iranians are going to try to throw as much sand in people's eyes as they can," he told the AP. "If they're still pursuing the same policies, I'm confident we are going to win that vote," on referral to the Security Council, he said.
Iran says it is honoring a pledge not to put uranium hexafluoride gas into centrifuges, spin it and make enriched uranium. But the resolution calls for a stop as well to other activities, including the assembling of centrifuges and the production of uranium hexafluoride.
Iran is not prohibited from enrichment under its obligations to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. But it has for months faced international pressure to suspend such activities as a good-faith gesture and the resolution went further by actually demanding a stop to enrichment and related activities.
Ahead of approval which came after days of backdoor negotiations and resistance by nonaligned countries that saw their own right to enrichment for peaceful use threatened by the text Mousavian, the chief Iranian delegate, held out the possibility of meeting the resolution's key demand.
Iran's "decision-makers will decide about the main request full suspension," in the next few days, he told the AP.
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20040918_965.html
September 18, 2004
The Associated Press
Dow Jones Newswires
A 35-nation meeting of the U.N. atomic watchdog agency Saturday demanded that Iran suspend all aspects of a key process that can be used to make nuclear weapons, and set an indirect late fall deadline for Tehran to heed its conditions.
The U.S. - which accuses Iran of trying to make such arms - praised the text and urged the conference to act to send Tehran to the U.N. Security Council in November should it be found to have defied any of the resolution's conditions.
"To wait until the IAEA finds the nuclear weapons...is to wait until it is too late," chief U.S. delegate Jackie Sanders said in prepared comments to the International Atomic Energy Agency's board of governors.
"With every passing week, Iran moves that much closer to reaching the point where neither we, nor any other international body, will be able to prevent it from achieving nuclear weapons capacity," she said. "The time for decisive action is approaching."
Approved unanimously by delegates at the board meeting, the toughly worded resolution said it "considers it necessary" that Iran freeze all uranium enrichment and related programs and expressed alarm at Iranian plans to convert more than 40 tons of raw uranium into uranium hexafluoride - the gas that when spun in centrifuges turns into enriched uranium.
It also said it "strongly urges" Iran to meet all demands by the agency in its investigation of the country's nearly two decades of clandestine nuclear activity, including unrestricted access to sites, information and personnel that can shed light on still unanswered questions on whether Tehran was interested in the atom for nuclear weapons.
It called on the IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei "to provide a review of the findings of a more-than one year probe of Iran 's nuclear activities which Tehran insists are strictly tailored toward generating electricity.
Suggesting that the Islamic Republic could answer to the U.N. Security Council should it defy the demands, the resolution said the next board meeting in November "will decide whether or not further steps are appropriate" in ensuring Iran complies.
The U.S. delegation, which accuses Iran of using the argument of peaceful nuclear aims to acquire the technology to make weapons, praised the text as sending a "stark" message to Iran .
"This resolution sends an unmistakable signal to Iran that continuing its nuclear weapons program will bring it inevitably before the (U.N.) Security Council," Sanders, the chief U.S. delegate, told reporters.
"Iran must not be permitted to acquire nuclear weapons," she said, asserting that the resolution set the next meeting of the board in November as an unambiguous "deadline...for Iran to cease its pursuit of nuclear weapons."
Still, the text appeared to leave Iran wiggle room. While demanding Iran suspend all uranium enrichment activities, the resolution also recognized nations' right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy - which Iran says is what it wants nuclear enrichment for.
By giving the Iranians room to maneuver on enrichment, the resolution appeared to fall far short of what the U.S. had wanted coming into the meeting. Washington had pushed to drop mention of countries' rights to peaceful nuclear technology and fought for an Oct. 31 deadline, with the understanding that if Iran failed to comply the board would then automatically begin deliberations on Security Council referral.
The phrasing accepted instead left it up to the board to debate what action - if any - to take when it reconvenes Nov. 25 should Iran be found to have ignored the demand to freeze enrichment or other conditions.
Iran 's chief delegate to the meeting asserted that Washington was frustrated in its main goals -"putting deadline of Oct 31, (and) second an automatic trigger mechanism."
"Both were neglected, and we have nothing like this in the resolution," he told reporters.
Iran 's present suspension freeze falls short of international demands.
It says it is honoring a pledge not to put uranium hexafluoride gas into centrifuges, spin it and make enriched uranium. But the resolution calls for a stop as well to related activities, including a halt to making, assembling and testing centrifuges, and to producing uranium hexafluoride, the feed stock for enrichment.
Iran isn't prohibited from enrichment under its obligations to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. It has for months faced international pressure to suspend such activities as a good-faith gesture, but the resolution went further by actually demanding a stop to enrichment and related activities.
Ahead of approval - which came after days of backdoor negotiations and resistance by nonaligned countries that saw their own right to enrichment for peaceful use threatened by the text - Mousavian held out the possibility of meeting the resolution's key demand.
Iran 's "decision-makers will decide about the main request - full suspension," in the next few days, he told the Associated press.
Iran to test fire 'strategic missile'
Iran's revolutionary guards were to test fire a 'strategic missile' Saturday following the launch of new surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles Friday, a senior IRGC commander said, IRNA reported from Zanjan.
The new missile will be test fired during war games being held on a vast swath of land in the western provinces of Zanjan, Hamedan and Kurdestan, the spokesman of the "Ashura 5" maneuvers, Hossein Salami said.
"With the induction and launch of this missile, the scope of the Ashura 5 maneuvers will practically increase several folds," he said.
The IRGC will publish soon further information about the missile, Salami added.
The Ashura 5 war games are being held over an area, estimated at 60,000 square kilometers with the participation of 12 infantry and mechanized divisions.
The maneuvers are aimed at 'boosting the combat capability of the forces and bolstering their defensive morale as well as assessing and testing advanced equipment'.
Iran is fresh from the successful test of an upgraded version of its Shahab-3 medium-range ballistic missile last month.
Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani said earlier this month that "given that an effective deterrent policy does not halt at a certain point, the Islamic Republic of Iran continues upgrading its defensive capability."
"Being powerful does not necessarily means war-mongering, neither do the roads of peace lead to concession," Shamkhani added.
Shamkhani said Iran has now acquired an 'effective deterrent power' to confront its enemies in the region.
"Today by relying on our defense industry capabilities, we have been able to increase our deterrent capacity against the military expansion of regional enemies," he said.
Military experts have said the Shahab-3 missile is capable of striking Israel or any other enemy target in the region.
The test came as Israel's Arrow missile defense system, designed to counter threats such as the Shahab-3, passed its first live test in July by downing a Scud missile off the coast of California.
The Arrow-2 missile system, however, failed to destroy the detachable warhead of an incoming missile fired by a US Air Force aircraft in a test off the coast of California.
News agencies said an advanced Israeli spy satellite meant to boost Israel's surveillance over Iran plunged into the sea after a malfunction on liftoff.
Reuters said the Israeli Defense Ministry had blamed a failure in the third stage of the rocket launch for the loss of the dlrs 50 million Ofek-6 satellite.
Ofek-6 -- the latest in an Israeli line of spy satellites first put into orbit in 1988 -- was destroyed when it crashed into the Mediterranean Sea, the news agency said.
Reuters quoted Ephrain Sneh, head of the parliamentary defense subcommittee as saying that 'the damage in terms of intelligence, financing, and prestige caused by the botched launch are unacceptable'.
The crash is seen a major setback to Israel's attempts to upgrade methods of gathering intelligence on Iran.
Iran has stressed that its missile program is defensive, while Iranian military commanders have warned of grave consequences if Israel attacks the country.
Tehran, however, has repudiated US Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's allegations that Iran may be working to develop missiles capable of reaching the United States.
Rumsfeld has named Iran among countries which were allegedly working to develop and deploy missiles capable of reaching the United States.
Tensions have been heightened by the US campaign to organize international pressure on Iran to halt its nuclear program, which Tehran says is strictly peaceful.
Iran says the program is in accordance with the country's bid to produce 7,000 megawatts of electricity in the next 20 years, when the country's oil and gas reserves become overstretched.
The United States, however, claims that Tehran's nuclear program is a prelude to building an atomic bomb.
http://www.payvand.com/news/04/sep/1164.html
Full text of IAEA's resolution on Iran
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/09/18/international1802EDT0594.DTL
Europe's resolution politically motivated: Iranian Official
Vienna, Sept 18, IRNA -- Iran regards the draft resolution proposed three European states of Germany, Britain and France on the country's nuclear programs as politically motivated, the spokesman for the Iranian delegation to the meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) Board of Governors, Hossein Moussavian, said in Vienna on Saturday.
Talking to IRNA on the sidelines of the IAEA Board of Governors' meeting in UN headquarter in Europe, Moussavian added the resolution paid no attention to a positive report by IAEA Chief Mohamed ElBaradei on Iran's cooperation and its good will.
"This is while a major part of ElBaradei's report has been concentrated on the progress made in this respect such as solving of such issues as laser enrichment process, uranium conversion, 36 and 54 percent pollution as well as other progress achieved in P-1 and P-2 issues," he said.
The official noted that the report pointed to Iran's increasing cooperation, full access to its nuclear facilities and presentation of a clear image of Iran's nuclear activities, but all these positive developments have been referred to in the European resolution in a simple sentence "We welcome the achieved progress".
"This sentence is aimed at decreasing the positive load of the resolution, and therefore Iran considers it as a fully political and an unwise attitude taken by the Europeans," Moussavian stressed.
He welcomed that part of the resolution calling for ElBaradei's complete report on Iran's nuclear activities, saying Iran demanded its case be closed by November which depends on ElBaradei's comprehensive report and the Board of Governors' decision.
"Iran will continue its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency because the country has benefitted from such cooperation," he said.
The resolution passed by the IAEA Board of Governors has more positive points than the previous ones which is an indication of the authenticity of Iran's claims and the falsehood of the US claims, he noted.
He also stressed the continuation of Iran's cooperation with European states, saying "Iran has always benefitted from such cooperation because the US has always been hasty in sending Iran's nuclear case to the U.N. Security Council and the resolution presented by the Europeans was a setback for the US in this regard."
In the current meeting, the US has also sought to set a deadline and an automatic trigger mechanism to send Iran's nuclear case to the UN Security Council but it suffered a defeat due to Europe's resistance.
"Although the Islamic Republic of Iran is not content with the Europeans' resolution, it is satisfied with the Europeans' resistance to US demands," he said.
Such a resistance has provided Iran and the IAEA with proper opportunities to prove the falsehood of the Americans' claims, he said.
In response to a question on Iran's reaction to a request for suspension of uranium enrichment process, he said the country's officials are to discuss and make a final decision on whether to continue temporary suspension or completely halt the process this week.
The country's high ranking officials have been engaged in decision making process from early stages and it is them who have the final say in this respect, he underlined.
Lauding the stances taken by the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) on the draft resolution proposed by the Europeans, he said they have explicitly and clearly declared that the resolution is not based on facts.
The members of Non-Aligned Movement has called for a separate voting on notes seven and eight of the resolution offered by three European countries, he pointed out.
There are some positive notes in the resolution which underline the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear activities, Iran's continued cooperation with IAEA to remove all existing ambiguities, and Iran's voluntary decision on suspension of uranium enrichment, he said.
Talks on notes seven and eight of the resolution still continue, he said.
The NAM countries has called for separate voting for notes seven and eight of the resolution which has been opposed by the European countries.
http://www.payvand.com/news/04/sep/1163.html
TEHRAN - The hard-liners who won Iran's parliamentary elections last February have focused on women's rights in their efforts to reverse some of the reforms carried out under the moderate president, Mohammad Khatami.
After the legislative session began in June, the 290-member Parliament, including all 12 of the women, abruptly rejected proposals to expand the inheritance right of Iranian women and to adopt the United Nations convention that bans discrimination against women. They also backed away from previous efforts to make "gender equality" a goal of the country's next four-year development plan.
Instead, the new Parliament has called for placing more restrictions on women's attire and on their social freedoms.
Since the 1979 Islamic revolution, women have been forced to cover their heads and wear long, loose coats in public. But many had defied the restrictions since Mr. Khatami's election in 1997 and started wearing tighter and more colorful coats and showing more hair.
In recent months, though, newspapers have reported that scores of women have been arrested in Tehran, the capital, and around the country because they were wearing what the authorities considered to be un-Islamic dress.
Members of Parliament have called for segregating men and women at universities and for other limits on women's activities. Hard-liners have held protests to call for a crackdown on freedoms for women and have contended that women ridicule religious sanctities by violating the dress code.
The previous Parliament, dominated by reformists, embraced more legal rights for women and - despite opposition by hard-liners - expanded women's right to divorce and child custody.
Eshrat Shaegh, a conservative woman who has a seminary education and who is one of the women elected to Parliament in the sweep by hard-liners, wrote a letter to Mr. Khatami in July that called for an end to the mixing of unmarried young men and women in public places.
"How do you intend to resolve problems by allowing half-nude women to mingle and party with men who dress like women?" she asked in her letter, referring to women who in the hard-liners' view show too much hair and men who wear colorful clothes.
Abolhassan Davoudi, director of the office that deals with Iranian cinema, was arrested this week and had a heart attack while in custody. He was accused of allowing women who were not properly covered to attend a meeting at his offices. But some political analysts here believe that the hard-liners will ultimately not succeed.
"It is very obvious that the new Parliament would like to impose a strict model of covering for women, but they will not succeed," said Ahmad Zeidabadi, a political scientist and journalist in Tehran. "The more they put pressure, the more they get a reaction because people simply do not think such restrictions can solve their more basic needs."
Imposing restrictions on women's dress has been a barometer - showing how far the authorities are willing to go to allow social freedom and give more rights to women.
Nearly two-thirds of Iran's population is under 30, and more than 60 percent of university students are women. Women have become more vocal, and they demand equal rights. They want jobs and more legal rights within the family structure.
"The general trend in this country is moving towards reforms," said Haleh Anvari a political analyst in Tehran. "These restrictions are like putting a little stone in front of a huge storm that is going for reform," she added, referring to efforts made by the new Parliament.
Women who have been pressing for expanded rights, however, were infuriated when in August a 16-year-old girl, Atefeh Rajabi, was hanged for adultery in the northern city of Neka while the man with whom she was accused of having a sexual relationship received 100 lashes. Amnesty International said the young woman was not thought to be mentally competent.
Women also reacted when Fatimeh Aliya, a hard-line member of Parliament, suggested that polygamy was a way to improve the lot of poor women. Iranian law allows men to marry up to four permanent wives and an unlimited number of temporary wives. But polygamy is despised by most people here, and those who engage in polygamy usually practice it secretly.
"Polygamy eventually serves the interests of women," Ms. Aliya was quoted as saying in newspaper reports. "No woman can emotionally accept another woman in her life, but if she puts herself in the shoes of a woman who needs support then she can accept the idea."
A former member of Parliament, reacting to her comment, suggested that perhaps Ms. Aliya's husband should be encouraged to lead the way.
Most of the women in the hard-line camp who serve in Parliament are members of a women's group called the Zeinab Society. Ms. Aliya said the group received its financing from Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the feminist magazine Zanan reported.
Unlike women in the previous Parliament, who became known for their outspokenness and bravery, the new hard-line members have sought to keep a low profile. They have not accepted positions on the presiding board, and they drew a curtain around themselves in Parliament's dining area so that they would not be seen by their male colleagues.
"Giving women noneconomic and nonpolitical positions in Parliament commissions illustrates the ideal society the conservatives favor," Zanan wrote in an editorial last month. "They prefer that women remain in these sections."
Iranian Hercules Rezazadeh due in Athens to raise spirits
Tehran, Sept 18, IRNA -- Hossein Rezazadeh, world's strongest man, plans to go to the Greek capital, Athens, to lift the Iranian weightlifters' spirits in the 12th Paralympic Games.
The Iranian Federation for the Disabled and War-Disabled Sports is making arrangements for the presence of the world and Olympic +105 kg record-holder in the prestigious tournament.
The cherubic Iranian colossus proved invincible as he won the Olympic gold on walkover in Athens on August 25.
The 26-year-old, who invoked Hazrat Abolfazl (AS), a religious leader of the Shiites, prior to his every attempt edged past all rivals with a 210 kg lift in snatch, which was later combined with a world record of 263.5 kg in the clean and jerk.
Rezazadeh improved his own record by 0.5 kg as he incredibly flung the bar above his head in his third clean-and-jerk effort.
"It was a good performance. I came full strength to win the gold medal," said the Iranian Hercules as he had a copy of the holy Qur'an in his hand.
"I had tough training and Allah helped me."
The sturdy icon, now the two-time Olympic gold medalist and twice world champion, was too strong for world superheavies as his total lift, 472.5 kg, was well above the records of silver winner from Latvia Viktors Scerbatihs and Bulgaria's Velichko Cholakov, who bagged bronze.
Scerbatihs totally hoisted 455 kg and Cholakov 447.5.
http://www.payvand.com/news/04/sep/1165.html
Ahura Yazdi says he will return to Iran on October 1 to liberate the country from the mollas.
-- He's delusional 25.08 % (76)
-- He's worth listening to 2.97 % (9)
-- I believe in him 2.97 % (9)
-- Let's see what happens on October 1 26.07 % (79)
-- You're all crazy. He's a joke. 24.09 % (73)
-- He's a CIA creation to see how we react 3.96 % (12)
-- I know him. Run! 0.00 % (0)
-- He's a normal guy with honorable goals 5.94 % (18)
-- He's an IRI creation to divert our attention 4.29 % (13)
-- He's no worse than others in the opposition 4.62 % (14)
http://poll.mashregh.com/
lol. Well, 50% think he's a nut.
I'm going along with the crowd.
I was one of the very few who voted:
-- He's an IRI creation to divert our attention 4.29 % (13)
Add my vote...
He's delusional
These people are Afghani/Tajik workers in Tehran Azadi Sq.
FAHRENHEIT 9/11 DEBUTS IN TEHRAN
Last week, in the era before Rathergate, several readers emailed this incredibly revealing story about the premiere of Michael Moore’s agitprop mockumentary in Tehran.
In a nation that really feels the dictator’s boot on its neck, the audience knows, with the certain knowledge of the oppressed, why their oppressor is allowing them to watch this movie. But they don’t even see (or care about) Moore’s loathing for his own country.
They’re too exhilarated just to catch an unvarnished, uncensored glimpse of ... America: ‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ gets ‘axis of evil’ premiere.
TEHRAN (AFP) - Cinemagoers in the Iranian capital were given their first glimpse of ‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ this week, but appeared to enjoy more the rare chance to watch an American movie than its assault on their regime’s arch foe George W. Bush.
Michael Moore’s Bush-bashing polemic may have cruised through Iran’s unforgiving censors thanks to its indictment of US policy, but the premiere of the film also had the side effect of making some viewers relate the same questioning to their own state of affairs.
“The authorities obviously gave the film the green light for political reasons, in that anything against the United States must be good,” quipped one of the hundreds of mainly young people who flocked to Tuesday night’s opening screening.
The prize-winning documentary has been allowed out on release here to coincide with the third anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States — which kicked off a chain of events that has seen Iran surrounded by US troops and lumped into an “axis of evil”.
“They are showing this film to erase from our minds the idea that America is the great saviour,” said Hirad Harandian, another cinemagoer at the uptown Farhang cinema. Thursday, September 16, 2004
I went to watch that movie last night. Only one cinema shows the movie in Iran but I disagree with what AFP said about the movie. If Iranians want to watch an American movie, they can watch them through their satellite receivers. I think people are curious to see who says the truth.
I hope AFP does not ignore the facts.
Fifty-nine Deceits in Fahrenheit 9/11
Last revised: Sept. 4, 2004.
To the left is the poster for FarenHype 9/11 a new film which will released on DVD on October 5, 2004. Dave Kopel appears in the film. Click on the image or go to http://www.fahrenhype911.com/ for details and a trailer.
There is a Four-page PDF summary of "Fifty-nine Deceits in Fahrenheit 9/11," which you may reproduce freely. You may also photocopy the full text of this report if you give it away for free.
French translation of the first part of this report; en Francais. Swedish translation; Svensk översättning. Brazilian newspaper summary of this article, in Portuguese; Sumário do artigo no português. This report was first posted on the web on the morning of July 1. Since then, I've revised several sections in response to reader requests for clarifications, and have added additional deceits which have been pointed out by readers or journalists. As a result, the number of listed deceits has been raised from 56 to 59.
Thanks to the readers who have written to point out additional deceits or to point out items which need clarification. Also thanks to the readers who have written in defense of Moore. Many such readers have been rational and civil. Moore's reasonable defenders have made two main points:
First, notwithstanding the specific falsehoods, isn't the film as a whole filled with many important truths?
Not really. We can divide the film into three major parts. The first part (Bush, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan) is so permeated with lies that most of the scenes amount to lies. The second, shortest part involves domestic issues and the USA PATRIOT Act. So far, I've identified only one clear falsehood in this segment (Rep. Porter Goss's toll-free number). So this part, at least arguably, presents useful information. The third part, on Iraq, has several outright falsehoods--such as the Saddam regime's murder of Americans, and the regime's connection with al Qaeda. Other scenes in the third part--such as Iraqi casualties, interviews with American soldiers, and the material on bereaved mother Lila Lipscomb--are not blatant lies; but the information presented is so extremely one-sided (the only Iraqi casualties are innocents, nobody in Iraq is grateful for liberation, all the American soldiers are disillusioned, except for the sadists) that the overall picture of the Iraq War is false. Read the rest of the report by clicking on the link above... |
You are not going to get me banned, Are you? LoL
Any how, I have to tell you that in the end of the movie most people clapped for what Mr. Moore did.
Here in Iran, we hardly trust any thing foreign like your policies. I have nothing to do with your domestic issues but I should tell you there are many wrong things with your policies in the middle east.
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