Free Republic

Some say that Baghdad means "Gift of the Garden" in the Persian tongue. For what it’s worth, the place used to resemble a thriving metropolis known for its cultural fusions, religious tolerance, and the affluence of its residents. Though the city now is almost always addressed as a capital of Arabism, ironically, the designers who were hired by the Abbasid Caliph to create Baghdad's blueprint were a Persian Zoroastrian and a Jew from the Khorasan province in Eastern Iran [1]. Apart from the Islamic architecture that is ubiquitous in most Middle Eastern cities, there is really no religious significance to...

August 05 2007 The Persian Abyss: Iranian ennui and the bitter stillness by Reza Zarabi The streets of Persia’s metropolis have become awkwardly silent. The recent rationing of gasoline, the economic woes that are gripping the nation with unprecedented asperity, and this summer’s crackdown on “moral vices” by Iran’s mercenaries of thought and conscience have left Teheranis in a state of restive limbo. The city’s once bustling coffee shops and restaurants, the only solace where an average Iranian could find some respite from the imposed autocracy, are now quiescent and empty. With uncertainty that abounds and stability a forgotten concept,...

The Persian Abyss: America & The House of Saud: A Failed Alliance by Reza Zarabi It has become apparent that the billions of US dollars annually spent on Saudi oil seldom reciprocate loyalty anymore. The recent military figures made available to The Los Angeles Times by senior American officials state that roughly 45% of all foreign combatants in the Iraq war theatre come solely from Saudi Arabia. However, this should, in no way, be a revelation. For years, many in the West have overtly expressed their outrage at Wahabbist odium towards religious plurality, the backwards indoctrination of Saudi school children...

1939, 1945, 1948, 1962, 1967, 1973, 1981 … These are just some of the dates that certain politicians allude to when attempting to describe the current crisis with Iran. Every so often, western analysts take past events such as the rise of Nazism in the early part of the 20th century, the looming Arab threat that Israel faced immediately after its creation, the circumstances surrounding the Yom Kippur War, and even the Cuban Missile Crisis and somehow try to correlate them with Iranian obstinacy about their nuclear program. Too often, each date is referred to with blind certainty, severely lacking...

<p>Recently, neo-conservative analyst Daniel Pipes wrote an article ("Can the IAF take out Iran's nukes?", June 13) that, in essence, advocates for the Jewish state to carry out pre-emptive military strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.</p> <p>Although Pipes has many justifications for his reasoning, this time he specifically alludes to the recently published article in International Security entitled “Osirak Redux” by security scholars Whitney Raas and Austin Long. Now Pipes makes it clear that Raas and Long do not take into account the diplomatic, strategic, and political fallout of such an action, but only focus on the question of “Can it be done”? To Pipes, the answer is a resounding “yes”, however, for those who too often take the Middle Eastern analysis of western academics as gospel, I would urge you to carefully read Raas and Long before forming any definitive conclusions. In rehashing “Osirak Redux”, Pipes clearly cherry picks certain points that the article makes that support his assertion that bombing Iranian nuclear facilities is the only method of keeping the Islamic Republic from attaining nuclear weapons. Yet he also manages to maneuver around critical points that the authors make that undermine the neo-conservative mantra that Pipes so eagerly defends.</p>

Prisoners of conscience by Reza Zarabi If you have ever had any interest or even the slightest bit of curiosity about the dark realm of Iranian politics and what mechanism allows the mullahs of Iran to inflict their twisted will on the Iranian nation, then most likely, you have seen the above picture. Holding a blood-soaked T-shirt that belonged to a friend that was severally beaten by the I.R.I.’s Security Forces just a day before this picture was taken, Ahmad Batebi has not only become one of the most infamous political prisoners in the Iran but, through time, has evolved...

June 03 2007 The Persian Abyss: Circus Palestine by Reza Zarabi The recent flare up of violence in Gaza and Northern Lebanon is just a symptom of the disease that Palestinians have been living with for the better part of 100 years. From time to time, the vacancy of at least sub-par leadership manifests itself with events like this past week, however, since their legislative election in 2006, the ruling Hamas party has truly outdone their predecessors. They have somehow replaced the shackles of inefficiency and corruption that symbolized Fatah’s rule with their own delusional and ideological cage, all the...

Imagine if you will.... the year is 1985 and you are 29-year-old resident of East Berlin. A native by birth, you grew up in the shadow of Soviet might and have been taught all your life that you live in the most ideal of societies, one in which the government acts as your father, censor, caretaker, and mentor. Having gone through government-sponsored schooling, equipped with a master’s degree, and with ample knowledge of global affairs, you still live with your parents and siblings in a one-bedroom flat about a half-an-hour walk from the Berlin Wall, the great symbol of the...