Blogs help reform in Iran

January 16, 2005 2:52 PM

Blogs contribute to political reform in Iran (New York Times):Former vice-president of Iran, Mohammad Ali Abtahi, said that he learned through the Internet about the huge gap between government officials and the younger generation. "We do not understand each other and cannot have a dialogue," he said. "As government officials, we receive a lot of confidential reports about what goes on in society. But I have felt that I learned a lot more about people and the younger generation by reading their Web logs and receiving about 40 to 50 e-mails every day. This is so different than reading about society in those bulletins from behind our desks."
posted by hoder (7 comments total)

Thanks, hoder; Abtahi's blog seems very significant. He actually had the guts to post about meeting imprisoned bloggers? Wow. Are there other specific posts you'd single out as important? And I loved this bit:

Not everyone, even among the reformists, is pleased with Mr. Abtahi's Web log. Ataollah Mohajerani, a reformist who is the former minister of culture and Islamic guidance, scolded Mr. Abtahi and said that what he was doing was "cheap."

Mr. Abtahi dismissed the comments and pointed out that Mr. Mohajerani had a Web site, too, but that he neither had a camera to take interesting photos nor knew the language of the youth to chat with them.

Nice to see your basic blogger jealousy rearing its pretty little head among Muslim clerics in Iran. Ha.
posted by mediareport at 3:07 PM on January 16, 2005

Looks like Iran is soon to be fucked.
posted by orange clock at 3:48 PM on January 16, 2005

Looks like Iran is soon to be fucked.

Yup. How long before we'll be reading blogs by Americans in Iran?
posted by 327.ca at 4:46 PM on January 16, 2005

Looks like Iran is soon to be fucked.

sure, iran. or america, if you consider how stretched our military is. or generations of iranians, if you consider 1953. or generations of americans, if you consider the roots of terror. or us all, if you consider the ramifications of belligerent, arrogant mid-east policy.

but for the original post - thanks. it's a very interesting link. and if anyone else was looking for photos on the english site and didn't see them - check the main (farsi) site.
posted by blendor at 8:04 PM on January 16, 2005

Looks like Iran is soon to be fucked.

Sure seems that way, huh...

But they wouldn't really do that, would they?
posted by Balisong at 8:29 PM on January 16, 2005

um, not to defend everything that the US has ever done in its history, but doesn't the Seymour Hersh story indicate that Iran is persisting in developing weapons in violation of its international obligations? Isn't that a bad thing? The US could certainly choose to respond in an ineffective and destructive manner, but wouldn't it be better if Iran stopped trying to develop chem/nuclear weapons and stopped lying about it?
posted by ibmcginty at 8:49 AM on January 17, 2005

whoops, just read balisong's linked CNN article. OK, maybe the main point is that the US might attack. Still, it would be nice if Iran knocked it off.
posted by ibmcginty at 8:51 AM on January 17, 2005