MetaFilter posts tagged with Iran

غزل گفتی و در سفتی بیا و خوش بخوان حافـظ

Lutoslawski — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:21:09 -0800

Thousands of people who play setar in Iran are against me,” he said. “They say why add two more strings to the instrument? But I don’t get upset with them.

Hafez Nazeri, son of renown Persian singer Shahram Nazeri, is an Iranian setar player and composer. Tomorrow night, he will be the first Iranian composer to headline a concert at Carnegie Hall. The concert will feature a new instrument invented by Nazeri: the Hafez. The Hafez, named for both its inventor and for the celebrated Persian poet, is a modified setar with added bass strings, making the instrument more suitable for a broader range of music.

tank man 2?

kliuless — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:49:27 -0800

Nerd to power: mathlete takes on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
When Khamenei asked if the audience had any questions, Vahidnia stood up and answered, "Yes, I have some words with you." (via)

Tehran Bureau

homunculus — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:03:36 -0800

Tehran Bureau, the independent Iran news website which became indispensable during the post-election protests in June, has found a new home at PBS's Frontline, which is taking them under its wing by financing and hosting the Web site and providing editorial support. [Via]

Iranian Funk in the 70s

Stylus Happenstance — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 05:00:18 -0800

"Not to get all 'We Are the World,' but Kalakat shows how little difference there is between Iranians and people of any other country." 70s Funk and Soul in Iran

Can game theory predict when Iran will get the bomb?

djgh — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 18:57:17 -0800

Can game theory predict when Iran will get the bomb? Bruce Bueno de Mesquita thinks yes. (Previously)

Axis of ChiRan

adamvasco — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 10:47:44 -0800

Multi - polarity in Eurasia. Pepe Escobar on Iran, China and the New Silk Road 1 & 2
Iran and China just signed a $3 bn. deal for China to help develop Iran's refinery capacity in Abadan and the Gulf. ( previous )

Iran and the West

semmi — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:03:40 -0800

Three part BBC documentary analyzes and documents the revolution and the long struggle of Iran and the West to come together ever since the revolution. The documentary shows interviews with a wide range of world leaders who reveal the inner dealings of all governing adminstrations from the past thirty years, both from within Iran’s own adminstration and from the Western counterparts.

Obama's Iran Policy

homunculus — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 20:08:14 -0800

The Making of an Iran Policy: Inside the Obama administration’s struggle with its biggest diplomatic challenge.

Liberal media? Free press? Journalistic integrity? How quaint.

mek — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 13:40:04 -0800

The NYT reports that GE has brokered a deal between MSNBC and Fox News to "reconcile" Keith Olbermann and Bill O'Reilly, preventing further criticism of each other or GE. The deal went into effect June 1, the very same day Olbermann declared he was "quarantining" Fox, avoiding discussion of the channel in the future. Mr. Olbermann, who is on vacation, said by e-mail message, “I am party to no deal.” Glenn Greenwald breaks down the political consequences of the deal.

in a democracy, the ordinary citizen is effectively a king, but a king in a constitutional democracy, a king whose decisions are merely formal

blasdelf — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:23:51 -0800

Berlusconi in Tehran by Slavoj Žižek in the London Review of Books

Allah-o-Akbar

homunculus — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 11:36:22 -0800

Iran: The Rooftop Project. "This is meant to be the most complete possible collection of recordings of nighttime protest in Iran since the beginning of the uprising. Its goal is to locate and profile at least one video for each night primarily focusing on the nightly chanting of Allah-o-Akbar from the rooftops, whenever that footage is available. Some of these videos have not been widely seen until now." [Via]

Watch Laleh Seddigh's dust

Brandon Blatcher — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 06:28:20 -0800

"I like competition in everything ... I have to move whatever is movable in the world." Say hello to Laleh Seddigh, Iran's top rated female race car driver. Initially taught to drive by her father, Seddigh discovered she liked it and wanted to go further with it. Teaching herself via unauthorized excursions on the streets of Tehran, she learned fast and at the age 23 of began racing, eventually winning the right to compete against men (and beat them), despite the various roadblocks. Currently she's suspended from racing due to alleged car switching, though she's vowing to fight it. Learned about her Via Andrew Sullivan.

An American Hero in Iran

empath — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 23:42:34 -0800

On a windswept plateau near the foothills of the Sahand Mountains in northern Iran stands the grave of a martyr. An American presbyterian minister who fought and died for the Constitutionalist cause in Iran 100 years ago, Howard Baskerville is still revered by Iranians today.

Or have we eaten on the insane root that takes the reason prisoner?

The Whelk — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 08:09:04 -0800

“Josephine had practically every desirable personal characteristic, except wisdom and mercy.” Gee, that sounds like she actually isn’t a nice person at all! Gary Brecher (previously) reviews Banquo’s Ghosts, a political-minded spy thriller from National Review editor Richard Lowry and novelist Keith Korman. Lowry describes it as an "episode of “24″ written by Proust. " Bonus Conservative Potboiler Review: Matt Taibbi on William F. Buckley's Tucker's Last Stand.

Essential Internet Appliances

telstar — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:29:22 -0800

Crap Detection 101 Howard Rheingold offers a fairly in-depth primer on media and internet BS detection. Lots of links to resources for enabling critical analysis of various information sources included.

Persepolis 2.0

plep — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:19:37 -0800

Persepolis 2.0 'describes Iran's post-election uprising and spreads the word about Iranians' historic struggle against repression. Based on the graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi and edited by two Iranians living in Shanghai.' Persepolis.

another riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma

adamvasco — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 11:29:39 -0800

Iran's debate over theocracy took an interesting turn when Ayatollah Sistani the preeminent Shi'a cleric in Iraq made a recent visit. Sistani has stated that in order to be legitimate a ruler should win acceptance from a majority of believers. Threats Watch has analysis on this as the so called Battle for Iran shifts from the streets to the heart of power. How Iran is ruled is both different and complicated. The crisis is far from over; we are now probably at the end of the beginning. Here is a round up of analysis from dianaswednesday. Wiki links to some of the principal players both centre stage and behind the curtain Khameni; Yazdi; Rafsanjani; Larijani Ahmadinejad Mousavi Overview 2009 elections.
Metafilter previous recent posts June 4th; June 13th; June 16th; June 19th; June 22nd, 1 + II

Nokia Siemens and the Iranian Government

HylandErickson — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 21:46:36 -0800

In 2008, Nokia Siemens’ Networks sold Iran a program called Monitoring Centre, which allows the government not only to monitor all mobile communications, but also to alter their contents, possibly for disinformation purposes. Implementation of the deep-packet inspection technology that the program uses may be to blame for the halt in mobile service that occurred after the June 12th election. According the BBC, Nokia Siemens markets the Monitoring Center product to 150 countries around the world.

Some of this morning's major Iran stories

Stephen Elliott — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 09:59:51 -0800

Study definitely shows massive ballot fraud. Link to download the study here. From Andrew Sullivan's curated tweets: “Head of parliament’s judiciary committee: Mousavi accountable for illegal protests, can be pursued legally.” AP: Police attack protesters with tear gas. Italy will let wounded protesters into its embassy.

The Tragic Face of the Iranian Revolution

orville sash — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 18:18:30 -0800

Disturbing video of a young Iranian woman shot and dying in the streets of Tehran has surfaced on the internet (extremely graphic, NSFW, requires youtube login). Known only as "Neda" in the video, she has been identified by subsequent reports as a 16-year-old student named Neda Soltani. Supporters of the Iranian opposition are saying that she is the face of the struggle, and that this video galvanizes the opposition movement. As of this writing, the authenticity of the video has not been conclusively determined, and a small but vocal minority on the internet are decrying it as a fake.

Some useful current Iran links

Stephen Elliott — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:33:56 -0800

Andrew Sullivan, retweeting the revolution, day 7, aggregates many of the best "tweets" coming out of Iran. Over at Huffpo, There Will Be Blood: An interview with a journalist in Tehran. TPM has video of the basij shooting into a crowd, causing at least one protester to go down. Speaking of the Basij, the counter protesters credited with most of the violence, Jon Lee Anderson answers the question, What are the Basij?

A brief history of modern Iran

billysumday — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:06:58 -0800

As the world watches the conflict in Iran unfold, many commentators have tried to make a connection between the current protests and either the coup of 1953 or the revolution of 1979. But what do we know of the history of that country and how well do we know its leaders? Some of the major political players who have dominated the trajectory of the recent history of Iran include Mohammed Mossadegh, Mohammad Rezā Shāh Pahlavi, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, and Mir-Hossein Mousavi. All links above are to Wikipedia pages. For more extensive articles and information, check below the fold. In 1953, Mohammed Mossadegh, the elected leader of Iran, was deposed in a military coup orchestrated by the United States and the UK. This exhaustive collection of material assembled by the New York Times, entitled "The Central Intelligence Agency's secret history of its covert operation to overthrow Iran's government in 1953," offers an inside look at how the agency stumbled into success, despite a series of mishaps that derailed its original plans. Written in 1954 by one of the coup's chief planners, the history details how United States and British officials plotted the military coup that returned the shah of Iran to power and toppled Iran's elected prime minister, an ardent nationalist. Mossadegh was replaced by The Shah, who ruled until 1979. Here is a fascinating 5 part BBC documentary entitled "The Last Shah of Iran." And here is a fantastic and comprehensive 1978 New Yorker article that details the growing opposition to the Shah in Iran during the late 70s, the failures of The Shah during his quarter century reign, and the rise of Khomeini. Excerpt: [The economist went on to talk about the religious revival. “I was very active in politics during my high-school years,” he said. “At that time—the early nineteen-fifties—there were only two important groups: the Communist, or Tudeh, Party, and the National Front—which included the Pan-Iranians, who wanted to take over parts of Iraq, Turkey, and Pakistan. The young had absolutely no interest in religion. After that, the political situation calmed down. There was a brief revival of politics in 1961 and 1962, when Ali Amini came to office as Prime Minister. He started the land reform that the Shah later claimed as his own. The Tudeh Party was dead then, but the National Front was strong. The religious people didn’t count. Khomeini became important only after he was driven into exile by the Shah. The Shah’s father, Reza Shah, had been very successful in fighting the mullahs. He made a direct assault on the clergy—forcing women to take off veils, riding into the shrines and beating the mullahs. He had public sympathy, because then the clergy were corrupt and wealthy. They were hated by everybody. Now they have lost their lands and the religious foundations. The mullahs have been purified. They have the power of poverty.”] Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rose to the position of Supreme Leader after the death of Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989. Last year, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace put together this 30-page dossier on the elusive and powerful mullah entitled, Reading Khamenei: The World View of Iran's Most Powerful Leader. To access the report, click on the "Full Text" icon near the top of the page to get a complete PDF. And in 2005, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected President of Iran. Presenting himself as humble, soft spoken, and extremely religious, he was educated as an engineer and fought in the Iran-Iraq War. A product of the revolution of 1979, Ahmadinejad believes in the "pure life" of Islam and rejects what he considers the corrupting influences of Western culture. This recent New Yorker article is both a profile of Ahmadinejad and a comprehensive look at the upcoming (now dated, obviously) elections. The article discusses, among others, former President Khatami and the reformist challenger to Ahmadinejad, Mir-Hossein Mousavi, who is referred to in the article as "The Persian Cincinnatus." Other fantastic archived articles from the New Yorker regarding Iran: The Rationalist A dissident economist’s attempts to reform the revolution. an article about Mohammad Tabibian by Laura Secor, February 2, 2009 Fugitives Young Iranians confront the collapse of the reform movement. by Laura Secor November 21, 2005 - written in the aftermath of the 2005 elections, it discusses Ahmadinejad Shadow Land Who’s winning the fight for Iran’s future? by Joe Klein February 18, 2002

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss

orville sash — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 08:34:16 -0800

Ahmedinejad is declared victor in Iran presidential race. In spite of skepticism on the behalf of (among others) the Obama Administration, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday told all Iranians to respect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's victory.

I have here in my hand a list...

msalt — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:53:59 -0800

40 million Iranians watched a "remarkable, no-holds-barred" and nationally televised debate between President Ahmadinejad (blog) and his rival, former Prime Minister Mousavi (Facebook). Mousavi said Ahmadinejad was moving toward dictatorship, and that his Holocaust denial had hurt Iran's dignity; the President said Mousavi had conspired with former presidents Hashemi Rafsanjani and Khatami against him. Ahmadinejad then pulled out a dossier on Mousavi's wife, saying she didn't have proper qualifications for graduate school. Mousavi replied "This is typical of your government. Instead of finding solutions, you send your deputies to make files on the people." The election is June 12th. There will be several more debates among other candidates including Ahmadinejad, Mohsen Rezai and Mehdi Karroubi . This all raises the bigger question: how democratic is Iran? Radio Free Europe says "Less than Iraq." DilbertBlog says "As much as America is." The Guardian says "Complicated."

"Ships currently have no defense against a ballistic missile attack."

Keter — Wed, 27 May 2009 13:46:47 -0800

The aircraft carrier, a majestic and grand symbol of American naval might... susceptible to swarming small-boat assault and weak against ballistic missiles, nevermind an anti-ship ballistic missile. Is it time to reevaluate the role of the aircraft carrier in a modern naval strategy?