Tehran Earthquake Map

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://tehranshake.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/iran-hazard-map.jpg&imgrefurl=http://tehranshake.wordpress.com/tehran-map/&usg=__CZ8mDnnICUOHs_HUndF-Ns0ClJg=&h=383&w=390&sz=38&hl=en&start=17&itbs=1&tbnid=2ZfkIi3y2HLJNM:&tbnh=121&tbnw=123&prev=/images%3Fq%3Diran%2Bfault%2Blines%2Bmap%26hl%3Den%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1

http://tehranshake.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/iran-hazard-map.jpg

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://tehranshake.files.wordpress.com/2007/06/iran-fault-activity.jpg&imgrefurl=http://tehranshake.wordpress.com/2007/05/16/important-link-on-tehran-seismic-risks/&usg=__14aDJ-gJxLUvBClwDDY1leAu6NY=&h=383&w=388&sz=56&hl=en&start=8&sig2=1JdWlaYl4P7dIIKsTj3M9A&itbs=1&tbnid=YgzV06gAbE9ykM:&tbnh=121&tbnw=123&prev=/images%3Fq%3Diran%2Bfault%2Blines%2Bmap%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&ei=gtsnTMerBs6Dngft0KniBQ

1st Grade Teacher Arrested in Mosque, Raped by Prison Guards in Iran

An Iranian friend sent this to me in an email.  The original letter, in Farsi, was published here.

Even though I turned into Autumn I am more beautiful now/ 

A letter of suffering by Bahareh, 

a squished corn-poppy of Iran (victim of rape)/

arrested in July 2009 at Ghoba Mosque

"My name is Bahar (Spring in Persian). It's Spring and I write to you of flowers--but flowers with scattered petals. I write to you of the green and of sprouts but squished sprouts, trampled on by hatred, the hatred towards beauty and whatever is beautiful--as displayed by ugly souls, the hatred towards those who seek justice--by a bunch of sell outs. I write to you of those who are not real men. 

My name is Bahareh Maghami, 28 years old and there is nothing left of me and no reason to hide my name anymore. I have lost all who were important to me one day. I have lost relatives and friends, neighbors and companions, coworkers and colleagues. I have lost them all. Those who pretend to be men stole it all from me so unfairly. They stole my life.

Now that I have left the country, I want to share my pain with someone, even if only once. I also like to ask other friends who have experienced a similar painful fate to write. They must write what happened to them. Even if they fear their lives or dignity, they should use anonymous names but they must write. They must write so that history is aware of what happened to our generation; to this grief-stricken generation. They must write so that those who come after us and live in a free Iran know what price was paid for their freedom; how many lives were burnt and how hopes vanished; they must know about the broken backs and bent knees!

When my father found out, his back broke. He was shattered into pieces. My mom aged a hundred years overnight. My brother: I still haven't been able to look into my brother's eyes and he doesn't look at me either; he doesn't want me to suffer any more than I already have. When he found out, it was like they took away his manhood. When he found out that there are people who pretend to be men but the only thing left of it is their genitals, he began to hate his own manhood. For them dignity, nobility and chastity have no meaning. I was a first grade teacher. I was teaching the little flowers of our country how to read and write. I was teaching them "Dad brought water", "That man comes", "That man brings bread". For me the image of a man was the kind breadwinner. I was waiting for him to arrive. And now that image has changed. He is angry and blinded by his desires. I cannot rid myself of his infectious smell of sweat. I am always scared of him coming back. I jump out of bed in the middle of the night fearing his footsteps. My whole body shakes with the smallest sounds and my heart starts beating faster fearing his arrival. I am always ready to escape. I leave the lights on at nights and I pass the days with tears and grief! 

Breakdancing in Tehran 1991

Not easy to do on a Persian carpet!  The ladies in chadors seem enthusiastic!

Defiant Shouts from Tehran Rooftops on Noruz

Shouts of "God is Great" (Allahu Akbar) and "Down with the Dictator" (Marg bar Diktator) echo from Tehran rooftops during Iranian New Year celebrations.

Nuclear Concerns and Sanctions: New Yorker Talks with Tehrani Friend

 

by Julie Jigsawnovich

New York--Amid growing international concern over Iran's nuclear ambitions, and renewed talk of not only strengthening sanctions, but bombing Iran, I spoke with my 21yr old Iranian friend who lives in Tehran. We met on the internet through our shared enthusiasm for certain kinds of music, and have found that we can also talk about religion and politics without fighting. In accordance with his wishes and those of another Tehrani friend who created the illustration for this article, I will not publish their names. 

JJ: I went to a panel discussion about Iran recently where an American General talked about bombing Iran. My American friend asked what we can do to support human rights in Iran, but the General avoided the question at first. He returned to it, mentioning that for awhile it looked like Iran's Green Movement might topple the regime--but the Iranian regime cracked down hard. I wondered to myself--the US is worried about Iran getting nuclear bombs, but what if Iran already has nuclear bombs and hasn't used them? What do you think, doost-e man?

They have bombs called Shahab 3, but not the uranium to put on them. 

Iran has the missiles, but not the enriched uranium to make them nuclear?

Yes. 

When they get it, do you think they will bomb the "Zionist regime" of Israel?

I don't know if they're looking to get nuclear bombs. I don't know. 

If Mousavi was Iran's president, would Iran be less dangerous than with Ahmadinejad as president--if Iran did get nuclear bombs?

Really there is no big difference between Ahmadi or Mousavi, because everything is in the hands of Ayatollah Khamenei--Supreme Leader. 

And Sepah. Some people here think Sepah, the Revolutionary Guards Corps, have more power than Khamenei now.

Yeah, they have. They have a lot of money, a lot of forces, and a lot of men. 

What do you think of the conflict in Yemen--and the Saudis against Iran?

I'm not interested! But in religion, Saudis are Vahhabi. And Vahhabis think that Shia's are Moshrik. Do you know what Moshrik is?

Moshrik = heretic?

 

Mmm, it's hard... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirk_%28Islam%29 And I've heard that Vahhabis believe that if they kill two Shia's in life they will go to heaven. I don't know exactly, but it must be something like this. This is not a modern war. I say it's the old fashioned Islam War.

Do Shia's believe that if they kill people, they will go to heaven?

I've never heard of it. But in Quran there are a lot of ayes about killing.

Ayes?

Ayeh. Ayat. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayah

Some people here in the US say Islam is a religion that supports violence. But some Muslims here say, "No, it supports love." What do you think?

Quran is so complicated. You can have both impressions of Quran.

The Christian Bible is complicated too. The Old Testament seems to support violence. But Jesus supported non-violence.

Creed people do violent things.

Creed people?

People that believe in religions--like hard Muslims or Jews or Christians.

Religion can make people into tools.

Yeah, exactly.

The US is worried about Iran getting nuclear bombs, partly because Iran is religious--more religious than the US.

Yeah.

Are you worried about Iran getting nuclear bombs?
 

Of course. People will die. War is not a good thing. Ayatollah Khomeini has a quote, "War is a good thing."

The US has been trying to negotiate with Iran, but Iran is taking so much time. Some people in the US think Iran is just stalling in order to get time to get nuclear bombs.

But if the US is going to bomb Iran, they will just bomb the nuclear facilities in Esfehan and Ghom. 

And Natanz and Bushehr. Maybe more, if the US or Israel know about more. This could make a radiation problem.

Yeah, a lot of people will die--maybe me too.

What should the US do?

Be more diplomatic. Stop sanctions.

How would stopping sanctions help?

Then the Islamic Republic couldn't say the US is not showing good will and is not being honest.

What is the relationship between sanctions and honesty?

Look, today Obama said, "We will talk and negotiate with Iran." Tomorrow they do more sanctions. What would you do if you were Iran? 

Well, Ahmadinejad said he might negotiate, bu the Iranian Parliament said, "No negotiation to send uranium to Russia to be enriched."

No, it's not like this. They just have the problem of HOW the trade will be done.

I hope so. I read something different. But maybe it changed again.

But if I was a politician, I would do what the IR is doing right now. It's not a good way--talking about negotiation and doing more sanctions at the same time.

Iran doesn't trust Russia so much, because Russia is taking too long with the Bushehr nuclear facility.

Russia messed up Iran a lot of times throughout history.

What about China?

We have good relations in our history with China. Do you know about negar gari?

No, what is negar gari?
 

It's an art form, a very well known Persian art form. Kamal Edin Behzad is one of the most famous artists. Negar gari miniatures are inspired by Chinese paintings.

Persian culture is influenced by Chinese art?

Yeah.

For hundreds of years?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_miniature

What effect have US sanctions had on Iran?

They've had a lot of effects on airplanes and airline industries.

Because Iran used to buy US airplanes?

Yeah, and they need parts. And the sanctions effected the oil industry, and a lot of things. But Iranians have found ways to get out of them.

Ways to get out of sanctions?

Yeah.

How?

By making them not work. They make companies in Malaysia. 

 

What kinds of companies?

I don't know exactly.

Some people here say sanctions hurt poor people the most.

Yeah, that's true.

Do you think that if the US dropped sanctions, it would stop Iran from making nuclear bombs? Or is it possible that Iran would still make nuclear bombs, plus the Iranian economy would be stronger?

Dropping sanctions would open the way to better negotiations with Iran. They can't negotiate with people who sanction. 

 











Putin and Khamenei  photo: www.kremlin.ru

You've said before that Iran is just trying to figure out HOW the uranium enrichment with Russia would happen. That is negotiation, isn't it?

Yeah, it is, but it makes it complicated when new sanctions are brought by the US. 

The US may make new sanctions because Iran is taking too long to negotiate.

Maybe, but I just saw the news on the BBC. The headline was "Obama said, 'We will negotiate with Iran.'" The third headline was, "New Sanctions." It's not good.

If US makes new sanctions against Iran, what will happen?

They won't negotiate.

What effect would stronger sanctions have on Iranian people?

You saw the airplane crash last year? That's because of sanctions.

If that is true, flying inside Iran will be very dangerous. This will effect Iranians, and also tourists. I flew from Tehran to Yazd.

Thank God that didn't crash.

Mersi, azizam. If planes crash in Iran because of sanctions, does this make Iranians mad at the US or at the Iranian government?

Iranians mostly don't know about these things.

.........................

In closing, US trade sanctions against Iran have been in place for so long, my friend's suggestion that we drop them altogether seemed quite shocking. This is a good time to closely examine the sanctions already in place. I must add that although I am concerned that innocent air passengers' safety may be jeopardized by sanctions, I also realize that passenger planes can be used for violent purposes. 

The panel discussion I mentioned in this article was presented by United Against Nuclear Iran and Bipartisan Policy Center, on November 23rd at the 92nd Street Y in New York. It included speakers General Chuck Wald (Ret.) USAF, Senator Charles Robb (D-VA), Senator Daniel Coats (R-IN), and was moderated by Dr. Leslie Gelb. UANI literature distributed at this event advocates boycotting companies who do business with Iran, while the UANI website additionally advocates sanctions that reportedly seek to prevent US taxpayer money from going to companies that do business with Iran.

I realize that boycotts could also be performed by consumers who do not support legislated trade sanctions against Iran. For instance, many Iranian Green Movement supporters requested an international boycott of Nokia-Siemens after it was discovered that they sold spy technology to the Islamic Republic of Iran which facilitated the regime in tracking down cell phone users' locations and also opening private emails. The regime exploited these new capabilities during their violent crackdown on voters questioning the "official" results of the 2009 Iranian presidential election.

Julie Jigsawnovich is a writer, artist and musician living in New York City. She is currently trading English lessons for Persian lessons. She's hopes to be able to read Iranian poetry in the original script in the future. Contact her at: jigsawnovich1@gmail.com

This article was originally published at: http://iranian.com/main/blog/jigsawnovich/new-yorker-talks-tehrani-friend-about-nuclear-concerns-and-sanctions

Iran opposition to apologise to US for embassy siege

This is huge.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/6488799/Iran-opposition-to-apologise-to-US-for-embassy-siege.html
http://www.iranian.com/main/news/2009/11/03/iran-opposition-apologise-us-embassy-siege

NYC Artist Inspired by Iranians Protesting for Democracy, Freedom and Human Rights

artwork and image
copyright (c)2009 Tina Portilla
used by permission

reported by Julie Jigsawnovich

Stunned by the soaring feeling of vastness and self-determination that this drawing exudes, and captivated by the synthesis of iconography from the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor, the Azadi (Freedom) Tower and Green democracy movement in Iran, I asked the artist how she came to draw it. Tina Portilla answered,"I've been working with a focus on politics for a while. Situations from all over the world interest me. When a good friend of mine, who happens to be Iranian, started going to protests and such, I thought I'd do more research. What I discovered as I followed the situation more and more closely appalled me, and I wanted to get involved as well.

"After a while, however, it seemed I was shouting at a brick wall. I would re-post videos and articles on Facebook, urge people to come to rallies, try to get the word out as much as possible. But it seemed like none of my non-Iranian friends cared... as a matter of fact, most of them flat out did not. A friend asked me once, as we sat in a bar drinking, why I wore the green armband. I gave him a brief rundown... and his response? 'I don't watch the news... I don't need that negative bullshit in my life.'

"ASTOUNDING.

"I finished my beer, nodded at the bartender and left. I couldn't believe it. After that, I REALLY wanted to do more than go to protests and rallies and spread things on Facebook. My friend, who I had mentioned before, founded The Freedom Glory Project, which I'm sure you've heard of. He's an amazingly talented and passionate musician; his words come from the heart and resonate in your soul. I figured, he does what he knows, I should do what I know and draw. But I wasn't quite sure what to do yet...

"The answer came after I read the story about Taraneh. It destroyed me. I sat in my bed weeping, nearly vomiting. Later that night, the drawing started coming together, and by the end of that night, I had a preliminary sketch. By the end of the next night, I had an almost finished drawing up on my Facebook, which I was sure no one would see, haha... but I see I was wrong!

"She's done with watercolor pencils and permanent marker... and I chose a goddess figure over anything else I could have used because not only have women been on the front lines of this revolution, but it is violent, negative male energy that is dominating the people of Iran. A goddess of peace and liberty is just what they need right now, I believe."

Portilla informed this reporter, "that's a white rose she's holding behind her back. The word at the bottom is "Freedom." Her crown is made from the windows of the Azadi tower [Freedom Tower in Tehran,] as her skirt is made from the rest." Portilla later added some lines as framing, and a flock of black birds. The original, "unfinished" drawing is shown here.

Come be inspired! There is a rally in support of Iranian democracy, freedom and human rights scheduled to begin tomorrow at 12:30 in Times Sq., at 7th Avene and West 41st Street, continuing on to the United Nations, at 1st Avenue and East 47th Street from around 3-5pm. There are simultaneous rallies in 83 cities around the world. See http:united4iran.com for more information.

Axes and swords in the streets of Tehran

by Julie Jigsawnovich

I asked a friend in Tehran whether earlier Twitter reports of militia using axes on protesters were true. This morning he told me that, "Axes and big swords called Ghameh are weapons that Tehran gangs and downtown boys are using in the streets...and there is a rumor that Basij members are recruited from them...and if that is true, axes and Ghamehs will be normal to use against people."

FROM TEHRAN WITH HOPE

Will democracy and free speech survive
the efforts of the Islamic Republic to stifle them?

by Julie Jigawnovich

I messaged my friend, Adrenaline, who is in Tehran now.
He and his friends voted for Mousavi or Kourubi for president
of Iran. They are protesting the claims Ahmadinejad
is making that he won the election.

3:16pmJulie
anyone you know hurt or arrested?

3:16pmAdrenaline
lol
more than u can imagine

3:17pmJulie
are the police firing real bullets and killing people?

3:17pmAdrenaline
first u gotta see it :
http://i42.tinypic.com/28802yq.jpg

3:17pmJulie
who is that?

3:17pmAdrenaline
one of moosavi fans
there are hundreds of them

3:18pmJulie
hurt by police or by sepah?

3:18pmAdrenaline
and not just boyz,,,they also beat girls as well
by anti-riot units

3:18pmJulie
did your friend take the picture?

3:18pmAdrenaline
yup !

3:19pmJulie
could we use the photo?

3:19pmAdrenaline
sure

3:19pmJulie
is Mousavi safe? he's not hurt?

3:20pmAdrenaline
hes safe

3:20pmJulie
is there a nickname of the photographer who took the photo?

3:20pmAdrenaline
he was in streets
with crowd

3:20pmJulie
should i put anonymous as the photographer?
[to protect him/her from prosecution]

3:21pmAdrenaline
wait,,,im asking him
use http://i42.tinypic.com/28802yq.jpg
shit
sorry
i mean use anonymous

3:22pmJulie
mamnun! [thank you, in Farsi]

3:23pmAdrenaline
khahesh mikonam [your welcome]

3:23pmJulie
anything else you want to add?

3:24pmAdrenaline
i dunno
i cant focus on that article right now

3:25pmJulie
ok. i hope all your friends live and will be healthy.

3:26pmAdrenaline
tanx

Later
5:30pmJulie
who started the violence today?

5:31pmAdrenaline
police killed four people today

5:32pmJulie
did the police kill people who were peacefully demonstrating?

5:32pmAdrenaline
yup. actually not police, some units like undercover polices and
security units."

Yesterday
5:25pmJulie
when you voted for Mousavi, what change were you hoping for?

5:26pmAdrenaline
obviously, if we start a another revolution, we will be like afganistan
but with the right president we can reach our goals!

5:28pmJulie
how will you be like afganistan?
what are your goals?

5:29pmAdrenaline
its so complicated. we want democracy, free speech, freedom!,
having respect in international and so many other things that you
already know.

5:30pmJulie
do you want diplomatic relations with the US?

5:30pmAdrenaline
that's what everyone wants--but not being used by other countries.
independence is the most important thing for iran

5:32pmJulie
some of the amadi supporters probably think he is independent.
but he is too mean sometimes. he makes it too easy for zionists to
talk about war with iran. real independence is very hard to find.

5:34pmAdrenaline
i cant speak for all of the people!

5:34pmJulie
US wants to be independent. in reality we are becoming economic slaves.
we owe so much money to China.

5:34pmAdrenaline
i just giving u my opinions

5:35pmJulie
i am also just giving my opinions.
but it is so nice to be able to talk!

5:35pmAdrenaline
true!

5:36pmJulie
i'm going to write letters. the white house pays attention when people take the time to write letters. talk to you later, Adrenaline!