:: Nostalgic Notes ::

:: Friday, July 25, 2003 ::

Having directed Joy of Madness, Hana Makhmalbaf who is the youngest children of acclaimed Iranian Mohsen Makhmalbaf, is nominated for an award at Venice Film Festival. The 14-year film director is strongly supported by her pioneer sister, Samira, who believes the first professional film of Hana is much better than Kandehar and At Five in the Afternoon directed by her father and herself respectively.
:: Ahmadreza 11:15 PM [+] ::
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Without paying attention to Stephen's requisition and Canadian officials' demand, Iranian authorities buried the body of Zahra Kazemi. It seems Canadians must take the case more seriously than before.
:: Ahmadreza 3:57 PM [+] ::
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In Iran, detaining journalists and writers is not a very strange and unpredictable event. In fact, hearing such reports shocks no one. The account of killing a journalist, of course, is absolutely different. Even though, judiciary officials easily arrest political activists and journalists but they try to prevent investigators and interrogators from killing them. It does not mean hardliners are so law-abiding that they never torture their captives but it means killing a journalist is so troublemaker that they try to avoid.
The last time, of course, they made a foolish mistake. They thought that Zahra Kazemi was not very famous and no one would follow her story. They were completely at fault. When the journalist was taken to hospital due to wild behavior of interrogators, they understood what mistake they had made. Torrent of reports, articles and press conferences, along with the pressure of International bodies and firms, turned their wild entertainment to a real disaster.
Even though reformists were not involved in this terrible story but, according to the diplomatic rules, they are responsible to prepare a clear and reasonable answer for the questions of Canadian officials. It is what has made Iranian officials bewildered; the questioning of Canadian officials seems much serious. The vice president states that Zahra Kazemi has died of a brain hemorrhage resulting from beatings and confirming the fact that she has died of a brain hemorrhage, Foreign Minister added that she might have fallen or had an accident! These contradictory statements show how much they are confused. I do believe they clearly know the truth but they are not brave enough to unfold who has killed Zahra Kazemi and how. Reformists must know the case is not very different from assassinations of intellectuals occurred in 1998.
:: Ahmadreza 1:15 PM [+] ::
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Democracy or Despotism?
:: Ahmadreza 11:55 PM [+] ::
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Freelance photographer died in hospital. Iranian authorities state that she has died from a brain attack but no one will believe them. It's clear that wild investigators have tortured her severely and taken her to the hospital with serious injuries. They have killed Zahra Kazemi.
:: Ahmadreza 11:10 AM [+] ::
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It seems we should add the name of another journalist to the long list of imprisoned journalists in Iran. Photographing in front of Evin prison in the north of capital city of Iran, Zahra Kazemi who is an Iranian Canadian freelance photojournalist were arrested on the 23rd of July. According to the reports, police have tortured her drastically and she has been taken to hospital due to the wild behavior of investigators. Canadian officials have asked Iran to make her condition clear but I do believe it is not enough. I hope Canadian government puts a heavy pressure on Iranian officials and urge them to release Zahra Kazemi.
Note: For more information about Zahra Kazemi check the coverage of the story at Google and Yahoo.
:: Ahmadreza 7:21 PM [+] ::
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Today is the fourth anniversary of brutal suppression of students' rallies in 1999. Remembering the event, students wanted to gather in front of UN building in Tehran but reformist politicians dissuaded them not to resemble in front of any dormitories or international organizations. Considering 1979 Islamic Republic and its terrible consequences, I don't agree with any violent rallies or demonstrations but I can't support these puzzled reformists either. Without any special tactic, they have invited people to remain silent and inactive since Mr. Khatami came to power in 1997.
:: Ahmadreza 5:14 PM [+] ::
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A few minutes ago, the second twin passed away. The death of Iranian twins put a sad end to their story. I am so sorry.
:: Ahmadreza 3:06 PM [+] ::
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I wrote two short notes about two prosperous writers on 21st May and 5th May. It seems another writer named Firoozeh Dumas has joined to Marjane Satrapi and Azar Nafisi, two Iranian writers, who have presented some aspects of Iranian society in their books. Firoozeh Dumas who lives in the US with her French husband presents a picture of Iranian immigrants and their problems in her book titled Funny in Farsi. Assimilating in another society is the most important problem which an immigrant faces in early years of her or his arrival and Paying attention to this critical matter, Dumas presents a considerable picture of Iranian-American persons.
:: Ahmadreza 12:06 PM [+] ::
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A few days ago, I received a letter from a Brazilian reporter named Maria Brant. Declaring that she had begun to write a report (Spanish, A terrible translation by Google!) about Iran and recent protests in Tehran and other major cities, she asked a few questions. Even though I did not enough free time, I tried to answer her questions carefully and with enthusiasm. I would like to put some of her questions here, of course along with my own answers.

5. What do you think of the recent protests by students in Iran?

Well, it's a little hard to answer this question in brief.
Discontented and tired of closed-minded leaders, Iranians voted Mr. Khatami in 1997 to make a calm change in regime. Having experienced a brutal evolution in 1976, Iranians knew that another revolution is only a disaster, so they chose reform instead of revolution and selected Mr. Khatami who came to the presidential election campaign with absolutely different viewpoints. After that, fascist groups expectedly tried to stop the reform movement. They imprisoned pioneer journalists, shut down newspapers dedicated to the reform movement and even destroyed Tehran University dormitory in 1999. Mr. President didn't react those terrible events in a satisfying manner. He neither didn't have any special program to strive against hardliners nor was brave enough to fight against them. Nevertheless Iranians abided him once again and re-elected him in 2001 despite all hardliners' activities and Mr. Khatami weak reactions. Iranians in general and young people in particular expected Mr. Khatami to play role of a strong leader. They expected him to protect the movement but he remained silent and inactive after the second election. It made people totally disappointed. In my opinion, current protests are consequences of all events occurred during 26 last years. The regime have done many things since 1976 including killing intellectuals, interfering with people's private life, wasting national resources, imprisoning many opponents and etc. Iranians thought they would be able to change such a theocratic regime by a calm reform. Now they believe they have been at fault; they are completely disappointed.

6. Would you like Iran to be a democracy? Why?

Why not? What types of differences are between Iranians and others? Nothing, I believe. Like other people of the world, Iranians want to live freely. It is their essential right and no one can deprive Iranians from it.
Most of Iranians love their homeland and would like to have it exempted from dogmatic viewpoints but this non-democratic regime is a great obstacle.
We want a Republic system instead a Monarchy, an Islamic Republic or a Socialist system.

15. Why have you started blogging? Why in English?

I began writing my own Persian web log more than one year ago. I established it to write those minds, which I couldn't tell others. In fact, my Persian web log was a close friend for me.
After a while I commenced to prepare myself for TOEFL exam. To promote my writing ability, I established another web log in English to write my daily notes about Iran and Iranians. I though Nostalgic Notes in English would not only encourage me to read online magazines and newspapers but also help me to improve my English abilities.
:: Ahmadreza 5:46 PM [+] ::
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French authorities released Maryam Rajavi who, along her husband, is one of the most bigoted politicians in the world. Anyway, she is free now and it is a pleasure for me. Because I will not see another man or woman having set himself or herself on fire. Thanks god!
:: Ahmadreza 5:13 PM [+] ::
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