Important Political News

[RedWine]

به* اعتقاد اكثر كارشناسان*، بيكاري* و پيامدهاي* آن* يكي* از مهمترين* دلايل* رشد انواع* ناهنجاري*هاي* اجتماعي* از جمله* ، بروز مشكلات* روحي* و رواني*، بالا رفتن* آمار جرم* و جنايت* و نيز گرايش* نسل* جوان* به* انواع* بزه*ها است*. موضوعي* كه* جدي*ترين* چالش* پيش* روي* دولت* در تامين* خواسته*هاي* نسل* جوياي* كار امروز كشور است*. شايد آنچه* بيكاري* را تا اندازه*هاي* يك* معضل* اجتماعي* مبدل* كرده* است*. تبعاتي* كه* در پي* بيكاري* نمود پيدا مي*كنند عبارت* است* از اعتياد و گرايش* به* ساير بزه*هاي* ديگر كه* معضلي* است* با افزايش* نرخ* بيكاري* در جامعه* نسبت* مستقيم* دارد، گذري* به* آمارهاي* مصرف*كنندگان* مواد مخدر در مناطق* محروم* كشور، به* وضوح* ميزان* تاؤيرگذاري* بيكاري* را در گرايش* جوانان* به* اعتياد نشان* مي*دهد. معضلي* كه* به* استناد آمار و ارقام* موجود هزينه*هاي* گزافي* را بر دوش* دولت* و اقتصاد كشور قرار مي*دهد. گرچه* مي*توان* با صرف* هزينه*هاي* مبارزه* و غيره* با اين* پديده* ناپسند گام*هاي* موثري* در جهت* اشتغال*زايي* براي* قشر بيكار در جامعه*، مانع* گرايش* برخي* از جوانان* به* پديده*هاي* ناپسند شد. هر چند نمي*توان* بيكاري* را به* عنوان* تنها دليل* گرايش* نسل* جوان* به* اعتياد نام* برد.
اما پرداختن* به* اين* واقعيت* ضرورت* امروز است* كه* بيكاري*، بستر مناسبي* را در جهت* هدايت* برخي* از جوانان* به* سمت* مواد مخدر را فراهم* مي*آورد. رها شدن* از فشارهاي* روحي* و رواني* كه* به* تبع* نبود كار بروز مي*كند، از بين* رفتن* اعتماد به* نفس* فرد بيكار و حسي* كه* از مفيد نبودن* در جامعه* به* وي* دست* مي*دهد و نگراني* از آينده* مبهم*، و موارد ديگر جزو مواردي* هستند كه* غالباص در پي* بيكاري* ذهنيت* آنها را مشغول* مي*كند. بطوركلي* بيكاري* اثرات* سويي* دارد كه* در جامعه* به* اشكال* گوناگون* نمود مي*كند.
گذشته* از بحث* اعتياد ، شايد يكي* ديگر از پيامدهاي* زيانبار بيكاري* در سطح* جامعه*، افزايش* آمار جرم* و جنايت* نظير سرقت*، كلاهبرداري*، قاچاق* و... باشد. نيازي* به* ارايه* آمار آنچناني* وجود ندارد.
با مراجعه* هر روزه* به* صفحات* حوادث* جرايد به* موارد قابل* توجهي* در اين* خصوص* بر مي*خوريم* كه* مي*توان* گفت*: ردپاي* بيكاري* و نبود شغل* مناسب* جهت* تامين* معيشت* فرد متهم*، در اكثر پرونده*هايي* از اين* دست* به* چشم* مي*خورد. بطور كلي* هزينه*هايي* را به* جامعه* تحميل* مي*كند كه* براي* برخورد و پيشگيري* با ناهنجاري*هاي* ياد شده* مصرف* مي*شود و در نتيجه* آنچه* در مورد عوامل* بازدارنده* اعتياد ذكر شد در مورد كاهش* آمار سرقت* و جنايت* و... نيز مي*تواند صادق* باشد.
و اما پديده* سوم* را اختصاص* به* انواع* شغل*هاي* كاذب* داد كه* افرادي* به* دليل* نداشتن* كار و حرفه* مناسب*، به* شغل*هاي* كاذب* روي* مي*آورند. پرداختن* به* كارهايي* كه* البته* نمي*توان* به* آنها شغل* و حرفه* گفت* و شايد بيشتر مفري* براي* رهايي* از بيكاري* باشد از جمله* اين* مشاغل* مي*توان* به* دستفروشي* اشاره* كرد كه* علاوه* بر زشت* كردن* چهره* شهرها، مشكلاتي* را مي*تواند به* همراه* داشته* باشد مثلا عرضه* كالاي* غير بهداشتي* و غير استاندارد و فاسد كه* سلامت* جامعه* را به* خطر مي*اندازد.
تمام* مواردي* كه* ذكر شد تنها گوشه*يي* از ضررهاي* بيكاري* به* جامعه* است* در خاتمه* اميدواريم* معضلي* كه* گرچه* در حد وعده*هاي* مسوولان* اجرايي* كشور قرار دارد. اما اين* نكته* را بايد باور كنيم* كه* تاكنون* راهكار مناسبي* جهت* مهار و كاهش* بيكاري* در نظر گرفته* نشده* است* و چنانچه* راهكاري* براي* آن* يافت* نشود بايد در انتظار پيامدهاي* بيشتر و نيز هزينه* شدن* مبالغ* كلان*تري* از بودجه* كشور، جهت* برخورد با تبعات* ناشي* از بيكاري* باشيم*.

[RedWine]

شوراى صنفى دانشگاه اميركبير در اعتراض به عملكرد رياست دانشگاه، مديريت فرهنگى و تغيير مديريت دانشگاه تريبون آزادى را با حضور اعضاى صنفى دانشكده*‏هاى مختلف اين دانشگاه برگزار كرد.
سروش برزو با اعلام اين خبر گفت: متاسفانه پس از تغيير مديريت دانشگاه شاهد كارشكني*‏هاى مختلف در امور صنفى دانشجويان به خصوص برگزارى اردوهاى دانشجويى هستيم كه امروز دانشجويان در اعتراض به عملكرد مديريت فرهنگى و دفاع از حقوق صنفى خود تريبون آزادى را در صحن دانشگاه برگزار و پس از تجمع در مقابل ساختمان معاون فرهنگي، به سمت درب اصلى دانشگاه راهپيمايى كردند.
وى با بيان اينكه اين تحصن از ساعت 5/11 صبح آغاز و تا ساعت 13:30 به طول كشيد، افزود: در اين تحصن دانشجويان خواستار استعفاى معاونت دانشجويى دانشگاه بودند

[RedWine]

استاندار آذربايجان شرقی در سخنانی به رابطه گسترش بی حجابی با بيزاری نسل جوان از قوانين تحميلی مدهبی رژيم اعتراف کرد. وی در جريان معارفه مديركل جديد تبليغات اسلامى اين استان با اشاره به اين که "كشور درگير يك جنگ فرهنگى است", به ناتوانی رژيم در جذب جوانان اشاره کرد و گفت: "وقتى در شهرى كه 600 مسجد دارد و فقط در 6 مسجد نماز جماعت صبح خوانده مي*‏شود، نمي*‏توان به وضع حجاب جامعه ايراد گرفت."

[RedWine]

:"کميته اقدام کارگری (ايران)" در گزارشی از حمايت اتحاديه های اسپانيا و ايتاليا از کارگران ايران خودرو خبر داد. متن اين حمايت نامه به شرح زير است:


"سرمايه داران و حامی آنها ده ها نفر از كارگران اعتصابی شركت ايران خودرورا از كار اخراج كردند جرم اين كارگران شركت دراعتصاب هفدهم اسفند ماه يكهزار سيصدو هشتادو چهارشمسی كه برای رسيدن به خواسته های خود همانا پرداخت پاداش بهروره ای توليد و اجرای طرح طبقه بندی بود اعلام شده است." جمعی از كارگران ايران خودرو


ما امضا کنندگان زير اقدام دولت سرمايه داری ايران را محکوم کرده و خواهان بازگشت فوری و بدون قيد شرط کارگران ايران خودرو بر سر کارشان هستيم:

اسپانيا
Miriam Municio, Madrid, Estado Español, Sindicato de Estudiantes, Secretaria General
Bárbara Areal, Madrid, Estado español, IU, Consejo Político Regional de Madrid
Juan Ignacio Ramos, Madrid, Estado español, PCE, Responsable Político Agrupación de Enseñanza de Madrid
ايتاليا
Claudio Bellotti, national executive committee, Partito della Rifondazione Comunista
Alessandro Giardiello, national political committee, Partito della Rifondazione Comunista
Jacopo Renda
Elisabetta Rossi
Dario Salvetti, national coordinating committee, Giovani Comunisti -Partito della Rifondazione Comunista
Paolo Brini, central committee Fiom Cgil
Davide Bacchelli, provincial committee Fiom Cgil, Bologna
Giampiero Montanari, metal shopsteward Fiom Cgil
Ivan Serra, metal shopsteward Fiom Cgil, Bologna
Domenico Minadeo, chemical shopsteward, Filcea Cgil Imola
Nunzio Vurchio, metal shopsteward Fiom Cgil Milano
Massimo Cavallotti, services shopsteward Filmcams Cgil Milano
Samira Giulitti, insurance shopsteward Fisac Cigil Milano
Sara Cimarelli, insurance shopsteward Fisac Cigil Milano
Laura Parozzi, transport shopsteward Filt Cgil Milano
Antonio Forlano, transport shopsteward Filt Cgil Milano
Pino Marazzi, transport shopsteward Filt Cgil Milano
Laura Bassanetti, transport shopsteward Filt Cgil Milano
Silvia Ruggieri call center shopsteward Nidil Cgil Roma
Paolo Grassi, provincial committee, Nidil Cgil, Milano

[RedWine]

به نقل از خبرگزارى فرانسه، كاندوليزا رايس به برنامه*ى تلويزيونى ,فاكس نيوز آن ساندى, گفت: تضمين*هاى امنيتى روى ميز قرار ندارد.

وى در ادامه ادعا كرد: واضح است كه ما علاوه بر موضوع هسته*يي، موضوعات ديگرى را نيز با ايران داريم. ما دولتى را در ايران داريم كه متعهد به نابودى اسراييل است. ما دولتى را در ايران داريم كه در روند صلح خاورميانه مداخله مي*كند.

برخى گزارش*هاى رسانه*يى حاكى از آن بود كه انگليس، فرانسه و آلمان از واشنگتن درخواست كرده*اند تا تضمين*هايى را مبنى بر آن بدهد كه تهديدى را عليه حكومت ايران اعمال نخواهد كرد.

اما رايس به شدت اين را تكذيب كرد كه سه كشور اروپايى چنين درخواستى را مطرح كرده باشند و گفت: اول از همه، اجازه دهيد سابقه را درست بيان كنيم. از ما خواسته نشده كه تضمين*هاى امنيتى به ايران بدهيم. چيزى كه ما درباره*اش صحبت مي*كنيم مجموعه*اى است كه اين را براى ايران تصريح خواهد كرد كه گزينه*هايى براى انتخاب دارد، اين مي*تواند تحريم يا اقداماتى عليه ايران توسط جامعه*ى جهانى يا آن كه راهى براى آنها به منظور برآوردن نيازهاى مسالمت*آميز برنامه*ى هسته*يي*شان باشد.

وزير خارجه*ى آمريكا در ادامه با بيان اين كه ,شما نمي*توانيد اين سوال را خارج از اين چارچوب مطرح كنيد كه ايران در سيستم بين*المللى چه مي*كند,، ادعا كرد: ايران در سيستم بين*المللى دردسرساز و بانكدار مركزى تروريسم است. تضمين*هاى امنيتى روى ميز نيستند.

بر اساس اين گزارش، انگليس، فرانسه و آلمان در حال تدارك مجموعه*اى از پيشنهادات تجاري، فن*آورى و امنيتى براى ايران در صورتى هستند كه تهران موافقت كند غني*سازى اورانيوم را متوقف كند.

در پيش*نويس اين پيشنهاد مسايلى مانند حمايت از ساخت راكتورهاى آب سبك و تاسيس بانك سوخت هسته*يى مطرح شده است، اما ايران امروز تعليق غني*سازى اورانيوم را رد كرد.

وزير امور خارجه*ى آمريكا درباره*ى قطعنامه*اى كه كشورش در تطابق با فصل هفت منشور سازمان ملل براى تصويب آن در شوراى امنيت عليه ايران اعمال فشار مي*كند، گفت: ما مي*خواهيم به دولت و مردم ايران نشان دهيم كه مي*توان راهى را براى خروج از اين بحران يافت، راه برون*رفت توانايى ايران براى استفاده*ى صلح*آميز از فن*آورى هسته*يى را مد نظر مي*گيرد.

وى ادعا كرد كه واشنگتن و همراهان اروپايي*اش مي*خواهند به ايران آنچه وى آن را راهى براى بازگشت به موضع*گيري*هاى خوب خواند، نشان دهند و افزود: اگر آنها اين راه را نروند، ما راه ديگرى را پى مي*گيريم.

[RedWine]

A leading spokesman for Iranian Jews is thanking the world for its outcry over a report that the mullahs were readying legislation that would require Jews and other religious and ethnic minorities to wear distinguishing markers.

While the legislation considered in the Iranian parliament, the Majlis, so far does not create a dress code for Iran's Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians - an echo of Nazi laws that required Jews, homosexuals, Gypsies, and communists to wear distinctive armbands and badges - the spokesman, Sam Kermanian, said yesterday that he suspected early reports of this kind may have been a trial balloon.

"I am not sure if we have the whole picture. The person who originally reported this, Amir Taheri, is someone with fantastic credibility. In my heart, I think there must have been something that triggered this," Mr. Kermanian said.

Mr. Kermanian, who is the secretary-general of the Iranian American Jewish Federation in Los Angeles, spent hours over the weekend on the phone with Tehran trying to determine the accuracy of a report in the New York Post by Mr. Taheri and a stronger piece in Canada's National Post that said the proposed regulations would require Jews to wear special badges, evoking memories of the yellow Stars of David that Jews were obliged to wear in Nazi Germany.

The National Post story turned out to be incorrect. Over the weekend, the representative of Iran's Jewish community in the Iranian legislature, Maurice Motamed, denied that the proposed dress code changes would require minorities to wear distinctive clothing or badges. The chairman of the parliament's cultural committee, Emad Afroogh, also told wire services that the initial reports of such restrictions were "worthless."

A summary of the legislation that appeared on the Majlis Web site contained no specific language designating special dress codes or markers for minorities, either. Nonetheless, the regime in Tehran has been more brutal to its opponents in recent months. A video surfaced over the weekend of the leader of Iran's striking bus drivers, Mansour Osanloo, discussing and showing the results of his torture, including a gash on his chin and a hole in his tongue, at the hands of his jailors earlier this year. The torture of Mr. Osanloo was first reported by The New York Sun in March.

A Canadian-American reformist philosopher, Ramin Jahanbegloo, also remains in prison after being arrested at the Tehran airport on April 27 despite increasing international pressure.

Mr. Taheri, for his part, is sticking to his story. In a May 20 dispatch for the New York Post, Mr. Taheri wrote that the new Iranian law would envision separate clothing guidelines for ethnic and religious minorities, to "enable Muslims to instantly recognize non-Muslims so that they can avoid shaking hands with them by mistake."

An Iranian-American anti-regime activist living in New York, Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi, said the formal legislation does not contain language on the special insignias, but added that Mr. Taheri was correct in saying this measure is being discussed and considered.

"I have spoken to quite a few people and it is a subject being discussed," she said. "This is about being able to decipher who is who, so they can pinpoint the dissidents who make trouble for the regime and determine what ethnic group they come from."

Some who fear that President Bush may be planning a land war against Iran, or at least the aerial bombing of its suspected nuclear facilities, pounced on the fact that the central claim of the National Post story has not been confirmed. On his Web log yesterday, the former president of the Middle East Studies Association, Juan Cole, called the original National Post story a "black psy-ops operation," implying it was deliberately planted to demonize President Ahmadinejad.

But the prospect of a dress code for non-Muslims in an Iranian theocracy is not so far-fetched. Iranian religious leaders historically mandated dress codes for non-Muslims. The country's current constitution already carves out special status for non-Muslims, prohibiting them from obtaining senior posts in either the army or government. Muslims in Iran officially enjoy preference over non-Muslims in gaining admission to universities.

A national ordinance enacted in 2000 and 2001 requires all non-Muslim butchers, grocers, and purveyors of food to post a form in the window of their place of business warning Muslims that they do not share their faith. At the time it was put in place, the code was defended on the grounds that it enforced Islamic dietary law.

Yesterday, Mr. Kermanian said he was grateful for the outpouring of international support after the report of the badges legislation first surfaced. "Our community was heartened to see so much international support on the subject," he said. "And considering the anti-Semitic environment in Iran, which exists due to government-sanctioned propaganda, this sort of support is a matter of great comfort to us now."

[RedWine]

A group of Israeli diplomats wants to sue Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for incitement to genocide.
Lawyers are preparing to send a file on Mr Ahmadinejad, who has repeatedly called for the destruction of Israel, to the International Court of Justice.

Among those backing the move are former Israeli ambassadors to the UN and the US and a former cabinet minister.

They say Mr Ahmadinejad's comments have broken a 1948 UN genocide convention, to which Iran is a signatory.

Israeli legal experts have examined a series of comments made by Mr Ahmadinejad to assess whether his remarks defy the convention.

Mr Ahmadinejad has made a series of anti-Israeli remarks since winning Iran's presidential election in 2005.

'Rotten tree'

According to reports in Israeli media, the diplomats engaged the Jerusalem Centre for Public Affairs, headed by former UN ambassador and government adviser Dore Gold, to establish whether a prosecution would be justified.

From our preliminary investigation there is no question that Ahmadinejad violated the convention

Dore Gold
Former Israeli UN ambassador


Profile: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
An advisory document recommending moving ahead with a prosecution is almost complete, Israeli news website Ynetnews.com reported.

The document lists a series of comments by Mr Ahmadinejad including a remark, made in October 2005, expressing a wish to "wipe Israel off the map", Ynetnews.com said.

In April 2006 he described Israel as "a rotten and dried-up tree which will be destroyed by one storm".

The legal document is expected to conclude that Mr Ahmadinejad's comments constitute "direct and public incitement to commit genocide".

"From our preliminary assessment, there is no question that Ahmadinejad violated the genocide convention, which specifically addresses the issue of incitement to genocide," Mr Gold told the Associated Press news agency.

Non-binding

The UN convention defines genocide as the intent or actual destruction, in whole or in part, of a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.

It describes any "direct and public incitement to commit genocide" as a breach of the convention.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the court of the UN, based in The Hague.

It makes rulings in disputes, although many countries often dispute its jurisdiction. The court also gives non-binding advisory opinions when asked to do so by relevant UN organisations.

In 2004 the court ruled that parts of Israel's West Bank "security barrier" that ran through Palestinian land were illegal.

[RedWine]

Iran's Jews struggle in the shadow of Holocaust denials
When Ciamak Morsathegh chose to take up a position as the medical boss of Sapir hospital, he did not regret the "big opportunities" he was giving up in an already high-flying career. "This hospital is part of our identity as Jews," he says. "It is the practical point of interaction between us and non-Jews in Iran. We help anybody. We don't ask them their religion."

The pictures on opposite walls in Dr Morsathegh's office tell their own story. The stern features of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, father figure of Iran's Islamic revolution, glower down from above the desk, as they do in almost every office in the country. Facing the desk is a painting of Moses, Aaron, and a tablet bearing the Ten Commandments.

At more than 20,000, Iran remains home to the largest Jewish community in the Middle East outside Israel, despite post-revolutionary emigration that saw tens of thousands leave. Those who remain say emigration has slowed and those who have stayed are unlikely to change their minds.

Sapir Hospital is a venerable institution of Iranian Jewish life. Founded 60 years ago as a charitable body, it provides free and heavily subsidised care for people in its working class neighbourhood. In some ways, it continues a medical tradition in which Jewish physicians have been celebrated in Iran for centuries. Only a few staff are Jews - most Jewish doctors in Tehran run their own practices - but it is funded by Jewish donations.

Now, Iranian Jews are worried and angered by their President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's denial of the Holocaust. Haroun Yashayaie, head of Tehran's Jewish Committee, wrote to him in February, saying his comments caused "fear" in his community.

"It worried us, it was disrespectful," said a woman who did not want to be named. "Everyone knows six million Jews were killed and burnt but the President denies this. How does he know if something happened or not?"

The fact that she did not want to be named shows the tightrope on which minorities walk in Iran. Jews, Zoroastrians and Christians have rights and limitations enshrined in the constitution. They each elect their own member of parliament and are entitled to worship freely but not to proselytise. They are not bound by Muslim dietary proscriptions and can make, but not sell, alcohol. Iranian Jews talk of repeating patterns of discrimination - the difficulty of securing a government job and anti-Semitism in state media - but say they do not face active hostility.

"Everyone thinks the Islamic republic is killing us, but this is wrong," Dr Morsathegh insists. "As a minority we have some problems, but they are not as bad as people outside the country think. We can live here, study here, work here."

It is early morning in Yusuf Abad, an old middle-class neighbourhood home to many of Tehran's Jewish families, and as the city stirs itself awake a low chanting pervades the mulberry-lined street. It is a weekday and the synagogue has attracted few worshippers. About 40 men, all in skull caps and the traditional tallit shawl, read from the Torah as the rabbi gently intones from a dais. These, or similar, words have been recited every morning in Iran since about 700BC.

Since the revolution, synagogue attendances have soared. Jews say this is in part because of the more religious atmosphere propagated by the Islamic republic and partly because minorities have drawn in upon themselves. "Before the revolution people were less religious and mixed more between faiths," a customer in a kosher butcher said. "Friendships with Muslims happen but they are more difficult. Things aren't how they used to be."

In 1998, 10 Jews from Shiraz, home to the second largest Jewish community in Iran, were imprisoned for spying for Israel. Analysts said the arrests were intended to sabotage the growing rapprochement between a then-reformist government and the West. The last were freed in 2003, but the trial demonstrated the vulnerability of Jews and lingering Muslim suspicions that they represent a fifth column for foreign powers.

"This President has shown his extremism in all respects," the man in the butcher's said. "Some people think it doesn't apply to them because he's talking about Jews outside Iran. But a Jew is always a Jew."

Iranian Jews have learnt the hard way that they must publicly renounce any connection to Israel or Zionism. In the first days after the revolution, several Jews were executed on charges of Zionism and relations with Israel. Since then, spokesmen for the community have protested their antipathy to Israel.

Most of those spoken to professed their fundamentally Iranian nature, something they say would make it difficult for them to live as émigrés abroad. "Iranian Jews have been good Iranians for 2,700 years," Dr Morsatheghi says. "I can speak in English, but I only think in Persian. This is my language and my native culture. I'm not going to leave."

When Ciamak Morsathegh chose to take up a position as the medical boss of Sapir hospital, he did not regret the "big opportunities" he was giving up in an already high-flying career. "This hospital is part of our identity as Jews," he says. "It is the practical point of interaction between us and non-Jews in Iran. We help anybody. We don't ask them their religion."

The pictures on opposite walls in Dr Morsathegh's office tell their own story. The stern features of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, father figure of Iran's Islamic revolution, glower down from above the desk, as they do in almost every office in the country. Facing the desk is a painting of Moses, Aaron, and a tablet bearing the Ten Commandments.

At more than 20,000, Iran remains home to the largest Jewish community in the Middle East outside Israel, despite post-revolutionary emigration that saw tens of thousands leave. Those who remain say emigration has slowed and those who have stayed are unlikely to change their minds.

Sapir Hospital is a venerable institution of Iranian Jewish life. Founded 60 years ago as a charitable body, it provides free and heavily subsidised care for people in its working class neighbourhood. In some ways, it continues a medical tradition in which Jewish physicians have been celebrated in Iran for centuries. Only a few staff are Jews - most Jewish doctors in Tehran run their own practices - but it is funded by Jewish donations.

Now, Iranian Jews are worried and angered by their President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's denial of the Holocaust. Haroun Yashayaie, head of Tehran's Jewish Committee, wrote to him in February, saying his comments caused "fear" in his community.

"It worried us, it was disrespectful," said a woman who did not want to be named. "Everyone knows six million Jews were killed and burnt but the President denies this. How does he know if something happened or not?"

The fact that she did not want to be named shows the tightrope on which minorities walk in Iran. Jews, Zoroastrians and Christians have rights and limitations enshrined in the constitution. They each elect their own member of parliament and are entitled to worship freely but not to proselytise. They are not bound by Muslim dietary proscriptions and can make, but not sell, alcohol. Iranian Jews talk of repeating patterns of discrimination - the difficulty of securing a government job and anti-Semitism in state media - but say they do not face active hostility.
"Everyone thinks the Islamic republic is killing us, but this is wrong," Dr Morsathegh insists. "As a minority we have some problems, but they are not as bad as people outside the country think. We can live here, study here, work here."

It is early morning in Yusuf Abad, an old middle-class neighbourhood home to many of Tehran's Jewish families, and as the city stirs itself awake a low chanting pervades the mulberry-lined street. It is a weekday and the synagogue has attracted few worshippers. About 40 men, all in skull caps and the traditional tallit shawl, read from the Torah as the rabbi gently intones from a dais. These, or similar, words have been recited every morning in Iran since about 700BC.

Since the revolution, synagogue attendances have soared. Jews say this is in part because of the more religious atmosphere propagated by the Islamic republic and partly because minorities have drawn in upon themselves. "Before the revolution people were less religious and mixed more between faiths," a customer in a kosher butcher said. "Friendships with Muslims happen but they are more difficult. Things aren't how they used to be."

In 1998, 10 Jews from Shiraz, home to the second largest Jewish community in Iran, were imprisoned for spying for Israel. Analysts said the arrests were intended to sabotage the growing rapprochement between a then-reformist government and the West. The last were freed in 2003, but the trial demonstrated the vulnerability of Jews and lingering Muslim suspicions that they represent a fifth column for foreign powers.

"This President has shown his extremism in all respects," the man in the butcher's said. "Some people think it doesn't apply to them because he's talking about Jews outside Iran. But a Jew is always a Jew."

Iranian Jews have learnt the hard way that they must publicly renounce any connection to Israel or Zionism. In the first days after the revolution, several Jews were executed on charges of Zionism and relations with Israel. Since then, spokesmen for the community have protested their antipathy to Israel.

Most of those spoken to professed their fundamentally Iranian nature, something they say would make it difficult for them to live as émigrés abroad. "Iranian Jews have been good Iranians for 2,700 years," Dr Morsatheghi says. "I can speak in English, but I only think in Persian. This is my language and my native culture. I'm not going to leave."

[RedWine]

Members of Iran's Azeri minority hurled stones in violent protests on Monday, enraged by a newspaper cartoon they said insulted them, a semi-official news agency and a witness said.

The ILNA labor news agency said thousands protested in the northwestern city of Tabriz and that police used teargas to try to disperse the crowd. The exact number of demonstrators could not be confirmed.

A resident said furious protesters threw stones at banks and smashed windows.

"They are angry because ... we (Azeris) are insulted by a cartoon," Soraya, a 40-year-old mother, told Reuters by telephone from Tabriz.

The cartoon, which appeared in Friday's edition of the official Iran newspaper, showed a boy repeating the Persian word for cockroach in different ways, while a cockroach in front of the boy asked "What?" in Azeri.

The Azeris of northwestern Iran speak a language related to Turkish. Although Azeris have many luminaries among Iran's commercial elite, Iran's majority Persians mock them as stupid in their jokes.

The conservative Siyasat-e Rouz daily on Sunday said a crowd of Azeris had set fire to Iran's local office in the city of Orumiyeh, where Azeris make up the majority of the population. They account for about 25 percent of the overall population.

ILNA said the protesters chanted slogans against the cartoon in Azeri outside the provincial governor's office, which some of the crowd pelted with stones.

"The police are carrying out their responsibilities. The gathering in Tabriz is illegal," an Interior Ministry official, identified only as Razavi, said, according to ILNA.

He added police were trying to restore order.

Earlier on Monday, some students at a university in Tehran also protested against the cartoon.

Some ethnic groups, including in Arab and Kurdish areas of Iran, have complained about unfair treatment from Tehran but the Azeri community usually has few complaints.

[RedWine]

The whole situation over Iran's nuclear ambition and access to technology has overtaken the main news for the past few months. On one side there are a group of people (neo cons) who want to take military actions against Iran and destroy the military and nuclear sites then there are others (European countries) who believe diplomacy is the way to go. But then you have the Iranian government who adamantly is persisting on its right to nuclear technology and is using the pretext of NPT as well as the rights of Iranian people to such a technology.

However; I would like to argue here that despite I am not for a military strike against Iran, but I am 100% for the removal of the Iranian government and the regime and I will discuss in this article how one can take such an action against one of the vicious and cruel regimes of 21st century.

As I said I am against the military strike against Iran, since I know that a military strike will only harm the Iranian people and also strengthen the mullahs who are desperately looking for such a confrontation in order to prove to the public that there is such a thing as great Satan. I have argued in the past that a military against Iran should be avoided, but at the same time I have argued the importance on strengthening the economic ties with Iran, thus strengthening the middle class and providing the grounds for a democratic society based on needs and yearning for more freedom of expression after the basic needs have been satisfied.

The mullahs have been in power in Iran for the past thirty years just because they have kept people busy with work and running from one job to the next in order to make ends meet. But I think there is need to remove this government who has committed the most brutal acts of crime against my people after Genghis Khan invaded the great Persia.

In order to remove this government one must look at the current events that are happening in Iran. The external and internal forces affecting Iran and the competitive advantage that one might have in order to over take this brutal regime. This approach needs a clear and comprehensive strategy to remove this government and then establish the grounds for a reformist style government followed with referendum and design of constitution that meets the needs of every Iranian. The ways you can prepare the grounds for the removal of the Iranian regime is, first by starting to establish all the ties with Iranian government and start to build a strong middle class.

Second, the CIA and other intelligence service agencies have to gather all the necessary intelligence over this regime, because one of the keys to remove this brutal regime is by gathering valid and valuable intelligence. Third, they must establish their bases in Iran for strategic attacks to weaken the government. This can occur by assassinating the key leaders in the regime.

Finally, one must establish opposition forces that are ready to rise up against the regime at any time. I read one of our friend's articles last week "Who do you trust? Iranian opposition forces" by Jahanshah Rashidian and I was very pleased with the way he laid out the current Iranian opposition groups in Iran.

Mr. Rashidian clearly brought up to our attention the lack of leadership and vision by each one of these groups. I would like to emphasize here in this article that before any action there must be a leader before anything can happen. And this leader must have vision, leadership skills and be charismatic. Then we can pursue with the whole regime removal.

Iran is like a dying organization that is in need of revitalization and reengineering. The top management must be fired and trialed for corruption and embezzlement. Once the wheel of revolution is rolling the temporary selected leader must establish a government that can clearly respect all Iranians and Iran's complex cultural and ethnic diversity.

I believe this regime must go and it must go now before it ruins Iran and Iranian. We need to establish our self once again as a proud nation and people. We can not say that for now we have other things to deal with and let a nut case like Ahmadinejad to run Iran and continuously destroy our reputation as a proud nation. We Iranians are proud of our history and our culture, thus we must fight the current regime before they destroy us.

[RedWine]

I cannot propose an extensive definition of an Iranian democratic movement that would certainly be presumptuous; such a movement is a big aspiration of all freedom-loving Iranians. It must be called and discussed by all Iranian democrats. Unfortunately, it neither has a place in political life of Iranian society nor has a name in our collective memory.

Long apathy of international community and lack of an Iranian democratic movement have permitted the IRI to further oppress the Iranian citizens, many of the people have turned against the IRI as a system of political repression and brutality. Corruption and economic mismanagement by the IRI have provided fertile ground for a democratic political movement based on secular and unconditional democracy.

The agenda of the IRI is full of terrors and disasters for Iran. IRI’s officials have brought many acts of political violence committed in Iran and abroad. This has stimulated a debate among all democrats on how to get rid of the regime. It is also a historical occasion for an Iranian democratic movement to get rid of a system of belief which has historically been imposed with all its negative consequences on Iranian people.

An Iranian democratic movement must be formed, preferably, abroad by all freedom-loving people who seek to free Iran from the plague of the IRI. Undoubtedly all opposition groups are not in harmony with each other, it is however an ideal that all the democratic opposition groups are united within one direction, the direction of a secular and democratic force in Iran with a great historical responsibility, to free Iran.

Such a movement should simply use both the experiences from the struggles against the last two successive dictatorial regimes in Iran and the successful experiences of all peoples worldwide in their struggles for freedom, secularism and progress. As such, it should realistically use all tactical methods and independently receive all international helps, assistance, advice in order to topple the IRI and open the way for an elected secular democratic regime in Iran, in which all political authorities are directly elected by people. Such a movement must be honest, open, solid and trustful to people. It cannot bargain the interests of Iranian people by involving into whims of international political games.

An Iranian democratic movement cannot consider our society a lab of ideological experiments. Such a movement should be the fruit of Iranian people’s struggles for freedom and self-rehabilitation. Such a movement does not symbolise a throne, the Koran or any symbol of submission. By emphasising on all individual freedom, including free choice for one’s religion, such a movement, from beginning on, democratically confronts the behaviour of the backward religiosity which since many centuries has robbed the chance of progress and democracy from our social consciousness.

An Iranian democratic movement should immediately present its programme to the immediate demands of society, namely unconditional democracy, social justice, gender equality, development of national economy, rehabilitation of an Iranian identity, culture and art, negation of Islam as state religion, elimination of all religious institutions, removal of all religious aspects from education, judiciary and social life, and of course many other measures to free the country from the long Islamic plague of backwardness, successive dictators and lack of democracy and dynamism in Iran. After the IRI’s fall, it should organise a constitutional assembly for a new constitution without however monopolising political power.

An Iranian democratic movement should bring all criminals of the IRI and their collaborators before an international court for their crimes against humanity. However, such a court should not ignore the fact that the essence of process is not individual punishment but the rehabilitation of Iranian dignity, it proves that no Iranian woman is half that of a man that no Iranian can be punished for his political or religious belief that no dungeons, torture and humiliation can be anymore tolerated. By condemning the current political system of medieval belief, such a process symbolises a return to the civilised world and a lesson to our history.

An Iranian democratic movement has a hard task to confront the IRI, one of the wildest killing apparatus of the world. However, a regime change, as it is heard from Bush administration, is not to be founded on the interests of Iranians. The West is traditionally more interested in the economic gains and does not seem to realise that political Islam not only threatens Iranian people, but also the whole international community. The West still ignores that their barrels of Iranian oil cost many lives in Iran.

Despite the Western rhetoric of regime change, their policies towards the IRI can be reduced to some reforms within the regime. An Iranian democratic movement should not rely on the West or any other foreign country.

The US policy towards the IRI is not based on the facts that the IRI is “trampling democracy and human rights”, “supporting terrorism“ and etc, all these accusations are true ofSaudi Arabia, Pakistan and many other allies of the US. But all evidence points that the West has their own interests. If the bellicose IRI refuses to enrich uranium for its nuclear programme, in such a case for the US, this “regime change” will not be a divine mission or a national duty. The West has been trying for the last few years to succeed, though unlikely, in finding some compromises with the IRI.

But in the highest probability, their “regime change” can mean that some other IRI’s factions undertake the “regime change”. They may have or may find new allies within the IRI for such a change à la military coups of Muslim and pro-American generals in Pakistan. What practically concerns an Iranian democratic movement, the present conflicts of the West with the IRI can intelligently be used but not politically followed.

Another hand a “regime change” for Iranian interests does not automatically share the same goals with the West; a “regime change” for the West can be in its ideal level a government change, but for the Iranian interests and consequently for an Iranian democratic movement , it means a change of system, a reject of the momentous IRI entirely.

In critical conditions the ruling IRI can be divided into many gangs, cliques and factions under pressure of a chain of crises, and the ruling apparatus may even seek for handles with inner or outer opponents. A democratic movement by avoiding any handle should not fulfil the tactical interests of the IRI. So now it is not time to deal with the regime’s factions but to topple it.

The fact that a nuclear Iranian regime will have greater bargaining power to use as a lever to intensify its dictatorship must be recognised; therefore an Iranian democratic movement should take part in any international campaign against the dangerous IRI. However, it should not be forgotten that the greatest danger is not the regime’s nuclear programme but its existence itself. While the world can easily confront direct military threats of the IRI, Iranians cannot easily confront the threats of the IRI’s dictatorship; it is not the same as saying the regime will be a threat to the US, the greatest military power in the world, with its huge military capacity.

As all freedom-loving people launch campaigns for disarmament and against weapons of mass destruction, an Iranian democratic movement, by condemning the jihadist strategy of IRI’s nuclear-Allah, should put the priority on the question of legitimacy of the IRI.

[RedWine]

2

The nuclear conflict is intentionally propagated by the IRI to mask its totalitarian characters from the centre of dialogue; it is a chance for the regime to associate its parasitic existence with the right of having a nuclear programme for the nation. Honestly considered, the IRI cannot legally be forced to give up rights to its nuclear programme; the country is expressly allowed as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty. This also included enrichment of uranium. But it is unfair to reduce the whole controversial legitimacy of the IRI to one single problem. While in the nuclear dispute, both the IRI and the US are adding fuel to the flames and making all nonsense of assertions to attempt a dangerous escalation of conflict, for Iranians the problem is the existence of the IRI itself with or without this conflict. Therefore, an Iranian democratic movement must in any occasion tighten the snooze around the question of legitimacy of the IRI.

Of course, nuclear weapons still pose the biggest threat to peace. This does not only apply to one part of the world, it applies to the world as a whole. This must be said very clearly and honestly. In the other hand the IRI is a totalitarian regime with dangerous jihadist capacity, nuclear technology in the hands of Islamists means a new weapon of jihad, an nuclear-Allah. Therefore from this point of view, no stone must be left unturned in the international attempt to prevent an nuclear-Allah-arsenal from being built by the jihadist IRI. But there is no military solution to the problem. Economic sanctions, too, are highly immoral and counterproductive and even develop the ongoing Mullahs’ mafia in Iran.

But the UN should impose a ban on the direct or indirect sale, supply and transfer to IRI-controlled areas of technical advice, assistance or training related to military activities. The sanctions must directly target IRI’s means of oppression, in other words, their military plans.

The UN should punish the oppressive IRI but cannot further punish the oppressed Iranian people. The Iranian democratic opposition, by demanding non-economic and full military and diplomatic sanctions on the IRI, should express concerns at the possible adverse impact of sanctions on the most vulnerable segments of the population, such as less protected poor people, women and children.

Attacks on Iranian military installations are not only illegal under international laws, but they would also tighten the dictatorship in Iran and harbour incalculable consequences for the entire region. It costs many lives and seriously damages the national infrastructures. Those who are serious about preventing an IRI’s nuclear programme cannot address their threats to Iranian people. The Bush administration uses the word “Iran” for the IRI; it implicitly means that Iranian people should atone for the IRI’s crimes. It is time that Bush finally improves his diplomatic vocabulary by realising that there is a gulf of contradiction between people and their non-democratic elected governments, especially between Iranian people and the anti-Iranian IRI.

The IRI must be internationally isolated, all diplomatic, cultural and sport contacts, must be suspended. All foreign accounts of IRI’s officials must be frozen. Their mafia activities in the Persian Gulf and around Iran must be internationally under controlled. International mandates must be issued against IRI’s officials for their crimes against humanity. There are many other sanctions that can be proposed on IRI’s officials, but neither military nor economic sanctions must be accepted by an Iranian democratic movement.

An Iranian democratic movement after its formation, in an initial step, must propose to the UN and the Council of Europe to approve a resolution, which puts the IRI and the political Islam on an equal status of fascism and criminal organisation. Such a resolution is not either beyond the legal competency of these organisations nor the judicial facts. This is an active contribution to elaborating a charter of principles for an IRI’s isolation. Meanwhile such an Iranian democratic movement must try to represent Iranian people in the UN as the only legitimate representation of Iranian people.

The political Islam is today interpreted by those who usually have limited political knowledge but tricky experience with political games. Since theological schools are apolitical by tradition, forms of political Islam are developed and propagated by the combination of an activist clergy and political radical groups.

Today, the political Islam is globally inspired and used by the IRI. It recognises violence and terror as its legitimate means of its way to “Dar-al-Islam”, house of Islam. The term of liberal or moderate Islamists is not meaningful, there is no effective difference between different groups of Islamists, and none of them shares their values with secular democrats except in a narrow range of concerns, including lack of democracy in the Islamic world, which is mainly a consequence of Islam itself.

To pretend an interpretation of Islam, which is modern and compatible with universal human rights, gender equality, pluralism and democracy is a huge contradiction with the existence of Islam itself. Any Iranian secular force who believes in this scenario does not belong to an Iranian democratic movement.

The difference between all interpretations of political Islam merely consists of their methods to follow their “path” to “Dar-al-Islam”, a world of Islamic morality and Islamic identity. In this perspective, their state is ultimately nothing but a coercive instrument against the profane world of non-Muslims. What concerns an Iranian democratic movement, Islam has no more right to impose a monopoly of morality or identity on Iranians. Therefore, an Iranian democratic movement should propagate the attractive idea of removal of Islamic influences from any aspect of social life, such as moral, culture, language, art, literature and identity of Iranian people.

To conclude my article: Formation of an Iranian democratic movement is a necessary and immediate demand of all freedom-loving people around the world. It has three major duties: Encouraging and leading Iranian people’s struggles against the IRI, toppling the IRI entirely, preparing the conditions for a democratically elected government in Iran.

[RedWine]

مدير كل امنيتى وزارت كشور گفت: نوع حركتهايى كه در تبريز در حال شكل گيرى است فراتر از اعتراض به اهانت صورت گرفته از سوى يك روزنامه، تصور مى شود.
"رضوى" در گفت وگو با خبرنگار ايلنا تصريح كرد: تجمع مردم تبريز ساعت 16 شروع شد كه تعدادشان با گذشت زمان افزايش يافت به گونه اى كه اين افزايش در حال رفتن به سمت ناآرامي*‏هاست.
وى با تاكيد بر اينكه اين تجمع بدون مجوز و به صورت غير قانونى برگزار شده است، اظهارداشت: ممكن بود اين تجمع ساعت4 قابل هضم و درك باشد، اما ادامه آن تا اين ساعت به هيچ عنوان قابل درك نيست ،خصوصا اينكه اين درگيريها در حال حاضر به سمت اوباشگرى سوق داده مى شود.
مدير كل امنيتى وزارت كشور افزود: كسانى كه به صورت غير قانونى اين تجمع را برگزار كرده و كسانى كه اين تجمع را به سمت و سوى اوباش گرى مى برند از لحاظ قانونى كار نادرست و غير منطقى انجام داده*‏اند كه اين مساله در حال پيگيرى است.
رضوى اظهارداشت: ماموران نيروى انتظامى و كسانى كه در منطقه حضور دارند در حال انجام وظايف قانونى خود در جهت آرام كردن اوضاع هستند.
وى تاكيد كرد: آنچه براى ما در وزارت كشور اصل است رعايت حقوق شهروندى است و اجازه نخواهيم داد عده*‏اى با كارهاى غير قانونى حقوق مردم را تضييع كنند

[RedWine]

هزاران نفر در شهر تبريز به خيابانها ريختند و اعتراض خود را نسبت به چاپ يك كاريكاتور در يكى از روزنامه*‏هاى كثيرالانتشار صبح تهران نشان دادند.
به گزارش خبرنگار ايلنا از تبريز، در پى چاپ يك كاريكاتور توهين آميز به آذرى زبانان در يكى از روزنامه هاى كثيرالانتشار، هزاران نفر در تبريز به خيابان ها ريختند و با سردادن شعارهايى خواستار اعاده حيثيت آذرى زبانان شدند.
اين تظاهرات از ساعت چهار بعدازظهر روز دوشنبه در خيابان راسته كوچه و ميدان نماز آغاز شد و معترضان بدون آنكه برنامه خاصى براى اين تجمع تدارك ديده باشند ابتدا شروع به سر دادن شعار كردند و سپس به سمت استاندارى آذربايجان شرقى حركت كردند. در ديگر سوى شهر تبريز تعدادى از دانشجويان نيز به اين حركت پيوستند و از مقابل دانشگاه تبريز با سردادن شعارهايى اعتراض آميز، حمايت خود را در دفاع از حقوق آذرى زبانان نشان دادند.
گسترش حضور مردم در اين حركت به تدريج ارتباط دو سوى شهر تبريز را به هم پيوند مى داد، اما حضور ماموران نيروى انتظامى و نيروهاى ويژه مانع از ادامه حركت معترضان و ارتباط بين دو سوى شهر شد.
گزارش خبرنگار ما حاكى است با وجود آنكه بازار تبريز تعطيل بود، اما بازاريان و كسبه نيز خود نيز به اين حركت پيوسته بودند و در كنار جوانان و دانشجويان تاسف خود را از توهين به آذرى زبانان اعلام كردند.
در پى قطع ارتباط ميان دو سوى شهر، شركت كنندگان در تجمع خيابان راسته كوچه و بازاز كه شامل منطقه محدوده مركزى تبريز است به سمت استاندارى آذربايجان شرقى و فرماندارى تبريز حركت كردند.
حاضران با سردادن شعارهايى اعتراض آميز به زبان آذرى در مقابل استاندارى آذربايجان شرقى تجمع كردند و اعتراض خود را نسبت به چاپ كاريكاتور توهين آميز نشان دادند.
اين در حالى بود كه هيچ يك از مسئولان محلى در ميان مردم حضور پيدا نكردند و معترضان با هدايت نيروى انتظامى از مقابل استاندارى متفرق شده و به سمت بانك ملي، خيابان راسته كوچه، خيابان شريعتى و سه راه امين تغيير مسير دادند.
به گزارش خبرنگار ما، حضور خودروى آتش نشانى از يك سو و حركت ماموران به سمت مردم از سوى ديگر سبب شد كه اين تجمع آرام بوى خشونت به خود بگيرد و ماموران براى متفرق كردن معترضان اقدام به پرتاب گاز اشك آور كنند. پرتاب گاز اشك آور موجب متفرق شدن معترضان از مقابل استاندارى شد كه در اين هنگام عده*‏اى به سمت سردرب استاندارى و فرماندارى سنگ پرتاپ كردند.
همين گزارش حاكى است تجمع كنندگان با گذر از ميدان ساعت تبريز به سمت چهارراه منصور و آب رسانى و دانشگاه تبريز به مسير خود ادامه دادند.
در طول اين مسير نيز عده*‏اى به سمت برخى ساختمان هاى دولتى سنگ پرتاب كردند و اين در حالى بود كه ماموران نيروى انتظامى و به ويژه نيروهاى يگان ويژه با حضور در بين تجمع كنندگان سعى در متفرق كردن آنها و ايجاد آرامش بودند

[RedWine]

طرح استيضاح صفار هرندی، وزير ارشاد جمهوری اسلامی، در ارتباط با چاپ کاريکاتوری در يکی از شماره های روزنامه ايران در دست تهيه است و همزمان، دستور توقيف موقت اين روزنامه نيز صادر شده است.
به گزارش خبرگزاری دانشجويان ايران - ايسنا - عشرت شايق، از نمايندگان تبريز در مجلس، گفته است که نمايندگان آذری زبان به دليل تعلل وزير ارشاد در عذرخواهی نسبت به چاپ کاريکاتوری در يکی از روزنامه ها طرح استيضاح وی را تهيه کرده اند.

مهرانگيز مروتی، از ديگر نمايندگان مجلس، نيز گفته است که "اين طرح به دليل اهانت به ترک ها تدوين شده و هم اکنون در حال جمع آوری امضاست و ده امضا نيز دارد."

طرح استيضاح وزير ارشاد به ماجرای چاپ کاريکاتوری در يکی از شماره های ارديبهشت ماه روزنامه ايران، متعلق به خبرگزاری دولتی ايران - ايرنا - ارتباط دارد که در آن از يک عبارت به زبان ترکی استفاده شده است.

چاپ اين کاريکاتور باعث برگزاری تظاهرات اعتراضی گسترده ای به خصوص در تبريز شده است.

به نوشته برخی روزنامه های تهران، روزدوشنبه، 22 مه، گروهی از مردم تبريز به منظور اعتراض به چاپ اين کاريکاتور و عدم واکنش مقامات دولتی نسبت به آن در خيابان های تبريز دست به تظاهرات زدند و به سوی استانداری آذربايجان شرقی به راهپيمايی پرداختند.

انتشار کاريکاتور در روزنامه ايران به برگزاری تظاهرات اعتراضی منجر شد

همچنين گزارش شده است که جمعی از دانشجويان دانشگاه های تهران نيز در اعتراض به چاپ اين کاريکاتور در برابر دانشگاه تهران اجتماع کردند و دست به تظاهرات زدند.

در همانحال، دستور توقيف روزنامه ايران نيز صادر شده است.

به گزارش خبرگزاری دولتی ايران - ايرنا - هيات نظارت بر مطبوعات در جلسه فوق العاده خود در روز سه شنبه، 23 مه، با اکثريت آرا به توقيف روزنامه ايران رای داد.

وزارت ارشاد علت اين تصميم را انتشار مطالب تفرقه افکنانه و تحريک آميز در روزنامه ايران گزارش کرده و گفته است که پرونده اين روزنامه به دادگاه ارجاع می شود.

به گزارش ايسنا مديرکل مطبوعات داخلی وزارت ارشاد ضمن تاييد خبر توقيف روزنامه ايران گفته است که با طراح کاريکاتور و ساير افراد مسئول برخورد قضايی می شود.

اين مقام وزارت ارشاد ابراز اميدواری کرده است که توقيف موقت روزنامه ايران، به گفته وی، تا حدودی از التهاب و تنش ها بکاهد

[RedWine]

Iranian police arrested 54 people after riots over a newspaper cartoon which provoked angry protests in the large ethnic Azeri community, a legal source said.

A cartoon in Friday's edition of Iran newspaper had depicted an ethnic Azeri as a cockroach, sparking clashes between police and thousands of people in the main northwestern city of Tabriz.

"Fifty-four people have been arrested from the ones identified yesterday for vandalism," Tabriz prosecutor, Yusef Firoozi, was quoted as saying by the student ISNA agency.

"They have all had police records and the rest of those identified will be arrested soon."

A local intelligence ministry official, identified as Valizadeh, told ISNA: "the ones inciting unrest and vandalism yesterday were all supported by foreigners and were linked with issues in Khuzestan".

The oil-rich southwestern province of Khuzestan has an Arab majority and has been seen a series of bombings in the past year.

Valizadeh also accused the United States and Israel of seeking to incite ethnic disputes in Iran.

"Now that we are more united than ever, American and Israeli intelligence services have put Iran's ethnic issues on the agenda. Exploiting yesterday's move was in line with that," he was quoted as saying.

The Iranian government's official national newspaper was banned Tuesday, and two of its journalists arrested for publishing the cartoon.

"This ban is because it published material which provokes divisions among people. It is banned, and its case has been sent to the press court," said Hassan Kamran, a member of Iran's press supervisory committee.

He told ISNA that the paper would not be published again until a verdict on the case was issued by a special tribunal dealing with press offences.

Tehran's hardline chief prosecutor, Saeed Mortazavi, told state television that the cartoonist and page editor -- Mana Neyestani and Mehrdad Qasemfar -- had been arrested and taken to Tehran's Evin prison.

He said the publisher of the paper would also be prosecuted.

Press reports said that thousands of ethnic Azeris in Tabriz had gathered outside the office of the governor of East Azerbaijan province on Monday.

Etemad-Melli paper said police used tear gas to disperse the crowd after some protesters pelted security forces with stones, injuring several policemen.

Interior Minister Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi told the official IRNA news agency that publication of the cartoon was "an insult to all Iranians, and we cannot tolerate that".

The Iran newspaper -- which is published by IRNA -- has already made a formal apology and said the cartoonist has been sacked.

Ethnic Azeris, concentrated in northwestern Iran, account for some 25 percent of the population and are far more numerous in Iran than across the border in former Soviet Azerbaijan.

The hardline newspaper Kayhan blamed foreigners for inciting the ethnic unrest. "Our fellow Azeri countrymen are too clever to be exploited by Iran's sworn enemies in their plots," the paper said.

The Iran daily is not the first to run into problems this year.

A weekly publication in southern Iran was shut down permanently in April for "insulting the Islamic republic's leadership".

In March, another local weekly published in Iran's ethnic Azeri provinces was closed on charges of ethnic bias and of acting against national security.

Between 2000 and 2004, Iran's hardline judiciary shut down a large number of mostly reformist newspapers and magazines, and jailed scores of journalists.

[RedWine]

Train rides in New York yield many social insights to a casual observer. Trains are like high speed, mobile living rooms-- 5 minute windows into a person's life while they travel from one destination to another, and passengers willingly act out some of their more private tasks in very public spaces. People shave, eat, sleep, and even shit on trains. Strangers strike up conversations with one another, lovers quarrel, and beggars beg. As a young actress, Meryl Streep used to walk through the subway cars making animal sounds to get over her fear of performing in public.

Despite all the distractions and more than anything else, people in New York read on trains. Advertising panels in the cars, magazines, newspapers, the Bible, little leather bound Talmudic volumes in Hebrew and of course, all sorts of novels. Even the people who travel without reading material read over your shoulder so long as you don't catch them and the bold ones among them will read on, undeterred even if you do spot them peering over your shoulder.

I remember riding the train last summer in New York -- the iPod and its unmistakable white headphones, while a common sight, were not yet completely ubiquitous. The headlines of the trashy tabloid newspapers screamed about Jessica Simpson and Paris Hilton's latest fight, rising gasoline prices, and of Larry Brown's impending departure from Detroit to take over as coach of the hapless Knicks. Riding the train everyday also gives one a good sense of what is trendy, or is soon destined to become so. In 2005, bootleg brown Louis Vuitton bags were toted by women of all ages, races, and incomes from 168th Street all the way down to Brooklyn. Last summer, it seemed everyone was reading the book The Kite Runner, a fact that at times inexplicably made me want to share with the rider/reader next to me that I would be heading to Afghanistan later that summer.

This year, Larry Brown's departure from the New York Knicks to coaching purgatory seems imminent, cherry print Louis Vuitton bags are favored, everyone has an iPod, and the book of choice without a question is The Da Vinci Code. It's kind of impossible to resist reading it, with all the hype that it has received and the movie being released a few days ago. I myself read it a few months ago, and though not brilliantly written, I enjoyed the book very much.

I liked it because it persuasively suggests that the Christianity of today is a carefully engineered and very distant relative of what it was in its early days. Dan Brown, for all his limitations as a writer, had an amazing story in his head when he wrote The Da Vinci Code, one that is generating an increasing amount of controversy. True or false, creatively controversial or cheaply low-brow, The Da Vinci Code is a big deal -- I realized it on the subway today as I looked at the riders on each side of me reading the book while I read an article about the novel in the New Yorker, while all of us sat under a ceiling panel advertising the movie on the subway.

So what is the big deal? Why is everyone reading this book or lining up to see the movie? Is it THAT good? Is it the fact that Brown attacks the notion that Christ was a divine being and suggests that he was a mortal, one who married and had children? Or is it that Brown portrays the Catholic Church as a ruthless corporate entity bent on preserving its image and power by burying the truth? Maybe it's his depiction of Opus Dei, a shadowy religious order made famous in his book for resorting to murder to protect its deeply conservative views and sanctioning corporal mortification.

In all honesty, Dan Brown has not delivered a convincing scholarly blow to the Church and its version of Christ's life. Critics have gone to great lengths to debunk Brown's assertions in The Da Vinci Code, and Sony Pictures is making the discussion profitable by advertising dissenting views in order to encourage people to see the movie and make up their minds for themselves.

Personally, I don't care about how much of Brown's information is true, e.g. whether the Council of Nicea ever took place (where Bishops allegedly decided Jesus was to be known as a god rather than a man), or to what extent he got the other nuances correct. I am sure his numerous critics, many who are trained experts in the fields of theology, art history, and specialized fields of early Christian and medieval Church history can easily take him to task for his empirical errors and many already have.

What is truly interesting is that despite the fact that many of Brown's claims may be wrong, his story has struck a deep chord in the minds of millions -- Christians and non-Christians alike. Several polls show that a surprising number people think that Brown's book is an accurate depiction of Church history, despite mounting and well-researched evidence to the contrary. The Catholic Church and Opus Dei have both condemned the movie as anti-Christian and defamatory, one that threatens their positions in the eye of public opinion and the very foundations of the Christian faith.

Brown's book has sparked a cottage industry of books supporting or attacking his contentions, several hours of interviews with experts and theologians on television, and a tourist mini-revolution in Paris, catering to people who wish to trace the path of The Da Vinci Code through the winding streets and arrondissements of the city. People want to believe this story, whether it's true or not.

Riding the subway in New York today, I had a few guesses as to why this phenomenon maybe occuring. In today's social climate where governments and media are increasingly resourceful in thwarting and even distorting public opinion, maybe it doesn't matter that Dan Brown didn't get the facts right-- because it seems that no one else bothers to get them right either and the citizen/reader is increasingly left at the mercy of his own wits to discern fact from fiction. Maybe it's because the powers that be don't tell us the truth -- they tell us the version that keeps them in power and makes them appear righteous to the public.

Maybe this book strikes a nerve and states in highly readable language the fact that history belongs to the victorious -- maybe its popularity implies that people are all aware too aware of the dirty secrets that ruling institutions strive so desparately to hide, even if they cannot prove where they lie.

And maybe Americans, after enduring lie after lie from the Bush administraiton on the Iraq War, the War on Terror, Hurricane Katrina, global warming, Enron, etc. are eager to see any node of power in our world pointed to and irritated, taken to task, and forced to rebuff its charges. They want it bad enough that they are willing to buy millions of copies of a supermarket caliber novel and line up to see the watered-down movie version that perhaps will be best remembered for Tom Hanks' alarming hair style.

Who knows, maybe it will exceed expectations. I plan seeing the movie this weekend and talking to people on the train afterwards to find out.

[RedWine]

Up to 40 Iranian police officers have been injured in clashes with demonstrating students in Tehran.
Students were demonstrating about the appointment of a new college head at Tehran University and the forced retirement of some professors.

There were also protests at Tehran's Amirkabir University about activities of the hardline Basij militia.

The militia had "interfered in elections" for the Islamic Students Association, a pro-reform group.

Iran's student news agency INSA said protestors shouted "Death to reactionaries and dictatorship!" and "We don't want the Islam of the Taleban".

Amirkabir University is one of Iran's most prestigious technical colleges and research centres.

[RedWine]

کوی دانشگاه تهران - محل خوابگاه های دانشجويان اين دانشگاه - شاهد نا آرامی شبانه بوده که تعدادی زخمی برجای نهاده است.
به گزارش خبرگزاری دانشجويان ايران - ايسنا - از ساعت 21:30 سه شنبه، 23 مه، کوی دانشگاه تهران در منطقه اميرآباد شمالی (خيابان کارگر) شاهد تجمع اعتراضی گروهی از دانشجوي