The Iranian Youth Leads Itself
Tuesday 23 Jun 09

Mahdiye, a 20-year-old student taking part in the “silent march” protesting the election results in Tehran last Monday, told a reporter for the New York Times, “We don’t really have a leader.” (New York Times, June 16, 2009.) She added, “Mousavi wants to do something, but they won’t let him. It is dangerous for him, and we don’t want to lose him. We don’t know how far this will go.”

Election Hyper Energy
Friday 08 May 09

Never in the past did presidential candidates speak so explicitly and never did they point out the ‎shortcomings of their rivals. Talking about the causes and consequences of the murder of intellectuals ‎victimized by the intelligence machinery of Iran (such as Saeed Sirjani) has precedence in election ‎campaigning. Never did a candidate insist on the possibility of election fraud and speak of a committee ‎to safeguard people’s vote.

Concessions to the Taliban


February 16, 2009 was a sad day. It was the day that the government of Pakistan made a ‎deal with the original residents of Swat valley and accepted that the 1.3 million residents ‎of the region be governed according to the Sharia as interpreted by the Taliban.‎ But this day was not sad for the politicians. From their perspective, the Taliban was doing ‎everything to exploit the local movement in Swat that was striving to replace the region’s ‎secular laws with religious ones.

Iranian Women and the Tenth Presidential Election
Monday 04 May 09

Considering the importance of this election, I would like to discuss the degree to which women are going to play a role in electing this president and the opportunities they will be presented with to candidate themselves.

Women and the Tenth Administration
Sunday 19 Apr 09

The demands of Iranian women are not limited to legal reforms. The breadth of the demands is such that the three branches of Legislative, Judiciary and Executive have duties and responsibilities for securing it. With great difficulties and hefty prices paid, women have thus far been able to express their legal demands to the effective law making individuals and bodies. Now that the election and formation of the tenth administration is on the way, it is time for women to request that the candidates publish their plans with respect to the particular problems faced by the female half of the population.

The Death Penalty


The AI report says that eight of those executed in Iran had committed crimes before they ‎had reached the age of 18. The methods used to execute the court orders in Iran were ‎hanging by rope and stoning, which are inhuman. One can add to the comments made in ‎the AI report that in most countries that support the capital punishment, there are ‎continuous efforts through scientific quarters to find ways to reduce the pain caused to ‎those who face such a fate.

Concessions to the Taliban
Thursday 19 Mar 09

February 16, 2009 was a sad day. It was the day that the government of Pakistan made a ‎deal with the original residents of Swat valley and accepted that the 1.3 million residents ‎of the region be governed according to the Sharia as interpreted by the Taliban.‎

Secularism
Tuesday 30 Dec 08

ranian women’s rights movement, being based on “equality” and insisting on the necessity of legal equality of men and women, has no foundation other than secularism. In a religious government, equality of men and women is impossible. In spit of this, one must not claim that secularism is the only tendency present in the women’s rights movement in today’s Iran.