Iranians' hope for U.S. policy shift dims

The U.S. election campaign aroused enormous interest in Iran - more than any previous foreign vote - and even the official Islamic Republic Broadcasting system aired extensive coverage of the campaign and the results.

But ordinary citizens in Tehran, speaking in the aftermath of the elections, said they were pessimistic about how different the new U.S. president would be.

A supermarket owner in his 50s, who asked to be identified only by his first name, Saeid, pointed to the television set in his shop in northern Tehran that showed Palestinians killed and injured by Israel's offensive in Gaza.

"[Mr. Obama] has not said anything about such a massacre," Saeid said. "How could I count on him to consider my situation as a poor Iranian and suspend trade bans on the aviation industry of my country or to let us have something which [the Americans] do not like?"

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Iranians historically scarred by Russian aggression

Washington Times - TEHRAN | Ahmad Tajadod makes his early morning tea in a samovar, drives an old Lada car to work, wears a Russian fur hat with ear flaps during cold Tehran winters and serves guests bootleg vodka at parties.

But Mr. Tajadod, an electrician who fixes wires in old houses, is not surprised by Russia's recent behavior in Georgia and two breakaway provinces in the Caucasus.

A native of the Iranian province of Azerbaijan, Mr. Tajadod remembers the period after World War II when a Soviet-backed communist party declared Iranian Azerbaijan an autonomous state. Intervention by Britain and the United States helped local forces make the Russians withdraw.

"We do not trust the Russians," he said.

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Iranian nuclear negotiator resigns: Your reaction

In Iran those important figures like Larijani always resigns instead of getting dismissed! I think his dismissal is a clear and shouting sign to the west which means the time of confrontation have already came. That means there is no time for negotiations anymore!
(Published on BBC haveyoursay)

Kurosh asks: What would you do?

Awhile the controversies and analyses about the next steps of Iran Nuclear Crisis, Kurosh Alyani had argued a public question to all his Persian readers who have weblogs: If supposing – just supposing it - that Americans bombard some places in Iran, what would you do?
Kurosh have also suggested 8 options for his audiences to choose:
1. Is it my business?! I would just drink my champagne!
2. I would sign a serious petition, would lobby with Iranian immigrants around the world and would want Kufi Anan and the head of countries to stop those mad actions.
3. I would book in a local voluntary military group to defend my homeland.
4. I would make a “nasty shit bomb” and would go for the first American institute or establishment.
5. I would get the same “nasty shit bomb” and trace for some idiots who have caused such an attack.
6. I would do something that Americans forget Bin Laden and Al Zarqawi’s names and get more familiar with Persian names.
7. What could I do? This is U.S.! Not a joke!
8. I would think. I would think as much as I could find a rational solution. Finding a rational solution is too difficult sometimes but is never impossible.
Kurosh Alyani has asked all his audiences to answer his question in their weblogs, as much as they could write in detail. He has written that he would link to all the answers which have been informed by his email address in his blog.
I would write more about my answer to him and other answers also. But Kurosh’s recent post identifies the new public sphere that has been formed in Persian blog-sphere better.
Kurosh Alyani is a graduated student of Sharif University of Technology and has been known as an Iranian journalist in recent years.

In Hope for Pluralistic Iranians

Iranians new generation differs a lot to their parents’ generation. One of the most important sights of this difference could be observed in their relationships with people who do not exactly believe in similar ideas.
Iranian parents were not tendentious to relate largely with people holding different ideas and lifestyles. Despite the parents have been grown up and educated under a so called secular regime who have deeply willed to omit the religion from Iranian lifestyle and the youth have been grown up and trained by an ideological regime which is still targeting the Iranian society in wish to extend Islamic lifestyle among them, now it is ironic that Iranian youth are experiencing a view to their believes in a full contrast with their parents. You can easily address young Iranians who have various ideas about the life and the universe and even about the God and they are really friends! This ideological tolerance is so strong that even some youth people have friendly relationships for years but they do not know what exactly their friends do believe in and do not believe in - and that is because they do not really care about the issue.
This tolerated multi-ideal sphere could help Iranian young society to reach a pluralistic culture, which could bear various colourful ideas and believes - just the factor that Iranian society suffers lack of it today!

:: This post have been published in News From Iran, a weblog wich represnts a chain news-program with the same name in Channel4. The program is being contributed from Iran. Best wishes for Jon Snow and the crew his Iran! You can post a comment about my view of Iranian life, like here in my weblog.