Elections in Iran

I love it when the Tehran Times prints garbage like this.

President Mahmud Ahmadinejad here on Thursday urged the regional countries to be vigilant in the face of conspiracies by the United States and be prepared to foil them.

“We should always be prepared and have a plan for foiling the U.S. movements in the region,” Ahmadinejad told visiting Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem in Hamedan where he was on a provincial tour.

Great. Awesome.
This is in the wake of the Iranian Majiles (Parliament) elections, which resulted in a victory for conservatives - both Ahmadinejad's party and his conservative critics. At least the Washington Post bothered to report on it for a change.

Iran, the Chador, and Prostitution

Slate, Washington Post's online nook for B-grade news for the twenty-some set (news with an attitude), wrote a brief piece explaining prostitution in Iran. According to the authors, prostitution is rampant in Iran, even though it carries an incredible sentence for both man and woman/women involved. Because prostitutes wear veils and chadors, it can be rather challenging for a potential John to approach the right lady. Perhaps because of this, any wary John can bring the prostitute before a cleric and arrange a "temporary" marriage. Perfectly legal in shari'a, the temporary marriage lasts for some specified amount of time, no need for witnesses.
The Tehran Times, to its credit, acknowledges the problem of prostitution in the holy city of Qom. In 2001, a group claiming to want to "clean up the streets" killed a dozen prostitutes, sparking an investigation. Tehran Times did not report on the outcome of the investigations, and the articles were little more than blurbs.

Side Note: there seems to be a distinct difference in how Tehran Times reports on crime, compared to the Western style, but I can't quite figure out what it is. To some extent, it may be the lack of standard phrases such as "allegedly" or "The Washington Post does not identify victims of rape or sexual assault". Interesting.

Alert the Press! Tehran Times publishes actual news!!

Sadly, it is because of a deadly explosion at a mosque in Shiraz. Sympathy to the families, and interesting how a tragedy can be reported so clearly when most other news is not.
WaPo got in on the story for a change, too.

Arash, or Why I Love Persian Music

Arash, born in Tehran, left for the wider world like so many Iranians in the 70s and 80s. Currently living in Sweden, Arash is probably one of the best-known Persian singers since Googoosh. Greatest hits include Boro Boro, Arash, Tike Tike Kardi, Temptation, and his newest single, Donya. Arash has gone gold in five different countries and reached the top of the charts across Europe.
To celebrate the appearance of the Iranian national football team making the German World Cup in 2006, Arash collaborated with DJ Alligator to produce "Iran Iran". The song is both incredibly nationalistic and at the same time, critical of the regime.
"You are the voice of Iran - for the people of Iran!" The singer says, "I am an Iranian child... with one voice we sing, everyone with one voice: Iran! Iran! Iran!" The chorus is simply a mass of hundreds cheering "Iran! Iran! Iran!", the music video depicts Persians of all ages dancing and cheering. But the flags they are waving say "IRAN" across the white band in the middle, instead of the coat of arms of Iran, which spells the name of God with the sword of the revolution. The flag waved in the video also lacks the twenty-two iterations of "Allahu Akbar" (God is Great) along the border of the white part of the flag (see image), which represents the 22nd day of the 11th month - the day of the revolution.
Displaying the flag of Iran without the additions approved by the revolution is a common method of expatriates to show disapproval of the current Islamic regime.
So, curious, I searched for Arash in the archives of the Tehran Times. Nothing. I shouldn't be surprised. As an arm of Iranian government, Tehran Times probably can't discuss any hint of dissent.
It is a strange mix - patriotism and dissent. Or perhaps dissent is the most powerful form of patriotism.


On a side note, Washington Post hasn't heard of Arash, unlike their European counterparts.

Ahmadinejad: Iran’s nuclear drive ‘non-negotiable’

More excellent news from the Tehran Times:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in an interview published Friday that he would reject any new incentives offered by world powers in return for suspending uranium enrichment.

Asked about possible incentives that Iran suspend its enrichment activities, Ahmadinejad was quoted as telling Japan’s Kyodo News: “This is a non-negotiable subject.”

He said, “Iran is a nuclear country and has no reason to give up the technology. If there are to be any preconditions, we must propose preconditions.”


Washington Post says:









What are they doing over there? Singing Sweet Caroline?

Aren't safe and Canada the same thing?

So while the Tehran Times is offline - a bit of humor from a "news organization" that doesn't even pretend to be independent from the Islamic Republic:

The Persian Gulf region is the world safest oil supplier, Minister of Oil Gholam-Hossein Nozari said Saturday evening.

He stressed that as a powerful country in the region, "Iran plays essential role in security of the Persian Gulf."
The minister made the remarks after a meeting with the Secretary General of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Abdullah al-Badri who arrived in Iran on Friday on a three-day visit.

Persian gulf? Safe? Safer than Nigeria, okay, but safer than Canada??

Fitna or Football

So in the news this week we had blond Dutch parliament member/filmmaker with his incendiary piece "Fitna" which pairs footage from terrorist attacks with quotes from the Koran. So I opened up the Tehran Times, just to see what they had to say today and... nothing? This is the headline photo:


Okay, so those poor girls have to play soccer with all those layers on but... but... I can't help but feel some small amount of hope when I look at the photo.

CORRECTION: Okay, so apparently Tehran Times hasn't been updated in over a week... probably because of Norooz, the Persian new year. My lack of oversight - should have looked at the date.
In other news, interesting that they don't publish at all during the holiday - its not a religious holiday, just a cultural one. Hmm.

Tehran Times Still on Vacation

It's still the holidays in Iran and so the Tehran Times is still not publishing.
But here is a cool picture of Shiraz:!عید فطر مبارک

Tehran Times suspects conspiracy!!!

I'm reproducing this article in full. It is the top headline at the Tehran Times for March 17, 2008.

U.S. biggest loser of Iran poll
Tehran Times Political Desk

TEHRAN -- Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini declared here on Sunday that the United States is the main loser of the parliamentary election in Iran.
“Surely the biggest loser of this election was the United States, and the real winners were the people of Iran,” Hosseini told reporters at his weekly press briefing.
About 60 percent of eligible voters in Iran took part in Friday’s parliamentary elections.
The Western plot to discourage the Iranians from participating in the elections was foiled, the Foreign Ministry spokesman stated.
The U.S. put great pressure on its European allies and other countries sitting on the Security Council to approve additional sanctions against Iran prior to elections in order to discourage people from turning out for polls.

Wow. I'm currently reading The Persian Puzzle which looks at Iranian-American relations. One of the main points the author pushes is that Iranians perceive the United States to be more interested and involved in Iran than it actually is. This article I think is a perfect example of that mentality.
The Washington Post, meanwhile, covered Iran's parliamentary election by reproducing a Reuters article which called into question the legitimacy of the elections, but otherwise does not appear to have paid much attention.

Oil is to blame for... countries uniting agains the U.S.

Tehran Times reports that Iran and Vietnam inked a deal for a Vietnamese exploration company to survey Iranian oil fields. Hooray for our non-allies uniting.
Also, I had no idea that the Vietnamese were known for feats of engineering.
And the Washington Post...? Not a peep.
Seems like the kind of story we might be interested in knowing about, right? Guess not!

Iranian perception of the satellite shootdown

Wednesday's successful shootdown of the rogue satellite provoked an interesting reaction by the Iranian press. The most viewed article on the site, the overall impression is of a deceptive Pentagon that underestimates the intelligence of the world. The article reads into the motives of the Pentagon, plainly stating:

The operation to shoot down the orbiting spacecraft was clearly designed to send a message to both Russia and China, America’s two major competitors in the race for military dominance in space.

Furthermore, the article criticizes the Pentagon's fear of leaking hydrazine from the satellite in light of its previous decision to use Agent Orange in Vietnam.
Though it would be easy to write off the comparison as ludicrous, this illustrates a peculiar aspect of Iranian-American relations. To Iran, a country of long history and memory, the actions of a government taken within 50 years constitute a continuation of policy, though no American would say that the presidencies of Johnson and Bush 43 are anywhere near so linked.
The article ends ominously:

...once you start shooting down satellites in space, for whatever reason, other countries are sure to follow, and before long, there will be mayhem and havoc in the heavens (as well as on Earth)!

This doomsday approach to the militarization of space aligns Iran more closely with Russia and China, who recently proposed a treaty to prohibit the deployment of weapons in space.

The coverage of the event in the Washington Post is a little more cautious. Noted is the relationship between the satellite take-down and the Russian/Chinese treaty, as well as the potential diplomatic strain. The article's conclusion, however, is ultimately more cynical than its Iranian counterpart. The article quotes proliferation experts as saying that the militarization of space is inevitable, largely because any tool for space defense can be turned around on the offense, as with the Aegis system (or the system successfully tested by the Chinese last year).
And of course, as it is election season (when isn't it?) the journalist inserted a quick tie to the primary candidates:

In a survey of presidential candidates by Washington's Council for a Livable World, Sen. Barack Obama backed a space code of conduct. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said she would constrain space weaponization "as much as possible." Republican candidates did not respond.

The political nod is sandwiched in between expert opinions. We discussed in class today the startling lack of media coverage of candidates' foreign policy. The little soundbites in this article give a little foreign policy snack to anyone interested in the issue, and ultimately, the issue probably isn't important enough for any fu

Oil is to Blame for... 9/11

From the Tehran Times, my favorite source of trustworthy information:
The Bush administration’s purpose in planning and orchestrating 9/11 was to create an atmosphere of fear in this country so that the military/industrial/oil/private central banking complex could start their fake war on terror which included attacking Afghanistan and Iraq.

The article, which was the most viewed for Thursday, February 14th, goes on to implicate the mainstream media and Congress as complicit in the events of 9/11. The reason? Oil.

Vice President Cheney met with the heads of the various oil companies right after Bush took office...They were talking about attacking Iraq in order to gain control of their oil fields. They were talking about attacking Afghanistan to take over the construction of a gas pipeline through Afghanistan.

What is interesting, of course, is that this view of America and 9/11 does not appear to be widely challenged in certain parts of the world. Tehran Times is one of the most widely read dailies in Iran, and they reported this story as truth, perpetuating the schema of Big Oil as a super villain.

Military Intervention for Iran?

In a speech covered apparently only by the Tehran Times, Iranian Army Commander Major General Ataollah Salehi asserted that Iran would not respond to military or economic pressure, and that the Islamic Republic is safe from any threat the West could possibly bring.
Meanwhile, the Washington Post picks up a Reuters story discussing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's desire to discuss intervention in Iran. Olmert said last month Israel would not be reconciled to a nuclear Iran and "all options are on the table."
In other words, Iran is posturing, but no one is paying attention. For a country that already struggles with feeling ignored and unimportant, Western media snubs cannot be pleasant.
Also, based only on the last few weeks of observation, it seems that most of the Post's stories on Iran come from Reuters...

I can find the cafeteria, I'm oriented enough

No class for me this week, as I've been in orientation for my new awesome job which has nothing to do with oil, the Washington Post, or the Tehran Times.
Except it when it does.

Oil, Tehran Times, and How News Spreads

Tehran Times 1/29, at approx. 00:30 EST "Iranian Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari Monday reiterated that there was no need to supply more oil as the market was supplied sufficiently and its conditions were stable. "
No Oil Shortage in World Market: Oil Minister

Press TV-Iran 1/29, at approx 03:00 EST "Iran's Oil Minister Gholam-Hossein Nozari has said that there is no reason for OPEC member states of pump more crude into the market"
No Reason for OPEC Output Rise

Reuters 1/29, at approx. 09:00 EST "Iran's Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari was quoted in an Iranian newspaper as saying that 'there was no need to supply more oil as the market was supplied sufficiently and its conditions were stable.'"
Oil Above $91 as Rate Cut Hopes Lift Market

Blogging Stocks 1/29, at approx 14:22 EST "Iran's Oil Minister Gholam-Hossein Nozari said Tuesday that there's no reason for OPEC states to increase oil production, PressTV Iran reported."
Iran: No Need for OPEC to Increase Production

CNNMoney 1/29, at approx 23:19 EST "Prices were... getting support from expectations that OPEC will leave current production quotas unchanged when the 13-member oil cartel meets in Vienna on Friday for a crucial meeting about its output levels."
Oil Prices Above $92 in Morning Asian Trade

Okay, so what?
So this is how news travels. Tehran Times reports on statements by their Oil Minister. Another Iranian station picks up on the story, which in turn is posted to a stock blog after the end of trades Tuesday. The result is the story posted by CNNMoney - futures in oil are up by a dollar, buoyed in part by statements originally reported in the Tehran Times.
In less than 24 hours, statements made by one oil minister from one of the OPEC countries were impacting the Asian stock market four thousand miles away. That's the speed of information today.
At no point on this story's journey did any article mention the dubious journalism practiced by the Tehran Times. Likely the remarks of the Iranian Oil Minister were not fabricated, but some context might have been appropriate, especially considering what Iran stands to gain from rising oil prices.

Note: The Reuters story, including the quote from Gholam-Hossein Nozari, made it into the Washington Post. Nice to see my two papers tied together.
Note (part two): The pictured gentleman is Gholam-Hossein Nozari. The Farsi behind him reads, simply "oil".

Tehran Times Daily Headline: Islamic Revolution was one of history’s greatest events: Ahmadinejad
WTI/NYMEX: $92.37

Tehran Times and the Washington Post on U.S. Involvement in Pakistan

Wednesday's breaking story over at the Tehran Times:

Trilaterals triangulating in Pakistan
The United States is basically run by a small clique of wealthy families who own and control the Federal Reserve System, and the Trilateral Commission is their policy think tank.

The article goes on to describe how the Trilateral Commission, a perennial conspiracy favorite, is not only in charge of the Federal Reserve, but also the Pentagon and all Intelligence Communities, and wielded their power to assassinate Benazir Bhutto. Oh and they are also in league with the ever-present Zionists. Okay.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post is running the following headlines:

U.S. Urged to Push for Reforms in Pakistan
U.S. Willing to Send Troops to Pakistan
U.S. to Step Up Training of Pakistanis

So what? So every article is based off quotes - the first story is based on the pleadings of a famous cricketeer, the other two describe statements given by U.S. officials. The articles represent U.S.-Pakistan relations about as accurately as the Tehran Times. Granted, the Washington Post's articles are based in fact, but they not about facts. They are about announcements. And essentially, the Tehran Times insistence that the Trilateral Commission is responsible for Bhutto's assassination is equally reporting on announcements (announcements made by the paper, rather than by others).

I am not trying to absolve the Tehran Times, or imply that the Washington Post is at the same level, rather point out that neither is actually reporting on the changing U.S.-Pakistan relationship - only what is being said about it by sources of varying bias.

Tehran Times - Introduction

Tehran Times, "Iran's Leading International Daily" was founded in 1979 after the revolution, when "there was a need for an international media outlet to export the ideas of the revolution." It claims an online circulation of over 10,000 visitors per day, and publishes a 16-page English language newspaper daily, available throughout the capital city of Iran.
There are seven news sections (Politics, International, Social, Sports, Science, Economy, Culture) and an opinion page. Notable controversial positions taken by the Tehran Times opinion staff include that Al-Jazeera is a Zionist propaganda machine and that the Holocaust is a "religion of Zionism for gentiles."

It's fair to say that on the "ridiculous bias" scale, this state-run newspaper ranks somewhere just above advertisements and PETA. It's going to be fun keeping tabs on them.

Today's Headline: Bush throws tantrum after failing to hoodwink Arabs: Hosseini