Best games for Iran

SOme nations are having a very good games. One of them is Iran. The nation's previous best tally of gold medals came in Sydney where three were won. The most medals won at any games was seven - three silvers and four bronzes in Helsinki back in 1952.

So far Iran has won four golds:

Three in Graeco Roman Wrestling - the first Iranian golds in this event
One in weightlifting

Five silvers:

Two in Weightlifting
One in Taekwondo
One in  Freestyle Wrestling
and  the first Iranian medal in athletics.

And a weightlifting bronze

Two wrestlers compete today and the last two compete tomorrow. There is a good chance that the medal tally will increase.

I may loathe the Iranian regime but that does not extend to its athletes.

Khamenei sort of condemns last year's attack on British Embassy

The Guardian reports that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has finally given his verdict on the last year's storming of the British embassy in Tehran last November, saying it "was not right" to carry out the attack that provoked a diplomatic crisis between the two capitals.

"On the recent occupation of the evil embassy [of Britain], the sentiments of the youth were right but entering [the embassy] was not right," he said, according to the monitoring website Digarban, citing conservative news website baztab-e-emrooz.

The supreme leader, who has the ultimate word on all affairs in Iran, made the comments during a meeting with students on Monday, according to Digarban.  Khamenei's comments comes a month after four commanders of Iran's informal Basij militia who were involved in the storming of the British embassy in Tehran were dismissed.

In response to the attack, the UK withdrew all its diplomatic staff from Tehran, shut down the Iranian embassy in London, and ordered the expulsion of all Iran's diplomats.


At the very best the storming of the British embassy was an act of mind boggling stupidity that was almost certainly sanctioned by the government. It took Khamenei long enough to give a grudging condemnation....

As the drumbeats of war with Iran get louder...

Just a few words from three great Iranian women to ponder.

It is only through literature that one can put oneself in someone else’s shoes and understand the other’s different and contradictory sides and refrain from becoming too ruthless. Outside the sphere of literature only one aspect of individuals is revealed. But if you understand their different dimensions you cannot easily murder them. . .

Azar Nafisi - From Reading Lolita in Tehran

The idea of cultural relativism is nothing but an excuse to violate human rights.


Shirin Ebadi

It's time to mow the flowers,
don't procrastinate.
Fetch the sickles, come,
don't spare a single tulip in the fields.
The meadows are in bloom:
who has ever seen such insolence?
The grass is growing again:
step nowhere else but on its head.
Blossoms are opening on every branch,
exposing the happiness in their hearts:
such colorful exhibitions must be stopped.
Bring your scalpels to the meadow
to cut out the eyes of flowers.
So that none may see or desire,
let not a seeing eye remain.
I fear the narcissus is spreading corruption:
stop its displays in a golden bowl
on a six-sided tray.
What is the use of your ax,
if not to chop down the elm tree?
In the maple's branches
allow not a single bird a moment's rest.
My poems and the wild mint
bear messages and perfumes.
Don't let them create a riot with their wild singing.
My heart is greener than green,
flowers sprout from the mud and water of my being.
Don't let me stand, if you are the enemies of Spring.
 
Simin Behbahani, the Lioness of Iran

Translation. by Farzaneh Milani and Kaveh Safa, Strange Times, My Dear: The PEN Anthology of Contemporary Iranian Lit (Arcade). THis poem was found here


As much as I loathe the mullahs, Ahmadinejad and his lackeys, the Waffen SS-alikes that are the Revolutionary Guards and the Einsatzgrupen in being that are the Baseej militia units (I hope to see each and every one of these bastards crushed, but by the people of Iran), any pre-emptive strike on Iran would be a disaster. It legitimise each and every one of these scumbags and as the people fall in behind leaders it would destroy the opposition movement at a stroke.


Perhaps it is time for the hawks to take a step back and stop swinging their tiny little dicks for a moment. Perhaps it would allow time for the addled little brains to engage.

Proof that the Iranian Authorities are idiots - part 276,794

I saw this photo a little while ago on Facebook.

Source

Apparently (I do not speak Farsi) it shows Basij Commander Mohammad-Reza Naqdi participates in stoning "YouTube" at the recent Digital Media Exhibit in Tehran.  After I saw it I was struck with the stupidity of this imagery.  One of the regime's thugs (who I hope ends up inside Evin Prison as a very long term inmate in the not too distant future). The bastards than run Iran try their damnedest but they cannot stop their people getting around blocks and filters, so they resort to stoning a symbol of Youtube as if it were the Satan stones that pilgrims throw rocks at during Haj.


Like the satan stones, the Youtube pillar was one of three enemies, the regime's thugs could pelt. Another photo (via Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. The others being Google and Facebook
  

Once again it makes them like bloody stupid!


According to PBS the blogger "Uranus," who shared the first picture, wrote that YouTube was stoned because the videos of "the crimes" of the Iranian establishment are available on the website. "Those that you don't want anyone to see because just watching five minutes of your actions will result in washing away years of your brainwashing [efforts],"

As we know many Iranians who used Youtube to document the regime's violence following the fraudulent election of 2009, including of course, the murder of Neda Agha Soltan. These brave people made damned sure that their regime's brutality was not only recorded but put in a place where the world could watch.

Once again here's hoping that the people are able to smash this evil regime into the dirt, the sooner the better

Millions of Iranians are criminals...

According to Persian Letters this appears to be the view of Iranian Telecommunications Minister Reza Taghipour, who says the use of antifiltering tools and virtual private networks (VPN) is a crime.

Many Iranians use such tools and proxies on a daily basis to bypass the country's Internet censorship, which is among the world's toughest. Iran blocks millions of websites and blogs deemed immoral or against the country's national interests or that offer uncensored news and information.

One of the blocked websites is Facebook, which is used by 17 million Iranians, according to statistics from a Basij militia official.

In recent years, officials in Iran have increased their warnings over the use of the Internet, an empowering tool for political activists and human rights advocates who use it to spread news about state repression.

Taghipour, speaking to Iran's semiofficial ISNA news agency, said antifiltering tools were part of what Iranian officials describe as the "soft war" being waged by Western countries against the Islamic republic.

Earlier this month, Iranian web users reported difficulties accessing their VPN accounts. State news agencies reported that officials had ordered the disabling of VPN connections.

"We have to and will take any necessary measure to confront this soft war," Taghipour told ISNA.

He also said measures had been taken to intercept banking data operations that are being conducted in Iran through VPNs.

But it seems that the Iranian government and the Revolutionary Guards are also criminals... well not really but there is a hge element of "Do as I say not as I do!" Iranian journalist Hadi Nili says most Iranian government agencies use VPNs to ensure safe Internet connections. He says companies owned by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) sell VPN accounts.

Nili added the government has been targeting "safe VPN" connections that citizens are accessing through nonstate companies. "The IRGC and the government cannot monitor those VPNs. Therefore, they want to disrupt them and limit their use. Technically it is difficult. There will always be new ways to bypass measures by the government," says Nili, who was forced to leave Iran about a year ago amid the ongoing postelection crackdown.

A 42-year-old engineer in the Iranian capital who uses a VPN to access banned websites tells "Persian Letters" he will continue browsing the web through anticensoring tools.

"We would have to stop living if we were to listen to [the Iranian authorities]. Everything is banned, according to them. The Internet is like fresh air for me. So is my satellite dish," he said.

Iranian authorities have also banned on satellite dishes, which allow access to Western television channels. The ban has so far failed to stop Iranians from using them.

I know this is not exactly hot news but but I hope that the people of Iran continue to work out how to circumvent the regime's idiocy. One again here's hoping that they will not have to suffer the regime for much longer.

Court upholds Jafar Panahi's appalling prison sentence

AFP reports that a Tehran appeals court has upheld a six-year jail sentence and 20-year filmmaking and travel ban against international award-winning Iranian director Jafar Panahi.

The government-run newspaper Iran confirmed the ruling in its Saturday edition, saying: "The charges he was sentenced for are acting against national security and propaganda against the regime."

Panahi was convicted in December last year over a documentary he tried to make about the unrest that followed the disputed 2009 re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

A six-year jail sentence against another Iranian who co-directed that film, Mohammad Rasoulof, 38, was reduced to one year in the same appeal.

Panahi, 51, has won a slew of foreign awards for his films. But many are banned in Iran where authorities are unhappy with his satirical portrayal of everyday life in the Islamic republic.

One of Panahi's latest productions was a documentary entitled "This is not a Film," depicting a day in his life as he waited to hear the verdict from the appeal. It was screened at the Cannes film festival in May.

Panahi's upheld sentence orders him to six years behind bars, plus a 20-year ban on directing or writing for movies, a 20-year ban on giving interviews, and a 20-year ban on travel except for the Hajj holy pilgrimage to Mecca or for medical treatment.

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, in January said punishment such as that meted out to Panahi was "not compatible with the human rights commitments that Iran herself has subscribed to in several international conventions."

Repression of Iran's domestic film production has intensified since Ahmadinejad's 2009 re-election. More than a dozen directors or actors have been arrested and sometimes severely sentenced since the middle of this year for "propaganda" against the regime, including several documentary makers accused of giving a "black image" of Iran.

Early this month, Iranian actress Marzieh Vafamehr was sentenced to a year in jail and 90 lashes for her role in Australian-produced film "My Tehran for Sale," about the limits imposed on artists in the Islamic republic.

This sentence is an absolute disgrace that underlines the bankrupt nature of the Iranian regime.

Al Qaida Tells Ahmanidiot - Enough with the 9/11 Truther Bullshit!

Given that I wholehearteddly support the termination with extreme prejudice of the theocratic monsters that rule Iran (by the people and not via, say, Operation Iran Liberation) I enjoy any occasion where Thief, sorry, President Ahmadinejad looks like a complete and utter idiot.

Last week Ahmatalkingbollocks caused a walk-out at the UN after he spouted bullshit about the cause of the 9/11 attacks.

However it seems that it was not just the US and EU delegates to the UN that took umbrage. Al-Qaida is pissed off too! According to the Guardian Al-Qaida is mightily pissed off with him and has sent him a message  asking him to stop spreading conspiracy theories about the 9/11 attacks.

Iranian media on Wednesday reported quotes from what appears to be an article published in the latest issue of the al-Qaida English language magazine, Inspire, which described Ahmadinejad's remarks over the 11 September attacks as "ridiculous".


"The Iranian government has professed on the tongue of its president Ahmadinejad that it does not believe that al-Qaida was behind 9/11 but rather, the US government," the article said, according to Iranian media. "So we may ask the question: why would Iran ascribe to such a ridiculous belief that stands in the face of all logic and evidence?"

Ahmadinejad said in New York that the "mysterious September 11 incident" had been used as a pretext to attack Afghanistan and Iraq. He had also previously expressed scepticism at the US version of events.

"By using their imperialistic media network which is under the influence of colonialism, they threaten anyone who questions the Holocaust and the September 11 event with sanctions and military actions," said Ahmadinejad.

The al-Qaida article insisted it had been behind the attacks and criticised the Iranian president for discrediting the terrorist group.

"For them, al-Qaida was a competitor for the hearts and minds of the disenfranchised Muslims around the world," said the article published in the Inspire magazine. "Al-Qaida … succeeded in what Iran couldn't. Therefore it was necessary for the Iranians to discredit 9/11 and what better way to do so? Conspiracy theories."

Al-Qaida also accused Iran of hypocrisy over its "anti-Americanism".

The article said: "For Iran, anti-Americanism is merely a game of politics. It is anti-America when it suits it and it is a collaborator with the US when it suits it, as we have seen in the shameful assistance Iran gave to the US in its invasion of Afghanistan and in the Shia of Iraq, backed by Iran, bringing the American forces into the country and welcoming them with open arms."

I know that this is a very serious matter but what has the world come to when Al Qaida feel the need to give Ahmadildoinlarijanisringpiece a verbal bitch slap!

Iran condemns British police

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast urged the British government to order the police to stop their violent confrontation with the people, 

Mehmanparast asked the British government to start dialogue with the protesters and to listen to their demands in order to calm the situation down.  He  also asked independent human rights organizations to investigate the killing in order to protect the civil rights and civil liberties.

This looks as if it is from the Onion when in fact it is a Press tv report! Given Iran's sensitive and gentle approach to policing disturbances the protest is of course utterly justified... Ha!


The Iranian Government has a nerve to lecture anyone on policing disturbances . The diplomatic response would be to tell them to rearrange the words "off" and "fuck" into a well known phrase or saying

Witch Hunt in Tehran

It looks like Iranian presidentMahmoud Ahmadinejad is in bad odour with supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. – to such a extent that key allies have been neutralised with trumped up charges of sorcery,

Several people said to be close to the president and his chief of staff Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei have been arrested nd charged with being "magicians" and invoking djinns (spirits).

An Iranian news website, described one of the arrested men, Abbas Ghaffari, as "a man with special skills in metaphysics and connections with the unknown worlds".

The arrests signal a serious rift betweenAhmainejad and Khamei which has prompted several MPs to call for the president to be impeached. On Sunday, Ahmadinejad returned to his office after an 11-day walkout in an apparent protest over Khamenei's reinstatement of the intelligence minister, who the president had asked to resign.

Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi, a hardline cleric close to Khamenei, warned that disobeying the supreme leader – who has the ultimate power in Iran – is equivalent to "apostasy from God". Ahmadinejad has so far declined to officially back Khamenei's ruling over Heydar Moslehi, the minister at the centre of the row. In the first cabinet meeting since the president returned, Moslehi was absent.
Khamenei's supporters believe that the top-level confrontation stems from the increasing influence of Mashaei, an opponent of greater involvement of clerics in politics, who is being groomed by Ahmadinejad as a possible successor.

But the feud has taken a metaphysical turn following the release of an Iranian documentary alleging the imminent return of the Hidden Imam Mahdi – the revered saviour of Shia Islam, whose reappearance is anticipated by believers in a manner comparable to that with which Christian fundamentalists anticipate the second coming of Jesus.

Conservative clerics, who say that the Mahdi's return cannot be predicted, have accused a "deviant current" within the president's inner circle, including Mashaei, of being responsible for the film.
Well there you have it. Ahmadinejad is in trouble, which in itself does not make me in any way sad. Still , the fact that his troubles are coming from the ultraconservatives is not exactly reassuring. If Ahmadinejad is deposed by people even more fanatical than he is what then for Iran?

I am not sure that there is anything for the progressives to capitalise on here but it will be interesting to watch events as they devlop.

Iran unveils plan to conquer galaxy

Fars news agency  has announced that Iran has developed an unmanned flying saucer

Called "Zohal" in Farsi (which translates as Saturn) the saucer was designed and developed jointly by Farnas Aerospace Company and Iranian Aviation and Space Industries Association (IASIA),.

The initial version, which is designed just for aerial imaging, is equipped with an auto-pilot system, GPS (Global Positioning System) and two separate imaging systems with full HD 10 mega-pixel picture quality and is able to take and send images simultaneously.

Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei was reported to be delighted with progress and hoped that an improved version equipped with warp drive and quantum torpedoes will be ready as planned by 2020.

US intelligence sources believe that this taken together with the development of new body armour for the revolutionary guard (see above) is an indication that Iran may have a strategy for expanding its influence beyond the bounds of earth.

“a saucer equipped with faster than light technology and quantum armament is likely to be a match for any space faring civilization in this sector of the galaxy” a spokesman said,

Iranian regimes sentences Jafar Panahi to six years

Today’s Guardian reports that Director Jafar Panahi has been sentenced to a draconian sent2nce by the Iranian authorities, simply for his opposition to the current regime. He will ser a six year prison sentence. He is also banned from directing and producing films for the next 20 years.

Panahi, was convicted of colluding in gathering and making propaganda against the regime. He is also banned from
writing any scripts, travelling abroad and also giving any interviews to the media including foreign and domestic news organisations

Panahi won the Camera d'Or at the Cannes film festival in 1995 for his debut feature, The White Balloon, and the Golden Lion at Venice for his 2000 drama, The Circle. His other films include Crimson Gold and Offside. He is highly regarded around the world but his films are banned at home.

Hamid Dabashi, a professor of Iranian studies at Columbia University, said "This is a catastrophe for Iran's cinema," he said. "Panahi is now exactly in the most creative phase of his life and by silencing him at this sensitive time, they are killing his art and talent…What Iran is doing with the artists, is exactly similar to what Taliban did in Afghanistan. This is exactly like bombing Buddha statues by the Taliban, Iran is doing the same with its artists."

The regime has handed out utterly unjustifiable sentences to far too many protestors. Panahi is just one of them, but one with a very high international profile. I doubt that Ahmadinejad and his rabble are in the mood for leniency so there is little chance that he will be released any time soon. That does not mean there should not be pressure on the regime on behalf of Panahi and so many others unjustly imprisoned

Sanctions? Felt Nowt!

AFP reports that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has challenged the West to put more pressure on Iran, which he said would fail to make any impact on the Islamic republic or its atomic programme.

In an address in the northeastern province of Golestan, he said that during last month’s US visit people there "were insisting that the sanctions have affected us."

"And I, on your behalf, insisted and told them 'The sanctions have had no effect, and whatever the heck you want to do in the next two years, do it now so we see what you are capable of',"

Is that what he wants? Okay then that’s what he should have… He will almost certainly end up eating his words!

Baseej thugs attack opposition leader

I know it hardly comes as a big surprise to read that the Iranian regime's hired thugs are using violence to destroy dissent but they are at it again. This time the target is Mehdi Karroubi

AP reports that Pro-government militiamen attacked Karroubi's home with homemade bombs and beat one of his bodyguards unconscious.

Karroubi has remained a public dissenter — with his car being the target of pro-government mobs several times. But authorities also have directed pressure on Green Movement leader Mir Hossein Mousavi and former President Mohammad Khatami.Crowds also encircled Karroubi's residence for several hours Friday as Iranians filled Tehran's streets for the annual state-sponsored rally known as Quds Day, or Jerusalem Day.

The government uses the occasion as an anti-Israel outpouring and to show its support for the Palestinians. But last year, Karroubi and other opposition leaders marked the day by gathering tens of thousands of their own supporters into the streets, and violent clashes broke out with security forces.

Crowds of hard-line protesters have gathered at the gate of Karroubi's home for several days, apparently because they believed he would try to attend the rally again this year, though none of the opposition leaders has called for demonstrations.

Mousavi condemned the attack on Karroubi's home, saying it proved the government's "enmity against Israel is an excuse" for attacking opposition figures. "Karroubi and figures like him and other freedom-seekers are the real enemies of authoritarians."

On Thursday, Tehran police chief Gen. Hossein Sajedinia told the semi-official Fars news agency that police forces would be deployed in several parts of Tehran to maintain security during the rallies. There were no reports Friday of any opposition gatherings.

Maintain security? For that read shoot and beat the shit out of anyone who doesn't support the mullahs and their revolting regime. I still have hope that the regime is thrown into the gutter

Carla Bruni "prostitute" slur by Iranian press

Carla Bruni, the wife of the French president, has been attacked by the Iranian press for was attacked after she signed a petition calling for the release of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani.

An Iranian newspaper, Kayhan, which unsurprisingly is under control of the government, called Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy and also the actres Isabelle Adjani who is campaigning for Ashtina’s release, “prostitutes” in an editorial, while Iranian state television accused the former supermodel of “immorality”.

Hmm and sentencing a person to death by stoning is moral? The Iranian regime certainly has its priorities screwed (statement of the blindingly obvious part 3,779)

Now a fatwa on pets

The Telegraph reports that Iranian authorities have banned all advertisements for pets, pet food and other pet products.

The decision by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance apparently comes after the fatwa was issued by powerful cleric Grand Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi.

In June, Ayatollah Shirazi declared dogs unclean, saying that dog owners were “blindly imitating the West” and that their devotion to the animals would result in “evil outcomes… Many people in the West love their dogs more than their wives and children,” he said.

I think that Ted, Greebo and Satan Cat may be paying an Ayatollah a little visit….

Iranian regime can now check if they know their arses from holes in the ground

The Telegraph (amongst others) has reported that the Iranian regime has devoted resources to building mass graves for American invaders. The graves are apparently close to the site of war graves for the dead of the long war between Iran and Iraq.

General Moghadam, the former deputy chief of the Revolutionary Guards said "The mass graves that used to be for burying Saddam's soldiers have now been prepared again for US soldiers, and this is the reason for digging this big number of graves,"

Gen Moghadam's claims are thought to be a tangible that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is increasingly reliant on the Revolutionary Guard for political backing, is feeling the heat of international diplomatic pressure over his aggressive posture on Iran's uranium enrichment programme.

Iranian businessmen both inside and outside the country say the economy is suffering, while President Ahmadinejad's many enemies from within the ranks of his own conservative faction in the leadership are frequently outspoken on his domestic record across the board.

There is plenty of other bluster from Moghaddam but it is extremely unlikely that the US, if it were to attack Iranian nuclear sites, would send in land forces to Iran so this is noting ore than a pointless bit of dick swinging by the Iranians.

Even if I long for my friends to be rid of their political and religious masters I still think that an attack on Iran by the US would be an idiotic move.. There is plenty of anger against the regime. An attack might see that evaporate rather than crystallise further.

Another travesty of justice in Iran

According to the Guardian an 18-year-old Iranian is facing imminent execution on charges of homosexuality, even though he has no legal representation and is not gay. Ebrahim Hamidi, was sentenced to death for lavat, or sodomy, on the basis of "judge's knowledge", a legal loophole that allows for subjective judicial rulings where there is no conclusive evidence.

Hamidi had been represented by human rights lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei, who has since been forced to flee Iran after bringing to international attention the case of another of his clients, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, a 43-year-old Iranian mother of two who has been sentenced to death by stoning for adultery.

"Ebrahim's case is evidence that innocent heterosexual people can be sentenced to death on false charges of homosexuality [in Iran]," said Tatchell, co-founder of the London-based gay rights group OutRage.

Hamidi was arrested two years ago in the suburbs of the western city of Tabriz in the East Azerbaijan province after a fight with members of another family. Three of his friends were also involved in the incident and were subsequently arrested. Later, the four were accused of homosexual assault on a man and of attempting to abuse him sexually.

A person convicted of homosexuality in Iran can be lashed, hanged or stoned to death. The law includes a variety of penalties for different acts: 99 lashes if two unrelated males sleep "unnecessarily" under the same blanket – even without any sexual contact. A boy raped by an adult man would also be lashed if the court decided that he had "enjoyed" the experience.

After three days in detention, Hamidi confessed to the crime, allegedly under torture. The other three were cleared of all charges when promised by officials that they would be freed if they testified against Hamidi.

However, last month Hamidi's alleged victim admitted that he had been under pressure from his parents to make false accusations. Nevertheless the local judiciary has insisted that Hamidi should be executed.

Words fail. This is yet another reason why friends in Iran want this revolting regime swept away. Another reason why i consider Iran’s apologists from Galloway and Milne right through to a certain bunch of ersatz Mexicans (They know who they are) scumbags for supporting this regime. It sickens me every time that fellow leftists can be such stupid bastards.

Just as well the Devil has the best tunes

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a fit of woefully predictable stupidity,has decreed that music is "not compatible" with the values of the Islamic republic, and should not be practised or taught in the country.

In a comment which ranks up there for ridiculous fanaticism with the Taliban, Khamenei said: "Although music is halal, promoting and teaching it is not compatible with the highest values of the sacred regime of the Islamic Republic."

Khamenei's comments came in response to a request for a ruling by a 21-year-old follower of his, who was thinking of starting music lessons, but wanted to know if they were acceptable according to Islam, "It's better that our dear youth spend their valuable time in learning science and essential and useful skills and fill their time with sport and healthy recreations instead of music," he said.

Khamenei's views are interpreted as administrative orders for the whole country, which must be obeyed by the government. Last month Khamenei issued a controversial fatwa in which he likened his leadership to that of the Prophet Muhammad and obliged all Iranians to obey his orders. (Don’t be modest!)

Houshang Asadi, a former cellmate of Khamenei before the Islamic Revolution said: "He hated the music from the beginning."

"There were times I sang a song by Banan (a popular vocalist) for him and he told me to avoid music and instead pray to God", said Asadi, who shared a cell with Khamenei for four months in Moshtarak prison in Tehran in 1976 and stayed friend with him for several years after the revolution. "The only music he liked was revolutionary and religious anthems," said Asadi.

The man has already shown he has no heart but now he proves he has no soul. Bloody idiot!

Iran bans the mullet

Not content with treating women as fourth class citizens the Iranian authorities have decided to control men’s hairstyles. Iran's culture ministry has released a catalogue of acceptable hairstyles for men to help them avoid "decadent Western cuts".

. The pictures of mostly clean-shaven male models sporting short hair, some styled with gel, are contained in a "journal of Iranian hairstyles approved by the ministry of (culture and Islamic) guidance". Spiky hair and ponytails and the mullet are not acceptable.

"The proposed styles are inspired by Iranians' complexion, culture and religion, and Islamic law," said Jaleh Khodayar, who is in charge of a Modesty and Veil Festival later this month where they are to be promoted. "We are happy that the Islamic republic of Iran's government has backed us in designing these hairstyles," she said, adding that a catalogue of haircuts for
men would soon be published.

A modesty and veil festival? Needless to say most young Iranians would like to tell the likes of Khodyar to go forth and multiply

Ahmadinejad pays blood money Revolutionary Guards

In the same way that he sanctions the utmost viciousness against dissent Ahmadinejad is a man who rewards loyalty. In return for beating, raping , torturing and murdering protestors he has signed away a chunk of the Iranian economy in the form of lucrative oil and gas deals to Guards-owned front companies.

According to the Telegraph the deal will hugely boost the power of the group, a paramilitary outfit that sees itself as the ultimate defenders of the country's Islamic revolution, and lessens the chances of any kind of compromise with Iran's reformist challengers.

As the most loyal and formidable of the armed forces serving the Islamic regime, the Guards have played a prominent role in the last 12 months in striking fear into supporters of the opposition movement. Prior to last year protests, the head of the Guards' political bureau, General Yadollah Javani, famously warned that any attempts at a "soft revolution" would be vigorously crushed. Human rights groups claim he subsequently sanctioned the use of violence against arrested demonstrators, whom the Guards assumed a lead role in interrogating.

Mr Ahmadinejad is understood to have been hugely grateful for the Guards' support, which did not seem guaranteed at the time because of the way his presidency had bitterly divided the population.

The Guards' reward has been contracts that will not only channel huge funds into their operations but will also line the pockets of its senior most figures, buying future loyalty to Mr Ahmadinejad.

Among the contracts is an $850 million pipeline deal which has been awarded to GHORB, an engineering company affiliated to the Guards, and a $7 billion project in the huge South Pars oil and gas field that became vacant after a Turkish consortium withdrew.

After his re-election last year, Mr Ahmadinejad handed former Guards commanders and their allies in the Basij militia a total of 13 of 21 Cabinet posts. Their increased influence in government has important ramifications for the West in its quest to stop Iran's disputed nuclear programme.

Unlike the country's urbane diplomats and technocrats, Guard commanders are predominantly working-class "tough guys" who came of age during the bloody Iraq-Iran war in the 1980s. They outwardly embrace privation and hardship, and feel the rest of country should too - a stance which means Western-imposed sanctions carry little real threat.

Besides which, if sanctions do really start to bite, the most senior Guardsmen will not have to worry. Despite their facade of a simple, pious existence, many already have huge private wealth from their control of lucrative smuggling rackets, operated through Guards-controlled airfields and seaports: one former Guards commander, Sadeq Mahsouli, is said to own mansions worth £10 million alone.

Guards front companies already have slices of many other big public projects, such as roadbuilding, telecommunications, and running Tehran airport.

Nonetheless, US intelligence believes that their new venture into the oil business could ultimately backfire on Mr Ahmadinejad. "If we want sanctions to cripple the
Iranian energy sector and squeeze the lifeblood out of the economy, then increased role of the Revolutionary Guards is actually a good thing," said Mr Dubowitz who advises the US government as head of the Iran Energy Project at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies policy institute.. "They don't have the expertise to run the sector and Ahmadinejad is doing us all a favour by firing competent technocrats and replacing them with Revolutionary Guards loyalists."

The Revolutionary Guard are a bunch of evil thugs who now have their blood-soaked hands on a significant part of the Iranian economy. I wonder when they will overthrow him and set up a regime that is even more vicious...