Chaharshanbe Soori

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Chaharshanbe Soori

Postby Liberator » Fri Mar 11, 2005 12:38 pm

In hope that on the upcoming day of chaharshanbe soori our compatriots will put fire on the pillars on the tyrannical Islamic Republic and that soon we shall celebrate over the ashes of those who brought death and misery to the Iranian nation.

More power to the Iranian Freedom Fighters, especially the valiant students across the Iranian nation.




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Postby Liberator » Fri Mar 11, 2005 12:38 pm

We are fastly approaching Chaharshanbeh Soori, an ancient Persian festival, celebrated for more than a thousand of years, which shall serve as a tremendous blow against the Islamic Regime occupying Iran. The People's Movement towards a National Revolution has been going on for years but is today reaching a crucial stage.

Hamihanan:

1) Prepare yourselves physically and mentally
2) Organize yourselves
3) And when push comes to shove, when the day comes to execute, be organized in your activities and coordinate yourselves smoothly between your compatriots


Image


Remember that all means are justified in this war against the fithy Islamic Republic that has been torturing ALL OF US for 26 years now (Civil Disobedience and Violent Actions). Know that your compatriots abroad stand firmly behind you and will do their duty from abroad.

May God be with you.
And may this year be the year Iran shall be freed from the dark chains of Islamic oppression!


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Postby Liberator » Mon Mar 14, 2005 4:39 pm

Posted by our compatriot Cyrus on ActivistChat.com
http://www.activistchat.com/phpBB2/viewtop...opic.php?t=5398




**********************************************



Old Persian Tradition - Charshanbe Souri


The actual Nowruz ceremonies begin on the eve of the last Wednesday of the out-going year. Early in the evening of that day, referred to as charshanbe souri or "Red Wednesday," several rather large bonfires are made; every member of the family jumps over the fire and says, "sorkhi-e to az man, zardi-e man az to," which literally means "Give me your redness and take away my wintry sallow complexion). The jumping over the fire is followed by a get together in which nuts and fruits are served. This party is mostly for the benefit of the children of the family who are entertained, long into the night, with stories that they will remember with joy throughout their lives.

Last Year Charshanbe Souri Article By Banafsheh:



********************************************************



New Year, New Destiny
Iranians fight for their future.
By Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi


http://nationalreview.com/comment/zandbona...00403171018.asp


On Tuesday night, Iranians celebrated Chaahaarshanbeh Souri, the feast of fire. This is an ancient Persian celebration, predating Islam by a couple of thousand years; it marks the approaching of the Iranian new year (which is also pre-Islamic), celebrated on March 21, the vernal equinox. People build small bonfires and jump over the flames to purify and purge themselves of all the negativity and pain of the passing year so that they can begin the new year with a clean spirit and fresh outlook. During this celebration, it is also customary to light sparklers and throw fireworks. Since the beginning of the Islamic Revolution, the mullahs have done everything they could to dissuade the people of Iran from continuing these Persian celebrations, calling them pagan in an attempt to eradicate the Persian heritage from Iran.

Over the past few weeks, there were threats of major March 16 clashes, as the mullahs continued to force the issue of this celebration being haraam — religiously prohibited or unclean — because it occurs during the religious month of Mohharram, which is fraught with mourning for Shiite martyrs. Fatwahs were issued by various major and minor clerics. The regime also warned against sparklers and fireworks, insisting that they are banned.

Early Tuesday afternoon, in the wake of five days of severe clashes in northern Iran, in the town of Fereydoun-Kenaar (as well as other serious clashes in the southern part of Iran and weeks of clashes in Iranian Kurdistan, which began days before the scheduled February 20 elections), people all over Iran made good on the threat and took to the streets, not only to celebrate, but to also draw on the clashes up north, down south, and in Kurdistan. Clouds of smoke from the detonation of M80's, homemade mini-hand grenades, and Molotov cocktails filled the air. From one city to the next, similar stories were heard. One account mentioned plans to hang a life-sized puppet of Khamenei, intended to be burned in effigy under the Sattaar Khaan Bridge in Tehran. The effigy seems to have been blocked by the non-Iranian revolutionary guards, who are often Palestinians, Lebanese, Syrians, Afghan Arabs, and Yemenis who are imported to beat up on the people of Iran, since it is only the rare Iranian who wants to beat up on other Iranians anymore.

For a while there was no sign of the police. This was the mullahs' way of performing for the foreign press who were visiting Iran; it was a way of looking liberal and easygoing. But by about 9 P.M., in the town of Gohar Dasht (a suburb of Tehran), the movement reached a fever pitch; demonstrators had taken over the roads and main arteries chanting and yelling slogans when eight pickup trucks carrying dozens of armed non-Iranian revolutionary guards arrived on the scene, savagely attacking people with knives, billy clubs, and chains. Tear gas was released in the streets in order to disperse the celebrants. People scattered-many into the homes of townsfolk who had stayed home-they left their doors open for the celebrants/protesters to take refuge. The people worked together to protect each other against the brutal regime-they all know its wrath too well.

In other cities like Gorgaan where a six-month-old child had been trampled by the guards, anger lead demonstrators toward the local police headquarters, proclaiming that they would set it on fire. In Mashhad, approximately 300 people were arrested, while many more were knifed and severely beaten by the terror forces of the government.

It must be noted, though, that despite the clashes, Iranians enjoyed the celebrations. Music played; people laughed (which is actually banned by the mullahs); girls and boys were seen dancing together (which is also banned); girls lifted off their scarves. There was a general a feeling of inspiration and dedication. And there was a special symbolic joy in the lighting of bonfires, using pictures of all the major mullahs.

Tuesday was a victory; it was one more jolt to the weakening anatomy of the theocratic fascists. All in all this was one of the most significant days in the seven-year course of bitter and fateful battles between the 70 million Iranian hostages of the mullahcracy. Few in the West are listening and hearing the cries of the people of Iran, but that's okay, because we will be the power behind forging our own future; for Iranians, the mullahs and their Western enablers will be history.
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable" -J.F.K
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Postby Liberator » Mon Mar 14, 2005 4:45 pm

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact Information: HAKHA - The Movement For Freedom and Democracy

Phone: 202-256-9000
E-mail: press@ahura.info
Website: www.ahura.info

March 14, 2005

Iranians Fighting Back Against Islamic Dictatorship!



Washington, DC. - Dr. Ahura-Pirouz Khaleghi Yazdi has called on the people of Iran to stand united and show the world that they are indeed supportive of a regime change in Iran by celebrating in masses the Persians’ oldest tradition, “CHAHARSHANBEH SOURIâ€
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Postby Liberator » Tue Mar 15, 2005 1:25 pm

Clashes with the Islamic Regimes thugs are taking place across Iran on this day which celebrates an ancient Persian celebration of Chaharshanbe Soori. The people of Iran, despite the Islamic Regimes efforts to eradicate Iranian celebrations, have taken to the streets in the masses to take part in this great celebration.

Sounds of firecrackers are heard throughout Iran.

In Tehran a large crowd is moving towards "Rajaei Shahr Prison".

Callers describe some areas as "war zones"!

The power of some fireworks have crushed the windows of shops and government buildings in the vicinity.

Fires are lit in the streets.

Cars are being put on fire

The financial institutions of the Islamic Republic are being attacked and put on fire

Pictures of the Islamic Republic's leaders are being burnt

Slogans against the Islamic Republic and its leaders are being shouted by the people

People are burning tires in the streets and the Islamic Regimes thugs have attacked people, other disciplinary forces such as the "Pasdaran" have stood by on the sidelines as the people of Iran celebrate this POLITICAL CELEBRATION!

Gunshots are being heard in major Iranian cities

Another police car in Tehran has been lit on fire

Hundreds of people have been arrested but hundreds of thousands of Iranians have demonstrated tonight that they are willing to stand up to oppression by all means and they shall continue their demonstrations, against the anti-Iranian Islamic Regime, throughout cities across Iran!

In Esfehan people are calling for people to converge at the Hotels in which the OPEC representatives are staying at (Hotel Abbas is one of them...)

Demonstrations are taking place in all provinces across Iran from Kurdestan, Azerbajian, Khuzestan, Mazandaran.....



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Postby Liberator » Tue Mar 15, 2005 1:26 pm

http://www.activistchat.com/phpBB2/viewtop...opic.php?t=5398


Latest News:
Millions are participating in Chahar Shanbeh Soori Uprising in Iran

Chahar Shanbeh Soori - Freedom Day and Uprising Started In Tehran and many cities in Iran.


According to callers from Iran to XTV, SOS Iran and Pars TV from Tehran and all Cities in Iran Chahar Shanbeh Soori started in Iran from 7:00 PM and as it gets darker millions are participating in Chahar Shanbeh Soori – Fire Fesitival. The sound we are hearing from Tehran on XTV is Shock & Awe against Mullahs by the people of Iran, young and old are in the streets of Iran.
According to callers from Tehran, the Airport is prepared for big escape by Mullahs leadership and some of their families and Anti Air Gun removed from around airports.
According to another report from Tehran part of Iranian Air Force is joining People against Mullahs leadership.
According to another caller who is watching the house of Khameni adviser reported that his house has been evacuated.
People in Tehran are going to Airport to stop Mullahs family to escape from Tehran.

According to informed sources the Mullahs Leadership are hidden in their holes out of fear from massive uprising in Iran and preparing for escape.
According to a caller from Tehran airport around 200 people some of the Clerical Mullahs ruling class are using women Chador cover and they are planning to escape from Tehran. The caller said the Mullahs with Chador coverage are identified by the shape of their shoes
In past 50 years Iran has not seen such fighting spirit against Islam and Mullahs in Iran.
Chahar Shanbeh Soori is the voice of Freedom, voice of Iranian people against Mullahs.
Predict this Chahar Shanbeh Soori is considered as inflection point for Regime Fall.
If this uprising sustain 48 hours the Mullahs regime will collapse completely.

Please post your reports , photo and sound of Iranian people Shock and Awe against Mullahs in this thread.
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable" -J.F.K
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Postby Liberator » Tue Mar 15, 2005 2:45 pm

Traditional "Pagan" Celebration Turns Into Street Fights Against Regime Forces
SMCCDI (Information Service)
Mar 15, 2005


http://www.daneshjoo.org/publishers/cur ... 1621.shtml


Violent clashes rocked, this evening, main Iranian cities as brutal militiamen attacked Iranians who transformed the already hardly tolerated celebration of the traditional "Tchahr Shanbe Souri" (Fire Fiest) into protest action and show of "un-Islamic" joy. Most areas of the Capital and cities, such as, Esfahan, Mahabad, Shiraz, Rasht, Kermanshah, Babol, Sannandaj, Mashad, Khoram-Abad, Zabol, Tabriz, Hamedan and Oroomiah (former Rezai-e) were scenes of sometimes unprecedented street fights between the regime forces and groups of Iranians.

Armed clashes have been reported from several cities and especially from Tehran, as small groups of armed and determined masked individuals were seen rushing to the rescue of some of those arrested by the official forces. Powerful home made incendiary devices and fire crackers also responded to the Islamic regime's militiamen and plainclothes agents' use of brutality against celebrators and women who were not observing the mandatory veil.

Cocktail Molotov and pieces of bricks and stones were thrown from roofs at many occasion by inflicting severe damages and injuries to some of the regime's men and patrol cars. Several public buildings, materials and banks have been also heavily damaged during the popular retaliations.

Many celebrators were seen shouting slogans against the regime and its leaders, such as, "Marg bar Jomhoori e Eslami" (Down with Islamic Republic), "Marg bar Taleban e Iran" (Down with Taleban), "Toop, Tank, Feshfeshe, Bassiji bayad Koshte She" (Gun, Tank, Fire Cracker, Militia must be killed).

Overwhelmed official forces had to pull back at several occasions while some streets' initiative felt into residents hands. The regime forces were deployed massively around strategic buildings and facilities, such as, the Governmental TV, Radio, Parliament and even the Mehrabad Airport by fear of a popular take over. At many occasion, members of the regular Law Enforcement Forces (LEF) were seen fraternizing with the celebrators/Demonstrators and even showing them the "V" sign.

In the Greater Tehran alone, neighborhoods, such as, Shahrak Gharb, Madar Square, Haft-Hose, Rey, Gohardasht, Tajrish and Pasdaran were transformed into scenes of apocalypse and giving prelude to what can happen the last night of the rule of Islamic regime during a general uprising.

Esfahan, Sannandaj, Mashad, Shiraz, and Mahabad were also scenes of late night street fights were use of lethal force by the regime's men has been reported.

A heavy number of injured has been reported from most cities.

It's to note that the religiously banned celebration in which millions of Iranians are participating, each year, has been considered as "Paganistic" by the dogmatic clerics. It became this evening, once again as not only another act of joy and renewing with the Persian Cultural Heritage, but also as an act of political civil disobedience, and a show of attachment to Iranians' national values.

The Movement's Coordinator and speakers of various opposition groups had reiterated the importance of the continuation of such action in various interviews made with most Persian satellite TV and radio networks broadcasting to Iran. Aryo B. Pirouznia of SMCCDI had stated, again and during the W-End, that the persistence of Iranians to show their attachment to their cultural heritage that contradicts Shia principles and show their deep rejection of the main basis of the Islamic regime. "Tchahar Shanbe Souri is not only a Persian cultural event but also an evident and noticeable show of opposition opportunity".

The Islamist clerics have always tried, especially since taking power in 1979, to ban such tradition that date before the Arab/Islamic invasion of Iran which lead to the forced conversion of Iranians to Islam. The clerics see it, the fire fest, as a threat to their spiritual and political existence.

In Year 2000, the number of bushes set on fire were to the point that a landing Air France plane tried to change its trajectory as the pilot thought a revolution was taking place in Iran. At least 6 celebrators were killed and hundreds of others beaten and arrested by the regime forces. The Capital Law Enforcement Forces declared that the deaths were due to the explosion of fire crackers at their homes but a month later and in an unprecedented manner, the head of the regime's Medical Legalist, confessed that no deaths due to explosion were brought to his services and on that night most deaths were caused by heads of victims smashed with heavy objects.

The Islamic regime forces made, on that night, a wide spread use of heavy clubs and chains in order to attack the demonstrators.
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Postby Liberator » Tue Mar 15, 2005 6:19 pm

A report from the celebration of the Festival of Fire from cities around Iran

http://www.iranpressnews.com/english/source/003897.html



Iran Press News: According to received reports from various cities in Iran, today which marks the first celebration of the Iranian New Year's Festival of Fire was met with celebrations as well as huge protests and demonstrations against the Islamic regime of Iran. The protestors chanted: "We need no Sheikh or Mullah, we curse YOU - RUHOLLAH!"

A report from Tehran: Young celebrants today set scarecrows in the likeness of various Mullahs, such as Khamenei, Rafsanjani, Khatami, Sharoudi, Jannati, etc. on fire in the streets. They cried out slogans such as: "Referendum, referendum, this is the people's dictum."

In various parts of the capitol, celebrations and parties rage on. As a part of this celebration which is held on the very last Tuesday night of the year, dry bundles of bramble and shrubbery are set on fire and people jump over them. This is in order to purge their spirits of all the sins and tribulations of the passing year, in order to start the new year, with a pure heart. This is an ancient Persian (Zoroastrian) tradition, one that the Mullahs have done their best to eradicate since their takeover in 1979.

An eyewitness reported that despite severe crackdowns by the Revolutionary Guards and storm troopers, people bravely came out of their homes to celebrate. The sound of bursting firecrackers (which is a part of the celebrations), fireworks, toy rockets, confetti and various other celebratory trajectiles can be heard all over Tehran and smoke has filled the streets.

In one of the grassy knolls, in a suburban area of Tehran, large bonfires were lit and people danced around it and continued chanting the various slogans in defiance of the Mullahs and their henchmen. It is reported that the local Mullahs in various areas of several areas have locked themselves in their mosques fearing the crowds who continually and collectively shout out their slogans.

In several other parts of Tehran, revolutionary guards who have blocked off roads in order to stop cars carrying passengers of various groups from joining others. However people have begun parking their cars and have joined their fellow celebrants on foot. The guards however have become frightened by the force of the people. In this specific area several non-Iranian journalists were also present with their film crews, reporting.

In another area of the city people took to setting the French flag on fire while chanting: "Europe is finished and so are their Mullahs." OR "Bush, Bush, where is Bush?" (In Persian this rhymes: Bush, Bush, kush, kush!).

Like last year's celebration, the brave women who also participating in the celebrations removed their headscarves, stomping and dancing.

In the town of Karaj, near Tehran, people chanted: "Death to Khamenei" as the brutal revolutionary forces took chains and batons to people, severly beating and injuring many.

In the Southern city of Ahvaaz, on the Iran/Iraq border and the surrounding townships celebrants also came out in droves, confronting the regime's thugs. In the Shi'ite holy city of Mash'had, the city closest to the border of Afghanistan, where anti-regime and anti-Mullah fervour has always been most impressive, large groups of celebrants were arrested and detained.
Last edited by Liberator on Wed Aug 30, 2006 8:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby Liberator » Thu Mar 17, 2005 4:24 pm

Several celebrators killed and hundreds injured or arrested in Iran

SMCCDI (Information Service)
March 16, 2005



Several protesters/celebrators have been killed and hundreds have been injured or arrested following the violent clashes that rocked most Iranian cities, yesterday night, at the occasion of popular riots during the "Pagan" Tchahar-Shanbe Souri (Fire Fiest). These clashes happened as brutal militiamen attacked Iranians who transformed the already hardly tolerated celebration into protest action and show of "un-Islamic" joy. Most areas of the Capital and cities, such as, Esfahan, Mahabad, Shiraz, Rasht, Kermanshah, Babol, Sannandaj, Dezful, Mashad, Ahwaz, Marivan, Khoram-Abad, Zabol, Baneh, Tabriz, Hamedan and Oroomiah (former Rezai-e) were scenes of sometimes unprecedented street fights between the regime forces and groups of Iranians.

In Tehran alone official sources are stating about two deaths in what has been qualified as "incident during non professional work on incendiary devices" "inside a abandoned home in east of the Capital".

More concordant reports are stating about an astonishing use of force in the Capital's areas of Rey, Guisha, Narmak and Reja-i Shahr leading to many injured, arrested and few believed deaths. Other neighborhoods, such as, Shahrak Gharb, Madar Square, Haft-Hose, Gohardasht, Tajrish and Pasdaran were also transformed into unprecedented scenes of apocalypse and giving prelude to what can happen the last night of the rule of Islamic regime during a general uprising.

In Esfahan, Tabriz, Shiraz several demonstrators were seen with broken heads laying in their blood following the brutal assaults of the regime's forces in Tchahar Bagh, Ab-Ressani, Sajad and Azadi (Freedom) avenue.

Hundreds have been reported as admitted to hospitals due to wounds inflicted by heavy objects (clubs or chains) and even plastic bullets. Hundreds more are missing following the massive wave of arrests after the regime forces charges on Iranians. Reports from their quick transfers by full buses with military escort are coming from several cities.

Several regime vehicles, such as, anti-riot trucks, patrol cars and even firefighter trucks with water cannon have been destroyed in Esfhan, Mahabad and southern part of the Capital. Tens of militiamen have been also injured, some seriously, by armed masked individuals or groups of young using pieces of stones and incendiary devices, such as, Molotov Cocktails or hand made grenades.

Many celebrators were seen shouting slogans against the regime and its leaders, such as, "Marg bar Jomhoori e Eslami" (Down with Islamic Republic), "Marg bar Taleban e Iran" (Down with Taleban), "Toop, Tank, Feshfeshe, Bassiji bayad Koshte She" (Gun, Tank, Fire Cracker, Militia must be killed) and "Referendum, Referendum, in ast Shoar e Mardom" (Referendum, Referendum, this is the people's slogan) by making reference to a genuine election, expressed so many time since three years ago, and after the total fall of the Islamic regime and without giving any chance to some so-called redempted 'former' factions of the regime to surf again over the popular aspiration.

Other slogans stating about a dangerous level of the popular exasperation, such as, "Bush, Bush, kush? Kush?" (Bush, Bush, Were's He? Were's He?) were also shouted along with some unprecedented public attacks against EU members, such as, France and Germany.

Pictures of regime's leaders and Islamist books, even at some occasion, Mandatory veils and copies of the Koran along with some EU symbols, such as, French and German flags were thrown into fire by some protesters. France and Germany are the closet collaborators of the illegitimate regime in Iran.

In some areas, like in the center of Mahabad and Sannandaj, overwhelmed official forces had to pull back at several occasions while some streets' initiative felt into residents hands. The regime forces were deployed massively around strategic buildings and facilities, such as, the Governmental TV and Radio by fear of a popular take over.

The impact of the riots are to the point that the regime's propaganda tools are already blaming the exasperated Iranians for "acts of vandalism and hooliganism having lead to the perturbance of civil order and endangering the public safety". The unprecedented event forced even the governmental TV to praise Tchahr Shanbe Souri and then to condemn those who can't make a "normal celebration" of "this old tradition".

It's to note that the religiously banned celebration in which millions of Iranians are participating, each year, has been considered as "Paganistic" by the dogmatic clerics. It became this evening, once again as not only another act of joy and renewing with the Persian Cultural Heritage, but also as an act of political civil disobedience, and a show of attachment to Iranians' national values.

The Movement's Coordinator and speakers of various opposition groups had reiterated the importance of the continuation of such action in various interviews made with most Persian satellite TV and radio networks broadcasting to Iran. Aryo B. Pirouznia of SMCCDI had stated, again and during the W-End, that the persistence of Iranians to show their attachment to their cultural heritage that contradicts Shia principles and show their deep rejection of the main basis of the Islamic regime. "Tchahar Shanbe Souri is not only a Persian cultural event but also an evident and noticeable show of opposition opportunity".

The Islamist clerics have always tried, especially since taking power in 1979, to ban such tradition that date before the Arab/Islamic invasion of Iran which lead to the forced conversion of Iranians to Islam. The clerics see it, the fire fest, as a threat to their spiritual and political existence.

In Year 2000, the number of bushes set on fire were to the point that a landing Air France plane tried to change its trajectory as the pilot thought a revolution was taking place in Iran. At least 6 celebrators were killed and hundreds of others beaten and arrested by the regime forces. The Capital Law Enforcement Forces declared that the deaths were due to the explosion of fire crackers at their homes but a month later and in an unprecedented manner, the head of the regime's Medical Legalist, confessed that no deaths due to explosion were brought to his services and on that night most deaths were caused by heads of victims smashed with heavy objects.

The Islamic regime forces made, on that night, a wide spread use of heavy clubs and chains in order to attack the demonstrators.

http://www.daneshjoo.org/smccdinews/articl...icle_4369.shtml
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable" -J.F.K
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Postby Liberator » Thu Mar 17, 2005 4:25 pm

UK gifts Iran body armor to counter drug traffic
Wednesday, March 16, 2005 - ©2005 IranMania.com


http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/...rrent%20Affairs


Image


LONDON, March 16 (IranMania) – The British government has made an exception to its national arms embargo against Iran to allow the donation of armored vests and body armor plates to help counter drugs smuggling from Afghanistan, IRNA reported.

Foreign Office Minister Chris Mullin said that the gift, aimed to add an element of protection to the Iranian Anti-Narcotics Police (ANP), was made after consultation with Britain's Ministry of Defense.

"We are satisfied that these goods would only be used for anti-narcotics operations and are therefore prepared to make an exception to the UK national embargo announced in 1993, as amended in 1998," he said in a written statement to parliament published Wednesday.

Mullin said the government was "fully committed to implementing the UK embargo on Iran," which includes dual-use equipment and dates back to when it was imposed unevenly during the 1980-88 imposed Iraq war.

"However, we are, in limited circumstances, prepared to make exceptions where denying an export or a gift would be contrary to the intention of the embargo," he told MPs.

"As the UK has been active in encouraging and assisting Iran with combating the smuggling of drugs from Afghanistan, I am confident that granting this exception is fully consistent with this responsible approach of supporting the ANP whilst respecting the aims of the embargo," the Foreign Office minister said.

During the past two decades, the UK has made several exceptions to its embargo, which must be notified to parliament, to supply equipment to help Iran combat armed drug traffickers from Afghanistan, including the sale of night-vision goggles.

Last year, an exemption was also made to allow the sale of pipeline parts for the oil and gas industries that were originally designed and used for military aircraft engines.

Other exceptions have included exception to allow the export of of a synchros instrumentation system to power Fokker 100 aircraft in 2003 and industrial gas turbine parts with components that normally come under the scope of the embargo.

Unlike the overwhelming majority of the UK's sanctions regimes are imposed multilaterally by the UN, EU or OSCE, Iran remains singled out unilaterally by Britain, when emergency powers were originally used.

The embargo was later clarified in ministerial statements of 1993 and 1998 following the Scott Report into the arms-for-Iraq scandal during the imposed war that extended up to the invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein's regime.

In March 2003, a slight relaxation was made when the British government announced it was scrapping its mandatory scrutiny of export licenses under the so-called Iran Working Group in order to "reduce delays for UK exporters."

The embargo is expected to be an issue in the ongoing negotiations led by Britain, France, and Germany in reaching long-term arrangements on Iran's nuclear program.
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Postby Liberator » Thu Mar 17, 2005 4:26 pm

PEOPLE CLASHED WITH SECURITY FORCES OVER CHAHAR SHANBEH SOURI
Posted Tuesday, March 15, 2005


http://www.iran-press-service.com/ips/arti...uri_15305.shtml



TEHRAN, 15 Mar. (IPS) Serious but sporadic clashes opposed Tuesday many young Iranians to security and police forces, leaving several injured, according to eyewitnesses.

“Young boys and girls, angry at the decision of the Prosecutor for Tehran and the Islamic Revolution tribunals to ban traditional and popular festivities of “chahar shanbeh souriâ€
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Postby Liberator » Thu Mar 17, 2005 4:30 pm

EVEN Pro-IRI media outlet REUTERS reported on the massive uprisings on Chaharshanbe Soori although they kept their numbers along IRI standards (100's), and did their best to try to portray it as just a "turbulent night" that isn't very serious. They cannot keep the TRUTH from coming out forever though.


***************************************************************************


Iran hardliners keep lid on ancient fire festival
16 Mar 2005 15:55:26 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Christian Oliver


http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L16629846.htm


ISFAHAN, Iran, March 16 (Reuters) - Iranian authorities beat up and tear gassed exuberant young revellers as they breathed new life into a pre-Islamic fire festival with a night of dancing, flirting and fireworks.

The Islamic Republic, which has an awkward relationship with its ancient Zoroastrian religion, only gave guarded recognition to the "Chaharshanbe Souri" festival last year.

Hundreds of people poured onto the streets in Tehran and other cities for a rare night of partying. Public revelry is unusual in Iran where the authorities consider it to be at odds with the country's strict moral codes.

The IRNA news agency said police used tear gas in more than four places in Tehran. Vigilantes were also seen beating up a group of boys in the central city of Isfahan.

"Anti-riot forces dispersed hundreds of young girls and boys who had gathered on ... streets neighbouring Mohseni Square," IRNA reported.

"Special police forces on motorbikes attacked the crowd. While escaping, women and children fell and some were injured," it added, in unusually frank language for the state news agency.

Some 50 people were arrested in the capital, according to the semi-official ISNA students' news agency.

But for the most part, Tuesday night's celebrations passed off peacefully in a carnival atmosphere.

Iranian cities crackled and flashed with bangers and fireworks as warring gangs of 10-year-olds terrified pedestrians with exploding pellets.

Flirtatious young men lobbed firecrackers at delighted girls, mimicking their shrieks. Teenagers drew sparkling shapes in the night sky by whirling charcoal burners on chains.

"Hundreds of young people are celebrating and dancing on the streets ... while letting off firecrackers," IRNA reported from Tehran.

ANTI-RIOT POLICE USED

Chaharshanbe Souri is thousands of years old, but was pushed underground after the 1979 Islamic revolution.

The purification festival, which is meant to dispel evil spirits, is celebrated on the last Tuesday night of the Persian year.

But Islamists see the ceremonies as a pagan relic.

In Isfahan, a Reuters witness saw men in black leather jackets seize a group of nine boys and young men playing with firecrackers, ram them against a wall and smash their faces and shoulders with batons.

A woman screamed hysterically as one of the religious vigilantes in a motorcycle-helmet dragged a battered teenager into an unmarked car. A regular policeman drove by without stopping.

Most people in Isfahan chose to celebrate the festivities in the city's maze of backstreets, some lighting fires in old tyres and deep cooking pans.

Blaring pop music wafted from high-walled gardens.

Leaping over the flames, many chanted an ancient prayer invoking the fire -- the Zoroastrians' most sacred element: "Give me your red colour, take away my sickly pallor."

But Behrouz, an elderly bystander, thought the firecrackers and flirting missed the point.

"For the Zoroastrians this festival focused on taking purity from the fire, now the fire seems to bring out the worst in people," he said.
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable" -J.F.K
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Postby Liberator » Thu Mar 17, 2005 4:31 pm

Fired Up for a Good New Year
With a Hot Party, Iranians Look for Luck and Herald the Change in Seasons

By Tara Bahrampour
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 16, 2005; Page B01


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...-2005Mar15.html


At first glance, it looked as if techno-pop arsonists had taken over the University of Maryland's Shady Grove campus. A pounding bass beat rocked the parking lot, and the scent of cologne mingled with smoke as people in dark coats fanned a row of fires on the asphalt.

"Go on, jump!" a mother urged as her small sons stared, wide-eyed, at a pyre of burning wood and cardboard. A man lifted a little girl over the flames, and she squealed with delight. Dark-haired teenagers in tight jeans milled around as grandmothers in headscarves warmed their hands over the fires, hardly moving aside as families clasped hands to run down the line and leap the flames.

A DJ adds a contemporary touch to the ancient holiday by spinning Persian dance tunes into the night at the University of Maryland's Shady Grove campus. (Michael Robinson-chavez -- The Washington Post)

Across the United States last night, Iranians emerged from their homes to celebrate Chahar Shanbeh Souri, an ancient Zoroastrian holiday that has been part of their culture for centuries. In Iran, city streets blaze for one night during the last week of winter as Iranians of all religious persuasions jump over fires.

"My yellow [sickness] to you, your red [health] to me," they cry -- a purification rite meant to bring good luck in the new year, which for Iranians begins on the first day of spring. Festivities last more than two weeks, beginning with fire-jumping on the last Tuesday night of winter and ending with a nationwide picnic on the 13th day of spring, when it is considered bad luck to stay indoors.

Like the Shady Grove event -- sponsored last Friday, somewhat ahead of the calendar, by the university's Iranian Students' Foundation -- many of the celebrations took place with official permits. In Los Angeles, which has the largest concentration of Iranians in the country, thousands flock each year to the beach to shed their yellow and take in some red. In Seattle, another Iranian enclave, the celebration used to be in a state park, but after complaints about litter, it was moved to a beach.

Not all Chahar Shanbeh Souris are on the police radar. Some Iranians quietly light fires in back yards and on high-rise balconies. In New York City, a group lugs Duraflame logs to a fenced-off lot, keeping nervous watch for police cars and helicopters.

Shaghayegh Madani, 22, of Springfield used to celebrate with her family in their back yard. But one year, a fire truck came wailing down the street.

"The neighbors called the police," said Madani, who was at Shady Grove on Friday. The family had been whooping and laughing, but that wasn't how it was reported to authorities. "They said, 'These people are trying to burn themselves.' "

Fire officials warned that in the future the family would have to apply for a permit and pay $500 for a marshal to come monitor the fire, which could last only a half-hour.

"We're like, 'What are you supposed to do, this is our culture,' " Madani said. But Chahar Shanbeh Souri wouldn't have felt the same with a $500 chaperone, so they stopped doing it at home.

Iranians in the United States see the holiday, which is also celebrated by Afghans, Tajiks, Indian Parsees and others, as a nostalgic link to their homeland. In Iran, many see it as a snub to their government; consequently, its popularity has soared in recent years.

Before the 1979 Islamic revolution, "it was just a little Halloween-like event," said Ahmed Karimi-Hakkak, director of the newly established Center for Persian Studies at the University of Maryland at College Park. Children would bang pots and collect candy in front of houses, and the fires were small.

But after the Islamic government tried to ban Chahar Shanbeh Souri because it was a non-Islamic holiday, it took on greater significance. "It all of a sudden became . . . a rallying cry for Iranian identity," Karimi-Hakkak said, noting that the ritual now involves huge crowds and massive bonfires that are impossible to leap.

The Washington area's 85,000 to 100,000 Iranians make up the third-largest concentration in the United States, Karimi-Hakkak said. Spread over three jurisdictions, they sometimes have a hard time getting together, and such celebrations provide a good excuse. At the Shady Grove event, about 1,500 people came to dance to the pulsing Iranian music spun by locally based DJ Babak Hafezi; slurp steaming bowls of aush, a noodle and herb soup; and have red-white-and-green Iranian flags painted on their cheeks.

Yasmin Fallahkhair, a 13-year-old from Potomac with long brown hair and braces, excitedly bought an Iranian Students' Foundation T-shirt reading "Fear the Lakposht," a Farsi-language play on the university's "Fear the Turtle" slogan. "You don't really see a lot of shirts that have Iranian things on them," she said.

Jennifer Rostami, 20, the student group officer selling the T-shirts, recently converted to Zoroastrianism, her father's religion. The fire represents life and death, she said. "When fire burns across land, it destroys, but new things grow out of it."

But Ash Azari, 19, a business student, had no interest in jumping the knee-high fires. In Iran, where he lived until he was 15, the flames shot up over seven feet.

"You didn't jump over it," he said. "You jumped through it."
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable" -J.F.K
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Postby Liberator » Sat Mar 19, 2005 2:18 pm

Another excellent article by Mr Ledeen:


********************************************************





The Fire in Iran

March 17, 2005
National Review Online
Michael Ledeen


http://www.iranvajahan.net/cgi-bin/news.pl...5&m=03&d=17&a=4




Forget about diplomacy, this is war.

From al-Reuters, we have a masterpiece of disinformation:

ISFAHAN — Iranian authorities beat up and tear gassed exuberant young revellers as they breathed new life into a pre-Islamic fire festival with a night of dancing, flirting and fireworks. The Islamic Republic, which has an awkward relationship with its ancient Zoroastrian religion, only gave guarded recognition to the "Chaharshanbe Souri" festival last year.



The Islamic republic does not have "an awkward relationship" with Zoroastrianism. It forbids Zoroastrian practices, including the celebration of the Zoroastrian New Year, Norooz. Forget about "guarded recognition;" there is a ban. The mullahs know something that al-Reuters apparently either doesn’t know, or doesn’t choose to report: that there is a big Zoroastrian revival under way in Iran, another sign of the hollowness of the Islamic republic, and the hostility of the Iranian people to their leaders. And to say that the authorities "beat up and gassed" some "revelers" is quite an understatement, since, on the evening of March 15h, there were very large-scale demonstrations all over Iran, combining the Norooz celebrations with calls for the downfall of the regime itself. Effigies of top mullahs were burned in the streets. But al-Reuters makes it sound like a frat party that just got a bit out of hand:

Hundreds of people poured onto the streets in Tehran and other cities for a rare night of partying. Public revelry is unusual in Iran where the authorities consider it to be at odds with the country's strict moral codes.

The IRNA news agency said police used tear gas in more than four places in Tehran. Vigilantes were also seen beating up a group of boys in the central city of Isfahan.



The Iranian student group headquartered in Texas provides us with a considerably more accurate — if somewhat ungrammatical — picture:

These clashes happened as brutal militiamen attacked Iranians who transformed the already hardly tolerated celebration into protest action and show of "un-Islamic" joy. Most areas of the Capital and cities, such as, Esfahan, Mahabad, Shiraz, Rasht, Kermanshah, Babol, Sannandaj, Dezful, Mashad, Ahwaz, Marivan, Khoram-Abad, Zabol, Baneh, Tabriz, Hamedan and Oroomiah (former Rezai-e) were scenes of sometimes unprecedented street fights between the regime forces and groups of Iranians.

In fact, according to Iranians with whom I have spoken, there were monster demonstrations in eleven provinces and 37 cities, and many thousands — one source said more than 30,000 — people were arrested, some only briefly, others shipped off to the infamous prisons and torture chambers of the regime. The most dramatic events took place in Shiraz, where the demonstrators directed a chant toward Washington: "Bush, you told us to rise up, and so we have. Why don’t you act?"

Which is precisely the right question. The president publicly promised the Iranian people that the United States would support them if they acted to win their own freedom, and the Iranians are now calling on Bush to make good on that promise.

The problem is that the administration may have outwitted itself, as has happened in the past. It seems that our current tactic is to set a series of traps for the Europeans and the terror masters. The Europeans are told that we will support their nuclear negotiations with the Iranian regime for the time being, but they must join with us in strong action if the talks fail. The Syrians are invited to leave Lebanon, and Hezbollah is invited to abandon terrorism, and are warned of harsh consequences if they do not. The president quite clearly doesn’t expect the negotiations to succeed, doesn’t expect Syria to accept a free Lebanon, and doesn’t for a minute think that Hezbollah can renounce its terrorist essence. In each case, we have convinced ourselves that, by taking a sweet and reasonable position today, we will be in a stronger position for tough action tomorrow. It will make it easier for at least some of the Europeans to join with us, whereas they would oppose tough action right away.

All that may well be true, but even so, it is the wrong thing to do. First of all, it enables the terrorists and their masters to buy time, and this is a moment of enormous risk for them. Every day they remain in power encourages them, and discourages the forces of freedom in their countries. When the people of Shiraz ask President Bush "why don’t you act?" they are reflecting this reality. Carpe Diem, Mister President.

But above all, the clever stratagem adopted by the administration ignores Machiavelli’s greatest lesson: Leadership is all about winning and losing, not about elegance and deep thinking. If we win the Europeans and lose the Middle East, we will have lost. But if we win the Middle East, the Europeans will hail us, as we see from their grudging tributes to Bush’s successful liberation of Afghanistan and Iraq. "If you are victorious," Machiavelli says in his uncompromising way, "people will always judge the means you used to have been appropriate."

Syria and Iran are tottering, and if they fall, the terror network will break into relatively impotent shards that we will be able to destroy. Forget about diplomacy, this is war. Every day we hear about plans to attack the United States directly, and every day more Americans die in Iraq. Is it not too clever by half to resort to cunning diplomacy at such a time? Is it not immoral to leave American fighting men and women in harm’s way an hour longer than is absolutely necessary?

The fires of freedom are burning all over Iran, Syria, and Lebanon. Don't stand back and admire the flames. Push the dictators in, and then cheer as free societies emerge.

Faster, confound it.

— Michael Ledeen, an NRO contributing editor, is most recently the author of The War Against the Terror Masters. He is resident scholar in the Freedom Chair at the American Enterprise Institute.
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable" -J.F.K
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Postby Liberator » Sat Mar 26, 2005 7:59 pm

New Year Party Gets Political On Streets Of Tehran

March 21, 2005
The Guardian
Robert Tait in Tehran


http://www.iranvajahan.net/cgi-bin/news.pl...5&m=03&d=21&a=1



At first the ear-splitting explosions, blazing bonfires and choking stench of teargas could have been mistaken for the prelude to a new Iranian revolution. In reality the occasion, Chahar Shanbeh Souri, was celebratory. Iranians young and old, male and female, were gathered in Mirdamad Street, in one of Tehran's most affluent neighbourhoods, to mark the opening of festivities for Norouz, the new year in the ancient Zoroastrian calendar.

Nevertheless, subversion - along with noise and smoke - hung heavy in the air as fashionably dressed young men lobbed firecrackers and set flame to piles of rubbish at the kerbside. No one present seemed in any doubt about the political undercurrents.

"This is a way for people to use their national traditions to show their opposition to the regime," said a man called Reza, before hurrying away, saying that the security forces were lurking nearby.

Stretching back 2,500 years, the significance of Chahar Shanbeh Souri for Iranians is comparable to Christmas in the west. But its pre-Islamic roots have rendered it an object of hostility to the country's hardline clerical establishment. After the 1979 revolution, the authorities tried to ban the celebration, deeming it an affront to Islamic mores.

But with many Iranians chafing against the regime's austere brand of Shia Islam, the festival has increasingly been used to express displeasure with the government.

In previous years, pro-regime vigilantes have been deployed to break up such gatherings by force. This time, however, the regime has tacitly permitted the festivals.

But tolerance has its limits. As people gathered, squads of baton-wielding police officers sealed off the nearby Mohseni Square, lest it become a magnet for unmanageably large crowds. Several times they attacked, using their batons and firing teargas canisters.

Muhammad Ghodzi, 28, a student, bristled with anger as he criticised the regime. "We hate their brand of Islam because it spills blood," he said. "This is a sort of Islam that keeps people backward. But young people nowadays think."

Asked what kind of political system he wanted, he replied: "Democratic, with a separation between religion and politics ... We will sacrifice our lives for democracy and freedom."

But Nader's fast food restaurant nearby provided a poignant counterweight to the prevailing mood of rebellion. Young women sat, challenging the Islamic dress code with their gaudy headscarves pushed far back to emphasise an array of glamorous hairdos. A tannoy announcement exhorted them to "observe the regulations". They duly pulled their headscarves forward.
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