422>Some people may like this.You%26#039;re not gonna find this information anywhere else.I%26#039;m uncovering the secrets! (I%26#039;ve also provided evidence and have fixed the news link)
Special thanks to my American friend who helped me proofread my writing.
I believe that if you spend 5-10 minutes reading this essay, you will be better informed than if you listen to a lifetime%26#039;s worth of Major Media news. I%26#039;ve just turned 19 and I%26#039;m a university student studying English who just cannot sit back and let the lies fly unchallenged.
This article has two parts:
1. Cultural and general info
2. Political info.
Note: I%26#039;ve explained all the things that you always talk about, so read it all plz! (Anytime you like!) Specially the political part! Any answers before reading the whole thing will prove to be wrong.
****
Hi. I%26#039;m an Iranian who has spent his life in Iran.When I chat with people from other countries, I am shocked to see how totally wrong their ideas are about Iran. I wrote this article in an attempt to help correct those ideas.
The first thing America, and the West in general, accuses our government of is that we don%26#039;t allow personal freedoms. Actually, Iranians disobey laws they don%26#039;t like as much as anyone. But come on, there are only a few restrictions.It%26#039;s cool over here. People here do whatever they wish to! Many strict rules in other countries don%26#039;t even exist in Iran. Also, you should understand that what may seem so normal to you, may be a nightmare for us and vise versa. That%26#039;s why you don%26#039;t understand a few of Iran%26#039;s laws because some of them are based on our culture. You look at our country from %26quot;your own point of view%26quot;! In Iran every single house has a sattelite dish. Sattelite television has a serious influence on our people, and Iranians wear very fashionable clothing. Maybe it is a kind of imitation, but we still have our own unique Iranian style (I%26#039;m talking about public places, in our privacy there%26#039;s no difference). A visitor might wonder if this is a country or a fantasy pageant of beauty queens! Almost women wear half their their hair out, and make-up and fashionable clothing are everywhere.(I ignore a few fuddy-duddies though!) Iran is one of the super-consumers of cosmetics. You would be surprised to see the difference between what you imagine and what Iran really is!
In my view, everything is great, if you ignore unemployment, inflation and air pollution. They%26#039;re common problems around the world today! Also, you can%26#039;t compare Iran today with the Iran you remember. The Shah and the Iatollah Khomini are both some 30 years in the past! 70% of Iran%26#039;s population is a new generation (Under age 30) without the biases of the past and we%26#039;ve transformed everything.
Ever heard Iranian girls are terrific?I%26#039;ve collected some photos showing Iranian girls! Look! Poeple are like this!
http://www.salijoon.ir/bazigar/hedye%20t...
http://www.30nema.com/images/gallery/30n...
http://i10.tinypic.com/4clk3us.jpg
Americanised Iranian girl? Nope, everyone%26#039;s like that, but this one%26#039;s inside the car! Naughty girls do anything! http://tinypic.com/2d0nfao.jpg Enough proof?
Some people think women don%26#039;t have any rights in Iran. But in my view, women are overrunning the place. But that%26#039;s not a bad thing. They%26#039;re very respectful, and they%26#039;ve been the winners in so many cases: They get into the best universities because they%26#039;re very smart. And they get the best jobs because they can do so many of them better than men. They%26#039;ve got Islamic rights, and that has in some cases made it difficult for men to marry them, because husbands are supposed to buy them expensive things and treat them very well, otherwise women have the right to ask a great amount of money (called Mehr) according to the law, which most husbands cannot afford, so men will be imprisoned.The only thing that women are not allowed to do in Iran is getting into public football stadiums and that%26#039;s because such places are full of cheeky guys. They do anything from taking part in rallies to singing pop songs.Anything! I%26#039;ve put a sample here. I feel foolish for sitting here explaining ordinary things to you.
Another funny thing: Your footage about stoning the women who have committed adultery. Have you ever asked yourselves how many years ago that footage related to? Are they balck and white or colourful? But in one case (related to many years ago) the thing that had happened was incest not adultery.We think being punished for corruption is good, as it deters people from doing that and the society will be far healthier than the countries in which commiting such things is considered to be normal! For your information, most of those footages are from Afghanistan which was ruled by freaks (Taliban). What exactly makes you think women are treated differently?The way they were/are treated in Saudi Arabia? Try to think of the racism in your country too. There%26#039;s no perfect country!
Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan are --------- SEPERATE COUNTRIES! --------- Even within Iran, 60% of us are Persian and 30% are Turkish! Iran is a normal country like any other in the world. The point is, there%26#039;s nothing mysterious about us! The Media are very good at creating really scary stuff: %26quot;IRAN BEHIND THE CLOSED DOORS!!!%26quot; %26quot;IRAN UNDERCOVER!!!%26quot; Some of that garbage would be enough to scare ME away! But in truth, Iranians are far more open-minded than you have been led to believe.
There are lots of Iranians today who are geniuses and scientists, and are all under age 25. For instance a 17 year old boy has invented 72 amazing inventions. Every year a special scientific compeition is held here and students assemble to show off hundreds of inventions. Iranian students and sportsmen win gold and silver medals in different competitions in the world all the time, in robotics, biology, maths, physics, sports, anything! Why don%26#039;t the Media talk about them? Please don%26#039;t summarize our nation and culture with the single word %26quot;nuclear%26quot;. Although we%26#039;re proud of this achievement because we believe that having nuclear energy means that a country is developed.Did you know that the countries having the highest number of scientists in the world are in this order? 1-India 2-Korea 3-Iran
A few months ago Iran uncovered the most effective anti-H.I.V medicine. I searched for news of that on the internet, but there was no single sign of it.Now, I found it among the English news: %26quot;The medicine is produced from herbs using nano technology%26quot; The link to read about it is: http://www.payvand.com/news/07/feb/1032....
The Media are unjust. They never talk about facts!
Some interesting facts:
Iran is a pioneer in medicine and genetics, and Iranian surgeons have found lots of new methods for treating spinal defects, and many diseases (mainly the treatment for different types of cancer) and the best brain and heart surgeons are Iranian. The head of the Mars Mission in NASA is Iranian. One of the best designers of sports cars working in Germany is Iranian. Some of the best 3D animators are Iranian. Iran is one of the best countries in counter-engineering. Holds the second place in building dams and in loads of other things! It%26#039;s one of the top countries in bio-technology and nano-technology. The 4th highest tower in the world (Milad tower) is in Tehran (visit it at this link from wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Milad... ). 51 of the top 100 universities in the Mid-East are in Iran, and they%26#039;re among the top universities of the world as well. The champion weight-lifter, a woman, and a song by one of the pop singers who/which won the nobel peace prize are Iranians. Lots of Iranians win nobel prizes specially in the field of medicine. Iranian girls are famous for being terrific. We have Persian rugs and Persian literature, many Persian poets, artists and scientists that are world famous. Iranian culture is now westernized and only a little of the ancient culture has survived. According to statistics Tehran is the cheapest capital city in the world (one Dollar =about 950 Tomans! For example you can buy windows vista for 1 Dollar here instead of 700 Dollars!!! or 3 supper pizzas for 10 Dollars!!!wow!) There are many other things. How many pages would you need to describe a country? Iran has nearly all the industries and technologies found in %26#039;developed%26#039; countries. Oh, and we have four seasons! (Some people think it never snows here! We get a lot of snow and there are skating rinks! lol) The list is endless.
News: %26quot;Iranian scientists managed to make human teeth grow after you%26#039;ve lost them using basic cells%26quot; I%26#039;m gonna introduce Iran%26#039;s international news website to you (Press TV) which was established recently. It%26#039;s fully in English. In the %26quot;Sic / Tech%26quot; section you%26#039;ll always see Iran%26#039;s discoveries. The address is: http://www.presstv.ir/news.aspx Press TV news: Iranian scientists have registered more than 4800 inventions during the last Iranian calendar year of 1385 (April 21 2006-April 20, 2007). 4800 inventions in just one year!
Some charactristics of Iranians would be:
Negative: We are proud, greedy, hard-working (for ourselves), not punctual, impatient, and lazy at doing our duty well, crazy about luxuries and thus extravagant! Highly competitive and ambitious.
Positive: intelligent, a bit idealistic, well-dressed, formal, well-educated, warm and friendly, hospitable.
Some people think Iran is a desert! Well, it is, if you consider California, New Mexico, Utah, Arkansas, and Alabama a desert. We share the same latitude. Iran is a modern country with breathtakingly beautiful nature and lots of historic places to visit. Please take a look at the following links to see if Iran looks like what you think or not! This is a photo of Tehran (Awesome, Isn%26#039;t it?): http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/co...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tehran
If you like you can visit these too, hundreds of pretty photos from the cities, nature and historic places: (It%26#039;s like a free tour!)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Hills...
http://www.pbase.com/k_amj/throughout_ir...
http://www.pbase.com/k_amj/throughout_ir...
http://www.pbase.com/k_amj/throughout_ir...
http://www.bigsoccer.com:80/forum/showth...
http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthrea...
http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthrea...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran
Some people think music is forbidden in Iran. Did you know that Iranian music was chosen as the best pop in France in 2005? All Iranian songs are current pop / DJ music. I send Iranian music to my American and Canadian chat friends and they all say they%26#039;re some of the best songs they%26#039;ve ever heard.
Here%26#039;s a sample of the latest hits from two official Iranian music websites.You can just right click on the links below and choose %26quot;Save Target As%26quot; to download them.I guess you%26#039;ll fall for it! The translation of the songs is here: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...
1.(You know this: 2007) http://download.bia2music.com/Music/Iran...
2.(Hold my hand: 2007) http://www.sarzaminmp3.com/Sarzaminmusic...
3.(The wetness of your eyes: 2006) http://download.bia2music.com/Music/Iran...
4.(I just want you: 2003) http://download.bia2music.com/Music/Iran...
5.(The rain: 2007) http://download.bia2music.com/Music/Iran...
6.(The window: 2005) http://www.sarzamin.org/Sarzaminmusic/Pe...
7.(Keep me in your memory: 2005) http://www.sarzamin.org/Sarzaminmusic/Pe...
8.(Farangis %26quot;A female name%26quot; 2007) http://download.bia2music.com/Music/Iran...
9.(The distance: 2007) http://www.sarzaminsong.com/Sarzaminmusi...
10.(Sunrise: 2007) http://www.sarzaminsong.com/Sarzaminmusi...
11.(Stop world:2006) http://www.sarzaminmusic.com/Sarzaminmus...
12.(You can%26#039;t: 2007) http://www.sarzaminmp3.com/Sarzaminmusic...
13.(The wind%26#039;s kiss: 2005) http://www.sarzamin.org/Sarzaminmusic/Pe...
14.(Reveal your visage: 2004) http://www.sarzamin.org/Sarzaminmusic/Pe...
15.(What would have happened if : 2007) http://www.sarzaminmp3.com/Sarzaminmusic...
And so on and on!
It%26#039;s now 2007 and most people still think we are uneducated people living in deserts, riding camels and carrying around guns!
Let%26#039;s clarify some political issues as well: Some of the Americans think that president Ahmadinejad hates the U.S and Israel and wants to nuke them!! The Media are good at putting lying comments out there. I really don%26#039;t get the point why our politicians defame themselves by talking about things that have got nothing to do with us. For example does verbal defence of Palestinians cause them to have a better life? The thing is that they occasionally make some statements that the media would misuse it against Iran. For example they pick up some specific phrases of a long speech (without refering to the main points and reasons for that speech) and put so many bad comments on that. No sane person would take such nonsense at face value.
First of all, Iranians don%26#039;t hate anyone. If our government complains about some injustice going on in the world, it%26#039;s not bad, is it? (Although what we want from them is to shut up and not get us into trouble by talking about things that are none of our concern) We hate neither Jews nor Americans. I love Americans, otherwise why would I talk to them?! How would our guys dream of America, want to be like them as much as possible, and hate them at the same time?! SECRET: Iranians are the only people in the Mid-East that are pro-American! Being agaisnt the U.S policies is a different story!I%26#039;ve got to say that for Iran, Israel is not equal with Jews! Israel is a gov%26#039;t. Jews are faithful people! A few of them live here in our neighbourhood and they live just like the rest of Iranians. No difference. And two of Iran%26#039;s parliment members are Jews. Who says we want to force others to convert to Islam? Have you ever found a Muslim knocking at your door asking you to do so?
Christians and Jews are both God-believers and respectful to us. In Iran, religion is one of the least important factors. Where you come from and what your religion is are not important to us at all.
I wonder who Iran is really a threat to. Is it logical to say someone%26#039;s guilty because we THINK / PREDICT that he%26#039;s going to do something wrong? And they repeat the same %26quot;nuclear weapons%26quot; tosh over and over and brainwash people! Correction! It%26#039;s %26quot;nuclear energy%26quot;. Besides, how many %26quot;nuclear weapons%26quot; do they have themselves? Hundreds of thousands? Has Iran ever attacked any countries? No. Has it developed any nukes? No! That%26#039;s what nuclear agency says. Only Iran%26#039;s opponents are pulling Iran%26#039;s leg and what they say is of no credit. It%26#039;s just based on political conflicts. What we%26#039;re doing is legal. What they ask us to do (ignoring our international rights) is illegal. Iran is a peaceful country. Why? It%26#039;s the regional super-power and if she wanted, she could easily invade the countries in our neibourhood just like what Saddam did to our country, but as you see Iran has peaceful relations with all of them.
Some people say he said: Israel should be wiped off the map! (I wish he could just shut up!)But have they told you the rest of his speech and that why he%26#039;s said this at all? You know that it%26#039;s a passive sentence. He%26#039;s never said that IRAN wants to wipe Israel off the map! He wasn%26#039;t talking about destroying Israel at all. He was talking about relocating Israel, so that they could live seperate from Palestinians and they could both live in peace. They%26#039;ve only told you this phrase not the whole thing and it%26#039;s mistranslated intentionally. Iran has always defended itself, but it%26#039;s not an offensive country.
Some say he%26#039;s said: %26quot;The Holocaust is a myth!%26quot; Again, this is a single phrase taken from a long speech and there are totally logical reasons for saying so. If 6,000,000 Jews were killed, that%26#039;s terrible, but 300,000 Shiite Moslems killed by Saddam aren%26#039;t important at all? Over 650,000 Iraqi people are killed and that%26#039;s not important?! When Fox News simply says that America and Israel are capable of destroying and killing Iran%26#039;s population of 69,000,000 within two weeks, it%26#039;s OK and no one says they%26#039;re threatening other countries to nuke them (I saw this with my own eyes on the Fox News website) Millions of people killed in Afghanistan, Hiroshima %26amp; Nagasaki and the Vietnam war are not considered human beings at all! Now I think you%26#039;d get the point why he%26#039;s IRONICALLY said it%26#039;s a myth. Moreover, don%26#039;t you believe in freedom of speech/mind? I%26#039;d judge people by their ACTIONS rather than by what they say / their religion / race / culture and the colour of their skin!
Obviously, some countries are using Iran as a scapegoat to put the blame (for their own faults) on. And what country is better than Iran to be a scapegoat? The whole world believes that Iran isn%26#039;t a peaceful country.
This part is just for Americans who would still argue over unimportant things: Those of you who say why Iran says %26quot;Death to America%26quot;:
1. %26#039;America%26#039; to us means the U.S govt, not the people. How do you expect Iranians to mean %26quot;American people%26quot; when our media admires Americans for marching and holding up %26quot;no war%26quot; placards?!
2. The new generation don%26#039;t say such things and if some of them occasionally march in the streets that%26#039;s because some of the stupid guys enjoy making noise and they mainly go out there to meet their girlfriends/boyfriends! Strange. Isn%26#039;t it?
3. Such mottos are not just said in Iran and as you know whatever you hear is a response to the U.S govt%26#039;s terrible actions which has made life for many people hell (You wouldn%26#039;t deny that attacking countries is a mistake. right?)
4. The U.S gov%26#039;t helped Saddam attack Iran and I hope you know which country gave Iraq biological weapons which killed lots of Iranians.
5. America hit an Iranian airplane over the Persian Gulf and killed 200 passengers for no reason.
6. America places sanctions on Iran, promotes a false image of Iran and Iranians, scares tourists away, and harms our economy, development and credit. To what purpose?
When you call Ahmadinejad a nutcase for what he%26#039;s said, what do you call Bush for his actions? I mean it%26#039;s a good idea to consider what Bush is doing to the world with his wrong decisions and lies. Bush is powerful and influencial, but Ahmadinejad is nothing.He%26#039;s even failed to control the inflation.
To those who are upset with American hostages taken for 444 days:
1. Firstly, It%26#039;s related to so many years ago and it%26#039;s almost a part of history, and don%26#039;t forget that when there%26#039;s a revolution, there%26#039;d be chaos and people may do things that they should not, moreover they%26#039;re all alive and healthy. Aren%26#039;t they?
2.The U.S has arrested Iranian diplomats in Iraq and had tortured the one who was freed. Poor British sailors were detained by the English gov%26#039;t just for saying that they were treated well in Iran and that Iranians were logical people (They said these when they were on England%26#039;s soil!) They were PREVENTED from releasing their memoirs by England! Now you decide who has the right to be upset with whom. How do you believe in their lies about politics when they hide both the most and the least important things from you considering the fact that politics is the world of lies in its nature?!!! Considering all this, you%26#039;d probably be able to GUESS what percentage of what they tell you about the Mid-East, Islam, Moslems and other things is true!!! lol Some answerers still confuse Iraq and Iran after reading all this! You are in Iraq not in Iran! They%26#039;re separate countries!
Isn%26#039;t it better for both countries to forget past conflicts and to have peaceful relations? Our two gov%26#039;ts are like 10 year old children playing a stupid, harsh, rhetorical game. (We hate them both!) They don%26#039;t care about hurting people%26#039;s feelings. They just try to make our two peoples enemies to achieve their own goals. We, as the people of these countries, MUST NOT allow these conflics into our hearts. You know something? All govt%26#039;s are hateful. I just said the above things because it sounds unfair when some Americans talk about the taking of the 444 hostages while I keep silence. Now, what do you think? I can%26#039;t wait to see both nations in peace. It%26#039;d be marvelous! They%26#039;ve started to have diplomatic talks! That%26#039;s great!
A lovely American told me: %26quot;Having had the wonderful opportunity to visit your country enabled me to see for myself how wonderful the Iranian people are and to learn about your history, your culture, your cuisine, music, films, dance, sacred sites, your medical accomplishments...all your beauty. I am so sorry my country%26#039;s government seems to delight in trying to bully Iran. Worst of all are the lies told. I know enough about your country to be able to discern when the propaganda machine here is operating. I just wish more Americans traveled and could see for themselves what I have seen. By the way, I traveled to Iran under the auspices of The Friendship Force, an organization started by Pres. Carter to promote peace through one-on-one friendship, a mission I take seriously. Thank you for your wonderful essay on Iran.%26quot;
BTW, make sure you visit the links I%26#039;ve put up for you.They%26#039;re all from trusted websites. There are some really nice stuff there! Absoulutely beautiful pictures (look at cities and nature) and %26quot;Americanised%26quot; music! lol
Thanks for your time
Reply:I think you overestimate the number of people in the west that hate your country. I know that there is a lot of hate generated by atrocites perpetrated by both sides. Kidnapping, torture and illegal imprisonments, I mean they have been done by both sides in a long term conflict that will take years to heal from psycologically as well as spirtitually and physically for some. I personally have no ill feelings towards the Iranian people as a whole and simply wish that the age old question:
%26quot;Why can%26#039;t we all just get along?%26quot; could actually be answered. But I think we will be waiting an awfully long time for the rednecks of the world-American, Canadian and Iranian as well as Iraqi, to either change or die out. Its possible that the world will one day enjoy brotherhood and harmony in a World Congress of sometype, I think the original thinking behind the UN was a good thing, too bad the spirit of the organization has been corrupted over the years and too much control of its workings are in the hands of too few of the member nations so as to give it only a figure head status in the world. Perhaps if it had troops that were completely autonomous from all of the member nations, made up of peoples from all countries, that were under the command of the UN itself and were not answerable to any one nation it could do something good but as it is it is only Window Dressing. I don%26#039;t pretend to know the answers and I have no idea what can be done to make a World utopia happen, all I can say is we have to learn to work and play well with others here on our home planet before we can ever hope to get along with any other race that we might encounter out in space. Lets hope we get our stuff together before we are forced to by something like what occured in Independence Day or before we are pushed into it by something like what happened in Sagan%26#039;s Contact. As for my time, you were welcome to it. Understanding is the greatest gift we can give one and other and if I can gain some of that by giving you 10 minutes of my time to read what you wrote then I will. Peace! as the 60%26#039;s era hippies used to say!
Reply:Every Iranian I know hates the government of Iran and the changes they imposed after the Shah was deposed, especially the woman.
And I know several of the bahai faith who would disagree that they are allowed many personal freedoms.
I guess it%26#039;s been a while since you%26#039;ve been in Iran.
ADDED: So answer my question about the bahai... do you maintain they face no state sanctioned discrimination?
How about non-Persians?
Reply:anything can be twisted to fit an individuals ideas.
Reply:Well done!
However, the sad truth is that the people who are close minded and think the neo-cons are right for wanting to nuke every muslim country back to the stone age will never spend the time it takes to read this. Their angry and simplistic minds are already made up. I hope I%26#039;m wrong though, because I%26#039;ve heard similar stories from people who have traveled to Iran. Let%26#039;s just hope than enough people in this country keep their wits long enough to prevent the relatively small group of ideological extermists (the neo-cons) from pulling off another really disasterous and illegal war.
Reply:It%26#039;s easier sometimes for people to blame a faceless nation and to see them as the problem rather than looking closer to home. Britain and America have enjoyed the privilege of thinking they have the moral high ground for a long time. All countries have their problems, and most have at some time had people in power who abuse their power.
I have no doubt that Iran is a beautiful country with lots of lovely people and that for many the quality of life is excellent. All countries have their dark sides and unpleasant realities they would rather others didn%26#039;t know about.
Not everyone in Iran has equality of opportunity, not everyone is free to practise their chosen religion. The US and Britiain have their own inequalities too.
Reply:don%26#039;t think so TIM............when i click on 2 of those sights my security say DON%26#039;T OPEN.........nice try
necklace
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