bob-ak.com

It is absoultely amazing what’s been happening in Iran in the past couple of days – from what we’re hearing in thh news right now, the city of Tehran is still in turmoil and it’s past 4am there!

Here are a few links with up-to-date news/pictures from Iran:

http://twitter.com/IranElection09

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mousavi1388/sets/72157619592664479/show/#IRANELECTION

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/

Let’s hope for a real change there and no more killings… Is that possible?

There was a lot of hype surrounding the Christmas speech made by Iran’s president on UK TV’s Channel 4.

I didn’t get to see it on the day but spent a little time searching the Internet and found a few useful links:

• Mahmoud Ahmadinejad & Dr Anthony McRoy – The Islamic extremist and the Christian academic
• The double-hype of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

I personally think it’s a great idea to give people who don’t normally feature in main stream media, a chance to voice their opinion, specially if they’re misunderstood. But, to let Mr Ahmadinejad, a president who allows injustice and numerous killings go on in his own back yard, may be questionable.

To Ahmadinejad’s defence, here are some links that show he was misquoted by the big media heads:

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14733.htm
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article12790.htm
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18471.htm

Let’s hope things get better in Iran and whether this man gets elected the next time or not, I wish him better understanding of human values (Islamic or not).

A short film called “Generation Tehran” beautifully captures the thinkings and lifestyle of a group of the younger generation in Tehran. Directed by Sara Bavar.

Ahmadinejad accepts Israel’s right to exist

Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has made a remarkable announcement. He’s admitted that Iran might agree to the existence of the state of Israel.

Read the article here. From the Guardian, written by Peter Tatchell.

New radar to calm Israel-Iran attack fears

The United States has deployed a sophisticated long-range radar system in Israel capable of providing crucial early warnings in case of missile attacks.

Read it here. From theage.com.au written by Jason Koutsoukis, Jerusalem.

‘Song of Sparrows’ Representing Iran At Oscars

After a critical misfire with the moralistic melodrama The Weeping Willow, Iran’s only Oscar-nominated director, Majid Majidi (Children of Heaven), returns to the dramatic territory he effectively mined in earlier works with The Song of Sparrows.

Link – from radiojavan.com

A collection of photos by the National Geographic shows the “glorious past of a conflicted nation”.

Click here to see the full collection.

The palace of Ardashir I Firuzbad in Fars province south of Shiraz

This is an article about “Iran Awakening”, a book written by Shirin Ebadi published in 2006.

Seldom in the United States do politicians refer to literary works or memoirs when discussing foreign policy. Most politicians, like most Americans, think of literature as entertaining, spiritually edifying, even educational, to be read in the evening after work. But occasionally a book appears that politicians might do well to read during work.

Article written by Betty Jean Craige is a professor of comparative literature at the University of Georgia.

Detailed analysis of UK/UK intelligence agencies’ view of Iran’s nuclear program:

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JD23Ak03.html

An excellent photo blog by a former [Iranian] Los Angeles resident who recently moved to Tehran. Most of the photos are taken by his camera phone. Link