IRAN

Now Ruz, the Iranian New Year

SAL E NOW MOBARAK

Nowruz, NoRuz, NoRooz 1386 - March 21/2007
Kurdistan / Tehran	Wednesday: 03:37:26 AM March 21, 2007

Paris	Wednesday 01:07:26 AM March 21, 2007

London	Wednesday 12:07:26 AM March 21, 2007

Newyork	Tuesday 07:07:26 PM March 20, 2007

Los Angeles	Tuesday 04:07:26 PM March 20, 2007

Chicago	Tuesday 06:07:26 PM March 20, 2007

How to toss an egg from one bull's horn to another

On the first day of spring in Iran, it is the movement of an egg on a mirror that tells the watchers the new year has begun. According to a time-honored Persian legend, the earth's axis turns on one horn of a giant bull. Once a year, on the vernal eqinox, the bull tosses its burden from one horn to the other so deftly that the shift can be observed only by watching the delicate movements of a highly sensitive egg on a polished, slippery surface.
Members of the family gather around to watch Now Ruz begin; everyone knows at exactly what moment spring begins each year. If the egg does not oblige its audience by moving at the proper time, and adult may tap a finger on the underside of the table to endues it so the children will not be disappointed

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IRANIAN VISA IRAN

MFA's Procedure #721/16000 dated 25.07.2005 :

The Iranian ministry of foreign affairs introduces the operational procedures for One-Week Tourist Visa Upon Arrival :

From now on, Nationals of the following countries holding ordinary passports and wishing to visit Iran mainland, can obtain a one-week Tourist Visa Upon Arrival at the airports of :

IKA : Tehran Imam Khomeini Airport
THR : Tehran Mehrabad Airport
MHD : Mashad Airport
SYZ : Shiraz Airport
TBZ : Tabriz Airport
ISF : Isfahan Airpor

1. The applicant(s) should have a confirmed return ticket and a valid passport with at least 6 months validity and a photo to be attached to the application form.

2. Visa fee is US$50.00 for the holder of the passport and US$10.00 for each one of the companions (if any).

3. This type of visa is only for tourist purposes and the followings are not entitled to this visa facilitation.
3.1. Journalists and reporters on mission.
3.2. Applicants whose applications for Iran Visa have been rejected before.
3.3. Iranians holding foreign passports but still maintaining their Iranian nationality.

To relax and ease up visa issuance process, interested companies and travel agents can refer to the passport and visa section of the ministry of foreign affairs minimum 24 hours before arrival of the tourist(s) to file their applications for visa issuance upon arrival. You can get it through the agency iranianvisa.com

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Hardliner Ahmadinejad elected Iran's president reports Iranmania

Hardline Tehran mayor Mahmood Ahmadinejad swept to a shock landslide victory in Iran's presidential election Saturday, spelling an end to years of hard-fought social reform and setting the Islamic republic on a collision course with the West.

A self-proclaimed fundamentalist seeking a return to the moral "purity" of the early years of the Islamic revolution, Ahmadinejad vowed he would "build up an exemplary, developed and powerful Islamic society."

"I am highly proud because I received people's kindness and trust," the 49-year-old president-elect told state media.

"Today, all competition should turn into friendship. We are part of a big family that should go hand in hand to build our proud Iran."

Ahmadinejad will become the first non-cleric to hold Iran's presidency since 1981, a fact of little meaning to those who fear he will take away social liberties that have been gained in the past eight years.

Ahmadinejad set to win Iran presidential election

Tehran, June 25, IRNA

9th Presidential Election-Result
Tehran Mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is leading Iran's 9th presidential runoff, will most likely emerge the winner.

The Election Headquarters of Interior Ministry said, "Of total 24,313,522 votes counted throughout the country except 13
constituencies including the capital city Tehran by 09:45 hours local time (0515 GMT), 15,147,517 went for Ahmadinejad.

Ahmadinejad's heavyweight rival, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, head of the Expediency Council, has won 8,594,276 votes.

The ministry announced 571,729 votes void.

The final official result of the runoff election is likely announced before 14:00 hours local time (0930 GMT).

Presidential run-off election starts in Iran

Tehran, June 24, IRNA

Presidential run-off election started all over the country at 09:00 hours local time (0430 GMT) Friday.

Iranian nation will go to balloting boxes today to vote for either the Expediency Council Chairman Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani or Tehran Mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the country's next president.

Rafsanjani gained a total of 6,159,452 votes in the first round of the presidential elections held on June 17 while 5,710,354 people voted in favor of Ahmadinejad.

The latest official figures show that some 46,786,418 people are eligible to vote for the 9th presidential elections.

Those who have failed to vote in the first round, for any reason, are permitted to cast their votes in the run-off elections.

All those having completed 15 years of age and above can participate in the run-off and vote for the two candidates who have come out on top in the race from among the seven candidates.

Candidates require 50 percent of the votes plus one, officially known as absolute majority, to win outright.

Various groups and parties, together with the candidates, ended their electoral campaign 24 hours prior to the run-off.

Among seven challengers for the presidential race, except Rafsanjani and Ahmadinejad, were former Majlis speaker Mehdi Karroubi, former minister of higher education Mostafa Moin, former Police chief Brigadier General Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, former head of the Islamic Republic of Iran's Broadcasting (IRIB) Ali Larijani and Vice President Mohsen Mehralizadeh.

Presidential elections hopeful Mohsen Rezaie announced his withdrawal from the race in his letter to the Interior Ministry on June 16.

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The Zeinoddin Caravanserai, near Yazd on the road to Kerman is a fantastic place. I was there in October 2004 with eight friends, all ladies, one Iranian and the rest Spanish. We really enjoyed the architecture for it has been perfectly restored. The decoration makes life there beautiful and comfortable. Food is delicious. If you are planning to travel to Iran, try to spend a night in Zeinoddin Caravanserai, you will never forget it.

BAM earthquake
Apocalypse in the night that laid waste to a city - Just before she went to sleep on Thursday evening, four-year-old Nazenine Karimi gave her father a drawing and kissed him four times. 'Why four times?' Mohamed, 30, asked her. 'Maybe I won't see you again,' his daughter replied. Eight hours later, at 5.26am, the earth beneath the ancient Iranian city of Bam began shaking. -Guardian 12/28/03 US aids 'axis of evil' Iran - The United States has put aside political differences to send help to the earthquake-hit area of Iran. In Washington, the Bush administration made a rare direct contact with Iranian officials to offer assistance. Two US planes carrying food and other aid landed in Kerman, the provincial capital, early on Sunday - the first US aircraft to land in Iran for a decade. -BBC 12/28/03 Foreign Teams Join Quake Efforts in Iran - "The reception was beyond expectations," said U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Jeff Bohn, who was on the first American transport plane to reach Kerman. "The warmth that the Iranian military and civil aviation workers gave us was truly incredible." -AP 12/28/03 National Iranian American Council to coordinate material assistance to Iran with Mercy Corps - NIAC is coordinating efforts with Mercy Corps to get material support to Iran. However, aid organizations prefer financial assistance over material help. NIAC has raised more than $23,000 for the victims in just two days. 12/28/03 Iran: 1,000 people buried under rubble rescued alive in Bam - Rescue workers have managed to save the lives of more than 1,000 inhabitants of Bam, who had been buried under rubbles in historical city of Bam, which was rocked by a strong earthquake early Friday morning 12/28/03

Arg-e-bam before the earthquaque. My husband and me, september 2000.

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Ms. Shirin Ebadi wins the Human Rights Prize in Norway

"I'm against any foreign intervention in Iranian affairs. People of the country have to fight for human rights in our own country," (Shirin Ebadi)

Ms. Shirin Ebadi was awarded the 2001 Rafto Prize in recognition of her sustained fight, over many years, for human rights and democracy in Iran. In particular, her efforts have focused on strengthening the legal status of women and children. Shirin Ebadi is famous as the first female judge in Iran. She had to resign her position following the revolution in 1979, when conservative Islamic clerics took control of the country and introduced severe restrictions on the role of women in society.

Ms. Shirin Ebadi' Biography

Source: www.nobel.se

The Iranian lawyer and human rights activist Shirin Ebadi was born in 1947. She received a law degree from the University of Tehran. In the years 1975-79 she served as president of the city court of Tehran, one the first female judges in Iran. After the revolution in 1979 she was forced to resign. She now works as a lawyer and also teaches at the University of Tehran.

Both in her research and as an activist, she is known for promoting peaceful, democratic solutions to serious problems in society. She takes an active part in the public debate and is well-known and admired by the general public in her country for her defense in court of victims of the conservative faction's attack on freedom of speech and political freedom.

Ms. Ebadi represents Reformed Islam, and argues for a new interpretation of Islamic law which is in harmony with vital human rights such as democracy, equality before the law, religious freedom and freedom of speech. As for religious freedom, it should be noted that Ms. Ebadi also includes the rights of members of the Bahai community, which has had problems in Iran ever since its foundation.

Ms. Ebadi is an activist for refugee rights, as well as those of women and children. She is the founder and leader of the Association for Support of Children's Rights in Iran. Ms. Ebadi has written a number of academic books and articles focused on human rights. Among her books translated into English are The Rights of the Child: A Study of Legal Aspects of Children's Rights in Iran (Tehran, 1994), published with support from UNICEF, and History and Documentation of Human Rights in Iran (New York, 2000).

As a lawyer, she has been involved in a number of controversial political cases. She was the attorney of the families of the writers and intellectuals who were victims of the serial murders in 1999-2000. She has worked actively - and successfully - to reveal the principals behind the attack on the students at Tehran University in 1999 where several students died. As a consequence, Ebadi has been imprisoned on numerous occasions.

With Islam as her starting point, Ms. Ebadi campaigns for peaceful solutions to social problems, and promotes new thinking on Islamic terms. She has displayed great personal courage as a lawyer defending individuals and groups who have fallen victim to a powerful political and legal system that is legitimized through an inhumane interpretation of Islam. Ebadi has shown her willingness and ability to cooperate with representatives of secular as well as religious views.

02 Dec 2003, 14:20 UTC

جمعه بيست و يکم نوامبر 2003 نمايشگاه نقاشی عليرضا درويش در خانه ي هنر و ادبيات هدايت - برلين گشايش يافت.

عليرضا درويش نقاش تبعيدي ساکن بارسلوناي اسپانيا، تاکنون بيش از 17 نمايشگاه بين المللي را پشت سر گذارده است. درويش در اين نمايشگاه نام "برش هاي زمان" را بر مجموعه ي 27 تابلو نقاشي اش گذارده است.

او با نگاهي هدفمند به موضوع فرم و تغيير ابزار کار با ماهيت مفهومي کولاژ و ترکيبي از کمپوزسيون، وراي نمايشگاه اخيرش که در بن آلمان به ياد "زمان فراموش شده" بود، اين بار در تابلوهايش با گسل واره هايي از کاغذ، برش هايي از زمان را نمود مي دهد و تاکيدي دارد بر مقوله ي کاغذ، کاغذي که روزي جزء مهمترين کشفيات بشر بود و عاملي براي انتقال اطلاعات و موضوعات زندگی و احساس که رفته رفته از سرعت زمان جا مي ماند تا در آينده اي نه چندان دور در موزه ها، از سرعت انتقال نوري جايگزين خود � ديجيتال� در افسون بماند تا خود جزئي از تاريخ شود . آويختن تابلوها در پس زمينه ي قفسه هاي کتاب، هويت کار را با خودش يکي مي کند و کتاب را گواه مي گيرد. او در آثارش آگاهانه مسئله زمان را دنبال مي کند و بر خلاف تکنيک رئال گذشته اش، با رشته هاي عمودي تصاوير کاغذها و نوشته ها که کمپوزسيوني از ريتم را تشکيل مي دهند با حرکات آرام و نقش هائي از انسان به جستجوي تعادل ميان اجزاء زمان در حرکت و سکوت است.

نقاش گسل هاي زمان، خود با دگرديسي از پيله ي تجربه هاي کلاسيک رئال، و تجربه هاي جديد تکنيک ديجيتال و موضوع گرائي به جستجوي ارزش هاي مفهومي در هم تنيده است. درويش تجربه هاي جديد طراحي ديجيتال را به حوزه ي فيلم مي کشاند.

او از سال 2000 دو کار انيميشن به نام هاي پاخارو (پرنده ) و (زندگي کوتاه است) را ارائه داده است و آخرين ساخته ي او فيلم مستند (سماع) است که به سفارش خانه ي آسيا در بارسلونا تهيه کرده است که روايتي تصويري ست از دنياي عارفانه و عاشقانه اي که احتمالا در موزه اي در شهر بارسلونا ثبت خواهد شد.

دنياي مدرن نقاشي و ويدئويي درويش، نشان از تغيير ذائقه ي بصري بشر، از فرداي هنر نقاشي است .

پيام يزديان _ برلين

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