There are things in this world that are part of our daily lives. We live with it from the day we are born, they become part of us that we sometimes forget to even acknowledge how important they are. To me, freedom of expression is one of the biggest necessities  in life – a right that we who live in a country where freedom of speech exists, is often taken for granted.

I can stand here before you today and talk about any subject and even though I am not a U.S. citizen I have the right to give my opinion about politics, religion, etc. This is such a part of American life that we don’t even notice it.  But for my friends and millions of others living in other countries they not only don’t have this right but even trying to exercise it will cost them their lives.  Last year we saw millions of people walking on the streets of Tehran in absolute silence, holding signs asking for their votes back, the votes that they felt would give them a better tomorrow.  We heard  their voices so loudly yet in silence. , we watched guards on motorcycles assaulting them, snipers aiming at their heads, we watched them protecting their attackers, we saw Neda bleeding from her eyes as she left this world and left us with a deep feeling of emptiness, hearts full of sorrow, eyes full of tears and minds full of questions.  We heard the voices of tens of journalists in prison, like my father who has been imprisoned for over one year and has been moved from one jail to  another under a harsher conditions. we heard the sound of his ribs cracking as he was beaten by 8 men for the crime of speaking his mind, standing tall for his beliefs, taking stand against cruelty and injustice of the oppressors.  We watched, we cried, and for most of us there was nothing we could do beyond this.  Some of us not only wore green wristbands but also changed our online colors, facebook, twitter, websites, .. to green, the color many of those living in Iran   died for in order to support their struggle.  We spent hours asking ourselves how can human beings do this to other humans, how can they beat their brothers?  How can they hit innocent girls in the head with batons?  How can they drive over a wounded protester not one time, not twice, but three times?  We still don’t have answers to these questions, but even then we still ask ourselves the question of what we can do to help.

So how can we help?  I believe that each country makes its own tomorrow, and that the people of each country are the only ones who can change the future of their nations..  I believe it is wrong for me, an Iranian living outside of Iran, to question or attempt to direct, those inside of Iran who are engaged in this struggle without fully understanding the difficult circumstances under which they live.  Unfortunately for some, my beliefs take away what they view as options to help.  But what we can do for a better future is to give Iranians the tools they need to speak their minds and have their voices heard.  We should give them the things they need so they can hid in the shadows of the government and talk about their situations and their movement.  For us it is important to show support and stand in solidarity, to take their voices and spread them  as far as possible, to as many people as could hear and feel for them To them our greatest crime can be ignoring them, or trying to lead them in a direction we think is right without understanding what they truly want and what their situation is.  To them it is important to be heard, they risk their lives for a few seconds of video or a quick blog post  hoping  the world hears  their struggle, it is important for them to know that  these risks are not taken in vain.  They seek to let future generations know what was done in their country and what this generation struggled for.  In Iran right now the future is being written with the blood of the innocent people, yet fresh, on the walls of the street, prison’s cells,  and online.

As Burmese democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi said “Please use your liberty to promote ours” and I believe it is our duty to speak for our friends and the people of Iran and to spread their voices.  For every second of silence abroad, we send signals of ignorance to those who have given their lives for their rights, those who are being tortured for their beliefs, and those who are looking for our support of their movement. , so we cannot be silent.  When we are not silent we move toward my dream: a world without borders, nations with close relations, and people with feelings for one another, governments who respect the very foundations of human rights, and a world in which justice has prevailed and the injustice has been abolished. we should go towards a world where the borders are gone and the only thing thank is left is humanity

This is a speech done in portland OR, June 10, 2010

In the past year, our people had green heads, white thoughts, and red chests. The head represents the pride and dignity of Iranians; the thought voices peace, hope, and altruism; the chest is heavily grieved with the brutality rulers have inflicted on the children of this land [Iran].

The Iranian Green movement ended a year of success and will start the New Year certainly with a stronger faith. Yes, Norooz arrives, and people celebrate in accordance with the rebirth of nature. Norooz marks the end of the old, and in the new year, promises the dawn of a better and happier day. [Iranians] have joyfully placed their heart and hope in the green road to freedom.

On this road, there were dear compatriots who were tortured and violated, families who had to mourn the loss of their slain children, people who were imprisoned, and lionhearted men and women who did not retreat at the face of obsolete tricks.

The cry of their hunger strikes is heard from prison. We are proud of those who have refused to bow their heads to the oppressors of our time. We are proud of those who have stood tall within the prison walls, under the threat of the sword of the executioner. As a result, they have received the respect and praise of their compatriots.

As a family member of one of these brave people I feel the absence of my father, who is the backbone of our family. He is the candle that lights our household. My father, like you and I, has placed his hope in the green road to freedom and is determined to resist the difficult conditions of the dungeon of oppression.

I know very well that his resistance will bare a stone of shame around the neck of the despot, and a badge of honour for me who is not currently with my father. He has decided to stand next to the people by embarking in a fast of resistance [referring to the hunger strike].

We pray to God that our prisoners be released. We ask that God graces the families of those arrested with patience and the power of resistance. We pray the day comes when the songbirds of dawn do not sing of oppression and the net that the hunter has laid. Be it that God, fate, and nature lights the dark night of the land that inhabits such noble people.

As Hafez Shirazi said,

The world is a closed flower full of knots
Be the spring breeze that opens the buds

Let us remember the prisoners who have nobody; let us remember the innocent prisoners who are not next to their families; let us remember the families whose loved ones have been innocently taken away from them.

thanks to Persian2English for an amazing job with translation

father, my friend and my comrad, today is your birthday.

but father, these days are are days of pain and blood

yesterday power embracing vampire, sent down to death a young innocent fellow with

thousands of absurd accusations. in a place that they call ” court”, cruelties bounded that are unimmaginable even in wildest dreams.

today that old warlock in robe of power, congradulated the death of our youth and demanded more. most corrupted people were assigned on juridical possisions  and they sent people to only place they could be safe from them.

in corners of my country poverty has brought people down to their knees and unemployment and corruption and thousands of devastating pains in their daily lives.

these days are revolution days. days that they were supposed to bring us democracy and independancy.

regetfully the only  name that has left from democracy is the will that lets whoever it wants into ridiculous play of ellection and appoints whoever it wants , due to  uncounted balot boxes, as president.

and only thing left from independancy is probability of iran falling into colony of china and russia

and from freedom, freedom of dieing has remained. even for dieing they havent left much freedom and they choose for you how to die in the way they want.

whoever that is most untalented, most illeterate and most evil, will find higher positions.

It has been more than 200 days that you have been away from your family and society and havent seen the freedom in bigger cage of “Iran”

but during all these catastrophies I want to congradulate you.

I congradulate you because the days have woken once again and each individual is looking for their right and they will go trough any danger to reach to it.

I congratulate you because your dreams are about to happen reconstructive free and graceful Iran.

I congratulate you because we no longer fear the cruel, and together hand in hand we make the basiji tremble and the basis of the cruel that are like the drunk making mistakes one after another.

I congradulate you  because your freedom and Iran’s, is close.

Translated and Thanks to Walton

200 nights have passed from that last day. 200 nights from the day when you were beaten and the sound of your breaking ribs became proof of the cruelty imposed by Khamenei and his agents. So many battles have taken place outside the concrete walls of Evin, these 200 nights you spent in Satan’s prison. Alas, you were not there to see the courage of the youth of our nation. Alas you were not there to see the trembling of the pillars of our land. Every second of these 200 nights,the evil oppressors trembled with fear of retaliation against their crimes and though our eyes were filled with tears, our hearts remained warm.

I wish you had been there to see the funeral services for our Green icon Montazeri in the city of Qhom and to witness how Velayat-e-Faghiq came to an end. I wish you had been there to see how this government who pretends to be the stewards of Mahdi, put Satin to shame on Ashura, so that they could once again make a mockery of religion in order to further enslave and empower their lecherous regime.

200 nights in which their hands were stained with the blood of our innocent youth. Their detestable essence more apparent with the passing of each day, their helplessness and frustration revealed, leaving them disgraced and humiliated.

Yes dear father, in these 200 nights, the kingdom of those in power, submerged even more in the overflowing cesspool of their own corruption. Their ploys and tactics all turning against them.

In the 200 nights you were absent they stole much more than our votes. A regime that viewed itself as a super power and had the ambition to rule the world, fearing its own people, resorted to stealing paint (here the reference is to green paint the color of the opposition movement). A religious regime so miserable that it even stole website addresses. The leader of all Muslims even resorted to distributing free juice to attract more supporters to his cause! He terrorized people by having police cars run over them. He threatened. He called people Mohareb(enemies of God), but all this to no avail as it only lead to his further demise. They became so powerless, that even their official currency became yet another medium for further protests by the people.

Dear father, 200 nights have passed since your arrest, but let it be known that during this time our brave people made the world a prison for these ruling murderers.

My dear father, I am fully aware of all the hardship and torture you have endured during these 200 nights. When these beasts were willing to harm you in broad daylight during the pre coup era, god only knows what they are doing to you within the walls of their dark dungeons after the coup. Be strong. As the poet says, perhaps the world does not revolve around our goals today, but someday our turn too shall come.

Our victory is imminent by the fact that Mortazavi the murderer senses the cleansing affects of the opposition movement. The frightened coup gov followers all fear who will be sacrificed next in order to calm the people’s wrath.

Be strong my dearest father, more dear to me than life. Even though these 200 nights have been long and still remain, the voice of freedom from injustice can be heard from afar. Be strong, as a ray of sunlight is apparent in our nation’s horizon. These dark nights shall also pass. The truth will prevail as it always has in the kingdom of God. The promise of God’s words is upon us, an auspicious day break to celebrate the dawn of freedom.

Lucky those who have tasted the essence of honor and bravery in the darkness of the night and will awaken to the joyous dawn of freedom.

THANKS TO @nchevre FOR TRANSLATION

Iranian blogger OnlyMehdi has been the fiercest cyber-opponent since protests began. His father, a journalist, is currently jailed in Iran; he is an activist, flooding the Net, from New Jersey, under thousands of videos made in Tehran. Here is his first published interview carried out by the editorial department of StreetPress,

First of all Mehdi, could you please introduce yourself?

My name is Mehdi Saharkhiz. I am 28 year old and work as a graphic designer in New Jersey. People know me through my blog under my pen-name OnlyMehdi and et mes chaînes Youtube my Youtube chains. I was born in Iran but spent my teens in the US. I went back to Iran to get married 6 years ago and have been since then working in the US.

When did you begin posting videos on Youtube ?

I think it began during the night when they attacked Tehran University dormitories (June 14^th to 15^th 2009, 5 students were killed by Iranian authorities in University dormitories).  On that day, behind my screen, I saw these youngsters being really filthily beaten. And I wanted to act, to go inside and help. From here, I cannot imagine any other way to help them but by communication.

Precisely, what are your means of communication?

I am on YouTube, Twitter and have several blogs… My main blog has 300.000 visits per month and my videos were seen 3.4 Millions times in the last 6 months. After each protest in Iran, I rank in top 5 of YouTube most seen chains in the world.

In addition, main international media often echo you?

Yes they do, and it is very important that they do. They have the greatest impact, much more that YouTube.

How long does it take to run a press agency on the Web?

24 hours a day and 7 days a week.

As far as your job is concerned, does your employer grant you holiday?

Not at all! (laughs) But let’s say they rather understand.

Before that, did you have any knowledge in communication?

I worked with an Iranian newspaper…. But as a graphic designer! Then, I have no real knowledge in this field.

How do you obtain all these videos?

It is rather simple. Most frequently, a web surfer sends me a video from Tehran directly by email. Or he sends me a link to his video already uploaded on a platform like Easyshare. Otherwise, I search the Internet for already online videos on other sites and I put them on my YouTube account.

As far as your sources are concerned, aren’t they restricted, you don’t know these people…

I have anyway direct contacts among people sending me videos. The first ones coming to me, I have known them before. But with the time, their number has tripled since the election; I then do not know everybody.

What sort of profile these people sending you video have?

Excited youngsters (laughs). But the range has widenied recently, several classes are now present, people in their forties and mainly people living in other cities than Tehran.

And Tehran allows that?

It is not that easy. The problem is that connection is heavily slowed down by tons of filters. Hence a lot of mess to upload videos from Iran. But the users are more and more clever. They have learnt how to bypass filters.

Are your videos accessible in Iran?

Yes, many of them are seen from Iran, since, as I was just telling you, people know how to bypass filters slowing YouTube down. But the problem is propaganda around it. The government says that we work for foreign governments. Today, for instance, they announced that the film where a police truck is seen being put upside down is a fake one.

It is also written on the Internet that you are an agent for Mossad or CIA, is it true?

Of course I am! (laughs) I am working for them everyday! Don’t write that down, they may take it seriously! Anyway, I am not even an American citizen; to work with them I think that it is a prerequisite, isn’t it? Regarding Moozad, I don’t know who he is!

Well, Mossad are Israeli secret services…

So stupid as an explanation. If you wish, I can show you my banking account so you can see that I didn’t receive any money from secret services. It is only because Ahmadinejad has nothing else to tell.

What about Iranian services, did they try to hack you?

Yes they did, many times! For instance, they entered my Facebook account to collect info. But I informed Facebook and they have implemented more drastic securities since that time. Another example, in the middle of protests, my videos were being “tagged as illegal” on YouTube. And hence, my account was disappearing in less than one hour.

They could destroy your blogs?

No, they can’t; it is impossible to destroy my blogs or my YouTube account. What they do is adding filters to slow them down.

Do you have privileged contacts with YouTube?

I have to tell that YouTube has been just terrific with me during last 6 months!

It doesn’t go up to phone call, everything is done via email. Their response time is simply incredible. As soon as a problem occurs, they fix it in 5 minutes, really.

How people at YouTube help you?

They allowed me to show without restrictions videos showing death (for “shocking” videos, YouTube normally restrict access to persons over 18 years of age and having a YouTube account). They manage these videos to remain on home-page.

Don’t you fear consequences for your family in Iran?

I think that, anyway, they would have hurt my family in Iran. My father (famous dissident journalist Isa Saharkhiz) has already been in jail for 180 days of which 70 days in solitary. During his arrest, they broke two of his ribs.

Today, you have become a symbol for cyber-contestating…

Yes I have, but I am only the visible part of iceberg. I am a person stepping forward because my father is famous. But in fact, the whole Diaspora is doing the same job. We form a real network with thousands of little teams everywhere in the world. For instance, we are a team of around ten persons behind my account.

How are you organized?

We exchange as much as possible our videos between bloggers and YouTube chains. Even if one of the accounts is cut, the flow of information never stops. We allow each other to upload videos on the others’ chains. That way, chains are permanently updated.

That is the reason why some people say that there is one single person behind all these groups?

Yes it is. When Americans are sleeping, Iranians living in Europe send videos on all our YouTube accounts. There is always somebody. The same video can be seen on all chains, which is a guarantee for a larger audience.

You think that your work is essential to keep Iranian informed?

If you look at the videos, you will see that there are always 7 or 8 persons filming at the same time. In fact, there are thousands videos which are never posted on the Internet but that are exchanged between people in Iran. That is the most important point. Whenever I speak with somebody in Iran of a video I received, they already know it there.

Interview: StreetPress

For seven months you have threatened and murdered people in the streets, and you have raped them in prison backrooms. For seven months you have bitten and scared people from being bitten. For seven months you have censored [the truth].  For seven months you have called people mercenaries of foreign powers. For seven months you have used Photoshop to fake your supporters in the streets during your visits. Nevertheless, all your threats failed to deter people, and in fact, they acted as a catalyst to render the regime illegitimate.

Take a brief look at the past seven months. All your threats, murders, rapes, and arrests resulted in the people shifting from demanding to get their votes back to chanting slogans for the death of the Velayat [the absolute leadership and guardianship of the religious jurist, a power enjoyed by Ayatollah Khamenei]. What started as a silent protest [on June 25th] turned into the people conquering the city and forcing your mercenaries to flee [on December 27th]. The results of your unwise orders only further inflames the fire of wrath and loathing of a nation.

Recently you have been using the memory of two former leaders [Ayatollah Khomeini] and Imam Hossein [In Shia Islam, Imam Hossein is the third saint who succeeds Prophet Mohammed] to garner support because you are aware that the Yazid of our time is not even able to gather a few  thousand supporters in the streets for fruit juice.

Did you witness the events in Qom [on the day of the funeral of Ayatollah Montazeri]? It is the same city of “uprising and blood” that you tried for 31 years to make it your own private arena. You appointed your allies to the head of religious seminaries while imprisoning those loved by the people. I wonder if you see that your private and safe havens have cracked under the roaring feet of the people- not even Qom is safe for you anymore.

By allowing bloodshed on *Ashura [December 27th], you made Yazid look like a saint; but at least he did not hurt the women in Hossein’s army.

What benefit did all these crimes have for you? Did it scare the protesters of your power? Did they lose their support? Did they dissimulate in fear of your reprisal? Or on the contrary, did they smash your Yazidi’s army?

Organizers of the coup d’état, at a time when your collapse has become so inevitable that there are even great debates on how the Leader should export all the wealth of the country, are you still trying to stage a ludicrous show of legitimacy? Let us assume that you were able to draw a small group of people to the streets by force with the incentive of fruit juice, financial reward, and loan. Let us assume that you did declare the night to be white from your machines of propaganda and deception. Do you really expect that people who witnessed the murders of their compatriots by your hands, who have had their children martyred, and whose relatives have been raped in the backrooms of Kahrizak prison, to sell the truth in exchange for your petty show?

Shah was also staging a pro-government demonstration by promising fruit juice! He once said also that people were supporting him. He said that they would crush the mercenaries of foreign powers. Did you see his fate and how he was strayed- at least he had a place to go! Where would you go- Russia or Syria? This is the same Russia that has betrayed you many times during your reign. Russia has only blackmailed and abandoned you- even Syria is not with you anymore.

Here are a few words for the mercenaries who work for the coup d’état leaders and have the audacity to stab the students in the neck during broad daylight: Your leaders have filled their pockets with the billions of dollars they have stolen from the nation and they have thrown you the residue of their food.

Do not think like the revolution of 1979, when every supporter of the previous regime who grew a beard was forgotten and left alone, that you can suddenly turn into a fake green in the aftermath of the regime’s fall. The nation has a file on each one of you so that it can prosecute each and every one in national court. The more violence you commit, the graver your charges are going to be, and the heavier your punishment will be.

The truth is that what happened in Karbala on Ashura in the 7th Century will not be repeated. This is Iran, not Koufeh (the city that promised Hossein its support but then joined into an army against him). Rest assured that victory is near. This great nation is not afraid from your military gear. This nation is the generation who was brought up in the middle of a war- your gift to them! They are the same people who went under the tanks of enemies with grenade belts around their bodies so that Saddam and his army could not take over this country. Rest assured that these children of war will turn your armoured gears into scrap metal kept in a museum featuring your crimes. This would be the lesson to show that Iranians are not the citizens of Koufeh who stayed behind Yazid.

* Ashura is the anniversary of the day when Caliph Yazid’s army fought and killed Imam Hossein in the 7th Century. Ashura is during Moharram, a time when war and bloodshed is sinful and forbidden

Translated by: Siavosh (Thank you)
http://persian2english.wordpress.com/2010/01/06/mehdi-saharkhiz-the-last-shot/

Ali Khamenei whether he jails my father or not; today is a genuine criminal. Whom that can choose one day to order attacks on people or not, is therefore sitting in Shah’s seat and more or less repeats his crimes. Khamenei however, has forgotten that the ruling era, no matter how sweet he finds it, will end soon! Even though he has hidden God behind the Basiji’s nightsticks, he is still personally responsible for all the blood that has been spilled by the moths drawn to the flame of his rule. He and his relations have to answer to Sohrabs and Nedas.
Khamenei, whether he wants it not, has become today’s Yazid; and has pitted God against the innocence of a Hussein whose symbols are the Iran’s youth.

Khamenei whether he knew or not, on 29th of Khordad committed political suicide. So today he cannot blame anyone but himself. He has become Iran’s grand deity. Today, the argument is passed the election, and the people aim to bring to justice the second Shah. And now, every day, his following decrease and his rule becomes less legitimate.

Whether he has chosen it or not, he has elected dogs as decision makers, who bite people instead of addressing their grievances, and call this country’s people dirt and dust. So it will not be long till, facing the Iranian people, he will pay for his narcissism and love of power.

Whether Khamenei wakes up today or a year from now, he has no way to turn things around. Instead of making himself the hero of Iran, he has turned himself into a divinity. He will be named as one of the biggest dictators in history.

Whether Khamenei approves or not, the voice of my father from prison is the voice of liberation and a symbol of endurance. His presence in prison only points to the vengeance of the highest ruling clergy, and that of the devotees to his institution of power.

Whether Khamenei believes this or not, he is now Shah of Iran and the only difference is the name that is now changed to “Rahbar”. Just as the university students of Ghazvin chanted: “We say we don’t want Shah, they name him Rahbar”.

Even though all know the outcome of tyranny is disintegration and collapse, but history has shown that dictators always believe that their fate will be different from their predecessors. It is due to this same ignorance that they find their imagined superiority and magnificence reduced to ashes. And till the day their throne is washed away in the human tidal wave of society, they envision any act of resistance as a caricature manufactured by their enemies.

Perhaps when the end comes, they may understand the difference between a caricature and the real picture. So that it may be a learning lesson for dictators of future; even though the fate of tyrants will never be different from their predecessors.

دادستان جدید تهران گفت: پخش تلویزیونی اظهارات افرادی که اتهاماتشان ثابت نشده است، به موجب تبصره‌ی ذیل ماده‌ی 188 قانون آیین دادرسی کیفری منع قانونی دارد از چند نظر میتوان به این جمله نگاه کرد.

نظر اول: صدا سیما دستورات لازم را به قوه قضاییه میدهد. و قاضی هیچ تصمیمی نمیگیرد. اگر قاضی قوانین دادسرا را نمی داند که  دادگاه هیچگونه وجاهت قانونی ندارد و اگر هم می داند که باید جلوی ورود دوربینها به سالن را بگیرد که در این صورت اگر قاضی رییس دادگاه است پس چگونه است كه صدا و سیما اجازه دارد كه دوربینهایش در سالن دادگاه حضور داشته باشند؟نظر دوم اینکه مسوولان قوه قضاییه تا به حال خود قانون را نخوانده اند و نمی دانند كه مطابق قانون نباید از متهم فیلم گرفت. دادستان اسبق تهران كه دستور بازداشت و دستگیری متهمان بی گناه را میداد و انها را جلوی دوربین میآورد خود متهم اصلی این بی قانونی و قانون گریزی است  و باید در دادگاه برای توهین به افراد بیگناه و به خاطر هتک حرمت محکوم شود. نظریه ۳: نه قوه قضیه و نه صدا سیما هیچ کدام نمی دانند كه در کشور چه میگذرد و اجازه داده اند که افرادی خوش سابقه را به دادگاه بکشانند و حرمت انها را زیر سوال ببرند. افرادی كه سالها برای این کشور زحمت کشیده اند و پستهای بالایی مانند معاون اول رییس جمهوری در دولت آقای خاتمی داشته اند. اگر دادگستری و قوه قضاییه ایران تا به حال نتوانسته اند قانونی به این سادگی را اجرا کنند. باید پرسید كه چه قوانین بزرگتری را زیر پا گذاشته اند  و صدا سیمای دروغ كه چیزی از حیا و شرم نمی داند و لقبها و تهمتهای مختلف به هرکس می دهند، یک قدم فرا تر رفته و متهمان بیگناه را به تصاویر دروغین می آلایند و برای انها میز گرد تشکیل می دهند. باید پرسید در صدا سیما كه رئیس جمهور محبوب موسوی اجازه ی صحبت ندارد، چگونه است كه انها زندانیان را به راحتی در دسترس دارند و به تصویر می کشند؟ از سه نظریه فوق تنها یک نتیجه میتوان گرفت كه تنها چیزی كه در ایران احترام ندارد قانون است. قانون اساسی ایران در چند ماه گذشته تبدیل به کاریکاتوری شده است كه کسی حتی به آن نگاه نمی کند . وقتی تمام اصول ان زیر پا گذاشته می شود، از قبیل اجازه تظاهرات در سکوتی كه تبدیل به کشتار گاه مردم شد، چه انتظاری  می توان داشت که کسی باور کند كه دولت کودتا قانون را در انتخابات زیر سال نگذاشته است ؟سه ماه از دزدیده شدن رای مردم میگذرد و تمام مردم می دانند که آنچه در انتخابات گذشت چیزی جز کودتا نبود. حال هم که همه را به مصاحبه های دروغین می کشانند و وادار به اعترافات دروغین می کنند. بیگناهان را بیش از صد روز در زندان نگاه می دارند بدون وکیل و اعلام جرم(که جرمی جز بی گناهی ندارند) كه آن نیز خود خلاف آنچه در قانون اساسی آمده است می باشد. پس از سه ماه امروز همه هنوز اعتقاد دارند که انتخابات جز یک کودتا نبوده و هر چه برآمد آن است جز مترسکی از یک دولت واقعی نیست که از هم اکنون می توان نتایج آن را در امتیازاتی که در پشت صحنه به همه بیگانگان داده می شود دید. دولتی که از افرادی تشکیل شده که بویی از انسانیت نبرده اند

. بیش از سه ماه از انتخابات گذشته است و  همچنان صدای  اعتراض مردم را از همه جا می شنویم.صدای الله اکبر، مرگ بر دیکتاتور و ۶۳ درصدت کو که هنوز هم در دانشگاه طنین انداز می شود  و  بعد از مسابقه استقلال- پرسپولیس این صدای مردم است كه هنوز شنیده میشود. مردمی كه همه با هم هستند.

Today, Shahid Beheshti’s son was arrested. This person is the son of someone whom had always been reminded for his greatness up until the time his son started supporting the movement that opposes suppression, fraud and the violation of law. Suddenly he became the enemy and was attacked by some governmental Medias such as Keyhan, Fars and Raja-news which just proves that it does not matter what you do and what your record is. The only thing that does matter is how you react to the actions taken by the dictatorship. This mentally illness is spreading throughout the government.

During the past days, weeks and months, some of this land’s best young men and women were victims of rape. This kind of torture is new in its own way. Sadam or Hitler usually tortured their prisoners to get information or confessions from them but their successors in the Islamic Republic are now torturing to destroy their victims and to wipe them out. The first question I asked myself was who these rapists who took these inhuman actions were and what was their motivation for doing so? Is it possible that their motivation was religious? Just a quick look at the Iranian people’s culture will convince us something like that is hard to believe. The answer is quiet evident though, the only logical one is that they are psychologically and mentally ill. Rape can be seen all over the world. Everywhere in the world the mentally and psychologically ill are separated from the society and held in either prisons or lunatic asylums to keep others safe. But now we are witnessing a different event taking place which is that in the Islamic state although these lunatics are in prisons, they are playing the role of the guards and are taking out their personal grudges on innocent prisoners.

Let’s look further into this. The minister of road transportation of this government calls European students “cow and sheep” and himself the father of transportation and the other one calls himself the father of sports. The one who was assigned to remind women to keep their coverings has been arrested while praying with six naked prostitutes. The former attorney general of Tehran and the minister of internal affairs have been accused of rape. A member of the judiciary calls non-Muslims animals and the imam of Friday prayers calls women who do not wear their Hijab completely, whores. These are acts filled with personal grudges, self love and degrading.

Is it wrong to say Ahmadinejad is mentally ill? If we look back, during the last five years, he has been constantly lying. This might actually be because of his mentally ill mind that causes him to actually believe the lies he is telling. The list of his illusions is long. His speech four years ago about the way government should treat people and lies about the hallow of light on his head, taking a picture with US soldiers, the story of almost getting kidnapped by US soldiers, the thirteen-year-old nuclear scientist and etc. Regretfully, the list of these illusions is so long that they do not fit in articles like this. Even though videos have been recorded of him claiming such things, he is still denying to have said any of them. He says things which even the most careless person would feel embarrassed saying it on TV, he, with the president’s job is allowing himself to give fake statistics with numbers that show this government having done a far better job that the former governments. It would have been impossible for someone not mentally ill to behave like this.

We have to be careful whom we call a nonbeliever. But does someone who thinks of himself as God’s and the prophet’s successor know anything about religion? Does someone whom writes a letter to Imam Zaman and throws it into a well or leaves a plate and an empty seat for him waits for reply from him? Can he possibly be the country’s president? Don’t they allow stealing throughout the society by stealing the people’s votes themselves? Don’t they who take these actions in the name of religion deserve any name other than dictator?

A glance at the country’s military and security structure will only once again prove this bitter truth. In the past two decades, Sepah and Basij have increased their political and economical power. They are the main groups accused of the recent crimes taken place in Iran. First they killed many protesters on the 30^th of Khordad (third month of the Iranian calendar) and then undoubtedly having received orders from high commanders beforehand have behaved in the most inhuman way possible in their prisons which all led to executions, rapes and etc. The military is abusing the power given to it from the people to enforce the law by acting above its lawful rights and suppressing the same people. Not only has the judiciary branch not reacted in any way to the breach of law but has even supported it and has punished the victims.

This story can go on and we can unfortunately see how the incorrect perceptions, behaviors out of grudges and the breach of law have increased in the Islamic Republic. Undoubtedly the first victims of these actions are going to be the people of Iran. Not much later it will even victimize the ones responsible for this mess and in the end it is the people who will succeed because they are all in this together.

8:30 yesterday a show on “seda va sima” (radio and television) was put on air which called Rajab-Zade, commander of police in Tehran a liar. The commander of police had said: “No one was killed in Kahrizak (name of a prison)”

Now today seda va sima broadcasts another show which shows us the dishonesty that has taken over the leaders of this country. Rajab-Zade said: “140 of the people arrested in the recent protests have been transferred to Kahrizak under court’s order because other prisons were full. They were kept there for 3 days and I have personally reminded the one responsible for the prison on the second day of all the necessities”.

Didn’t the parliament’s spokesman say that no one has been raped? Then why is it that he has not said anything since then? Even worse than that was how after he ignored the people’s rights, he and a few other parliament members were heard joking about how if anyone cheated in the election of prime ministers would be taken to Kahrizak. After this happened seda va sima saw no choice other than to stop broadcasting the parliament on TV. Although the “people’s representatives” of Iran heard this, they didn’t bother doing anything about it and continued counting the votes they knew what the results were because orders were given beforehand. The people’s representatives ignored the people’s rights and turned their backs on Iranians.  They did this because they thought it was better for the government. How horrible it is when the ones who are supposed to be concerned about the people’s rights being suppressed are laughing about the sadness of innocent people. Even in situations less depressing than this they should remember ths quote by Imam Ali: “If from now on a muslim man dies of sadness for this event, it is because of his greatness”.

Today, we are facing a situation where all the country’s leaders are being dishonest. I am afraid they’d start believing their own lies but later they make videos so they can deny their past claims.

The show put on air today on seda va sima not only proves to us many crimes were taken place but also that more horrible things are taking place behind closed doors.

Today, the lying government risen up from a coup d’état is weaker than ever is almost destroyed with the effort of the green triangle leaders and the united people of Iran.

They are letting bad people such as Chavez in Imam Reza’s shrine as a Basij member and are not letting Muslims into Fatemeh Zahra’s and the Imam’s shrines. This only shows them weak and afraid of the people because now they know better than ever that the people are in this together.

Ahmadinejad has finally confessed. His confessions may have not been purposely made and it will not have any effect in the end.

Today, Ahmadinejad’s speech was full of confessions. There were confessions to events that the vast system of Ahmadinejad‘s supporters have been trying to hide with their lies.

Today Ahmadinejad confessed:

“Several people attacked Kouye Daneshgah (the Tehran university dorms) and took terrifying actions. Also some terrifying actions took place in some prisons   ”

Who could have possibly confessed to the truth better than one of the coup d’état organizers himself. Was not him one of the people who said prisoners in Iran are treated better than any other prisoner in the world? Although they have been trying to hide their lies with many different excuses, it is obvious in the way they act that the only characteristics they never had was honesty. These words are coming from one who used to deny the killings and the inhuman tortures made in prisons. Now the same person is blaming all the crimes made on foreigners.

Ahmadinejad added: “these actions taken in prisons were also a part of the enemy’s scenario made by people dependent on the overthrowing movement”. This is a confession itself because even though the parliament and judiciary members are legally eligible to visit prisons no one other than the coup d’état   organizers had permission to do so. Although some prisoners have already paid their bail money it is, indeed Ahmadinejad’s government whom is taking prisoners hostage and keeping them imprisoned in solitary confinements. Sick and wounded prisoners have been deprived from having a doctor. It is evident that attackers of Kouye Daneshgah have done this with the permission of the police. This itself is another one of the crimes made by this lying government risen up from a coup d’état in which this video is an evidence of that. Now we can conclude that the enemy of the people and the overthrowing movement is indeed the ones who committed the coup and the government risen up from it. The ones responsible for these crimes are Ahmadinejad and his friends, commanders and supporters. Those are the only people who should be called “enemies”.

Today Ahmadinejad announced: “my first desire is to rigorously deal with those whom took these inhuman actions in my friends’ uniform because they have betrayed us in two ways. The first one is that they have hurt the people and the second is that they have caused confusion in the image of the Islamic Republic of Iran”. If these announcements were honestly made then what he is asking for is for himself to be brought to justice for the crimes he made against the Iranian people. His crimes are killing and giving orders of rape and torture in the name of religion. Even if he used to say that there is no evidence for any crime made, his speech today is the best evidence for the crimes because he has finally admitted to them. It is evident that one of the only people who have enough power to do such things is the president and if he says that in Iran the president is obedient of the leader then he has directly blamed the leader for all the killings, imprisonments, tortures and the raping.

Today, Ahmadinejad confessed that he is risen up from a previously organized plan made by our “enemies”. The only enemies we have are him and his commanders whom must be brought to justice because if anyone kills even one person it is like he killed the whole people and because now the Iranian people are in this together.

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What happened to us? What happened to our religion? Why am I afraid of the truth? We have said it for the past 2 months and they have been denying it the whole time. For the past 2 months we have brought them evidence and they have denied it. The crimes have been increasing over the past 2 months. We have said it over and over again and they have kept on denying it.

What country is this that the parliament’s spokesman congratulates one of the candidates on the afternoon of the election-day but now is denying it? What country is this that they take their former parliament’s spokesman on Friday prayers and treat him in the worst way possible? What country is this that the place of the judge and the defendant is exactly the opposite of what the people voted to see? What country is this that its president’s reason for introducing women for the cabinet is for other cabinet members to be polite? What country is this that two of its imams for Friday prayers address its former president and former parliament’s spokesman in a discourteous way?

Now we visit graves of unknown martyrs and we cry upon them, we do not even know their names, all we know is that they are martyrs of the past events taken place in Tehran during the 88 Elections. Those martyrs have been buried next to the martyrs of the 8 year war (the Iran-Iraq war). Did we really experience the martyrdom of our young once in the war so we can experience it once again in 88? It has been a long time that we have said it over and over again but all we hear is denial. Now that they have finally accepted the crimes made, we ask, is accepting it now not too late?

Shame on you whom have given your most terrible agents batons, chains and sticks to beat up this nation’s most gentle youths on the streets in front of their parents in a horrifying manner. Millions of people witnessed this tragedy, but who knows the condition of our young people in kahrizak. Shame on you whom at a time when the blood on your batons had not dried yet, you used it to rape prisoners. They have raped men and women, boys and girls in our prisons. Is this not the most horrifying crime possible?

We say they are torturing, you deny it. We say they are breaking the prisoners’ teeth, you deny it. We say they are killing people, you deny it. We say they are burring unknown graves, you deny it. We say they have intruded the prisoner’s dignity and humanity, you deny it. We say they are raping, you deny it again. So now I ask, do you know anything about the country you are governing? Do you know anything about the crimes made in the country you and your friends have no other competition in governing? Or is it that you have made it seem as if you have no idea of what is actually happening. Is there anyone out there who does not know how the people are doing?

Yes. They do not laugh anymore. They do not even sneer at you like they did before. People would not even make painful jokes about you and your supporters. What have you done with this nation? A nation that you always addressed as one which took pride in its martyrs and was always involved. That nation does not even sneer at you anymore. How much is this government risen up from a coup worth, that you have sacrificed yourself and the ruling system over it? Could you, for a second, put yourselves in the shoes of the mothers of the martyrs of 88? Would you have the endurance of losing a child? Can’t you here fatherless and motherless kids crying day and night?

We’ll still have other elections but ones without “Sohrab”, “Neda” will be in the cemetery, martyrs will be unknown, tortured ones will feel sore and the ones beaten will be bone broken. I have heard that you think of us as nonbelievers, well you are right, we do not believe in a god whom allows oppression or the raping of men and women, also we do not believe in a god whom would reward someone for killing innocent people. Our God is the one who is most gracious, most merciful and is always looking for excuses to give blessings. Our God is the one who said:

مَن قَتَلَ نَفْسًا بِغَيْرِ نَفْسٍ أَوْ فَسَادٍ فِي الأَرْضِ فَكَأَنَّمَا قَتَلَ النَّاسَ جَمِيعًا وَمَنْ أَحْيَاهَا فَكَأَنَّمَا أَحْيَا النَّاسَ جَمِيعًا وَلَقَدْ جَاء تْهُمْ رُسُلُنَا بِالبَيِّنَاتِ ثُمَّ إِنَّ كَثِيرًا مِّنْهُم بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ فِي الأَرْضِ َمُسْرِفُونَ

Anyone who slew a person, unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land, it would be as if he slew the whole people; and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people.

Many have not accepted the violations made and have turned a blind eye on the current events.

If we look back at the events that took place in the past two months we can see all kinds of violations made. The first one was made on the Election Day when they violated the people’s rights and after that it all took place in the streets. The Constitution clearly states all gathering van be made freely. It was in these past gatherings that we witnessed a breach of the people rights and of the Iranian Constitution.

Is giving permission to kill people not a violation? Has Basiji member not violated a woman’s right when slapping her in the face? Or when another member shoots towards the Iranian people? Is shooting straight at my fellow country-man’s heart not violating to his/her right?

What is a violation? Is taking away other people’s rights and oppressing them not the biggest violation of all? During these past two months all of the Iranian people’s rights have been violated. They violated the rights of Veterans (who fought for 8 years during the Iran-Iraq war) when they threw tear gases towards their veteran friends. They also violated the rights of martyrs when beating their families with batons at Behesht Zahra. Martyrs and Veterans also suffer from all the violations and are in support of the people. The same people who were next to the Veterans of war. The old and the young went to the Friday prayers so they could bleed in the place they pray. Is this not a violation?

When someone thinks he is above religion, has he not sinned? Someone who thinks of himself ahead of prophets and a person who has no respect for them isn’t he the person who has no knowledge of religion. Are these not violations to Islam.

Is arresting someone, taking off his/her clothes and then pouring cold water on them not a kind of abuse and violation. Is lying to a mother that her son is alive for 26 days and the giving her his corpse not a violation to a mother’s love?

Is killing a human being without protection not a violation to human rights? Again, what is a violation? Are the politicians really that blind to have not seen all these violations.

We can also see violations on TV when some prisoners present themselves without a lawyer and none of them with their families. They show fake trials on TV without pointing out these upsetting facts. Also blaming people not present in the trials. How about putting prisoners in solitary confinements for a very long time? Is that not a violation? Is keeping someone in prison without a lawyer and not letting their families visit them for 45 days not a violation?

People witnessed undeniable inhuman actions during the past two months. If they can do these things in front of the people then just imagine what horrible things they’re doing when no one’s watching. The Events in the past 2 months are not only a violation to the people but also to humanity itself. This violation was to all of us because we are all together.

I confess

I confess that I am the son of a prisoner, my father is a prisoner.

I confess, that I am not ashamed that my father is in prison. And I am proud of him

I confess, my father is not a thief, he is not a murderer, he is not a looter or a rioter.

He is one of the “Dirt & Dust” and a friend of the “Dirt & Dust”.

I confess, that my father disrupted the comfortable sleep of some people, and gave them nightmares.

Those same people who filled their own pockets by stealing the nation’s wealth and left people in nightmares.

Those same people who filled their own pockets by stealing the nation’s wealth and left people in nightmares.

Those same people who filled their own pockets by stealing the nation’s wealth and left people in nightmares.

I confess, my father is famous for his honesty. And I confess, his bravery has made life harder for the cowards in power in our time.

I confess, they kidnapped my father And broke his ribs.

I confess, they did not even take him to a hospital, and instead took him to solitary confinement.

I confess, that my father was denied the right to an attorney.

He was not even allowed to phone his daughter on Father’s Day.

I confess, that for weeks we had no word from him and even on my mother’s birthday we did not receive any news.

I confess,  that my mother spent her wedding anniversary in loneliness.

And I confess that this year, my father could not visit my martyred uncle’s grave because he was in jail.

I confess, Isa Saharkhiz is a soldier of war and a brother of a martyr.

I confess, he did not use his positions to gain money or power in this regime.

I confess, he has worked hard for years. either when he was an official in the Ministry of Culture or when he was the head of the news department in Islamic Republic News Agency or even when he was working for the IRNA office in the United Nations

I confess, my father works in a country where the representative of the judiciary system bit him!

I confess, in my country the person who bites gets a promotion and later becomes the head of the Intelligent Ministry

I confess, the wolves that are running the country now don’t even think the person who bites is rough enough so they put him aside and fire him.

I confess my dad’s greatest crime is being innocent.

I confess He is guilty of speaking justly.

I confess he has already expressed his views and beliefs before he was kidnapped and whatever they have him confess is a pure lie and not his opinion.

I confess , I am proud of having a father like him.

I confess that I wish maybe someday I can be just a little like him. That would be the greatest achievement of my life.

I confess, my dad and his friends were not only detained but tortured.

We confess, that we voted and they stole our votes.

We confess, that this was not an election, it was coup d’ etat.

We confess, n ocourt was assembled and what was shown on State TV was nothing but a movie of big lies.

We confess, that our brothers and sisters were not only tortured but they were raped in the worst possible way

We confess, Kahrizak was not a jail it was a place for torture and Rape.

We confess, Those who are running the country are far from being human.

We confess, that we are fighting together for our rights and we will not step down.

We confess, that the government is scared of us who are not afraid and standing together.

We confess, until our last drop of blood, we will fight for our absolute right to a free Iran

We confess, we believe in victory and getting back what is rightly ours

Chanting: “political prisoners must be freed”

For better understanding the situation in Iran, it’s easier to look into a smaller society. Ahmadinejad said that his relationship with the leader, Khameneii, is like father and son.

Now if we imagine Ahmadinejad as a student in a school and the leader as the school’s principle the story will be like as the following:

One day a boy cheats on an exam at school, the teacher of the class sees him and shows him to the other teachers. The other students also know he’s not diligent. Before the teacher corrects the paper the news spreads that he’s got a full mark. This causes a commotion when the students were standing in line in the courtyard. Afraid of the commotion, the principle comes to the courtyard and tells the students that it’s true he likes that student more than others even the ones who’ve been working for the school for years. But a person who gets a full mark never cheats and that he’s one of the best students in the school and if anyone has a problem with that he’ll either expel him or he’ll lock him up in a place so no one can hear him.

The students who feel oppressed decide shouldn’t stay silent. They started reciting Quran at every lesson and they gather together to discuss what to do about the “good” student sitting quietly in the classroom with his friends taunting others and telling them to play football instead of rioting. All of the students, angry by this, gather in front of the principle’s office little did they know the office has been filled with cheaters, some even not belonging to the school carrying guns and starting to shoot the students. After a few students are killed, some of the teachers who’re on the principle’s side start to tell others that the shots had been fired by people outside the school. The students know this is a total lie so they still continue gathering at the principle’s office and still meeting with resistance and violence, sending some of the students to dungeons and treating them like animals. But the students are still standing and fighting for their rights each day more persistent. Meanwhile the “good” student grabs any opportunity to draw the attention to himself and ridicule the others, telling them they can’t do anything since he’s got a good friendship with the principle and that he’s like a father to him and he can do anything he likes. On the day of the rewarding ceremony when the “good” student wants to kiss the principle’s hand something hilarious happens, no one knows whether it’s because of the principle getting tired of the student or that the student sees himself in a higher place, but the student doesn’t kiss the hand and suffices to kissing his shoulder only.

In the meantime some of the best students, who were told what to say before and threatened to be thrown to the dungeons, are brought to the courtyard to speak. But the other students know about this and they know they’ve been told what to say.

Everybody knows they’re lying and since they’ve been to the dungeons they’ve even lost weight and they’re being told what to say. They’re true words are those they said before they were sent to the dungeons and tortured. The funny thing is 2 years ago one of the students told the others not to believe his words after he’s thrown in the dungeons.

But the students are not backing off because they should stand up for what they believe in and fight for their rights and they should make the teachers who’re backing the principle understand that this school filled with lies and deceit is going to close sooner or later and that they should join the students. The principle and his followers are shaking in a corner, realizing they don’t have a way out and that their time is over. The students want a principle whom they have chosen themselves sit in his rightful place, so each day they protest and shout slogans to the principle: “Be scared, be scared! We’re All together!”

These are painful days that we live in, days that have ushered in a new chapter into our history. These are days that bring novelty even to our eventful lives. These are days that bring new life to the meaning of sacrifice and unity against the malicious magic of those that bring contempt.

The great divide of the revolutionary veterans and the burgeoning youth that rose from the ashes has been fused and sown together. We have put on the same garment of our fathers and now follow their strides.

Dear Father:

For too long I have been wondering with an amber burn why I feel the pain of discrimination, oppression, and injustice on the shoulders of my nation. I knew that these pains are rooted in the selfishness and inadequacy of the regime that you have put sweat and time for to ameliorate before the revolution and gave everything else to uphold it after. I knew I had once reproached you for objecting to tyranny and had wished for more moderation. But I now know that we cannot afford to give a single moment of silence to oppression. I now understand the true implications of your past actions and that was to stand up against the theft of the ideals of the revolution. You have fought shoulder to shoulder alongside your brother and millions of your countrymen. Despite this, they have exchanged the spears of Saddam while still afresh with the blood and sacrifice of your brethren with their own to tear this country apart and have stolen the clothes of your fellow veterans and placed it on their enemies. You never could have imagined that these same jackals would be craving the remnants of your brother who had been returned after 11 long years. But you saw that they stole them and placed them on university grounds for their own purposes.

The generation that wanted to build another universe and human anew was lost and maimed in the revolution and the war and those that remained were sent to the pits of prison or dismissal. If they were the targets of marauding bullets yesterday, their spouses and children have become the target of the insult and bullets of hypocrites.

Today the dead are shivering in their resting places. They are churned with the agony of those that have joined them. Those that have been squandered by the minions of a petty regime. A regime that brings batons and teargas to their funerals. The shattering of my uncle’s chest by a tank shell seems pale to the sight of bullets landing on our young and old by assailants disguised as our countrymen. The same assailants who broke my father’s chest.

Today the dead are in pain. They are in pain to see the mother who buried her 12-year old son next to them. A mere child who lost his life for wanting to mourn and pray the many others who died before him. Today, the dead cry for Mousavi, Khatami, Karoubi, Abtahi, and thousands of others who are labeled as by hypocrites by no other than the true hypocrites themselves. They are in pain because of the courts of oppression that have been formed by the same hypocrites who suck the blood of the innocent like leeches.

It has been years since we have been inundated with news on Saddam’s prisons, Guantanamo Bay and Abu Gharib. But is there no one to see what is being done to our young and elders in Kahrizak and the atrocities that no pen can record? These atrocities make Saddam and Hitler as minute and tolerable.

Dear Father,

I was your son yesterday, but now I am a fellow combatant.

Dear Father, Dear Brother-in-arm,

I know that you cannot hear me, and that you are in a place where only God hear you and heal your wounds with the balms of faith. But I want you to know that your visions have been realized in full light.

Do you remember when you said that nowhere in this world will oppression last, for as long as there is a tyrant, there is the sorrowful moan of the oppressed? I wish you were amongst us today and saw for yourself that the moan of the subjugated is no longer irrelevant and has become a cry hammering on the statue of tyranny. It has become a cry that leaves no sleep for the tyrants and has bedazzled them into mistake after mistake. They know that they are alone now. If we had been scared for years, it is now their turn to taste fear. It is the cry of our subjugation that has shook the walls of time and rattled their deaf ears. It is our ferocious flood that has begun and will only become more ferocious until all of oppression has been cleaned and the oppressors drowned. The resonance of our shouts has forced them to hide behind masks and engulfed their existence with fear. To the mercenaries we say “Be afraid, we are all united.”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWbNBm9vRuc]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIOt6IU_fUs]

I am Mehdi Saharkhiz, Proud son of the journalist and political activist Isa Saharkhiz.  He is in jail for speaking his mind in opposition to the dictators that hijacked the elections in Iran. He was kidnapped in a way that his ribs were broken, he is kept in solitary confinement in an undisclosed location. My dad dedicated his life in order to depose the Shah and help with the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran—a republic that was supposed to be free and respect peoples’ votes, voices, and opinions. My father spent years fighting Saddam whom had illegally entered Iran’s sovereign land and imposed a war against the Iranian people. He fought alongside his brother, my uncle, Saeed who was eventually killed in the war, and millions of other brave Iranians. He fought for my rights. He fought for the rights of Iranians. They rewarded him by putting him behind bars in solitary confinement.

In his post-election press-conference, Ahmadinejad said “We have close to absolute freedom in Iran” and he called upon Western powers to learn from the democracy in Iran. He forgot to explain, however, how his democracy manifests itself.  He did not explain how his great vision of democracy includes breaking into an opposition publishing house, taking books and other materials and vandalizing the place.  Nowhere in his speech did he explain the freedom and democracy involved when four huge men walk up to a home and threatened to break in when the occupant, a terrified 19-year-old girl, says she is home alone.  Mr. Ahamdinejad, is this your democracy that destroyed my father’s publishing house?  Is this your freedom that terrorized my sister?  For them, I must not and cannot be silent.

Perhaps your so called “freedom” is clearly shown when a general warrant is only shown to a few of those arrested?  Or is it shown clearer still when they are arrested without warrant, without cause? When their only crime is standing up and speaking up in the name of true freedom and true democracy.  In the name of freedom and democracy, we must not be silent.

By now, we all know Neda.  The story and images of how she lived and how she was murdered. While Ahmadidnejad insists that the “foreign enemy” took aim at her heart and fired at her;  the private militia “Basij”  ID card of her killer has been confirmed by the Dr. who tried to help her as she took her last breath. The Basij are supposed to protect people but instead they are firing at defenseless freedom-seeking Iranians. If truly it was the foreigners who killed Neda, why then does the government force all mosques to cancel her funeral service?  For an INNOCENT soul, we must not be SILENT.

And what of Sohrab?  He was gone for 26 days; his mother begged the authorities to tell her about his son’s whereabouts. The attorney general’s office told her that her son is in Evin. After 26 days, Sohrab’s family was told that Sohrab had died. He was shot in the heart. He was later found alongside so many others who had been murdered.  He was the lucky one … because he was identified.  His family could at least know what had become of him.  What was HIS crime?  Was he also shot by foreigners?  If so, why were the attendees told to be silent or the funeral would be canceled?  In their name … in the name of Sohrab … we must never be silent.

Ahmadinejad, the price paid for your “absolute freedom” has been extremely high, and it keeps getting higher.  The list of people killed keeps getting longer.  Were they all killed by foreigners?  Aren’t you the one responsible for protecting our country from invaders, for keeping our borders safe?  How is it, then, that these foreigners can walk around our country holding guns?  No one in the world believes your lies anymore. We all know Iranians are being beaten and murdered under your orders and those that support you.  The only foreigners are the ones you trained (as confirmed by one of your commanders) and brought into Iran to be more ruthless than your homegrown thugs.

Tell me, has one of your children ever been hit with a baton?  Have they been arrested?  Tortured?  Have you felt the pain of a mother crying over her son’s body, or the tears of a father who will never see his daughter in a wedding gown?  For the tears, for the pain, for our fathers, mothers, and even YOUR children, we will never be silent.

I only feel your so-called freedom when I open a government-backed newspaper or watch the state TV.  Much like your government, they accuse anyone of absolutely anything based upon lies and fabrications, mostly in the name of religion.  They attack even the highest seats of government, including past Presidents and Prime Ministers.  This absolute freedom only extends to your supporters.  Any publications or media that has even the faintest scent of opposition will have their every line scrutinized by your censors, their pages torn or printed white.  If only these blank pages could be filled with the truth, with the tweets, emails and facebook posts from our people, the Iranian people could finally read the truth of what is going on in their own country.

Your puppet media can only come from someone with nothing better to do than to blame other countries for any and all of Iran’s ills.  The mark of a true dictator, trying to deflect criticism by blaming outside influences. However, I understand why you deny the most heinous dictators … you see too much of yourself in them.  In truth, though, you might have found a way to take heinous to an even deeper level. You have inflicted these atrocities on your own people, on your own religion.

Ahmadinejad, your claims of freedom are hollow. Just like your claim of the halo of light that was around you during your speech at the UN.  Iranians and the world sees you for what you are—a dictator—and you cannot lead a democracy as a dictator.  For any democracy, you need the people.  When you torture and kill the people, they will not be with you but will stand up and oppose you, and the only outcome is your downfall.  You and those who support you must step aside … like all the dictators before you, you WILL be swept away like “dirt and dust”. (Khas o Khashak))

Today millions of people all across the world stand by us. They stand with Iran and its people against murder, against oppression, and against dictatorship. Until my father is free, until my sister is no longer afraid, until all Iranians are FREE and can stand up with us in freedom and without fear, we will never be silent.  We are all together, and the “world is watching.”

Today is the last day of our Hunger Strike, But it’s not the last day of Iranians’ movement. That last day is when all Iranians reach their rightful rights. Today we return home but we will never forget Neda’s last looks. We will remember the photo of Sohrab and his Mom sitting on the sidewalk while both carrying a green shawl and a picture of Mir Hossein Mousavi. And most important of all his mother’s tears at her son’s funeral after 26 days of sorrow and heart-breaks.

We will never forget those who are still in prison, writers, journalists or politicians. We won’t forget a soul be it my father’s generation or mine.
Even though you broke my father’s ribs, you can never break the ribs of this movement, it is as solid as rock!

We won’t forget the sound of those tyrants’ bullets shooting toward those seeking stones to defend themselves. We are not dust and dirt. We are the people of Iran. We are not the audience of a football match. We are the actors of a documentary for Liberal Iranians.

We won’t forget the peaceful protest which started from the election boxes and when it witnessed the closed paths it found its way to alleys and streets and lastly it reached Azadi Square. I know there will be a day when we will celebrate our freedom at Azadi Square.

It is not important whom this goverment choses fot its position. it is important that we never forget this government has not legitimacy.

We have a very hard path in front of us, one that can’t be crossed alone. Each of us has the responsibility to be a media. We have to spread the news of gatherings and protests to our fellow Iranians.

If we have any martyrs we should make their name eternal in every media. We are all together and the world is watching.

Today at 4PM Tehran Standard Time, my father made contact with home and in a short conversation with my mom informed us that during his arrest few of his ribs were broken and now he’s in solitary prison under the watch of doctors. My father also wanted us not to be waiting for his release because he will remain in prison for a long time. If there is a lawyer present amongst you or if you know a Patriot Iranian lawyer, I beg of you to ask them to complain against Nokia since it was because of its products that the political activists and journalists were arrested.

Today is the second day that we have gathered here together, but it’s been 40 days since our votes were stolen. 38 days ago one of my closest friends, Mohammad Reza Jala’ii Pour, was arrested at the airport. Tehran-London flights have been taking place without delay but his freedom and release is still being delayed. Today, only 7 days remain to Neda’s 40th day of death but we still can hear her chants for freedom.

It’s been 9 days since Sohrab’s funeral but with how much difficulty was his body taken from these liars who were telling her mother for 26 days that he was in Evin Prison, while they had already killed him. But the tyrants should know that Sohrab will always be eternal and timeless to us! Today we still don’t know the name of that young 12-year-old martyr, he’s another “dirt and dust” to the oppressors but to each and every one of us Iranians he’s a brother or a son who’s been killed without a crime, an innocent.

Today the name of each person written behind me in red, will remain in our memories. Today green-wearers have put their lives before these names in green, so that we could live one day with freedom and in a country with an honest leader. I hope one day we can all celebrate our victory in a free Iran.

I don’t know how many days has passed since my father’s arrest, but each day I hear the sound of freedom more and more from within the people. Today “I” doesn’t have a meaning alone, today “you” is directed toward the dictators. Today we are all together and the world is watching us.