For those who can’t see the video, this is the text of the message:
VIDEOTAPED RESPONSE TO PRESIDENT OBAMA’S NOWRUZ MESSAGE
Today, on behalf of Iran’s people and government, I would like to extend my thanks to President Obama for his heartfelt Nowruz message. (OK, perhaps it’s only on behalf of me, but that’s beside the point.) Read the rest of this entry »
how interesting…
http://www.niacouncil.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1372&Itemid=2
http://www.whitehouse.gov/Nowruz/
For those who can’t view this video, this is the text of his message:
VIDEOTAPED REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT IN CELEBRATION OF NOWRUZ
THE PRESIDENT: Today I want to extend my very best wishes to all who are celebrating Nowruz around the world.
[by SR] In my eyes, Tehran had never joined the ranks of other big metropolis cities with their “placeless” architecture and new buildings in the style of famous architects, scattered across the world: like say the eye-catching buildings in the financial and shopping districts in NY, London, Tokyo, etc (and Mexico City? haven’t been… but would be an interesting comparison to Tehran). Tehran always did its own thing, with residential architecture being the only avenue for architectural expression, and even then, that expression was always mature and subdued, as opposed to the rambunctious and daring designs of big name global architects and their followers. There have been some forays into global architecture, I guess, in Tehran commercial architecture, but I think they were always a bit disappointing – like the red quasi-pyramidal tower near میدون آرژانتین (Argentine Square) I think – and show more of an identity crisis than architecture in the spirit of global architecture. Note: I’m not saying that I’m a fan of what I’m calling global architecture… I’m just thinking about its absence in Tehran…, which may very well be a good thing! Perhaps it was Iran’s economic isolation in the world that had prevented the wave of globalization from dumping on Tehran’s streets a flotsam of anonymous architecture… I’m not quite sure. Anyhow, a couple weeks ago a couple of friends told me about an architecture competition by Benetton for two office/retail centers in Tehran: http://www.benettongroup.com/designinginteheran/.
I remember, Benetton was always the one high-end western retailer in Tehran since I was a child… I was always baffled by their presence in فرشته (Fereshteh)… what were they doing there when everything else Western (non-industrial sector) was either imported black-market or imitated locally? With their design competition, it looks again, as though they are perhaps reading (or heralding) the future of Tehran as it gradually slips out of its isolation into the global current. I guess this sort of goes with what I understand to be Iran’s recent (past 5 to 10 year?) relaxing economic policies (http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/02/02/090202fa_fact_secor , http://bazardispatch.blogspot.com/2009/01/new-yorkers-article-about-iranian.html). Read the rest of this entry »
[by SD] Our role in the upcoming presidential elections, a topic I wonder about often as a student living abroad. I do not reside in Iran and have been out of the country for almost ten years. It is difficult to know what’s most important to the lives of Iranians from outside. But I am still and will forever be an Iranian and can still vote here in Berkeley; I would like to hope that my vote matters.
There currently seems to be two main choices in Iran’s upcoming presidential elections: Mr. Ahmadinejad and Mr. Khatami, both with previous experience as president!
I think about which one of these candidates is more likely to make life better in my country, in a general sense. Well, it seems that “the quality of life” is highly subjective. To narrow it down: which one is more likely to improve the economy, quality of education (I mean real education), freedom of thought and expression, international relations, and finally the state of our infrastructure and environment? Who is more likely to advocate for ethical practice in various fields? How would either of these candidates advocate for ethics when cheating and bribery are a part of everyone’s daily life from an early age?
I wish we had more choices and more fresh faces among the possible candidates. But we have to choose one president among the choices that we have got. As an earthquake engineer, I naturally care a great deal about the policies that will be adopted under the next administration influencing the budget spent on improving and retrofitting schools, hospitals, and homes before the next earthquake strikes. There are also other urgent issues that I care about deeply related to education and the economy. So, I write this letter to the next president, whoever it may be, and hope that he will read it carefully and forgive my lack of awareness of other potentially critical problems on his agenda. If he happens to read this, I would like to invite him to join this dialogue and share his ideas with us on TehranShake, of course if he has the time!
A letter to my future president:
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Dear Mr. President to be,
Congratulations on your decision to run in the upcoming elections. I admire you for your brave decision and for accepting a heavy load of responsibility on behalf of our nation.
I wish you success in your campaign and more importantly in your term serving as president of an important nation. Of course, Iran has a rich history of feeding other cultures with its knowledge, philosophy, and arts, is in a critical geographic location, enjoys a large reservoir of natural wealth and human talents. Iran has a large population of talented youth and excellent institutions committed to their training and future growth. Yet, as you are definitely well aware, many things can be improved. The existing issues facing our nation make your job a most critical one for the future of the region and of the world. I am sure that you have your own agenda and priorities, but as an Iranian student living abroad I, along with many others, have the following requests for your office to consider in the coming years. If you or people who control your decisions disagree with any of these requests, I would be happy to discuss them further:
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