Additional Reading

I found some additional blogs that were related to my blog's topic. I chose a few cultural ones to include here that I felt were capable of highlighting some interesting dimensions to the current Iranian-American situation both for people who are familiar with Iranian culture and lifestyle and those who are not. In addition to the cultural ones, I chose a few that were political and talked about current events relating to American foreign policy as well as Iranian politics. Here they are, each with a short description. 

1. iranwrites.blogspot.com this blog includes posts on Iranian culture and politics.
2. www.peacewithiran.com as the name suggests this site supports peace between Iran and everyone else.
3. theunknowncandidate.blogspot.com this is a great blog that covers American politics and promotes peace.
4. www.antiwar.com this site is (surprise) against war.
5. www.thisiranianamericanlife.com this blog has a lot of cool and interesting videos showing what life is really like in Iran.
6. www.parsarts.com this one is about Iranian culture and identity abroad.

Check them out.

First go at blogging

For my first go at blogging I went online and searched for any blogs that were related to the issues I wanted to blog about. I found one called “Andisheh: some thoughts on Iran”. Andisheh means, “thought” in Farsi. The blog’s subjects are politics, arts, and architecture. The writer is Cyrus Shahidi, an Iranian art student living in Geneve, Switzerland. According to Mr. Shahidi he is “pro-freedom and a supporter of a united, secular, strong and independent Iran”. It seems that Mr. Shahidi feels the same way about Iran that many Americans do about the U.S. and his basic but strong opinion is one reason why I chose to profile his blog rather than a number of others that contained a great deal of rhetoric from one political viewpoint or another. Mr. Shahidi also has many recent and frequent posts. His posts are very interesting and he gleans his information from a number of sources on the Internet and in the media. In addition, when he quotes somebody he posts links to the source article or website.

A recent post to the blog and a very interesting one at that contained parts of an interview Mr. Shahidi read from Rooz Online. The interview was with former CIA field officer Robert Bayer. Some trivia on the side, Bayer was the main inspiration for George Clooney’s character in the movie Syriana whose opening scene took place in Iran. In the interview Bayer had some very interesting things to say about Iran’s position in the Middle East, Iran’s relationship with Israel and the U.S., and the Iran-Contra affair. Read Mr. Shahidi’s post and the interview for yourself.

http://andishehblog.wordpress.com/2009/01/22/secret-co-operation-and-deal-between-iran-and-israel/#comments

Another fascinating post from Mr. Shahidi contains his take on the recent proclamations issued by two very important religious figures in Iran concerning the supreme authority held by the top Islamic cleric over all other positions including the president and parliament. Overall, it was a very interesting event for Iran and possibly a sign of hope for change in the future. Thank you Mr. Shahidi for bringing it to my attention.

http://andishehblog.wordpress.com/2009/01/02/ayatollah-montazeri-and-ayatollah-rafsanjani-on-velayate-faghih/

I feel that Mr. Shahidi's blog relates well to my blog in that it is informative and realistic and stays away from the bias and propaganda that has been running rampant for so many years now. Many of Mr. Shahidi’s posts are related to Iran and that is also similar to how my blog will run. I also get the feeling that Mr. Shahidi cares a lot about the possibility of war between Iran and America and would like to find away to avoid it, which is similar to my goals. Mr. Shahidi’s blog is not what I would call academic in the sense of strict writing and struture but it is definitely academic and scholarly in that he is actively searching for, analyzing, and critiquing current events in a competent manner. The posts are rich in detail and contain the required references when needed but they are not boring or too wordy. Mr. Shahidi lays out the situation and his opinion quite eloquently. I am not entirely certain who Mr. Shahidi’s audience is but I assume, going by some comments that I read and the country flag counter, that it is a mix of people from every continent with quite a few Iranians and people living in America. Depending on the number of American and Iranian readers, I imagine that the audience’s relevance to the field is around the same level as Mr. Shahidi’s and my own; people who have a personal stake in the situation and people who wish to stay informed and current with their information.

There is much to choose from when writing about the current situation with Iran and a number of ways to do it. So although I will probably continue to read Mr. Shahidi’s blog I will not use it as any sort of reference or generator for ideas on what to blog about. My blog will contain posts on what I feel are the most interesting or relevant topics to blog about. I would also like to focus a little more on clearing the haze of misconceptions currently spouted in America about Iran, its people, and society. Although I feel that this is a worthy goal, I also feel disturbed and ashamed by the fact that there is still so much ignorance in America concerning foreign countries, especially Middle Eastern countries. Therefore, I plan to refute any and all false information that comes to my attention concerning Iran and portray the most accurate picture I can of Iran and its people. This does not mean I will be singing Iran’s praises and denouncing America, for I will also talk about the Iranian’s misconceptions of Americans. I will give credit and criticism where it is due to both countries. I also would like to blog about current events taking place in Iran (not just political ones) in order to share more information with readers about the everyday lives of the Iranian people.

Hello

Hello everybody!!! Prince of Persia here and I have decided to blog about the current situation between America and Iran. This topic is very near and dear to me since I am an American, married to an Iranian, and have family in Iran. I am semi-fluent in Farsi and I have traveled to Iran as recently as 2007. I have a deep love for both countries and I truly desire peace for both countries and I am certain that military action would not bring prosperity or security to either country. Therefore, I would like to explore the current situation between the two countries and form analyses of America’s foreign policy and actions concerning Iran as well as the Iranian regimes reactions. I would like to explore as much as possible about the two countries relationship in order to broaden my knowledge of the situation and to better understand what can be done to bring about a peaceful resolution to the crisis as well as hopefully add to other’s understanding of the matter.

My posts will likely alternate between economical and political as wells as social and religious because Iran is an Islamic country and I would like to explore the role that religion has played in the situation. I will also possibly include a bit of history in my posts about the two countries past relationship in order to give newcomers to the situation a clearer understanding of the current crisis. Many Americans are not aware that Iran was America’s closest ally in the Middle East for many years. In fact, to have a decent understanding of the current situation you have to go back to the summer of 1953 when Prime Minister Mossadeq was overthrown by a coup d’état supported by the British and Americans. All of that particular history will most likely be referred to in various posts in the future. But, mostly I would like to post about the current events taking place and determine whether or not they are helpful or harmful to a peaceful resolution of the situation.