Iran in a glance ...

All the photos are taken on 21st of Aprial (first day of Iranian new year and first day of spring) around Iran ... See how different can it be around where I come from :-D

Iran in norouz 86!!

Imported article from Gaurdian ...

Just before the tension between Britain and Iran stretched to breaking point, Martin Hodgson visited Tehran. He found heavy metal bands singing lyrics from Persian myths, women playing in pop groups and an Islamic culture trying to make sense of the West

Sunday April 22, 2007

A bitterly cold night in Tehran. Weeks have passed since the Shia mourning rites of Ashura, but the smog-stained blocks of the city centre are still festooned with triangular black flags commemorating the martyrdom of the Imam Hussein, the prophet Mohammed's grandson. Traffic eight lanes wide grinds past giant murals of martyrs from the Iran-Iraq war and animated billboards advertising mobile phones and MP3 players. As night rolls in, the air is thick with exhaust fumes and flurries of late spring snow.

The suburb of Ekbatan is a maze of concrete and roads circling back on themselves. In the shadows behind the last block of flats, steps lead down to the soundproof bunker where a band called 127 are rehearsing. Under a tattered Jethro Tull poster, they tear through a set of what you might call world punk: clattering drums, Persian folk, ska-inflected trombone and lilting piano. The songs are mostly in English, delivered with a nervy intensity by Sohrab Mohebbi, a wiry 26-year-old. There's nothing overtly political, but the lyrics are suffused with frustration and dark absurdity. One hand jammed in the pocket of his jeans, Mohebbi leans in to the microphone: 'I watch the news, I'm a masochist/ I got to lose to raise my self-esteem/ I got a head, a mix of high ordeals/ A lack of bread, I avoid ideals.'

Not so long ago, this would have been unthinkable. In the wake of Iran's 1979 revolution, pop music was prohibited. The religious zealots who rose to power saw it as a decadent art form. Those who breached the ban risked beatings, arrest or even jail. The restrictions have been eased, but never lifted: concerts are sometimes allowed, but dancing remains illegal. Women can sing in public, but only on backing vocals. And music remains under the strict supervision of a body with the Orwellian title of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance.

Before a band can release its tunes commercially or even play a live concert, it must apply to the ministry, where music and lyrics are picked over by a series of committees. Because rock is not an approved genre, however, only a handful of guitar bands have ever received authorisation. Halfway through the evening, 127 take a break, and over a cup of sweet black chay, Mohebbi describes the process: 'You spend three years going up and down the stairs at the ministry, but in the end they always say no, because it's 'Western' music.'

Instead, 127 post songs on the internet, and they have played a few gigs abroad - last year, they became the first Iranian band at the South by South West festival in Austin, Texas. But this isn't what the group had in mind when they started playing together. 'We're a band: we should be doing shows. We've got more than 50 songs, and we don't get to play them,' Mohebbi says with a deep sigh. 'We don't exist outside the web. We don't gig, and we don't release records. We're virtual creatures.'

The events of 1979 were as much a cultural revolution as a political uprising - a reassertion of Persian culture after the Shah's efforts to modernise the country forcibly. In the early days of the revolution, poets and singers banned by the ancien regime played massive open-air concerts in Tehran. But as the supporters of Ayatollah Khomeini sought to purge the country of 'Westoxification', many musicians fled to Europe, or to the US where a small but vibrant Persian pop scene grew up in Los Angeles. Others, unable or unwilling to leave, were driven underground. Film composer and jazz pianist Ramin Behna, 37, credits the Tehran police for making him decide to become a professional musician. 'I was a 15-year-old Deep Purple fan, and was arrested on the way to band practice. Before that, I hadn't really taken music seriously, but while they were holding me at the station I realised that what I wanted to do in life was play music.' Behna was lucky: he was released after a few hours. But with no hope of getting permission to play in public, his space-rock band Tatar Two distributed samizdat recordings on cassette and organised clandestine concerts in subterranean car parks. 'In those days it was so dangerous we would play with amps turned down to three - we sounded like background music in a coffee shop,' he recalls.

Pop music started to emerge from the underground during the mid-1990s as Iran began to recover from the trauma of the 1980-88 war with Iraq. Some believe the decision to rehabilitate pop was taken at the highest level of government, with the mullahs permitting homegrown pop in order to counter the influence of exiles, whose music was still widely available on the black market.

'And it worked! People started to listen to music made inside Iran, rather than Los Angeles,' one musician told me. 'The government won face for Iran: they could say that we have freedom of speech, we have music and concerts - and all inside the framework of our Islamic regulations.'

The biggest star of the first generation was Alireza Assar, who one evening invited me for chay at his smart apartment home in central Tehran. A heavy-set man of 37, Assar has piercing, hooded eyes, a thick black beard and hair tied back in a ponytail. Trained as a classical pianist, Assar had planned to leave Iran to become an orchestral conductor until the cultural thaw ushered in by the reformist President Khatami. Now his CDs regularly sell more than a million copies, and he recorded his latest album at Abbey Road accompanied by the London Symphony Orchestra.

On the flat-screen television that dominates the room, Assar shows me a DVD of one his concerts: over an epic slush of strings, he recites the lyrics in a stern, declamatory style. Although he writes most of the music, the words are all taken from Persian poetry. 'This is the main difference between our pop and Western pop - in Iran the lyrics are more important than the music,' he says.

Perhaps more striking for a Westerner is the number of songs with religious themes: Assar's first big hit, 'Angels of Heaven', was an upbeat number in praise of the Shia Imam Ali. ('He is my hero and role model,' says Assar.) But it was a single in 1999 that confirmed his status as a star: 'Homeless People' was the first pop song in post-revolutionary Iran to deal with social issues, and, coinciding with the emergence of the reform movement, the record was heard by many as a veiled attack on the political establishment- an idea that Assar is at pains to deny.

'It wasn't about our government, it was about people who pretend to be religious, and act like they care but don't do anything to help,' he says. 'When the song came out, everybody was in shock about how they let me sing that song. I still don't understand how they let me do it.'

Throughout my stay in Iran, I often hear about the 'red lines' circumscribing artistic expression. Certain subjects - sex, of course - are clearly off-limits, as are any others deemed to offend Islamic sensibilities. But it becomes clear that nobody can ever be sure exactly where the boundaries lie. 'The problem is that there is no written law that tells you what you can write. Sometimes you're sure that something you've written will get permission but it is rejected,' says Ninef Amirkhas, the keyboardist of Arian Band, the first pop group after the revolution to receive official approval.

I find Amirkas and lead singer Ali Pahlavan at a rehearsal studio in north Tehran, where they play me their latest CD, Till Eternity. Musically, the sound is straightforward enough - a polished mix of plastic dance beats and folk flourishes - but, as Pahlavan explains, their lyrics are a shifting code of meaning. 'We can't use direct words. We have to let people think about what we mean,' he says. 'One of our first songs was about a flower looking at the sun. Sometimes dark clouds hide its face and the sun is hidden, but the final verse says, "I am the sunflower you are the sun." It's about a boy and girl, but we couldn't say that,' he explains.

This oblique approach to expression is not simply a reaction to censorship, says record producer Ramin Sadighi, the director of Hermes Records, a label specialising in classical and experimental music. Persian culture, especially poetry, has always deployed indirect language to deal with sensitive subjects, he says. 'Most Persian literature has two levels of meanings; it's a way to avoid crossing the red lines. So if you write about extreme love, you say you are talking about extreme love for God and nobody can take offence.'

Once a band's lyrics have been passed by the censors, they need another permit for each live appearance. Dancing is forbidden, and security guards are on hand to ensure the audience stays seated. 'The fans just sing along and clap a little. Perhaps they move a little in their seats, but they're not allowed to get up,' says Pahlavan. 'Sometimes we have to stop singing and ask the audience to sit down - otherwise we'd have to stop the concert.'

Even the musicians must not give the appearance of dancing, says Amirkhas. 'Sometimes I move too much behind my keyboard, and our manager has to come on stage to tell me to calm down.'

Arian Band were Iran's first group to include both sexes. Even before 1979, the idea of men and women playing alongside each other was considered far too racy. Women are still not allowed to sing solo - conservatives argue that it turns them into 'tools for male satisfaction' - and even in an ensemble they cannot sing loud enough for individual voices to be distinguished. But Arian Band guitarist Sharareh Farnejad, 32, and backing singer Sanaz Kashmari, 24, insist that they are equal members of the band. 'All our opinions count: about the music, about the lyrics. It's a complete democracy,' Farnejad says.

Do they ever wish they could take over lead vocals? 'Of course we would love to, if the conditions were right,' says Kashmari. 'We can sing solo already,' corrects Farnejad. 'But only for an audience of women, and with an all-women band - and in Iran we don't have enough good women musicians to do that yet.'

We head up to the roof to take some pictures. It's the first sunny day for a week, and the terrace offers a clear view across the sprawling city to the snow-capped Alborz mountains. It also affords another perspective on the hardliners' efforts to control pop culture: sprouting from rooftops and balconies are clusters of satellite dishes. Technically, they are all illegal, but the ban is only sporadically enforced, and viewers can tune in to hundreds of foreign channels, including a dozen or so run by exiles in California. Similarly, although the government has banned high-speed internet connections and regularly blocks access to contentious or 'un-Islamic' websites, most net-savvy teenagers know how to negotiate their way around the filters. And while most Western pop music is officially banned, it doesn't take too much effort to find it on the black market.

The place to look is somewhere like Hossein's DVD shop in north Tehran. The shelves are lined with Iranian melodramas and Hollywood blockbusters. All of them are pirate copies - as is the software on sale a few doors down the street - but as Iran is not a signatory to the major international copyright treaties, selling bootleg DVDs is not a crime. What is illegal is the hard-drive under the counter full of MP3 files - for a few pounds, Hossein can rip and burn a dozen albums in just a few minutes. He flips open a ring-binder listing his latest downloads - everything from Akon to Xtina by way of Bryan Ferry and KT Tunstall. 'You can't have much choice in a country where music is illegal - you listen to whatever makes you happy,' he says. 'The most popular are Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, Tupac and Pink Floyd.'

The people who keep Hossein in business are the children of the revolution: 70 per cent of the population is under 30, a generation with no recollection of the fall of the Shah, and only the vaguest memory of the dark war years. They are the ones you can see cruising the neon-lit halls of north Tehran's fashionable shopping centres, compulsively checking their mobiles, the boys with pierced lips and gelled hair, the girls with nose-jobs and artfully arranged headscarves.

I first meet Shirin, a 21-year-old English student, at a coffee shop decorated with pictures of Kurt Cobain, Leonard Cohen and Syd Barrett. On her head she wears a black wimple and over her clothes, a long black manteau, the buttoned tunic worn instead of the full-length chador. Two days later, we meet again at her friend Zhila's flat. This time, her hair is loose, she is wearing jeans with a studded belt and she is thrashing away at an electric guitar while Zhila, 22, kicks out the 'Funky Drummer' break on a battered drum kit. It's a bedroom band, like one you could find anywhere from Sheffield to Chicago - but one with little chance of ever playing any gigs.

It is a commonplace for visiting Westerners to contrast the austerity of Iranian public life with the openness and downright normality of private life. Likewise, foreign journalists seem obliged to note with surprise that Iranians in general are charming and humorous - not dour religious maniacs prone to shouting 'Death to America' at the slightest provocation. For the record, it's quite true. Despite the history of troubled relations between Britain and Iran - my visit takes place just weeks before the capture of the 15 Royal Navy personnel -there is no sign of animosity for a visitor from the 'Little Satan'. But after a few days in Tehran it is hard to ignore a growing sense of dissonance between the strict regulations governing the Islamic Republic and the lives that ordinary Iranians actually live.

Which is the real face of Iran, I wonder. 'They both are,' says Zhila. 'There is an outer layer and an inner layer to everybody's life. When I go out I have to conform to the norm, and the norm is that you have to wear the veil, but when I get home or somewhere I feel safe I can be myself.'

Western music may be banned, but from windows of passing cars I've heard a stream of familiar sounds: Anastacia, Evanescence - even Julio Iglesias. 'You can listen to any music and play anything - just not in public,' says Zhila.

For a musician, however, never playing in public, never releasing your music is the worst kind of torment. Homayoon Majdzadeh is the guitarist in a heavy metal band called Kahtmayan. He has recorded six albums. Not one has been released. . 'When you start, you think it will be beautiful for people to hear your music - but then you realise no one will ever hear it,' he says. 'We are living under water here - we feel suffocated.'

Every application for permission to record has been rebuffed on the grounds that metal is American music - an accusation Majdzadeh finds hurtful: he is inspired by the pre-Islamic roots of Persian culture, blending portentous guitar riffing with dervish rhythms and jarring folk melodies. 'I'm an Iranian guy playing Iranian music,' he says.

It's after midnight when I meet Majdzadeh and the band's bass player Ardavan Anzabipour at the recording studio with their new vocalist, Khoda.

Before we enter the studio, Anzabipour warns me: 'Our singer is not a regular guy,' and once inside, it turns that Khoda has refused to meet me - or even to emerge from the room where he is sitting in the dark, meditating in preparation for the take. 'He closes the door, and we wait,' says Anzabipour. 'After some minutes the screaming starts, and we record.'

When Khoda is finally ready, the voice which emerges from the darkened studio is not a scream, but a rich Bowie-like baritone. The lyrics are based on a 10th-century epic poem, recounting the death of prince Siavash. As the tape rolls, the guitarist and bassist sit, hands clasped on the mixing desk, solemnly banging their heads to the galloping guitars.

It's a good take, and the mood in the studio lifts, but by the time I leave, Ardavan has slumped back into despondency. 'You know rock'n'roll is always hard,' he says. 'But in Iran it is slavery.'

It's not just underground rock bands who are finding it hard to get their records out. Mohsen Rajabpour, 35, is the Simon Fuller of Iranian pop, the mastermind behind Arian Band, and a dozen other artists, including Benjamin, the young star whose bearded features loom from billboards all around town, and whose honeyed, effects-laden voice seems to croon from every taxi radio.

Ninef from Arian Band is there to translate when I meet Rajabpour at his company headquarters. He tells me that in the decade after 1995, around 750 albums were released each year. But since the 2005 election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, that figure has fallen below 100.

Ahmadinejad ordered state broadcasters to stop playing Western music in favour of traditional melodies. I ask Mohsen if there is any contradiction between pop and the ideals of the Islamic Republic. The question triggers an intense five-minute debate before Rajabpour and Ninef reach what seems to be a carefully worded conclusion. 'In Iran there are different ideas of religion, behaviour and lifestyle, some very strict, some less strict. The government allows them all,' says Ninef. 'In the Middle Ages, Europe had all sorts of problems until it became stable and you had the Renaissance. Right now, Iran is going through exactly the same thing - the crisis of growing up.'

As we finish talking, a young man with sideburns comes into the office. Milad Beyk, 22, has brought his demo CD and he sits nervously as Rajabpour fast-forwards through the disc, scribbling occasional notes on a sheet of paper.

The sound is clearly modelled on Benjamin - all techno beats and vocoder-enhanced vocals and after a few minutes Rajabpour turns off the stereo and tells Beyk to come back in a couple of months. 'It sounds like your songs aren't finished yet, and I'll need to look through your lyrics to see what would be allowed and what won't,' he says.

At the doorway, they shake hands and Rajabpour gives the aspiring star a primer in Iranian pop. 'Don't count on making a living from pop - most musicians need another job to survive,' he says. 'If you want to do this, we can help, but not straightaway. Now is not a good time to be releasing new songs in Iran.'

A few days after I return to the UK I receive an email from Sohrab Mohebbi of 127. Their first EP will be released later this year. In Sweden. Phisteria, a small indie label based near Kristianstad, signed up the band after they were featured on Swedish TV. There is more news: the band are hoping to arrange a tour of Europe this summer - although the drummer and the pianist are due to report for military service. But Mohebbi sounds optimistic. 'We're not asking for much,' he writes. 'If we could just put out a record and maybe go on tour - that would be enough. That would be pretty good for a rock'n'roll band from Iran.'

From Persian lutes to songs celebrating trams

Music has always enjoyed an ambiguous status in Iran. Classical music was closely associated with the poetry - seen as the highest expression of Persian culture - and many classical works were set to the words of the medieval mystic poets such as Rumi and Hafiz. But some Shia clerics argued that music was forbidden by the Koran, and it has been sporadically banned over the centuries. Classical Persian music - usually performed by vocalists accompanied by the reed flute or lute - is based on improvisation within a complex system of scales and conventions. Musicians spend years learning a repertoire of hundreds of musical fragments as a starting point for spontaneous composition.

Western-inspired pop music started to appear in the early twentieth century, with big-band sounds and vocalists inspired by French chanson. Early hits included songs about the extension of the Tehran tramway system, and the advent of chewing gum. Rock'n'roll arrived in the Fifties with the British and American roughnecks working on oilfields near the Iraqi border. Folk singer Farhad Mehrad started his career playing at the Iranian Oil Company Club, but went on to record protest songs for which he was imprisoned by the Shah - and then banned by the Islamic government.

Pop emerged in the 1960s with a repertoire of sentimental love songs drawing on both traditional and western styles. Its biggest star was Googoosh, the 'Queen of Persian Pop', who remains Iran's biggest-selling star despite the post-revolutionary ban on female singers.

Popular music started to reappear in the late 1990s under the relatively liberal Khatami presidency. Unable to release records at home, more and more rappers and rock bands are using the internet to promote their music.

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My Opinion : I liked this article ... More or less it is true. It's very difficult to get a certificate and publish the music albums in Iran. It really depends on who is giving the permission. It can be so hard sometimes.

Distinguishing ?!?!

Tonight president G. W. Bush said that they have problems with Iranian government activities and they distinguish between Iranian people and government.

I say, OKAY but a question remains here. If you don't have any problem with Iranian people then why have U.S. and now Britain (Blair made the same statement how Iranian history is so great & blah blah blah) started calling Persian gulf, Arabian gulf ???? At least they were calling it GULF before ... As I mentioned in my writings here before, the name of this gulf means a lot to all Iranians.

U.S. marines were calling Persian gulf, Arabian gulf as their serving zone in Christmas greetings which were being broad casted in whole U.S. and British defense minster called Persian gulf, Arabian gulf in an official statement in Parliament.

• The British, it's clear ... As their defense minster called it Arabian gulf, its their new policy.

• Americans, as always they can claim once again of being not so good at geography !

My word : YEAH RIGHT !

Is it another British trick ?!?!

British minster of defense in an official statement in parliament (about 15th British sailors who were arrested by Iranians ) used A-R-A-B-I-A-N GULF instead of PERSIAN GULF or GULF !!!

Iranian embassy in London, sent a message to the British foreign minstery, right after the speech and complained about the British policy that officials use names that are not according to U.N. official maps.

The gulf between Iran and southern Arabian countries around the gulf is called PERSIAN GULF in U.N. official maps ( historically the name was Persian gulf as well, read in wikipeida).

The general routine of western media is to call it GULF instead of PERSIAN GULF as they claims Arabian nations press them to call it Arabian gulf. But now since the conflicts between Iran and western community has raised once again, British officials seems to start calling it Arabian gulf to punish Iran !!!

This is what I should warn about as Iranians ( the people more than government ) care so much about the gulf name in south of Iran and it can bring even worse reputation for British government between Iranians ( See one of my writings at It's a British trick ).

in the following cartoons, you can see cartoons drawn by Iranians about this case :

Omid Massiie

Kiarash Zandi


Firouzeh Montazeri

Blushing ... ;-)

An Iraqi girl blushing after giving an American soldier a flower ... :-)

Media war keeps going on ...

Kidnapped Iranian diplomat explains his torture by the US forces

Tehran, April 11, IRNA
Second Secretary of Iran's embassy in Baghdad Jalal Sharafi, who was kidnapped and tortured by the US forces, explained the details of his torture to domestic and foreign reporters in the venue of foreign ministry here Wednesday.


My Opinion : The media war is going on & on ... This guy was obviously tortured but by who, I have no idea !!!
It can be U.S. army but indirectly as he says himself, Iraqi militants or ...
Iranian government claims U.S. government over it as U.S. refuses ...
But at the end of the story, it is Iran who is attacking and U.S. who is defending. At the same time Iran demanded releasing of its 5 arrested diplomats ( Americans claim they are Sepah generals ) for taking part in meeting among Iraq neighbors and U.S. in Egypt. United states has refused this demand by Iranian government.

Iranian soccer player shining like a diamond in Bolton ...

Teimorian is now called boss little diamond ... Read the article down here about him ...

Andranik Teymourian( Iranian player of Bolton ) scored two second-half goals to keep Bolton on course for Europe and pile the relegation pressure on Wigan, who lost 3-1 at home.

Emile Heskey's 100th league goal of his career was in vain as Sam Allardyce's side produced a stirring comeback at the JJB Stadium.Nicolas Anelka initially hauled Bolton level four minutes before the interval, before Iran midfielder Teymourian grabbed the first Premiership goals of his career in the space of five minutes.

Teymourian, signed on his performances at last summer's World Cup, appears to be another of those shrewd Allardyce captures.Starting only his second league match, the 24-year-old certainly delivered in a crucial local derby victory that keeps Bolton in the hunt for a possible Champions League place.Wigan, though, continue to hover precariously above the bottom three after two successive defeats.Manager Paul Jewell will again wonder how this one slipped away, in particular after taking a stranglehold on the game in the first half.For 35 minutes the Latics were barely troubled, with Heskey's ton-up strike after the half hour just reward for their endeavourThroughout that period Bolton had done nothing more than pump long balls forward to their attacking trio of Anelka, Kevin Davies and El Hadji Diouf.Although Wigan were without inspirational captain Arjan de Zeeuw, the veteran centre-back seemingly rested, a defence marshalled by stand-in skipper Matt Jackson comfortably contained such a threat.Instead, it was Wigan who posed all the problems, in particular with the pacy Antonio Valencia down the right wing, while Josip Skoko and Paul Scharner formed an imposing partnership across the middle.Jewell's side should have taken a fourth-minute lead as a sleepy Bolton defence failed to pick up Lee McCulloch's unopposed run into the heart of the area in meeting a Ryan Taylor corner.But from eight yards the Scotland international winger, who had scored the winner in a 1-0 win at the Reebok Stadium earlier this season, side-footed narrowly wide.As Wigan applied the pressure, half-chances followed, with Caleb Folan steering a Valencia cross over the bar, while Abdoulaye Faye made a painful block on the edge of the area from McCulloch's shot on the turn.Abdoulaye Meite also produced a superb challenge to deny Heskey in the 27th minute after the striker had surged into the area on the back of a raking ball from Leighton Baines.Four minutes later Wigan made the breakthrough with a scrappy goal that epitomised the passage of play at that stage as the home side were just starting to lose their grip.Unsurprisingly, the move was started by Valencia, robbing Tal Ben Haim of the ball before feeding Folan who in turn played in Scharner.The Austrian's run into the penalty area culminated in a low ball in for Heskey that should have been cut out by Jussi Jaaskelainen.However, Heskey managed to get a decisive flick goalwards for his seventh of the season, with the ball trickling over the line off Nicky Hunt.A perturbed Allardyce swiftly replaced struggling Ben Haim with Ricardo Gardner to combat Valencia's threat and within a few minutes a more solid-looking Bolton were level.A raid into the area initially saw Jackson block a close-range shot from Anelka from which Wigan failed to clear their lines.John Filan then flapped at a cross that was picked up at the far post by Diouf and the Senegal striker slid the ball into Anelka, who tapped home from two yards.Bolton could then easily have headed into the break with the lead, but after spilling a 20-yard shot from Teymourian, Filan made amends by superbly saving from Diouf on the follow-up.The goal, though, had given Wanderers the impetus heading into the break and it was one they built on as the second period ebbed and flowed before Teymourian's double breakthrough.There were half-chances again, this time for both sides, as well as yellow cards for Bolton's David Thompson and Davies.Then midway through the half Bolton completed their comeback, with Diouf again the supplier as he hauled down a long ball out of defence before splitting the Wigan rearguard with an incisive pass.It left Teymourian all alone and with only Filan to beat and he did so with aplomb by stroking the ball underneath the advancing Australian.Five minutes later and Teymourian sealed the points with a simple downward header from an unmarked position at the far post, after Davies had done all the hard work down the right.Although McCulloch rattled the crossbar in the 80th minute with a thunderous right-foot half-volley, Wigan are now staring at the prospect of the drop, while Bolton are on the rise again.

Allardyce hails Teymourian

Bolton boss Sam Allardyce hailed Andranik Teymourian as his 'little diamond' following his match-winning double at Wigan. The victory keeps Bolton on course for a place in Europe next season, and Allardyce said: 'After starting the game poorly, we managed to cause mayhem in the last 10 minutes. 'I was getting worried, though, because we were creating chances and missing them, but we have found a little diamond who is progressing nicely. 'The clinical finishing he showed today was the difference between the two sides in the end, and they were two great finishes. 'For the first, most players would have taken a touch, but he didn't. He hit it first time and it was past the keeper before he could get down. 'Then he popped up at the far post on a late run completely unmarked, and I didn't know he could head the ball, but he showed me then he can do that. 'That put the game beyond Wigan's reach because I felt, at 2-1, they were always going to be dangerous. 'But to kill them off like that after going a goal down was terrific and it makes life very interesting for us now.' Bolton are now just two points behind fourth-place Arsenal in the race for a Champions League spot, while they are three clear of Everton - who they play at home on Monday - should UEFA Cup football be the order of the day. Allardyce, though, jokingly brushed aside suggestions that his team can beat the Gunners - who they face next Saturday - for the lucrative fourth place. 'UEFA only!' insisted Allardyce. 'Nothing else. It would destroy this club if we went into the Champions League. We are not big enough for that. It would be too much for us.' With a smile on his face, Allardyce added: 'But at the end of the day if it comes along then we will take it, of course we will. 'But I don't want it broadcast that we are looking for it because we are not really. 'We have already blown it once before by talking about it too much, so I don't want to talk about it any more.' Heskey deservedly gave Wigan the lead with a scrambled effort in the 31st minute, only for Anelka to poach the equaliser from close range 10 minutes before the break. Teymourian then put Bolton in front in the 68th minute with a firm first-time shot following a defence-splitting pass from El-Hadji Diouf, before then heading home a Kevin Davies cross in the 73rd minute. Allardyce insisted that what had happened in Iran - 15 British naval service personnel were held captive - had no affect on the player. 'If anything had happened to them it might have been a little different,' added Allardyce. 'But while it was happening, it was not something we brought up.' Defeat for Wigan leaves them in the relegation mire, just two points above the bottom three and with manager Paul Jewell demanding his players 'fight and dig deep'. The Latics have now thrown away 22 points after scoring first in a game, and Jewell said: 'We are the best in the league at doing that! 'I've said it before, but we seemed to be a bit milky, in that, when we come under pressure, we concede a goal. 'I thought we had got over that, but it was back today and now we are most certainly in a dogfight. 'We have to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves down and try to get a result at Aston Villa on Monday.'

Source :
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=199402&campaign=rss&source=soccernet&cc=5739

A word on British sailors media conference in Britain ...

As much as I didn't believe what the British sailors said in Iran, I didn't believe what they said in Britain. Because if they were repeating what Iranian government told them under pressure, they are repeating what British defense minstery has told them to say under pressure again ...

Iranian diplomat was tortured in Iraq ...

After being released, the second secretary of Iran's Embassy in Iraq, Jalal Sharafi, who was kidnapped in Baghdad on February 4, 2007, in an interview with IRNA disclosed details of his kidnaping.

Sharafi explained how he was kidnapped and tortured by American troops and agents of an Iraqi organization acting under the supervision of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Signs of torture are evident on Sharafi's body and his is now undergoing medical treatment.

"While shopping at a store in one of Baghdad streets, I was kidnapped by several agents who were holding identity cards of Iraq's Ministry of Defense.

"Then the kidnappers took me to a base near Baghdad Airport and I was investigated by a few interrogators. Some of them were speaking in Arabic and others in English," he added.

The Iranian diplomat noted that the questions of CIA agents mainly concerned Iran's presence in and influence on Iraq.

He noted that they kept on asking about the extent of Iran's assistance to Nouri al-Maleki's government and Iraqi groups.

"Upon hearing my response about Iran's official relations with the Iraqi government and officials, they continued torturing me," added the released diplomat.

"Then they attempted to encourage me to cooperate with them by changing their approach. But I told them that they can contact Iranian Embassy in Baghdad for any information, given that I am only a diplomat and cannot act beyond the limit of my legal duties," he said.

Sharafi said later he heard that under the pressure of Iraqi officials, the kidnappers were forced to release him.

"After they set me free near Baghdad Airport, I managed to get to the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad with the assistance of people," he said.

Sharafi who was kidnapped on February 4, 2007 when his car was intercepted by vehicles carrying armed men in the Karradah district of Baghdad, was released on April 5.

What we produce beside carpet in Iran :-D

My note :

Robot making and Robocup is so popular between Iranian youth ... Every where you go(High schools or universities), you can see some teams working on different robots ... again another international games are held in Iran beside local games that are held every year for local teams to be approved for international competitions out of Iran.

this robot is one of my university robot. Ofcourse there are a lot of teams from my university but this one is from the association that I was one of the administrators ...

Photos are attached after the text ...

Robocup in Iran ...

Robocup in Iran ...

RoboCup

RoboCup is an international joint project to promote AI, robotics, and related field. It is an attempt to foster AI and intelligent robotics research by providing a standard problem where wide range of technologies can be integrated and examined. RoboCup chose to use soccer game as a central topic of research, aiming at innovations to be applied for socially significant problems and industries. The ultimate goal of the RoboCup project is by 2050, develop a team of fully autonomous humanoid robots that can win against the human world champion team in soccer. In order for a robot team to actually perform a soccer game, various technologies must be incorporated including: design principles of autonomous agents, multi-agent collaboration, strategy acquisition, real-time reasoning, robotics, and sensor-fusion. RoboCup is a task for a team of multiple fast-moving robots under a dynamic environment. RoboCup also offers a software platform for research on the software aspects of RoboCup. One of the major applications of RoboCup technologies is a search and rescue in large scale disaster. RoboCup initiated RoboCupRescue project to specifically promote research in socially significant issues.

IranOpen

Iranian teams have been an active participant of RoboCup events since 1998. The number of Iranian teams has been largely increasing over the past years. Thereby, the need to have a regional event seemed rather necessary. Furthermore, since the overall number world interested teams in RoboCup has increased; regional events may and can be a proper field for RoboCup leagues Technical Committees to see teams qualities for RoboCup World Competitions. IranOpen is a place for teams willing to take part in RoboCup World Competitions in order to show their qualities and standards. It is also a place for fresh teams to gain experience and become ready to join the world teams.

IranOpen 2006

Azad University as the pioneer in organizing a RoboCup event within Iran prepared a strong proposal for the RoboCup Federation which was then approved by the Federation to organize the IranOpen2006. IranOpen2006 took place at Tehran International Fair from April 7th to April 9th. It was the first but successful experience of organizing a RoboCup event in Iran. About 100 teams participated under 7 leagues and over 3000 visitors enjoined watching the games.

IranOpen 2007

Azad University having the successful experience of organizing the IranOpen2006 decided to organize the IranOpen2007 in wider range. The proposal of the Azad University was approved by Iranian RoboCup National Committee and sent to the RoboCup Federation for final approval. It was then finally approved by the Federation. Therefore, IranOpen2007 will take place in Tehran International Fair from 5th - 7th April 2007. IranOpen2007 is consisted of 12 RoboCup leagues and 4 extra leagues.

New york street festival, Iranian new year

Iranian new year in New York Norouz street festival ...