Khamenei on Nuclear Technology

You can comment on this.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Hello class. The topic for this week was, of course, President Ahmadinejad. And with him comes your next chance for a posting comment.

You will need to comment on Ahmadinejad's letter to Americans. The link to it is on the left, under the link menu.

Basically, as an American, or at least someone who currently resides here, what is your reaction to this letter? What would you like to say to him as a reply?

Also, in preparation for next week, if you have the time I would suggest looking up some basic facts about the nuclear fuel cycle. This link may be able to help. It is a little technical, but just skimming it may give you some background knowledge and make this week's lecture a little easier to understand.

And finally, this is a link to a hilarious story about the FBI, falafel, and Iranian "terrorists" in the Bay Area. Falafel isn't even an Iranian dish! It's not for a comment credit, but it is good for a laugh.

See you on Monday!

-Amir

The Iranian Regime's Lobby in the U.S. vs the Israeli Lobby

Here are a few links regarding both the Iranian Regime's Lobby in the U.S. and the Israeli Lobby in the U.S., which has taken a hard stance against Iran.

This link is about the Iranian Lobby in the U.S. It argues that "The Iranian regime has always tried to frame its confrontation with the international community and its own people, as a battle between Iran and Israeli."

This link summarises the key points made in the new book critical of the Israeli Lobby by John Maersheimer and Stephen Walt. They visited Berkeley just last week. I would suggest picking up the book because it has a chapter on Iran.

And finally, this is a link to AIPAC's (America's Pro-Israeli lobby) homepage. Their main story for today involves the sanctions on Iran.

Though this post does not count towards a blog posting comment, comments are welcome.

The Rise and Fall of the Reformists

This week we talked about Khatami and the reform movement in Iran. For this post, you will need to answer one or more of the following three questions:

1. Describe some of the impediments Khatami experienced during his presidency. Why did the reformists "fall," so to speak?

2. Do you feel that the "dialogue of civilizations" is an idea that can succeed in the world we live in? How does it deviate from our Western mode of thinking? Use citations from Khatami's text, located in the reader.

3. Do you think Khatami made the right choice by not supporting the student uprising of 1999?

Iran-Iraq War

This week we went over the Iran-Iraq war.

You can view a gallery of photos here. You can also view the surprisingly catchy Iranian propaganda song and video here.

For this post, I am interested to hear some of your views on many of the controversial moves on behalf of Iran and the world during the war. Once again you can answer as many of these questions as you like.

Without knowing the outcome, was the decision of Iran to counter-invade Iraq after two years the right one?

Do you feel it was right for the world, which felt threatened by Iran, to provide Iraq with both military support and chemical weapons?

How do you feel about Iran using human wave attacks, child soldiers, and human mine detectors (knowing that they helped Iran defend itself)?

In light of understanding more about the war, do you feel like you understand Iran's position (in terms of foreign policy) better?

Have a good week guys, keep on the lookout for more opportunities to post.

-Amir

Back to Tehran

Here you can read various opinions about Ahmadinejad after his visit to New York.

President Ahmadinejad at Columbia University

You can comment on this along with most other posts below. -Amir

Interesting links

Hey guys.

First I wanted to say that so far I have been very impressed by your comments. You guys all deserve praise for what you have done. Secondly, this post is not for comment. There's enough to comment on all ready. Though if you would like to comment, you are welcome, it just won't count towards the requirement. Basically I am just going to post some links to some interesting stories about the fallout of Ahmadinejad's visit. He seems to have almost broken the Internet in half. I'll add more links to this post if I see anything else of worth. I'm looking forward to reading more of your posts!

This is Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, on how he will deal with Iran if he becomes President.
This is the how Iran is becoming a major campaign issue in the upcoming presidential election.
This is a sampling of reactions from Iranian bloggers both inside and outside Iran to Ahmadinejad's visit.
This is from the Jerusalem post. At the end of the article seems to be Ahmadinejad's stance on Israel. Its not friendly, but its not exactly "wiping it off of the map" either.
This is about the media's "war blitz" against Iran. Its very interesting.
This is an article about how Iran, (in retaliation for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard being possibly labeled as a terrorist organization by the US), has labeled the CIA and the US Army as terrorist organizations.

And finally, this is a link to a video of Ahmadinejad at the UN.

See you all on Monday.

-Amir