I addressed everything you brought up in detail and no I didn't call anybody names...You're the one that brought up "the worst regimes in the world," I was merely responding to what you said...I've made my case in detail, I've responded to your concerns, I don't know how much clearer I can be.
Iran is a democracy? Wow, when did that happen? Are the Mullah's elected by the people? The Mullahs are the one's that set the laws and have final say, even overiding the government if they don't like what the "democracy" has put in place. DD
yes, to answer your question, all leadership positions including the so-called "mullahs" and "supreme leader" are elected parliament makes the laws thus making iran a democracy
Dude. Im not saying the Shaw of Iran was a great person. The rise of the Islamics were in part to the Shaw being corrupt. Iranians have had it bad for awhile. The government is playing give and take with the citizens so that they can stay in power. India has a very strong high tech sector that's rising super fast. They are also a TRUE democracy where many religions live in peace. you cant say that about Iran. Why aren't Sun Microsystems, Microsoft, Dell and other big companies opening up shop in Iran? The documentary about women having horrible inequalities in Iran are real. Just because they have it better than Saudis doesnt mean that they are Oprah. Also if Cuba's government is so good with all the free education and health care. why arent people flocking over there? the whole region is messed up, not just Iran. the region has been unstabble forever. i just feel bad that the iranian people dont have a great chance for more personal freedoms and economic prosperity. thank freaking god i live in america.
From this article " Islamic republic, whose supreme leader -- unlike the less powerful president -- is selected by a panel of religious experts to serve as God's representative on earth. " Yep, sure sounds like a democracy. Another article about the illusion of democracy in Iran "In Iran, real political power rests with unelected military, economic, and right-wing ideologues" DD
This is what every government does Hindus, Seikhs, and Muslims are often involved in lots of sectrarian violence in India. There are also lots of terrorist attacks in India due to its human rights violations in Kashmir. Iran has a whole host of ethnic groups ranging from Azeris, Turks, Afghans, Arabs, Persians, etc...and a bunch of religions Sunnis, Shi'is, Jews, Zoroastrians, and Christians and they all live in peace...there is no sectrarian violence or terrorism in Iran The reason the companies you mentioned are not investing in Iran is because of US sanctions, however, there are European firms like Nokia, Shell, and Volvo that have a presence in Iran. I agree, but I also discussed the positive things going on in Iran in relation to women in my previous posts. I never said the Cuban government was good, that is a highly subjective and bias interpretation, which I don't engage in, I was merely pointing out some positive aspects. Also, there are people from all over Latin America and Africa flocking to Cuba to receive a quality education where they otherwise wouldn't be able to. I agree that there are a lot of messed up things going on in the region, but Iran along with its stability and legitimacy is one of the few bright spots...I too hope that the Iranian people can become more prosperous
There is the Assembly of Experts which is elected by the people and they in turn elect the so-called "supreme leader" and he is the chief of state...the parliament is also elected and so is the president and all Iranian elections have high degrees of contestation and participation Explain to me in your own words why Iran isn't a democracy and I will refute everything you say otherwise stop wasting my time
It ewas the shah who gave voting powers to woman. under the mollah's woman cant even attend a football match. noone in there right mind would buy the ballony about mollah's not oppressing woman.
Creepy, we figure you are Iranian. But living in the USA (which I assume you do) and defending the Iranian government makes as much sense as shooting the ball at the wrong basketball. 1. your parents or you must have left Iran because of either political reasons or because of economic reasons. If staying in iran was a better life, then you guys would be living there. 2. the majority of iranian americans view their iranian government negatively. 3. iran is in bad economic shape, no way you cannot deny that 4. the women's rights are horrible there. iranians are making films and sending them to film festivals to show how horrible they are. 5. why would you diss on expats if you or your family are expats?? 6. if you are NOT IRANIAN. then this is a case of Vanilla Ice-ism
Who I am isn't really important, but let's hypothetically and for the sake of debate say my parents came here from Iran. What makes you think they didn't come to escape persecution during the shah's era and then go back after the Revolution? Would my opinion be more or less valid either way? I don't think so and that's why I feel that this issue is irrelevant. A good portion of Americans feel the same way about their government. Again, if Iranians disliked their government so much, why do they participate at such high levels in the political process? Again, the Iranian economy is not great, but it's the same as it was during the shah's time...However, the difference now is that the population has almost tripled and they went through a devestating 8 year war with Iraq that destroyed a lot of the infrastructure and completely destroyed the economy...not to mention sanctions and things of that sort...So I would say that they've done pretty well considering all this including 90 percent health coverage provided to the rural citizens as one of the articles I posted here in this thread indicated...Not to mention all the educational, political, scientific, and technological developments going on in Iran Iran's a conservative society...always has been and always will be...not every country is America. If we want to solely focus on the negative aspects of any society, I could easily make a "documentary" about the same issue and use some clever editing to make any country look horrible. If there's not a balanced point of view, then there's an agenda, which demonstrates a lack of objectivity. Again, women also makeup a majority in Iranian university students, are represented in practically all sectors of the job market, serve in all ministries of government, in parliament, head political parties, and Iran even had a female vice president for the past 8 years...Not many countries can claim all this...certainly most countries in the region can't claim all this, but I don't see people demonizing those countries. This is probably the first time a lot of people here have ever heard this information, which tells us a great deal about the subjective nature of knowledge they are acquiring in relation to Iran. Also, an Iranian female living in Iran, who also happens to be a critic of the Iranian government, won the Nobel Peace Prize a couple of years ago. If the government doesn't provide adequate rights for women, they could've easily shut her up. Iran doesn't suppress women, if they did, none of the above would be happening. I never dissed expats, they are just not a neutral source of information. If they dislike the government or had negative experiences there, they are not going to be very objective or balanced and aren't going to give you unbiased info either. Take our fanatical friend blazer_ben here...he gets so emotional when posting about this topic, he starts misspelling words like crazy and can barely put complete sentences together. Getting emotional clouds one's judgement. I prefer Big L:
Yes, Iran is a democracy, but it's an imperfect one for sure. Their MPs and their president are voted into office, and they have other governmental bodies that take part/influence governmental functions, but don't hold absolute power as some contend. Iran still has work to do on its democracy, and I would argue that they have taken a step back in terms of democratic reforms in the past few years with the disqualifcation of some reform candidates.
What?!! India's people live in 'peace' together? Iranian society is FAR more peaceful/stable and has a much better track record in terms of ethnic relations than India ever had, not to mention that despite being a democracy, Indian democracy has been rendered ineffective due to massive corruption. It's a joke to claim that India has done better in that regard. They have some problems with their gender relations, but watching some propaganda movie/documentary designed to show Iran in a bad light hardly qualifies as proof. I do, however, know this: Iranian women are some of the best educated and some of the most empowered women in the Middle East (by regional standards). That doesn't mean that it's good enough, because regional standards have been pretty low and shameful over the years, but they are not ANYWHERE near as bad as Saudi, Iran is far more progressive in that regard than Saudi or most of its Arab neighbors are. Endless sanctions and suffocation of the Cuban economy by the U.S. has taken its toll. Despite all that, they have managed. I would contend that Cuba would be one of the wealthiest and better off nations south of the border had they been able to enjoy the fruits of trading with the massive elephant to their north, which countries like Mexico have enjoyed and STILL haven't taken full advantage of. Cuba, unlike Mexico, is well-managed and would've done a better job than Mexico has so far.
Are women eligible for the top offices? It is a faux democracy at best. Or maybe the world community is just wrong.
Did you even read any of the posts in this thread? Your question has already been answered...Iran had a female vice president for the past 8 years (Masoumeh Ebtekar), females in parliament, and in government ministries as well. My opinion of you gets lower and lower with each of your posts...you seem like a very disingenuous person.
No, it's not according to me...these are the facts Edna Boyce Aghaie an American Christian woman, who married an Iranian man, was, for a long period of time in post-revolutionary, the #2 person in the Iranian Ministry of Health
Creepy, from reading your posts, my assumption is that you are the privileged son of an Iranian UN diplomat. It makes sense. You say you live in New York. We don't have diplomatic relations with Iran, but Iran, of course, has a seat at the UN, and diplomats who live in NYC. You're not stupid, and have had an education, but you have an incredible bias towards the Iranian government. Of course, I have no way to prove that. It's simply a theory that seems to explain a lot. In any case, I wish you wouldn't get wildly emotional, as you have several times, when members here discuss Iran. We discuss and criticize our own government, but a hint of criticism of Iran puts you into a frenzy of derogatory remarks towards, and false assumptions of the poster who made the comments. It doesn't help you make your points, which I don't agree with, in large measure, but don't disagree entirely with, either. Just some random thoughts on a Saturday morning. Keep D&D Civil.
