Iranians Welcome Recent Positive International Decisions

PRESS RELEASE,

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 7, 2013
Iranians Welcome Recent Positive International Decisions

As the vast majority of Iranians urged in their massive demonstrations in recent years, and the Iranian
Democracy Front (IDF) has constantly urged the free world, to morally support the people of Iran to replace the present dictatorship of Islamic republic with a democratic government. IDF has also urged support for the democracy movement in Iran by: A) placing human rights abuses in Iran on the free world’s top agenda; B) facilitating the flow of information to the people of Iran and their communication with the rest of the world by technological means; and C) cutting diplomatic relations with the Mullah regime similar to what was done about the undemocratic Apartheid regime in South Africa.

Iranians and IDF appreciate the United States recent decision to show compassion for human rights in Iran by imposing restrictions on the individuals and regime officials most responsible for human right abuses in Iran. IDF also commends the United States decision to allow the export to Iran of certain services, software, and hardware to provide the Iranian people with safer, more sophisticated personal communications equipment to communicate with each other and with the outside world.

Iranians and IDF also applaud Canada for its decision to cut diplomatic relations with the Islamic republic, and to end all remaining trade with the criminal regime to protest the regime’s abhorrent human rights record and its support for terrorism around the world. On June 5, 2013, Canadian Foreign Affair Minister John Baird and Minister of Citizenship Jason Kenney expressed solidarity with Iranian people, and said: “We wish to extend Canada’s deepest sympathies and condolences to the families of the thousands of innocents who have fallen victim to the Iranian regime, from the first days of the Islamic Revolution to the present”. Iranians and IDF appreciate Canada’s strong support for human rights of the Iranian people.

We hope that these actions will be followed by the remaining free countries of the world. Similar actions by the free world will provide moral and material support for the people of Iran to succeed in their effort to establish a democracy in Iran, which result in peace and economic growth in the region which will also benefit the international community.

Now that the Mullah regime is trying to show a theater of election for its survival and to falsely claim that it is legitimate, we emphasize that the Islamic republic has never had free and democratic elections. The necessary and universally accepted conditions for democratic elections cannot exist within the framework of the Islamic republic. The regime has banned all pro-democracy parties, imprisoned and tortured thousands of pro-democracy activists. It continuously and rigorously censors publications and the internet to deny free flow of information to the people. Furthermore, the mullahs control all radio and television programs.

Iranians know that reform is not possible in the Islamic republic. The Khomeinist regime allows only its supporters to be candidates in elections, and rejects all others (only eight out of some 700 candidates were allowed). The same gang of criminals has controlled the leadership positions of the Islamic republic since 1979. Therefore, the leaders of the regime are not the representatives of the Iranian people.

Just as dozens of other countries have transitioned to democracy in the past twenty years, Iranians can replace the mullah regime with a democratic government, and the process will be much faster with active international support. A democratic Iran will be a natural ally of the free world, and an important factor in peace and security of the region and the world.

Iranian Democracy Front (IDF) is an association composed of Iranian pro-democracy political groups and organizations with diverse political beliefs, with a common goal of removing the despotic Islamic republic and establishing a secular democratic government in Iran based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Member organizations of IDF in alphabetical order:

Action for Iran's Freedom, Alliance for Democracy in Iran, Alliance of Iranian Women, Association of Wisdom and Tradition of Iran, Democrat Party of People of Iran, European Centre for Zoroastrian Studies, Guardians of Iranian Territorial Integrity, IranPad Organization–Arizona, IranPad Organization-Houston, IranPad Organization-Los Angeles, Iranian Cultural Society, Iranian Society for Freedom Peace and Justice, Iranian Society in Dallas, Iranian Solidarity Congress, Iranian Tribe Association, Iranian Unity and Solidarity Council, Kanoon Kherad, Movement to Support Freedom in Iran, Organization of Young Iranian Constitutional Monarchists, Payam Organization, Radio Azadegan, Sarbaz Organization, Society of Persian Women, Supporters of Democracy Movement in Iran, Tribe Alliance of Iran, United Persian Organization.

- Source : IFD

Persian Carpet Industry Is Not Bankrupt

Some people are trying to give this impression that Persian handmade carpet industry is bankrupt. Perhaps those who are copying Persian designs in India or Pakistan and try to hijack the market with cheap and low-quality machine-made carpets. But recent auction in New York proved once again proved that Persian carpet is unique in the world:

A 17th-century carpet from Persia was soled for more than 33 million dollars. (AP/CBS link).

It is a new record for the most expensive carpet in the world. The previous record was also belong to a Persian carpet.

According to BBC World Service: "William Clark, an industrialist and US senator from Montana, had bequeathed the carpet and other items to the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1926."

Davan, a beautiful village in Persia

Davan is one of the oldest villages of Persia [Iran] which is surrounded by the Zagros Mountains.

It is located in a narrow valley at the foot of Mount Davān in the greater Zagros range. Some ruins dating from the Parthian and Sasanian periods are located approximately 4 km to the south of the village.

Arable land is very limited and located mostly in the foothills; dry farming is the prevailing form of agriculture. Products include barley, wheat, and fruits: grapes, figs, pomegranates, and pears (called xormor in Davani). In 1975 there were thirty-three orchards.

PHOTO: MASIH AZMAL

A Panoramic View of Golestan Palace in Tehran

PHOTO: HOSSEIN AMINI

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Golestān Palace is the former royal Qajar complex in the Persian capital city of Tehran.

The oldest of the historic monuments in Tehran, the Golestan Palace (also Gulistan Palace / The Rose Garden Palace) belongs to a group of royal buildings that were once enclosed within the mud-thatched walls of Tehran’s Historic Arg (citadel).

The Arg was built during the reign of Tahmasp I (r. 1524-1576) of the Safavid dynasty in Persia (1502–1736), and was later renovated by Karim Khan Zand (r. 1750-1779).

Agha Mohamd Khan Qajar (1742–1797) chose Tehran as his capital. The Arg became the site of the Qajar (1794–1925). The Court and Golestan Palace became the official residence of the royal Qajar family. The palace was rebuilt to its current form in 1865 by Haji Abol-hasan Mimar Navai.

During the Pahlavi era (1925–1979) Golestan Palace was used for formal royal receptions and the Pahlavi dynasty built their own palace at Niavaran. The most important ceremonies held in the Palace during the Pahlavi era were the coronation of Reza Khan (r. 1925-1941) in Takht-e Marmar and the coronation of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (r. 1941-deposed 1979) in the Museum Hall.

In between 1925 and 1945 a large portion of the buildings of the palace were destroyed on the orders of Reza Shah who believed that the centuries old Qajar palace should not hinder the growth of a modern city. In the place of the old buildings modern 1950s and 1960s style commercial buildings were erected.