hi how are you i am zana in carrick on shannon county leitrim ireland hi how are you presedent kurdistan

lalayani azad slow bu kurdistan ba gahshti yadi salai koshtani doctor qasimlo salow bo gawrai kurd qasimlo ba asti iranwa teror kara my father peshmerga kurdistan iran and my mather to

lalayani azad slow bu kurdistan ba gahshti yadi salai koshtani doctor qasimlo salow bo gawrai kurd qasimlo ba asti iranwa teror kara my father peshmerga kurdistan iran and my mather to

lalayani azad slow bu kurdistan ba gahshti yadi salai koshtani doctor qasimlo salow bo gawrai kurd qasimlo ba asti iranwa teror kara my father peshmerga kurdistan iran and my mather to

lalayani azad slow bu kurdistan ba gahshti yadi salai koshtani doctor qasimlo salow bo gawrai kurd qasimlo ba asti iranwa teror kara my father peshmerga kurdistan iran and my mather to

lalayani azad slow bu kurdistan ba gahshti yadi salai koshtani doctor qasimlo salow bo gawrai kurd qasimlo ba asti iranwa teror kara my father peshmerga kurdistan iran and my mather to

lalayani zana salow bu har cawar pachai kurdisan bataibati kurdistani iran doctor qasimlo rolai kud bu kurd ghashti wa gayani dr qasimlo siandaxwat zana said hello qasimlo peshmarga kurdistan iran in kurdistan evry body have picture doctor qasimlo my father doctor peshmarga kurdistan iran my mather wash peshmarga jumper this for washington post

I wish to see a union between Iranian people and Jews around the world, there are so much similarity in culture, food, music, attitude, behavior that you think they had same mother or father.

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There'll still be radicals in a crapitalist Iran...but so what? As long as there's money to be made......

Who knows...Maybe the Anglo-American Masterclass Elite can install another Shah at some point & BP, Chevron & Exxon get their claws on Iranian oil again...

Life is good...if you're a goddamn stinking blood-drenched imperialist cannibal!

GOP blessed be...

iranians must understand that iran has advanced more than turkey or poland in its local technological advances, iran after 30 years when it imported even its pencils from america,today is a infant manufacturing industry with great potential and almost self-sufficient. Iran has created the basis for becoming a industrialised nation,today iran is the worlds 20th economy,with almost no debt and very good basic resources and skilled workforce. However one cannot expect iran to achieve all this 2 decades after a impossed war, iran is on the right track and the fruits will be seen in a few decades. Lets not try and ignore irans advances and concentrate on negatives to further owr own political agenda. If we want iran to advance let applaud it,even if the merit is going to the ruling goverment of iran.

WHAT SHOULD WE DO

While Iran is geographically located in Middle east, its history and culture, not only is unique to the rest in the region but quite incomparable to the rest in the world too and its greatest assets IS NOT what some know us, or the region for, for that matter, but its people. The Persian minds.

Kawait and Saudia Arabia plus half a dozen more Arab nations in the region,combined ,are still incapable of producing a light bulb on their own . While Iran, is on the path to be recognized soon for an image and title other than its women wearing veil or its rugs.

realistically speaking, what what should we do should have done, is to have tried to learn more about the Persian history and its people first. An easy and safe suggestion would be to independently find out about the percentage of the Iranian specialists and doctors in all major hospitals not only in US but in Canada , Western Europe and Australia, and in ratio to their populations in those countries . The very same could be said about the Iranian professors at reputable universities in those countries and if those stats are not to satisfaction of what should we do yet, he or she could try to learn about the percentage of the Iranian engineers , scientists and project managers at NASA and only then, he or she might be thinking differently about posting such in infantile post about the poster and the core of the subject on hands .

Compare Iran with UAE and Turkey in circa 1980 and now and factor in their minimalistic natural resources.

Many people blame US sanctions and Iran-Iraq war as causes for current economic conundrum. These events happened because of poor and ignorant actions on part of Iranian regime. Strategic mistakes such as attacking US embassy in Tehran resulted in isolation and global sanctions. Iran isolation combined with slogans of exporting revolution to neighboring countries picked Saddam interest to attack Iran. Saddam would have not dared to attack Iran if Iran was smarter in building international relationships.

The regime is the one to blame for these disasters. The same applies now. People are paying a heavy price for the current isolation and the regime has the capability to address it, if it changes its political structure and embrace freedom, democracy and transparency.

iran has a jew in parliament,named maurice mohtamed.iran is the only muslim nation that a jew in palriament.if criticizing iran,then why not criticize the tyrannical saudi arabian regime, but i forgot they give us oil,so they are "good".hypocrisy!

The poster above does not want to compare Iran with countries in the region. What should we do? Move Iran to France? Or Germany?

Be realistic, please......

It is really disappointing to see some Iranians tend to set low goals and standards. Why do you keep comparing Iran with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia? Iran was ahead of these countries in almost all aspects before the revolution too.

What is the source of this self deprecating attitude. Iran has all ingredients of a world class economy except a functional democratic system. Let's work together to put in place instead of being content with the current dysfunctional system.

Theocratic dictatorship system many centuries ago in Europe and was dismantled through the renaissance revolution that put an end to the dark period of Europe. Why Iran should be sliding into this dark period many centuries after it was proven malfunctional?

Anonymous poster above dated Nov 27, 12.03 PM who has identified himself as Arash in the next PG column

My posts above are still on the record. There is nothing in there to suggest denying anyone's right about expressing their opinions. While there is everything in there to question the required qualifications of the criticizers here . If you are an Iranian in Iran or an immigrant one overseas or a non-Iranian, you are welcome to cast your opinion anywhere anytime you choose. However, this is entirely different issue with criticizing. A CRITICIZER'S QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRES HIM OR HER TO BE RELEVANT , PARTICIEPANT OR CONTRIBUTOR TO THE ISSUES ON HAND,.
Further, my arguments here was chiefly addressed to intellectual Doctor Matin, not meaning no one else can comment on it but it puzzles me significantly when an Iranian, evidently a concerned one, poster, with a very limited mentality towards current debates on hand, dares to waste valuable space here by posting some stats and info that has been available for the last 25 years while ignoring a more logical path available to him such as being a part of the solution, if you know what I mean,.

Dr. Mateen,

I disagree completely. Barely thirty odd years have passed since the Islamic revolution in Iran and you have thrown in the towel already. Working for true change is a long term goal, perhaps not even achievable in our lifetimes, and to argue in favor of regime change, no matter what the cost, just because the situation is not changing according to the time table you want is irresponsible.

It is also arguable whether the Iranian regime has had the oppurtunity and right environment to change, considering that the United States, arguably its biggest "enemy", has refused to normalize its ties with the country and spurned offers from the regime (the 2003 offer being the most recent one in mind). From an ideological point of view, the United States does represent those values that we would like to see in Iran, tolerance for dissent, freedom from imposed religion and free choice etc., but when your biggest "enemy" maligns you, refuses to more or less acknowledge you, and brands you as evil, the last thing you would want to do is appear to cave in and compromise. Though we would all hope that humanistic and rational policies are adopted by our leadership because of good sense and a desire for improving the lot of the citizenry, in the real world petulant egos, nationalistic sentiments and patriotism almost always get in the way.

My desire, to see enagement as the vehicle of change rather than isolation, is based upon the idea that as your hands go deeper and deeper into each others pockets and as you reap the benefits from interactng and doing business with the "other side" the official rhetoric gets toned down. The average person, that was always more interested in seeing his own lot improve, sees the benefit of dealing with the "other side" and over time the values of your opponent are not seen as the alien values that the "enemy" is trying to impose upon you, but analysed and adopted for the positive change they can induce in your own society.

I believe reforms will work in Iran given enough time and the right environment, and by right environment I specifically mean a normalization of its relationship with the United States.

Wow, debate is fixed on personalities of a few....this is wrong. A society must go forward. Amuzegar must be in his late 70s. Perhaps he was a brain, but now it is time for him to pass the baton to the next, younger generation. Banisadr was a disgrace to Iran as he made a coalition with the MKO terrorist group that was essentially the Farsi speaking arm of the Baath Party in Iran....they appeared when the Baathists came on the scene in Iran and were defanged with the Baathists.

Mrs. Shirin Ebadi has certainly punched in her weight class and continues to argue and debate her position IN IRAN, where ideas must be exchanged.

Reform of the economy is always more important than political reform. People cannot eat politics, cannot put their talents to use to be productive and have a better life for their family. Overall, problems and all, the atmosphere in Iran is a lot better than it was 10 years ago, or 20, 30 years ago. Newspapers are full of different ideas. It is a process. Just like every where else in the world, it can always be better. But it cannot be changed from the top, it must evolve, step-by-step. By the people themselves, and not by an invading army.

Women in Iran are a lot more active in the society than others in the region such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Gulf countries, etc.

Zain,

I agree there is no ideal system and I am not advocating Utopia. However, there are some basic principles that should be in place to make a system viable. These basic principles are not in place in Iran and could not be implemented in Iran until this regime is in power.

We trusted the reform within and gave Khatami two terms and he failed miserably. We gave Nobel Laureate to Shirin Ebadi, who resonates with regime to some extent, to force a change within and it did not work. She just announced a couple of days ago that Iran could not be democratized! Your solution failed. I was personally advocating dialog and change within until three years ago. I am now convinced that reform efforts does not work and only helps this regime to live longer. Yes, if Mullahs relinquished their grasp of power officially, there would be a hope.

the current system works for few that are enjoying the economical monopoly and lack of competition but masses are driven to desperation.

A tremendous pool of talent is being wasted in Iran thanks to this "donkey economy". Rich human capital of Iran could stage Iran as a strategic high-tech hub and serve the region and the world.
India and China are rising as major high-tech hubs and Iran is trying to figure out how to separate women and men in public spaces! The tyranny of this regime is far exceeding that of Qajar and Safavid and Iranians will pay for this madness for a long time to come.

Dr. Mateen,

Perhaps the author is projecting the IRI govt.'s position and perhaps he is not. I see that you have essentially made up your mind one way, but I fail to see why you should imply that his analysis is a deliberate lie and mere propaganda because of "for reasons that I do not wish to speculate", just because you do not agree with him.

The Chinese seem to have done exceptionally well with economic reforms despite having an arguably more authoritarian and intolerant government. I realize, from your posts, that you would much rather see positive change in Iran without the Mullahs being present, but we must be realists and practical. If the Iranian regime wants to engage in economic reform then so much the better.

Your concern should be for the people of Iran and how they may be able to economically benefit if the economic liberalization does take place. You seem to want a removal of the regime more than the welfare of the people. The two are not inextricably linked (once again just look at China or Vietnam). I must say that this kind of attitude is what has caused the Cuban people to economically suffer for all these years. They could have enjoyed the fruits of economic development, under Castro, had it not been for the virulently isolationist body of Cuban dissidents based in the U.S. You tend to strike me as being in the same mold; slave to the idea and dream of a Utopian independent Kurdistan or autonomous province, and completely oblivious to, and dismissive, of the down to earth reality of being able to clothe, feed and provide shelter for your near and dear, trudging towards co-existence by improving the system from within, one step at a time.

" Just compare it with Iran where economists like Amuzgar and Banisadr are in exile."

I should add to "are in exile" this:

... and some being assisinated by Iran e.g. left wing Kurdish economist late Dr Abdurrhman Qasimlo (Ph.D. in Economics) who was an Associate Professor in both Paris and Prague. He was teaching World Economics at the Vysoka skola ekonomicka (Prague School of Economics).

Dr Amouzgar (Houshang) is the pro-American right wing brother of Iranian prime minister in Shah time with PhD from UCLA and former Executive Director of the IMF.

I guess everyone knows Dr Banisadr who was pro-Islamic Iranian president after revolution and left his presidency in embarassing womon desguise to save his own life and since then lives in France so far dodging many assasination attempts.

So right/left/Islamic economists are being targeted for the interests
of Iran's new school of "donkey economy".

These facts clearly speak for themselves in opposition to the cheap propoganda articles and posts here.

It seems that Postglobal finally decided to bring its more independent debator from Iran to participate. But I'm afraid postglobal has already annoyed many Iranian opposition groups already.

For an Iranologist, it would be intersting to observe the attitude of some on this forum. Poland and some successfull eastern european countries managed to move out of the orbit of the Moscow and Iran is getting into the orbit of Moscow. To compare the economic situation between Eastern Europe and Iran one needs to compare the current single digit inflation and bank intersts there and double digit inflation and bank interests in countries like Iran and Turkey. E.g. In the last two years, the inflation in Poland fluctuated between 3.1% in 2004 and 2.1% in 2005 compare it to more than 16% in Iran (if one believes the gov numbers).

In Poland the clergies are back in church and instead independent, right wing and ex-communist economist gurus have been in charge of the economy (e.g. Marek Belka). Just compare it with Iran where economists like Amuzgar and Banisadr are in exile.

Finally, I want to raise this in public again after raising it with PG Amar in an email. I don't know the reasons for Postglobal not having a Kurdish independent debator and by not inviting one it will upset the Kurdish community.
I hope it is not because of a partisan bias of WP. This is not a good way to reward the support of Kurds in the region for the US administration policies in the region.

In principle, the US media should be in harmony with the US national interests whether a Democratic adminstration or Republican is in power.

Going backward is collection of many small setbacks too. These borrowed cliché phrases that do not even apply to the context in Iran won't solve any issues. There are huge setbacks in Iran and collection of these setbacks is leading to disastrous results. The previous regime was not good either, but at least women were free and Iranians had a little dignity around the globe.

Fred,
The world is a global village, you cannot live in isolation. I have full right to cast my opinion on Iranian issues whether I am outside, inside, have family inside or not or simply not an Iranian at all. Iran is signatory of almost all international treaties and therefore bound to them. I know Mullahs wish to be left alone to suck Iranian blood and to brainwash Iranian people and take free rides. But, they can only dream about it. They are silencing people inside by bullets and they used assassination outside to achieve the same outside. Now that international courts are after them and cannot continue political assassinations, they are begging people outside not to speak.

You are either completely ignorant or paid by Mullahs to advocate for censorship of people outside Iran. If you belong to the former category, you should know that you could be paid for it.

Agree with Progressive Thinker above, except not all steps are always forward. Mistakes and revisions are part of the process too, but it is important to have the right attitude and an open mind. Fighting and loud discussions do not work, never have worked. See Iraq and Israel and you should get to what I mean!!

Progress is about a very large number of very small steps forward. No clock will go back and petty fights about what happened yesterday will not buy lunch for any one..........

This is a forum for exchange of information and discussion, not enforcement of one's views upon the other. Remember one man, one vote?

The writer has answered a question put to the panel of writers and the question was/is about what is going on these days?

Can the bickering posters please let us read and decide for ourselves....that is to say, not decide for us. If and when we need political leadership (inside or outside Iran), we shall let you know!

"Doctor Matin "
I am not prepared to speculate regarding the factors that initiated and influenced the revolution as well as the clouds surrounding it since I was far away from it at the time and quite frankly is not in my capacity to do so either and before I continue I would like to apologize to you for any negative experiences or even betrayals you might have experienced as result of your political involvement back in Iran.
However, Most Iranians in Iran should bear the ultimate responsibility for the current political environment that denies them the freedom of speech so to speak . Doctor Matin: I am not sure you could reference any usefulness or good done by any of us, still assuming you are an Iranian born Iranian, speaking for Iranians back in Iran overseas .
My beliefs are quite contrary to yours on this and almost all other Iranians I know abroad too.
I strongly believe any democracy that Iranians in Iran are deprived of currently, must take roots over there by them, at what cost is subject to a different debate entirely, in order to be effective and everlasting. I , much to dismay of most Iranian born Iranians overseas with the exception of forced and specific exiled groups, absolutely and positively Mujahideen khalgh excluded here, and certainly no offense in mind towards any of us, consider myself as well as the rest of the Iranians who have immigrated overseas who allow themselves to participate in political discussions and make any political statements, including either criticizing or praising any functions or anyone back in Iran, as Cowards who simply and conveniently have evaded our patriotic duties as well as personal responsibilities and obligations to begin with or are just happy to pass it to the next one as is very typical of us.

"Heed the message not the messenger"

We should not shoot at the messenger when we cannot argue with the message. I read Dr. Ettefagh's resume and I have nothing but respect for him. He comes across as a well educated and accomplished individual. Yet, I don't like his stated positions. His words resonates with discourses of Mullahs in Iran and can only help to prolong the enslavement of the Iranian people. I utterly and completely reject his stated opinions, but I respect the person. He eloquently conveys Mullah's positions and gives us a chance to debate it.

Back to the topic, Iranian people cannot afford to deal with status quo and let this process to self-correct itself as it may take more than a century. The world is changing very quickly and Iran need to adapt and adjust voluntarily or it will be forced to assume an unwanted course. Iran is dealing with fundamental issues today. Human rights are not only violated, but they are mocked. People see that all regime promises of better future are broken and are looking for alternatives. The threat of disintegration is very serious as ethnic tensions are rising and there is serious lack of a unifying bond.

"Do not listen to those who talk about democracy. They are opponents of Islam. They want to deviate the people from their path. We break the poisonous pens of those who write about nationalism, democracy and such things." Ayatollah Khomeini said in one of his public speeches. Mr. Ahmadi-Nejad is trying to resurrect this path. What I am saying is that Iranians deserve much better.

Wow....it seems the ultimate wish of all Iranian Shiites has come true and their "Mahdi" has appeared under the pen name of Dr. Amir Matin in Canada.....Praise the Lord and pass the collection plate for yet another self-elected leader of all Iranians!

Dr. Amir Matin has now propelled himself as the guide and the exiled leader of all Iranians from abroad while, in the same breath, he is criticizing Ayatollah Khomeini and his actually proven, tested, observered leadership......I wonder if he dreams about being boss!?

The writer above, Fred, seems to have very realistic views and an even-handed approach. Solutions to problems are always found locally and no decision made anywhere is perfect...solutions are not found by injection from abroad....by a foreign power or "exiled leadership" (howsoever self-appointed that it may be......)!

For many years, I was hearing that the tide was changing in Iran and the progressives were winning battles in the country. But ever since Bush gave that axis-of-evil speech it emboldened the hard-liners and pushed the progressives off the map.

Fred,

I remember Ayatollah Khomeini sitting in Nofel le Chateau (I still don't know how he got there from Iraq! I mean overcoming Visa and residency permits need support) and commenting on Iranian affairs on big screens that eventually led to what Iranians are dealing with until today.

Your assumption of my link to Iran may be misplaced to start with, but this is not the issue. The issue is that people in Iran are not free to speak especially in such forums, and therefore the onus is on the Iranians outside to take the torch and speak for them. We should consider voices inside Iran, but I learned to be sceptical after being deceived by Khatami, Gangi and others.

" Doctor Matin"

Most of stats, facts and info you have disclosed above are indisputable.
If you are an overseas born Iranian, your comments above are well placed.
However, if you are an Iranian, born in Iran, one just like myself, with all due respect and no offense intended towards anyone, you as well as a significant number of us, consistently fail to realize once we renounce our citizenship and leave Iran we relinquish our rights too, to criticize any short comings and deficiencies in Iran. It is quite evident we are reluctant to accept this fact. We are neither participants or contributors over there and accordingly, rights to voice any opinion and placing blames on anyone belong to those back home as well as any comments here by none like us.
Fred, Bos

As the comment above indicates, Iran is not a soviet gulag....and I say this from personal experience regular visits to Iran for the last 20 years. It is a developing country and, just like all other countries, it has its own unique problems.

Why do people outside Iran think that Iran is a soviet gulag? and why are they firmly saying that the writer is not speaking his mind? Most interesting of all, what do social problems have to do with economic issues and how does one directly justify the other? In all countries, there are rich people, there is a middle class, a struggling class and the poor. Remember New Orleans?

If they have following this writer's articles, they should stop personal attacks and start a civil discussion.

Editors of PostGlobal. Please note!

Comments are welcome from all around the world. I have more problem with Dr. Ettefagh's positions as he is clearly pushing Mullah's agenda that himself may not believe in. He is writing from Iran and can simply not speak his mind. You can only write against Mullahs if you are with them, otherwise you find yourself in Eween prison before you finished posting your views. Even Shirin Ebadi, the peace Nobel Laureate" announce yesterday that DEMOCRACY COULD NOT BE ESTBLISHED IN IRAN. This is in sharp contrast to what she was saying before and to what Dr. Ettefagh was advocating few days ago.

From what I read here, Dr. Nowicki has more in-depth knowledge of Iran than man other posters. let the man speak as we are in desperate need of free views.

Looks like some Slavic-named man, a self-appointed specialist on Kurds, has forgotten about the rule of being an outsider. At best, the guy has read a few skewed books but has no depth of knowledge with my country.

Iranians will solve their own problems. Some decisions will be successful, some others will be flawed. Nothing new with that, reall. No need for foreign intervention and no need for unlearned, inexperienced, half-baked opinions from abroad.

Dear Editors,

Is this a forum for discussion or for personal attacks and insults on Iranians or the writer?

Dr. Goran Nowicki assumes that Iran is on the verge of separation or is in a fragile state of falling apart.....this is either a bad assumption or yet another desparate, wrong, evil and ill-conceived dream of neo-cons and Israelis that brought us the Iraq Liberation Plan!

Forget it dude....give it up. Relieve the pressure on yourself!

It looks like a Polish guy is trying to promote his country by way of beating up on Iran or the writer!
This is a discussion about what is currently happening in Iran, not about what has happened to Poles! But again, the former Warsaw Pact member was busy falling in love with Communists, only to turn around and fall in love with NATO....neither really cared or depended upon Poland as a strong military ally!

Just compare the devaluation of the original (not the redenominated) Polish Zeloty vs. the Iranian Rial and you get a better idea. Between the period of 1979 (the Revolution) to 2006, the Iranian Rial has devalued about 115 times (not percent) vs. the U.S. Dollar. To compare, the Turkish Lira has devalued more than 15000 (fifteen thousand) times and the Polish Zeloty several thousand times. Enough said, perhaps?

Iran cannot be compared with Turkey. Turkish clothing exports can be compared to Iran's oil
exports although they have more or less equal population and population growth. Turkey and Iran have the same Kurdish independence problems, but Iran faces bigger problems because if Khuzestan separates Iran will become bankrupt. If Azerbaijan separates, 30% of industry is gone. Turkish Ottoman empire in 1920 was downsized, but Persian empire wasn't and one can compare Iran with last days of Ottoman empire.

Iran cannot be compared with Eastern European countries now. Eastern European countries such as Poland were behind Iran before revolution, but they have passed Iran and having joined Iran they are far ahead in long term prospects than Iran. Consider the ZLoty currency in Warsaw and the Iranian Rial currency over the past 5 years. Consider the Polish regional, legal administration reforms to merge small provinces to join EU and Iranian division of provinces and its illegal and terrorist activities. Who pays for Hizbolah war and reconstructon in Lebanon? Where is the source of this money?

Also the mentality of Eastern Europeans is different than Iranian mentality. Read Polish history and see how many Communist leaders were hanged or killed after cold war. You can still see reformed ex-communists in power. Alex Kwasniewski who defeated Solidarity leader Lech Walesa in 1995 was a former communist and was in power until 2005 serving the possible 2 terms. In Iran, people like Walesa have been in power non-stop, and people like Kwasniewski in Iran hanged, going to self exile, or being assasinated abroad by Iran.

One cannot be even sure of the fate of post revolutionaries, transitional gov ministers in jail or buchered, or Banisadr and Khatami's government's people in Iran. Just look at the fate of Hajarian.

The population of Iran has doubled over the last 25 years and will double in next 30 years. In the case of Poland, we don't have such crazy population growth encouraged by the government.
You cannot compare the prostitution in Iran and Poland. I agree with Dr Matin, the economic presures in Iran have forced some Iranians not only to sell their body parts, kidney and ... but to sell their wives and daughters as prostitutes or exporting them to Pakistan or Gulf countries. In this regard Iran has become the Bulgaria and Romania in the late 80s if you ask your fellow Iranians who traveled there for sex.

These are all wake-up calls and signs of not only economical but social and moral sickness in Iran. I assure you that countries like Poland where the religious people and church have lots of power (e.g. Radio Maria and its listeners in Poland), the society is not that sick, because there is a separation of church and state there unlike Iran. Poland is a better example than Czech because of the power of the clerics in Poland.

Iran with its current regime is doomed and it needs 80 years of reforms to catch up
with Turkey when oil is gone. But the Iranians such as Dr Ettefaghi and Persian redneck deserve no better government to be ruled, but this corrupt regime and they can take pride in its achievments and the dream of resurrecting Safavid Shiite empire. I won't be surprised if Dr Ettefaghi is a Shiite Azeri/Turkish person, they are more radical than the Shiite Persian with their famous Takkieh principle.

Iran's damage cannot be contained in Iran and the damage that is causing regionally and globally as the nerve center of terror is far more devastating, especially to the people of the region.

What has saved Iran is the

At least Iran is peaceful and stable so they can do this kind of thing! A lot better than what is happening in Iraq.
We Iraqis will be busy with cleaning up the mess for the next 10-20 years.....hopefully!

Dr. Amir Matin from Canada obviously has no first hand experience with Moscow, Bucharest, Sofia, Bratislava, Warsaw and other cities in the former Eastern Block (or Malaysia, The Phillipines, Indonesia, or Turkey outside Istanbul, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya,......) to realise that all of those people have similar problems in their lives: low salaries and purchasing power and high prices for every day living, housing, good health care....and they all have the sex trade issue as part of their society!

I have not even added South Africa, India, China, Pakistan and Bangladesh to this list. If you add them all up, it is more than 1/2 of world population. Life in Canada and USA is very good, but they are only 5% of world population. Europe is another 6-7% and Japan another 1.5%. So, all rich people are a minority in this world, living in a ghetto like a closed fish bowl!

Look at what Iran has suffered over the last 30 years and adjust the scales: revolution, an 8 year war with Iraq (as proxy of the West), sanctions, doubling of population, overall decrease of world oil prices in real purchasing power terms.....

Against this, it should also be considered that non-oil exports are now 20% of all exports. Add the dynamic turn-around of some imports to exports (some not all grains, processed foods, steel, cars and car parts, pharmaceuticals, military gear, petrochemicals, many industrial products.....). Iraq, Afghanistan, CIS countries (now with strong oil revenue) are now markets of opportunity for Iranians. This did not exist even 5 or 10 years ago.

Also consider the fact that Turkey and South Korea borrowed more than 70% of their GDP and are still indebted. That kind of financial doping, with help of IMF and Western taxpayers, was not available to Iran to boost its economy. Who knows if that is good or bad? Turkey for example, has not been able to pay down its debt and the overall nominal amount of its debt (government plus private) has constantly increased. They even borrowed fresh money to pay the interest on the last loan!!

Iran can be best compared with Eastern Europe. There have been mistakes. But it is important to go forward.....

To be fair in your analysis you should look at relative progress compared to other countries in par with Iran's human and natural resources. There is almost none. I cannot find a country with the diversified natural resources and strong human resources as Iran. The fact is that Iran is doing really bad. Numbers don't lie, look at unemployment rate and please factor in women! Compare Iranian economy with Turkey now and 30 years ago. Turkey has almost non existent natural resources and has its share of internal issues with Kurds. South Korea was in par with Iran 30 years ago. Taiwan and Dubai were almost non-existent. Even compared to fully developed economies such as Europe and North America, Iran is lagging by all metrics.

It is not fair to compare Iran with Egypt, Pakistan as they do not have any natural resources and Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have a serious lack of quality human resources.

Even the very nominal progress in Iran is thanks to innovative and goal driven individuals working hard and not the governing system.

What economical expansions are referring to? Leave out the oil money and kook at the numbers again. After Ahmadi-Nejad's election the economy came to stand-still and is still not operating at nominal rate. It was obvious as he wanted to revitalize Khomeini's line of thinking that "Economy is for stupids, we need Islam". Ahmadi-nejad and other Iranian leaders want to feed people with Islam not food. They dream about a Shiaa Empire and not a developed country. May be you deserve to line up behind such leaders, but most Iranians don't.

It is important to see the facts as they are. You will look at Iran economy in 30 years and you will regret. May be Dr. Ettefagh is looking into his own pockets and see economical expansions. Please look at average Iranians that are selling their body and Organs. Internal observations indicate that Tehran is only second to Bangkok in term of females offering themselves for money. An average apartment in Tehran costs around $100,000.00 while a laborer salary is about $7 dollars a day or less than $200 a month! A university professor salary after all the adjustments is about $1000 per month while a fast food meal will cost you $8 in Tehran! Don't look at 1000 Mullahs and their extended families filling their pockets.

Iran is a regional power and that must be acknowledged. It is no longer a country subject to puppet masters. As such, it has influence in the region and the best way to set aside troubles is to engage Iran with business, economics and exchanges in business, cultural events and coordination of politics.

Most interesting observation is how Iranians abroad demand perfection back in Iran. Too much McDonald's drive-thru or microwave ovens, perhaps! They seem to forget that progess is a process, not a project.

Where in the world is every thing perfect and without local problems? and problems are solved in a couple of years?
And where in the world can one find perfect politicians, regardless of whatever cloths and attire that they may wear?

To recall Bill Clinton, are you better off than you were four years ago? As a nation, Iran is stronger than it was 10, 20, 30 years ago and growth is not a straight line upwards. It has cycles.

To Mr. Goran Nowicki

Your name is presumably originates from Eastern Europe, perhaps the Balkans..... not exactly a part of the world unfamiliar with twists, opaque and dodgy politics mixed with economic issues in relatively small economies! As the writer has observed, this is a show already seen in Eastern Europe (ex-Yugoslavia, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia.....). But are the Eastern Europeans better off today than they were 16-17 years ago?

Please set aside personal attacks, even if you are an Iranian exile with an I-oppose-all mentality, hiding behind an assumed name. This is a forum for discussion and debate. Don't bother if you cannot be civilised.

What the writer has indicated that even the tough and hard-nosed government of Iran, in today's world, is catching up with realities of the rest of the world and it is joining the main stream.

The Tehran Stock Exchange has kept rank with other regional stock exchanges where markets in Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain have dropped by 1/3 to 40% since the attack on Iraq, even though oil prices have been at all time high. Ditto for the Tehran Stock Exchange. It also took NYSE and NASDAQ Indices about 7 years to get back to record levels of 1999-2000.

You should also study country reports of the World Bank, the IMF, The Economist Intelligence Unit as well as CIA's Fact Book. None of those are part of the clergy circles for whom you have a strong opinion!

Dr. Nowicki,

Honestly, I do not think Dr. Ettefagh believes in what he is writing here. He seems to be an intelligent individual and is quite aware of what is going on in the world. He is simply writing what he has to write for reasons that I do not wish to speculate. It is very customary in the complex culture of Iranian people to pretend to believe in things that everyone knows they don't. I challenge Dr. Ettefagh to also write about Mullah's shortcomings in Iran to clear his name. He cannot pretend that Mullahs in Iran are perfect ...

This should certainly not be the voice representing Iran. PostGlobal needs more impartial voices to say the least.

I don't forget the famous saying of Khomaini about economy which is the basic principle of Dr Ettefaghi and co (his revolution sponsors):

Khomaini said: "Economy is for donkey.The people of Iran made the revolution for Islam, not for melon [the favorite food of donkey]." See for other quotes:

http://www.iranian.ws/iran_news/publish/article_11616.shtml

They are running the economy as if it is a donkey to get a free ride from it and to fill up the pockets of the clergy and their extended family and the pockets of revolutionary guard high rankings.

The bleak reality in present Iran that Dr Ettefagh cannot portray honestly in his propoganda piece is that:

1) the construction sector in Iran is entering recession and the house prices have stopped going up and gone down over the past year. Inflation has been more than 16% over the past years.

2) The small manfucaturing units in Iran are one by one going bankrupt due to the clergy sponsored import of Chinese and foreign products. There are numerous strikes by big factory workers too who have not been paid for months or their factories are closing.

3) Stock market has been fluctuating around the red line of 10,000 (it is 9585.6 now) for the past year and the oil prices have started going down. Poverty and moral corruption is everywhere.

4) People like Rafsanjani, Karrubi, Makarem, Mesbah, Khamenei, Reishahru ... and big foundations (boniyad) have corrupted and dominated the Iranian economy and no one can touch these who are above law and they control the imerging private sector. Before revolution, there was one royal family and corruption and now there are 1000 Mola families and 100 times more corruption.

Iran economy is dependent on oil and with 70 Mil population if oil prices goes under 30$, Iran will become bankrupt or in case oil rich Arabic speaking Khozestan is separated from Iran.

Dr Ettefaqi and co. in Iran should know that if Economy in Iran is looked as a donkey, they should expect the back kick of that donkey too (remember 10 years ago)!

Can WashingtonPost invite some unbiased people to debate Iranian issues? Dr Ettefaqi is propoganda of Islamic
republic. I know left wing pro Democrat publications are against Bush, but
the WP readers deserve better than his propoganda.

Back in 1941 or so, the three great allied leaders of USA, UK and USSR gathered in Tehran for a conference but didn't bother to invite the (ever so symbolic) king of the country, The Shah, or pay him a courtesy visit.

Now, some 65 years later, the same powers want to include Iran in a regional pact to stabilize the Middle East, especially Iraq. Ain't that something? and is it not progress over all these years?

So, the writer has it right. Growing pains come with the territory and no pain, no gain!

Dear Dr. Matin

For the last 15-20 years, privatisation has provided a decent track record in most centrally-planned ecomonies, warts and all.

Concentration of capital is unavoidable. Moreover, large enterprises must be well capitalised after privatisation to ensure success. To the extent that savings and profits are made in a post-privatisation company, those profits can be invested in other ventures and more jobs can be created.

Governments have never been good businessmen. Look at FedEx vs. U.S. Postal Service and you get a good idea in the world's most dynamic economy. And the list grows. What is important is net overall growth and fundamental (not artificial) demand. For the foreseeable future, Iran will enjoy a steady rate of growth as its population becomes productive and matures. It is not like Russia or Eastern Europe with negative population growth and an aging population with younger people leaving the country.