March 2007
Issue No. 398
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The view from Iran
Chris Brazier argues for more understanding of Iran – and less confrontation.

Signed with an X
Women’s rights campaigner Noushin Ahmadi Khorasani reflects on a day spent knocking on doors.

Iran - the facts
Human development, politics, birth rates, oil struggles, human rights.

The Mirage
What do people in poorer districts think of Ahmadinejad? Ali Moazzami finds out.

Iran - a history
From Cyrus the Great, Omar Khayyam and the Shahs to Ayatollah Khomeini and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The fourth generation
Iran is young, vibrant and diverse, despite the repression, as Nasrin Alavi explains.

Action/Information
Action and information on Iran

News, views, and & voices

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from
THIS MONTH'S EDITOR

This issue has been conceived from the start as one that would give Iranians the chance to communicate directly with our mainly Western readership. Iran is routinely demonized in the West, and its people are lost behind the stereotype of the mad mullah or the veiled woman. This magazine aims, as its front cover suggests, to fill in the human detail and cultural diversity that the stereotype occludes.

Not that fulfilling the promise of an issue written and visualized by Iranians has been an easy process. We anticipated an enthusiastic response to our invitation to journalists, photographers and artists all over the country to make their pitch to us so that we could sift through the responses and decide which avenues to pursue.

The anticipated flood, however, turned out to be a trickle – just one journalist answered the initial call. There is real fear abroad in Iran at present – an atmosphere of clampdown as hardliners try to roll back the relative freedoms enjoyed during the ‘Tehran Spring’ at the turn of the century. When Iranian journalists arriving back from an inoffensive international award ceremony were detained and given a severe warning about their future activity, I began to understand why an invitation from a Western magazine editor might seem like a poisoned chalice.

Prioritizing Iranian photographers as well as writers has at times seemed like a labour of Sisyphus – but the end results have been rewarding. I have, however, needed a great deal of help to make it happen. Without making this seem too much like an Oscar-winner’s speech, I’d like to thank Nasrin Alavi, without whose advice and guidance this issue would genuinely not have been possible.

Chris Brazier
for the New Internationalist Co-operative
chrisb@newint.org

Poetry Slam in Zimbabwe

The House of Hunger poetry slam held in Zimbabwe in 2006, and organised by the Pamberi Trust, showcased young artists performing inspirational work on issues from corporate power to child soldiers. The video features four of the poets.
Published by Pambazuka News.

Raised Voices video:

Atossa Soltani from Brazil on the Climate Change

Desmond Desai from South Africa on Corporate Power

Iranian women speak out

3 March 2007, London. Women's rights activists marched through the English capital last week to celebrate International Women's Day with a protest against the misogyny of the Islamic regime in Iran and the threat of invasion by the US. Hear the voices of Iranian feminists Azar and Leila Parnian and the sounds of the demonstration as it passed through the heart of the city. Click here to learn more about the campaign.
Produced by Heidi Bachram.

Raised Voices audio:

Benny from West Papua on Corporate Power

Vinayan from India on agriculture