Iran Feature: Kafka in the Islamic Republic --- An Interview with Cartoonist Mana Neyestani (Shringarpure)

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We often feature the commentary through images of Iranian political cartoonist Mana Neyestani, so we read with interest his interview with Bhakti Shringarpure. Speaking from Paris, where he now lives in exile with his wife Mansourieh, Neyestani talked about his recently-published graphic novel Une Métamorphose Iranienne (An Iranian Metamorphosis). The title is a reference to Franz Kafka's short story; however, it also alludes to the incident in 2006 when a cartoon by Neyestani led to riots and his arrest and detention.

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Sometimes, the authorities just watch the scene; they have done their job to perfection ahead of time. It is not easy for me to overcome the red lines in my mind even right now when I am living in a free society.

Regarding the people who follow the orders, I am not sure if they are seeking the financial benefits or doing their religious duties, it could be a combination of both. In a tyranny, people are trained to be feared and to follow. It is a paranoid situation: fear, hate, distrust. You know, it reminds me of little fish near a big whale. They try to get shelter and feel safe moving alongside the big brother.

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Fighting in Damascus

View Syria - 2012 July 16 - EA Worldview in a larger map

An Interactive map of today's events. Click on the location to see a link to our news entry, or click on the link above to open the map in a larger window

See also Syria Audio Feature: "Gradually The Regime is Losing Control" --- Scott Lucas with Monocle 24
Bahrain Feature: The Underground Network of Doctors
Turkey Analysis: Syria and Barzani Unsettle Ankara's Official Policy on Kurdistan
Bahrain Feature: The Stalling of Economic Reforms
Sunday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: "Battle" or "Massacre" in Tremseh?

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2020 GMT: Syria. The LCC reports that 84 people have been killed today, including civilians and Free Syrian Army soldiers:

In Hama there were 29 martyrs, 20 in Homs, 9 in Damascus, 8 in Aleppo, 8 in Daraa, 4 in Deir Ezzor, 3 in Idlib and 3 in Damascus Suburbs.

The number may be surprising for some readers, as the amount killed in Damascus appears to be extremely low considering the scale of the fighting today. There are a few possible reasons for this. First, and perhaps most importantly, the fighting did not seem to progress. Though it was widespread, the FSA did not capture any significant territory, and the security forces did not dislodge any FSA positions. Though the FSA didn't necessarily hold ground, and the battle lines in some areas were fluid, the FSA was not directly challenged by the regime.

However, the numbers simply reflect that while the battles in Damascus are relatively new, the battles in Hama, Homs, Aleppo, Idlib, Daraa, and Deir Ez Zor are raging. While any one day may post a higher or lower casualty figure, in parts of the country "civil war" isn't a designation from the Red Cross, it's now a familiar reality.

However, with reports of conflict continuing well into the night in Damascus, that number may still rise. If there are dead or injured too close to battle, those numbers may not be released for some time.

Tomorrow will likely see a continuation of some of this fighting, so stay tuned.

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Iran Feature: The Week in Civil Society --- Attacks on Journalists, A Death Bounty for A Rapper, A Woman Dragged from the Book Fair (Arseh Sevom)

Claimed photo of women being dragged from the Tehran International Book Fair for inappropriate dress

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Summary: 126 Iranian journalists signed a letter protesting the arrests and harassment of journalists, sending it to the head of the judiciary and the Speaker of Parliament. After a cartoonist faced lashing for his drawing of an MP, colleagues all over the world launched a campaign of support. An MP assaulted a journalist who asked a sensitive question. Publishers banned from attending the International Book Fair received support from a prisoner of conscience. Women were targeted for bad hejab. The Minister of Communicatoins calls for government institutions to host their email and sites on domestic servers. Rapper Shahin Najafi wakes up to find a price on his head, offered by an anonymous Gulf resident, after his new song satirising the wait for the 10th Imam hit the airwaves. And more...

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The Latest from Iran (17 December): Regime to World --- You Need Us

See also The Latest from Iran (16 December): Re-Visiting the Drone

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2025 GMT: The House Arrests. Saham News, the outlet of opposition figure Mehdi Karroubi, reports from a source that Karroubi and fellow 2009 Presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi may soon be released from strict house arrest.

Karroubi and his wife Fatemeh and Mousavi and his wife Zahra Rahnavard have been held since mid-February.

1630 GMT: All-is-Well Alert. Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has said that Iran is prepared for further international sanctions: "We are not really worried. Appropriate responses have been prepared for the worst case scenario, and we have devised a road map."

Salehi did not explain how the "road map" would deal with new sanctions imposed by the US, Canada, Britain, France, and South Korea in recent weeks.

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The Latest from Iran (5 December): A Regime in Deadlock Drones On

Mana Neyestani comments on the international situation

See also Iran Analysis: Re-Assessing the Explosion at the Revolutionary Guards Base
The Latest from Iran (4 December): When Your Dad is a Political Prisoner

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1930 GMT: The Embassy Attacks. In the aftermath of the storming of the British Embassy, international schools in Tehran have closed.

The French school is located on grounds of the British Embassy and children were in class when protesters moved through the compound gates. Windows at the German school nearby were shattered. Teachers at the British school had sent students home early.

Parents have been told that foreign teachers and their families have left Iran. The French school hopes to resume lessons on Sunday, and the British school in the New Year.

1900 GMT: Arresting the President's Men. The President's media advisor Ali Akbar Javanfekr, already sentenced to a year in prison for an issue of his Iran newspaper, has claimed that he was forced to give a controversial interview to the daily newspaper Etemaad.

In the interview, Javanfekr sharply criticised senior clerics and conservatives/principlists who challenged Ahmadinejad. The article led to the banning of Etemaad; the next day, Javanfekr was given his one-year sentence, and the day after that, security forces ransacked the Iran building as they tried to detain the advisor.

Javanfekr did not say who forced him to give the interview.

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Iran Feature: A Cartoon Reply to Tehran's Apologists over Human Rights

This morning a pro-Government website pays tribute to the recent US public-relations tour of Mohammad Javad Larijani, the head of the human rights section of Iran's judiciary. Posting the transcript of his interview with Charlie Rose of the US Public Broadcasting Service, they hail Larijani's "glimpse of how important supporters of the Islamic Republic regard the rule of law as a governing principle of their political order".

I think Mana Neyestani is far more eloquent with just one cartoon:

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Book Club: The First Green Novel is Published

EA learns that the first political novel about the Green Movement and the post-election crisis has been published. Blogger and journalist Masih Alinejad, whose work has been featured on our pages, has written The Green Date, the story of a female correspondent who return to Iran to cover the 2009 Presidential campaign.

Alinejad had to leave Iran after the election and now lives abroad.

The publisher Gardoon, based in Berlin, is bringing out the novel in Persian, with plans for translation into German and English. It will not be published in Tehran: Gardoon's Abbas Maroufi says, “The books we are publishing abroad are trees we plant in the hope that they can be taken to Iran one day.” 

The cover of the book features a sketch by the famous Iranian cartoonist Mana Neyestani.