Kiwiblog

I blogged twice previously on the Radio NZ staff going to radio workshops in Iran. My position was that the Iranian Government was effectively paying for the staff to take part in an event hosted by their in house propoganda arm.

Apart from the issue of accepting the money from the Iranian Government, there was the issue of having a “good” public broadcaster like Radio NZ having its reputation associated with a state controlled broadcaster that doesn’t speak truth to power but instead speaks lies on behalf of those in power.

In the comments section I said:

The way I read it the conference organisers are the IRIB, and they are the ones paying all the costs. I welcome clarification if that is not the case, but regardless think there is an issue about having a state sponsored enemy of the free press, paying for even part of the costs of RNZ staff

Russell Brown replied:

It’s not true, and you’ve rushed in with an endorsement of a “scoop” written by someone who didn’t even bother to check her “facts”.

The two RNZ staff members were sponsored by the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union. The sentence in the newsletter was hilariously wrong. End of story.

And you wonder why people say bad things about blogs.

We also had RNZ Comms say:

Two Radio New Zealand staff members have been invited to take part in an international radio festival and conference in Iran, but the invitation came not from the IRIB organisers but the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union, the umbrella agency for public broadcasting in our region. Our staff are not representing Radio New Zealand, but are attending on behalf of ABU, and if that organisation had not issued the invitation, they would not be attending.

All the costs of the trip will be reimbursed. No programme-making or gathering of content for air on Radio New Zealand will be done during the attendance at the event.

But nowhere in that statement did they back up the assertion by Russell on who actually is paying. I it APBU or Iran?

Well I have a copy of a statement from Radio NZ, which I believe has or will be supplied to media. In it they say:

Under a separate arrangement between the ABU and IRIB (Iran), the costs of all ABU representatives attending the event are covered by the host broadcaster.

In other words we are right – Iran is paying for two Radio NZ staff to travel to the workshop. Who ever told Russell it is not true, led him wrong.

We also have the issue where Radio NZ keeps insisting the are not representing Radio NZ, but instead the ABU. However their statement again says:

They will not be taking leave to attend

So they are being paid their normal salaries by Radio NZ while they are there, and Iran picks up the travel costs. And I have no doubt their affiliation with Radio NZ will be referenced at the workshops.

Now I have nothing against the two staffers in question. I am sure they do an excellent job. And if the ABU was holding the workshops elsewhere, there would not be an issue – even if a country with a semi-free press such as Singapore.

But Iran has pretty much no free press at all. The host broadcaster is beyond doubt an enemy of free media – their chairman accused the BBC and CNN of manfacturing tapes of the Iranian girl being killed. This is not a regime you want to accept money from, and lend credibility to.

Their global press freedom ranking is 181st= out of 195. Only 13 countries or territories rate lower.

The Chief Executive of Radio NZ has to approve the attendance under the conflicts of interest policy. Why does he not think associating with a regime which is an enemy of public broadcasters like Radio NZ, is a conflict? Just because the ABU has agreed to do workshops there does not mean Radio NZ has to agree to have its staff participate.

Busted Blonde has a great scoop. She has found out two Radio NZ staff members are being sponsored by the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting agency to attend some sort of broadcasting event in Iran.

So taking money from evil capitalist businesses in New Zealand is wrong, but from the Iranian Government (a known bastion of free speech) is fine.

The head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting agency is the man who told the world press last July that videos of Neda Agha-Soltan’s death were fakes manufactured by the BBC and CNN.

UPDATE: In a comment below, Radio NZ says the staff are not representing Radio NZ, and that they would not attend if the IRIBA had invited them directly but somehow it is okay because it is through the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union. What is not yet clear is who is paying for the travel – IRIBA or the APBU, and also whether the staff are being paid to attend, or taking unpaid or annual leave]

The NZ Herald calls for a temporary fix for Queens Wharf.

Three options released yesterday by the Minister for the Rugby World Cup, Murray McCully, provide alternatives for this. The cheapest, at $23.9 million, involves removing the ugly sheds from the wharf and creating a temporary village. The two others, at $27.2 million and $31.3 million, envisage the sheds being refurbished for the “party”. That represents no choice at all, given the sheds will remain an embarrassing eyesore no matter how much they are tarted up. They must go.

The Press is concerned about Iran. I doubt the feeling is mutual

This week the bellicose Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadenijad, defied a string of United Nations sanctions resolutions and ordered the firing up of dozens of centrifuges to greatly increase his country’s output of enriched uranium. Although the product these facilities will produce is only to a level needed to run nuclear power stations and is not of sufficiently high grade to create nuclear weapons, it is a crucial technical step up in Iran’s nuclear programme. Having mastered the techniques required to produce this material, the next step to create weapons-grade material is a relatively simple one. And almost no-one believes Iran’s repeated denials that it intends eventually to take that next step. …

Iran with nuclear weapons, or military action to prevent it getting them, are highly undesirable alternatives. But if the world wants to avert them diplomacy must not be allowed to fail.

I think it pretty much already has failed.

The Dominion Post rails against pokie machines:

Gamblers pump about $1 billion a year into machines in pubs, RSAs and sports clubs. Of that, about a third finds its way back to the community via gaming trusts. (The rest is consumed by the Government, in the form of taxes, as well as by pubs and clubs and the gaming machine trusts.)

The majority of machines are concentrated in lower socio-economic areas. Newtown, for example, has 72. Khandallah, Thorndon, Kelburn and Wadestown have none. However, the proceeds are distributed evenly across communities. That means the people who frequent gaming machines in poorer neighbourhoods are subsidising the sporting and cultural pursuits of their neighbours in wealthier parts of town.

For this reason, and many others, tentative Wellington City Council proposals to gradually lower the number of machines in five “areas of concern” – Tawa, Johnsonville, Miramar, Karori and Newtown – are welcome.

I disagree. Gambling is effectively a tax on stupidity. the left always go on about how we should tax bad things more. Well stupidity is a bad thing, and if the taxpayer and community groups can make money from stupid people, then that is fine with me – so long as there is total transparency about odds – ie people know that over time they are almost certain to lose money.

The ODT looks at Sarah Palin:

Her popularity is as baffling as it is perhaps frightening to liberal intellectuals, Democrats – and, some suggest – to old-school Republicans whose most fervent wish is to retake the White House in 2012 and who fear her potentially divisive influence on the party. …

She may embody all the colourful hyperbole and grammatical integrity of a hastily penned country and western anthem, but down-home, emotive, illogical, God-fearing and at times disturbingly ignorant, she epitomises a certain cross-section of the electorate.

As such Mrs Palin is a potentially powerful influence on the future course of US politics.

Mainstream political forces will continue to dismiss her at their peril.

She may of course self-destruct at some stage. What will be interesting is how many GOP candidates ask her to appear with them in the mid-terms in November.

The Times names Neda Soltan as the 2009 Person of the Year. A superb choice.

Soltan was killed by Government forces in Iran, during a protest. However the Government has gone even further, with there being some evidence that Seyed Ali Mousavi (nephew of the presidential candidate) was not shot during a street protest, but actually hunted down at his house and killed by the Government as a warning.

Regardless the protests are growing, and the Times explains why:

Iran’s panicking regime is once again seeking to suppress the Green Movement by decapitating it.

Just as it did after June’s hotly-disputed presidential election, it is arresting high-profile reformists, academics and journalists who support the opposition.

It hesitates to detain Mir Hossein Mousavi lest millions of his supporters take to the streets, but it has locked up his brother-in-law and is widely suspected of killing his nephew. It cannot arrest Shirin Ebadi, the Nobel laureate, as she is abroad, but it has imprisoned her sister.

The tactic will prove as futile now as it did in June. Decapitation will not work because the opposition is a bottom-up movement run not by Mr Mousavi or Mehdi Karroubi, its nominal leaders, but by its grassroots members. It is a massive campaign of civil disobedience.

“Ahmadinejad, Khamenei and the Revolutionary Guards still don’t get it,” said one Iranian academic. “The Green Movement is a decentralised popular front run by local cells and local leaderships across the country. The main opposition figures do not control it. They are spiritual leaders, but do not provide any direction in regard to demonstrations or slogans.”

This is the key. You can not decapitate a grass-roots movement. You can shoot and arrest lots of people, but it will just anger more and more people.

Now I’m not saying this will result in the overthrow of the Government, as many in the Government will be happy to kill to remain in power. But their legitimacy as a Government will weaken massively. I doubt they could even go through the pretence of an election anytime soon, and if they do away with elections, then the resistance will have more reason to carry on.

Photo from Andrew Sullivan’s blog, which also has near non stop coverage.

The resistance to dictatorship is not going to fade away.

This is me outside the former US Embassy. It is a huge compound in the middle of Tehran. You can get arrested if you take photos of Government buildings, or police officers, and I wasn’t sure whether this could get me in trouble, so did the photo quickly. Probably didn’t help that through a timing error with the laundry the only shirt that was dry was my Martha’s Vineyard shirt, which might have people conclude I was from the US. I made sure I kept my passport with me at all times.

The walls are covered with anti-US artwork.

And the compulsory reference to the Great Satan.

The above is probably what most people view Iran as being about. In fact most Iranians are very warm and hospitable I found, and I enjoyed my stay here more than some of the other countries – partly because the taxi drivers do not rip you off, no touts, and the merchants are not overly aggressive (they encourage sales but not harrass you – even in the bazaars).

But there are some downsides, which now I am out of the country, I should cover:

• The Internet is seriously filtered and almost as bad is dialup in most places. Kiwiblog is blocked for example (for politics). Amusingly Whale Oil/Gotcha is not. Cactus Kate is blocked (for sex). Many Iranians get around the filter through the use of proxies. They seem to be common knowledge and as they get blocked more new ones get circulated. They block almost anything relating to the old Shah, including some Wikipedia pages.
• No external cellphone coverage. Local cellphones work, but not ones from outside. No phone calls or text messages.
• No ATMs. Well they do have a few, but they only work with local cards for the bank they are located in. Combined that with almost no credit card facilities and you need a lot of cash. On the plus side you get 7,500 Rials to a NZ$ and a lot of things costs under 10,000 Rials
• The dress code is strict. Unlike every other country to date, all women must wear a hajib – including tourists. And all men must wear trousers/jeans. I was even a bit nervous about having a t-shirt as only saw one other person with short sleeves in my whole stay, but I am told they are a bit more common in summer.
• While most locals are not at all anti-Western, they are very anti-Israel (to be fair as is most of Middle East). I got asked over dinner which countries I had already visited on this trip, and I accidentally said Israel instead of Egypt, and they looked shocked. Of course if you have been to Israel, you are not allowed entry to Iran, so it may just have been that.
• The normal Police were quite helpful and friendly, but I am told you want to avoid the religious militia.
• Women have to travel on the back of the bus. Seriously. Even if you are married, men sit and stand in the front half, and women in the back half.
• Foreigners are relatively rare. I understand only around 200 Kiwis a year go into Iran, and you do feel very much the stranger at times. I was lucky Paul speaks some Farsi, which helps.
• The traffic in Tehran is terrible and their flights are often delayed, which makes internal travel challenging.

Again though, while I was a bit nervous at times, it was a very enjoyable experience. While I never heard any criticism of the Supreme Leader (and was careful not to offer any), many locals were happy to share their thoughts on the President (and generally very uncomplimentary).

Oh one amusing story. As you can imagine Iran can be a difficult posting for a diplomat if their partner is of the same sex as them. I got told that one Commonwealth country’s Ambassador (not NZ) had his partner officially registered as his butler to avoid any issues. All the expats knew they were a couple of course, and they went to functions together. One wit said to the partner, that he was the only Butler he knew, where it was spelt with two “t”s

If the Iranian Government stopped scaring people so much, I think Iran could become a great tourist destination. It’s a wonderful country, with a huge amount to see, and in many sense feels relatively “Western”. But I think it will be sometime away. If you are visiting the region though, I would advocate that you do try and get a visa and pay a visit – you will probably be pleasantly surprised by the experience. And the NZ Embassy is extremely friendly, professional and helpful.

Around half an hour from Shiraz, is Persepolis. It was the capital of the Persian Empire from around 550 BC to 330 BC when Alexander the Great destroyed the place.

Around 12 km before Persepolis is Naqsh-e Rustam, which has the tombs of four of the Achaemenid Kings. Two of the tombs are in this photo. The tombs are a fair way up.

One of the tombs closer up.

The artwork is well preserved generally.

They also have on the walls, seven scenes. This is celebrating the victory of Shapur I over Emperor Valerian. Valerian is the only Roman Emperor to be taken into captivity.

This artwork is thought to be pre-historic – around 9,000 years old.

Just a km away is Naqsh-e Rajab. Entry to both places is around NZ67c. The site has four inscriptions. In this inscription you can see a noble holding a curved finger up behind the King. This was a sign of respect. Of course today with two fingers it is taking the mickey.

Talking of signs, be aware that giving the thumbs up in Iran, is akin to giving the fingers.

This is the main gates. The ruins are on a 125,000 square meter terrace.  Those horse like figures were actually bulls.

Some (rare) grafitti. I’m sure the British Consul-Generals are no longer encouraged to inscribe their names on World Heritage sites.

These were quite common on the site

More artwork survives here, than on most Egyptian sites.

The quality, as you look close up, is wonderful.

They showed visitors and gifts from over a dozen different countries.

One of the many palace ruins

One of the palaces has been restored and turned into a museum, with various pieces on display.

Up the mountain somewhat, are three tombs.

Inside the tomb.

When we were up there, one family asked our guide for a photo. We thought they wanted one of the whole family, but they wanted it with Paul and I. In some areas they have obviously never seen a westerner.

Another group were noticeably filming us on their mobile phones.

Paul, with Layla, our guide. Layla was great. Very talkative, and very knowledgeable. She has been guiding for the last five years, since she was 18.

One amusing thing, was the literal translation of some phrases. It seems in Farsi, saying “If you look closely” in English is “Pay attention”, so all day Layla was telling us to pay attention. The first time she said it I thought I was being told off, until I worked out it was just a translation issue.

If anyone ever does wish to travel there, just contact me for Layla’s contact details if you want a great guide. Very reasonable priced, and makes a big difference.

The sun spoilt our panorama shots of the site from up by the tomb, so to give you a better idea, this one from Wikipedia gives you an idea of what you can see. You can click on it for a larger image and a second time for fullsize.

If this site was outside Iran, I would say it would have 20,000 people a day through it at least. But here there were barely 100. Now it makes it very nice to have no crowds, but it is a pity so few people get to see such magnificent ancient ruins.

On Sunday, we took an internal flight to Shiraz, which is in the South of Iran. Despite leaving home at 7 am, we missed the 8.30 am flight as traffic was jampacked, but they got us on a 9 am flight so no big deal.

The flight down was with Iran Aseman Airlines. I try and avoid non-international carriers, but the flight was fine. No idea what the meal was, but it tasted fine.

Parts of Iran, currently have s snow cover, as the photo from the plane shows.

Shiraz, is over 4,000 years old and is where Shiraz wines originated from, but today they have no grapes there. It is known as the city of poets, wine and flowers – and has significant Jewish and Christian communities. It was the capital of Persia for 30 years in the 18^th century.

This is Qavam House. It was the domicile of the Governor in the late 1800s. It was also later the home of Professor Arthur Pope, an American professor who lived in Iran for 50 years and was buried there. A museum is also on the grounds. This is well worth a visit. Lots of thousands of year old artefacts.

A typical mosaic in the House.

The famous room of mirrors

Victorian images on the ceiling

The Governor’s meeting room

This photo is taken from the local bazaar. That picture is not a painting. It is actually a carpet. Amazing artwork. Sadly they cost too much for me, but there was some incredible items on sale. I did manage to buy a fair few presents though. The bazaar merchants are not at all as pushy as in Turkey and Egypt, and it was very pleasant doing business. Hardly have to haggle too, as the prices are very reasonable.

This is the tomb of the poet Hafez, who died in 1390. A very popular place for locals to go on dates etc. Hafex is the most beloved poet in Persian culture.

And the actual tomb.

This is the other very famous poet’s tomb – Saadi, who died in 1291.

Hard to see much at night, but surrounded by massive gardens, so again a popular site.

The tomb also has a natural fishpond in the grounds. You go down a flight of stairs into a chamber (which is also a café now) and a local river flows through the middle of it, with many fish to be seen in the carved out pond.

By this time it was 7.30 pm so we had dinner at a popular restaurant. Iranian cusine (a mixture of Turkish and Lebanese is how best to describe it) is quite wonderful. I had many dishes without knowing what they were!

Got to the airport to discover the 1045 pm flight back to Tehran was delayed until 1 am. Groan. But managed to get transferred onto an 11 pm flight so got back home just before 1 am. Around a 90 minute flight.

Had got up at 6 am, so it was a 19 hour day, but a very enjoyable one. The middle part of the day (which was the highlight) is a separate post.

Flew out of Dubai at 1.15 am and landed in Tehran at just after 3 am. To my surprise I flew through passport control and customs. Of course it helped that I had an entry visa. If you try and get one on the spot, you will often be turned down.

Got to Paul’s place around 4 am, and caught up on some sleep. Then just after lunch, I headed into Tehran.

This is the NZ Embassy. Not quite on the same level as NZ House in London!

And in the reception area, a photo of the supreme leader

We then headed up to the Saadabad Palace, which was the Shah’s summer palace.

This is a statue or Arash. A mythical legendary archer who was reputed to fire an arrow 1000 leagues!

The décor is very 1970s, despite being a palace. The most valuable thing in the room would be the carpet.

The Shah’s bedchamber

The Shah’s carriage

This was a statue of the last Shah, but it got chopped off in the revolution

These are the old city gates.

The city of Tehran is huge – around 10 million people if you include the outlying area. Surprisingly it looks more like a western city than any other so far in the Middle East. The cars, the streets, the cleanliness, the architecture etc. However what is noticeable is the lack of any global franchises.

The highlight was going to see the Iranian Crown Jewels. This collection of gems and treasures is unsurpassed in the world I would say. The British Crown Jewels do not compare. If you ever are in Iran, this is a must see. They are displayed at the Central Bank of Iran.

No cameras allowed in, so photos are from Wikipedia.

This is the Kiani Crown. It has 1800 pearls, 300 emeralds and 1800 rubies. It was used in coronations from 1796 to 1925.

This is known as the Globe of Jewels. It consists of 34 kgs of gold and has 51,636 gems in it.

And this little diamond is the Darya-ye Noor or Ocean of Light and is the largest pink diamond in the world. It is 182 carats. That would impress the fiancée!

And the legendary Peacock Throne. Again you could not even begin to try and calculate its worth. The jewels are actually used by Iran to back their currency up.

Locals have been very friendly. Several, upon hearing you are from New Zealand, mention the All Whites beating Bahrain to make the Football World Cup and how pleased they are. This is more because they hate Bahrain than love New Zealand, but was still very nice and amusing.

There was a large group of school girls visiting the Crown Jewels at the same time as Paul and I.  I think they were from outside Tehran as their reactions indicated they don’t see a lot of western men. Lots of pointing, staring and giggling.

Even in Tehran, there are very little noticeably foreign people about – quite different to the other Middle Eastern countries. No surprise to a degree. It is hard to get in – you have to list in the visa application everyone you plan to meet etc.

Sent in by e-mail.

The Herald reports on Iran’s space programme.

Hmmn, so Iran is developing a space programme and a nuclear programme. No, nothing to worry about here – just move on.

Readers will have seen the reports of how Iran actually photoshopped photos of their missile launch to cover up the fact one of them failed to launch. This was actually revealed by the Little Green Footballs blog. A good thing do as Israel is less likely to attack Iran now, having one quarter of Iran’s offensive capability is Photoshop!

Anyway Wired has some more photos from Iran. My favourite:

Hat Tip: Whale Oil

Boing Boing reports that Iran is bringing in the death penalty for certain types of blogging.

Yes it will be a crime to establish a blog which disturbs mental security in society. Examples are promoting corruption, prostitution or apostasy. So athiests might be up for the chop.

The proposed Act lists such blogging amongst other crimes such as rape, armed robbery and kidnapping.

Now let me remind people that Iran is a member of the UN’s Human Rights Council. The one we are trying so hard to join. Now do you think that body will ever criticise Iran? Oh no.

Hat Tip: Larvatus Prodeo

Norfolk Blogger (a Lib Dem) reacts with understandable anger to the UN Human Rights Council chiding the UK for its failings.

Sir Lanka, a country slammed by Human Rights Groups for its extrajudicial executions thinks the UK should ditch the monarchy as it is anti human rights. Now I am a republican but I don’t think the UK needs to be told buy the UN what form of Government to have.

Syria, a country with one party rule, complains about discrimination against Muslims. Syria only restricts freedom of speech, press, assembly, movement, association and oh yeah religion.

But the highlight must be Iran complaining about the UK’s record on sexual discrimination. Here is how Iran treats women:

• If a woman is killed (say in a car accident) her family is paid only half of what they would get if a male is killed
• The testimony of a male witness is worth twice that of a female witness
• Women can not travel by themselves without written permission of her father or husband
• Women get only half the inheritance amounts men get
• Women who are raped are deemed guilty of extra-marital sex unless there are four Muslim male witnesses to the rape

And Iran sits on the UN Human Rights Council lecturing the UK on its sex discrimination record. It would be funny if it wasn’t so very very sad.

There is a rumour NZ is going to seek a place on the Human Rights Council. I sincerely hope we do not. We should not add legitimacy to this farce.