At Drop Site, our mission is to bring you journalism directly from the ground, handing the mic and the notebook to those who are living through what we are reporting.
I'm not convinced that someone who claims they've been opposing the Iranian Revolution for "47 years" - in other words, since the overthrow of the Shah - was ever a leftist. Did Tudeh not support the 1979 Revolution? Anyone who instantly heel-turned away from the Revolution as soon as it happened is probably a monarchist.
Of course the interview is of just one person, with a definite point of view and political opinion; but it's better than nothing.
My $0.02 is: a theocracy is bad, countries should have secular governments; but Iran's is very far from the worst. There is religious freedom in Iran - several active synagogues in Teheran, active Christian churches, a Christian cathedral in Isfahan, an active Zoroastrian community in Yazd, etc. The theocracy imposes restrictions: no alcohol, women have to wear headscarves, no short sleeves or shorts (both men and women). But the protests aren't about that. They're about the bad state of the economy, which really isn't the regime's fault, it's the result of US-imposed sanctions. Replacing the theocracy with a secular govt would not change that.
Let's not forget that according to a 2014 NY Times report, Tehran's Jewish hospital has continued to thrive in Islamic Iran. The hospital's director is also the Jewish minority's own member of parliament. And Jewish schools in Iran are funded by the government, though according to a recent Australian Broadcasting Corp report from Tehran, some Jewish families choose to send their kids to normal Muslim-majority schools. And on Youtube, see Tehran's gorgeous new metro station named after and bearing wall to wall sculpted likenesses of Virgin Mary. See Youtube also for clips of the Ayatollah's yearly Christmas visit to an average Christian family. You're not likely to hear about things like this from Drop Site News ha ha! Fyi, I'm a lifelong atheist and in 1979 Iran's revolutionary Islamist interrogators came very close to executing my ex-military father for his association with the newly toppled monarchy.
I don’t know why Drop Site News and also Breaking Points are reluctant to interview Iranian experts who live in Iran. They do exist and they’re willing to talk, people like professor Mohammad Morandi, Ehsan Safarnejad, or professor Setareh Sadeghi. Professor Morandi even went on Piers Morgan to debate a pro-Monorchist. The experts they have on like the ones from Johns Hopkins University are based in the US.
Interesting, but I can't help but wonder if DropSite would be interviewing a visitor who used to live in Minneapolis, who has family there, but wasn't at the scene of the shooting of Mrs Good, to get their take about the situation there. I am sure it would be interesting as well, but I also doubt anyone would consider that person's view to be representative. Are we so desperate that any stray visitor to Iran is journalistic fodder? I'm not saying to not do it, but, let's be sure it's kept in proper context.
I hear the limitations of interviewing just one person that others mentioned. Since news has been blocked, this is pretty much all we could expect. Keep seeking for resources!
Wondering why the recent armed riots started from the mountain towns of western Iran? Google "Kolbar" and be sure to see the photos, too. It's 24/7 caravans of mountaineers eking out an existence carrying heavy bundles of common consumer goods on their backs from the Iraqi side of the border into Iran - on behalf of Iranian merchants looking to save on import taxes.
It's technically illegal but historically Iranian authorities haven't got in the way too hard because it's a means of remote communities surviving without regular employment.
Now with Mossad and CIA smuggling Starlinks and weapons through the same rugged
passages, and likely hiring some of the same porters, Tehran is paying closer attention. Keep in mind the smuggled goods, lethal or not, originate in the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan, where approved infrastructure openly servicing Israeli operatives is a short hike from the Iranian border.
After carefully listening I'll say that his "story" is vague, muddled... he didnt mention the chants he heard from Thursday to Saturday. To appear genuine, he intentionally pauses at every word hum and ha... He forces some sort of accent in the beginning but towards the end we can see he is naturally fluent in English. He hints to be a supporter of the deposed monarchy and suggests the scary bikers are agents of the government. If he were unbiased, he would have added that his story is one of 10,000,000 people residing in Tehran.
Just a reminder to the confused that we are for the people not concentrations of power.
I love Iran but the right to protest is a fundamental part of free speech.
I'm 1000000000% sure there's foreign entities with plants and assets trying to bring down Iran with bad faith civil disobedience.
But! These numbers are way too high to just be that, The Government forces have probably killed a bunch of protesting civilians and injured, imprisoned, generally cracked down on them and that is objectively wrong.
The fate of the middle east would be much worse without Iran but on principle we gotta call it like it is.
Thanks, for using (hopefully) robust archiving backlinks.
personal note:
I don't like to go to X.. though. but I guess that is part of the landscape of media to consider
I will take the take home that I could further pinch my nose if feeling courageous, but I should say I have a lot of trust capital accumulated about the journalists of this outlet; I have followed how Ryan Grim articulates and shares with a satisfying amount of detail his reasoning. It could not fit with typical superficial MSM news show norms (gated loud debates of editorially chosen debating stances, making for uninforming loud emotional noise, and fake sense of objectivity, but often feeling like having wasted brain time even giving attention to that, takes a while to get that impression and thirst for something real).
Suggestion: (maybe personal preference). Since it seems some of the past programmed fog invvolved the dating of the reported as fact chunks of data or also reportred as data, damn precision is hard skill to write while having a point to make first... well "date" fudging.
Maybe it would help to add graphical timelines with visual media sharing. here as interactive or not graphics, and maybe on youtube.. I know it might be coslty. so I understand that text and audio and talking heads is the basics of internet independent media. But it would help those dimensions of communciaion as background aids to stream material (reading and video-audio streams, for the less stream friendly audience, if I am not alone that way).
I'm not convinced that someone who claims they've been opposing the Iranian Revolution for "47 years" - in other words, since the overthrow of the Shah - was ever a leftist. Did Tudeh not support the 1979 Revolution? Anyone who instantly heel-turned away from the Revolution as soon as it happened is probably a monarchist.
Another useful report from Ryan Grim.
Of course the interview is of just one person, with a definite point of view and political opinion; but it's better than nothing.
My $0.02 is: a theocracy is bad, countries should have secular governments; but Iran's is very far from the worst. There is religious freedom in Iran - several active synagogues in Teheran, active Christian churches, a Christian cathedral in Isfahan, an active Zoroastrian community in Yazd, etc. The theocracy imposes restrictions: no alcohol, women have to wear headscarves, no short sleeves or shorts (both men and women). But the protests aren't about that. They're about the bad state of the economy, which really isn't the regime's fault, it's the result of US-imposed sanctions. Replacing the theocracy with a secular govt would not change that.
Let's not forget that according to a 2014 NY Times report, Tehran's Jewish hospital has continued to thrive in Islamic Iran. The hospital's director is also the Jewish minority's own member of parliament. And Jewish schools in Iran are funded by the government, though according to a recent Australian Broadcasting Corp report from Tehran, some Jewish families choose to send their kids to normal Muslim-majority schools. And on Youtube, see Tehran's gorgeous new metro station named after and bearing wall to wall sculpted likenesses of Virgin Mary. See Youtube also for clips of the Ayatollah's yearly Christmas visit to an average Christian family. You're not likely to hear about things like this from Drop Site News ha ha! Fyi, I'm a lifelong atheist and in 1979 Iran's revolutionary Islamist interrogators came very close to executing my ex-military father for his association with the newly toppled monarchy.
I don’t know why Drop Site News and also Breaking Points are reluctant to interview Iranian experts who live in Iran. They do exist and they’re willing to talk, people like professor Mohammad Morandi, Ehsan Safarnejad, or professor Setareh Sadeghi. Professor Morandi even went on Piers Morgan to debate a pro-Monorchist. The experts they have on like the ones from Johns Hopkins University are based in the US.
Interesting, but I can't help but wonder if DropSite would be interviewing a visitor who used to live in Minneapolis, who has family there, but wasn't at the scene of the shooting of Mrs Good, to get their take about the situation there. I am sure it would be interesting as well, but I also doubt anyone would consider that person's view to be representative. Are we so desperate that any stray visitor to Iran is journalistic fodder? I'm not saying to not do it, but, let's be sure it's kept in proper context.
I am disappointed with Drop Site... for this "sensationalist" FOX, CBS, CNN style reporting
I hear the limitations of interviewing just one person that others mentioned. Since news has been blocked, this is pretty much all we could expect. Keep seeking for resources!
I flat out don't like the revolutionary guard, but I'm not sure if a relative of shah would be better
So the blurry image of the protester looks like if Minecraft had RBG as a character. 😂. But thank you for sharing this important interview.
Wondering why the recent armed riots started from the mountain towns of western Iran? Google "Kolbar" and be sure to see the photos, too. It's 24/7 caravans of mountaineers eking out an existence carrying heavy bundles of common consumer goods on their backs from the Iraqi side of the border into Iran - on behalf of Iranian merchants looking to save on import taxes.
It's technically illegal but historically Iranian authorities haven't got in the way too hard because it's a means of remote communities surviving without regular employment.
Now with Mossad and CIA smuggling Starlinks and weapons through the same rugged
passages, and likely hiring some of the same porters, Tehran is paying closer attention. Keep in mind the smuggled goods, lethal or not, originate in the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan, where approved infrastructure openly servicing Israeli operatives is a short hike from the Iranian border.
Grim, you were part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize.
This was too important to fuck up.
Yet here we are.
I’m going to want my subscription refunded. Shukran.
After carefully listening I'll say that his "story" is vague, muddled... he didnt mention the chants he heard from Thursday to Saturday. To appear genuine, he intentionally pauses at every word hum and ha... He forces some sort of accent in the beginning but towards the end we can see he is naturally fluent in English. He hints to be a supporter of the deposed monarchy and suggests the scary bikers are agents of the government. If he were unbiased, he would have added that his story is one of 10,000,000 people residing in Tehran.
Just a reminder to the confused that we are for the people not concentrations of power.
I love Iran but the right to protest is a fundamental part of free speech.
I'm 1000000000% sure there's foreign entities with plants and assets trying to bring down Iran with bad faith civil disobedience.
But! These numbers are way too high to just be that, The Government forces have probably killed a bunch of protesting civilians and injured, imprisoned, generally cracked down on them and that is objectively wrong.
The fate of the middle east would be much worse without Iran but on principle we gotta call it like it is.
A chilling account
Thanks, for using (hopefully) robust archiving backlinks.
personal note:
I don't like to go to X.. though. but I guess that is part of the landscape of media to consider
I will take the take home that I could further pinch my nose if feeling courageous, but I should say I have a lot of trust capital accumulated about the journalists of this outlet; I have followed how Ryan Grim articulates and shares with a satisfying amount of detail his reasoning. It could not fit with typical superficial MSM news show norms (gated loud debates of editorially chosen debating stances, making for uninforming loud emotional noise, and fake sense of objectivity, but often feeling like having wasted brain time even giving attention to that, takes a while to get that impression and thirst for something real).
Suggestion: (maybe personal preference). Since it seems some of the past programmed fog invvolved the dating of the reported as fact chunks of data or also reportred as data, damn precision is hard skill to write while having a point to make first... well "date" fudging.
Maybe it would help to add graphical timelines with visual media sharing. here as interactive or not graphics, and maybe on youtube.. I know it might be coslty. so I understand that text and audio and talking heads is the basics of internet independent media. But it would help those dimensions of communciaion as background aids to stream material (reading and video-audio streams, for the less stream friendly audience, if I am not alone that way).