Cyprus-Forum.com

[Robin Hood]

That's right. A few years ago under the Shah, Iran was a free society with little adherence to Islamist.

Now it is a Pariah and an Islamic State with ties with Syria, Russia North Korea and Lebanon only

Another failed exercise in US regime change that went disastrously wrong and the Iranian people suffered for 28 years as a result. Organised and implemented by the CIA and MI6 to protect their respective countries/multinationals oil interests to overthrow a democratic government and then created SAVAK to keep the people in line ..... with an iron fist. The SAVAK were trained by the US (CIA) , were notoriously evil and hated by Iranians. Many of them were executed after the revolution ...... often in batches from Coles cranes !!!

FYI: SAVAK was the secret police, domestic security and intelligence service established by Iran's Mohammad Reza Shah with the help of the United States' Central Intelligence Agency.

[repulsewarrior]

What a silly little Koala!

Iran FM Javad Zarif responds to a reporter's question regarding Ballistic Missiles

...good post, thanks.

...and yet, i want to remind you, that a Canadian woman died in their prisons from torture, for which they offered no acceptable answer; Canada's relationship with Iran has since then ceased to be one of trust and respect.

...i remember the days of the Shah, i was friends with both sides of the Iranian revolution; in my mind it became a kind of class warfare, who could imagine that a loving neighbour did the unthinkable as work for another man gone too far.

[Zenon33]

That's right. A few years ago under the Shah, Iran was a free society with little adherence to Islamist.

Now it is a Pariah and an Islamic State with ties with Syria, Russia North Korea and Lebanon only

The Shah was a very sane man!

Shah of Iran: Jewish Power Control Banks, Media, Finances in U.S.

The Shah was a good man, and Iran was a secular country.
Now is a theocratic regime and women are a second class citizens.

[Zenon33]

Mexico, Australia, Iran, the next will be........Turkey?.

[Robin Hood]

Zenon33:

The Shah was a good man, and Iran was a secular country.
Now is a theocratic regime and women are a second class citizens.

The Shah was an abuser of his own people. He was hated and this came from his repression which targeted the Muslim majority, through the SAVAK. He impoverished the people but led a very extravagant lifestyle ..... his 'coronation' was a classic example of opulence and extravagance, it cost millions. He spent billions on the military mainly with western manufacturers, who even helped his move toward becoming a nuclear State.

It was and still is a secular country but predominantly Muslim but it was always tolerant of other religions. Saudi in comparison is definitely not. There are Christians and Jews in the Iranian Parliament as well as Clerics. It is a Theocratic regime, you are correct and as such their political structure is different from Western society. Having spent a few years living and working in Iran and later Saudi, the lifestyle, particularly for women is far more Western in Iran than it is in Saudi.

Women drive and can walk the streets without a chaperone; there are more women students in Universities than men and women work and run businesses. You can sit in a coffee bar and there is no segregation, unless the women chose it, as they invariably have 'Women Only' sections. Yes, the way you interact with women when you work with them is different from the relaxed attitude of the West. The women are far more protected .........you do not have cosy little chats in the office or laugh and joke with them because close contact with the sexes is frowned upon, in fact actively discouraged. Like many Muslim countries you never shake a woman by the hand ..... but you can kiss a man!!!!

Life for women in Saudi is very restrictive and your comments would more parallel life for women in Saudi than a much more modern/Western and freer Iran. When I first went to Iran in 1990, we were some of the first westerners that went there after the Revolution and it was at that time, far more repressive than I was used to in Europe. But over the four years or so I was there, things visibly changed and many restriction disappeared. Attitudes were changing and even then, the country was changing.

The people are fiercely patriotic and would like life to be more like that in the west .... but that brings problems. In the West casual sex, binge drinking and a very lax dress code is accepted as the norm .... like it or not. In Iran that part of the free western lifestyle would never be acceptable. To control these excesses of our culture the rules in Iran are stricter but you never see drunk women (in fact you never see drunks)but alcohol is available although difficult to get and very expensive and you never see couples displaying physical affection in public.

IMO: I am sorry but I think your view of Iran and its attitude to women is a bit distorted. There is no doubt It is a different society, but even their society differs in the countryside compared to towns and cities, but that has both advantages and disadvantages ...... but that is true of any society. I found Iran a safe country and a polite, friendly, intelligent although reserved people ........however, I cannot say the same for Saudi.

[Paphitis]

That's right. A few years ago under the Shah, Iran was a free society with little adherence to Islamist.

Now it is a Pariah and an Islamic State with ties with Syria, Russia North Korea and Lebanon only

The Shah was a very sane man!

Shah of Iran: Jewish Power Control Banks, Media, Finances in U.S.

The Shah was a good man, and Iran was a secular country.
Now is a theocratic regime and women are a second class citizens.

That's correct Zenon!

But because the USA supported the Shah, the looneys support the current Islamic regime which has eroded Iran's secularism and pretty open and free society.

Since the Shah, you have public executions, women have to cover up whereas under the Shah women would wear bikinis and listen to rock, for which they are more likely to be stoned today.

USA supported the Shah because the Shah tried to keep Iran secular. Shah wasn't perfect, but he was certainly a leader of a more open and forward thinking Iran. An Iran that was friendly to the West as well, and a very moderate and progressive Iran too compared to the current Iran.

[Robin Hood]

Paphitis:

That's correct Zenon!

Ok .... maybe in your opinion but your opinion is not formed first hand, you have just read it some where!

But because the USA supported the Shah, the looneys support the current Islamic regime which has eroded Iran's secularism and pretty open and free society.

The US instigated a coup and put the Shah on the throne as Supreme Leader. (Regime change) Before that, under Mosaddegh the elected PM they had a democracy and a secular society but Mosaddegh clipped the wings of the western Multinational oil companies and diverted more of the income from oil to benefit Iran and the population. But that did not suit the US/UK so they got rid of him. The Shah murdered thousands of mainly Muslims even machine gunning Muslims leaving the Mosques after Friday prayers ...... from US supplied helicopters. So not a very nice man at all,

The oppressed (looneys) revolted and drove the Shah and his family out but by then he had already fallen out with the US, as he wanted more for himself, which is why they did not welcome him with open arms. The US welcomed Khomeini’s return to Iran from Paris without any idea of what he presented to the vast majority of the Iranian population. They thought they would soon be able to buy him off. A big underestimate of the man and the strength of the Muslim religion and, as a result, ...... The Islamic State of Iran was born!

Yes it was open and to an extent, free if you were of the Elite classes who benefitted from the Shah’s rule. But the country was slipping into western decadence. Near a city called Ahwaz there WAS a small town that was regarded as the biggest brothel in the Middle East. The whole town was a brothel surrounded by opulent villas of the owners and the Elite. Muslims objected to this spreading corruption and protested, the Shah killed them. The revolutionaries destroyed it within 48 hours and many occupants were never seen again.

Since the Shah, you have public executions, women have to cover up whereas under the Shah women would wear bikinis and listen to rock, for which they are more likely to be stoned today.

You had public executions under the Shah and a lot more that were not public. Women in Tehran can walk alone; wear make-up; wear coloured head scarves; wear high-heals or trainers; they also wear jeans but the dress code is always modest. They are also educated and drive cars .... they even fly aeroplanes!

SAVAK imprisoned and tortured thousands of men and women. People were stoned then ..... in the villages, just as they are now in the villages. You are getting Iran mixed up with Saudi where public executions, amputations and stonings are still public events that all are welcome to attend, even foreigners. I am surprised you were not taken to see this ritual?

USA supported the Shah because the Shah tried to keep Iran secular. Shah wasn't perfect, but he was certainly a leader of a more open and forward thinking Iran. An Iran that was friendly to the West as well, and a very moderate and progressive Iran too compared to the current Iran.

The US supported the Shah because he was the route to the oil, it had nothing to do with protecting secularism. The US did what it always does, they put a tyrant into power and made him rich or usually just richer beyond his dreams. That was down to th dominance of the petro-dollar that the US created to pay its vassals ..... and thence the rest of the World.

Assad is also ‘ .....a leader of a more open and forward thinking Syria’ that is also secular and with many social benefits available for all, and it was very similar to modern day Iran until the West decided to destroy it, and yet you are a cheerleader for a Sharia driven Syrian opposition formed of a multitude of extreme Islamic, head chopping terrorists. I fail to see how you can support one but condemn the other!

My personal experiences of Iran over some years says that Iranians are still friendly toward westerners, they were to us but they just have a problem with those governments that continually threaten them. Which is perfectly understandable ...... I mean look at what is happening in the EU with the US. The EU see the US as a threat on a par with Iran and Russia and yet last week they were BFF!

The current Iran is streaks ahead of any other of the Middle Eastern societies even the UAE and Dubai when it comes to being moderate and progressive. It’s all in the propaganda! What you saw and admired in Saudi was the plastic version ..... the poor majority do not lead anything like the lifestyle you experienced in your short visit.

So I disagree with you ...... Iran is like Russia and Assad ..... demonised but with no evidence to support the rhetoric1

[Get Real!]

Funny… everyone else got the impression that it was Australia put on notice!

[Robin Hood]

Funny… everyone else got the impression that it was Australia put on notice!

No they put Australia in their place in the order of things as they were beginning to get self important ideas above their station...... Iran , they 'put on notice' but what that means is a bit vague.

[Get Real!]

Funny… everyone else got the impression that it was Australia put on notice!

No they put Australia in their place in the order of things as they were beginning to get self important ideas above their station...... Iran , they 'put on notice' but what that means is a bit vague.

So Australia got shirt-fronted...