Brain Drain

Iranians are known worldwide as talented and smart people, especially in the fields of science and technology. They reside in most parts of the world and are employed by top American and European universities and companies.These universities and companies use the expertise of these Iranian scientists in gaining economic and scientific benefits. In other words, these expatriates are helping other countries overcome their technological, economic and educational problems.Every year, developed countries allocate millions of dollars to accelerate the immigration of internationally educated professionals to their countries and use their skills and specializations in different fields for the welfare of their own communities.Last week Alia Sabur, a 19-year-old Iranian-American, was declared the world’s youngest professor in history by the Guinness Book of World Records. Alia broke the 1717 record set by a student of physicist Isaac Newton, Colin Maclaurin.There are many examples of such talented Iranians bringing honor to their country of origin.In 2007, three Iranians were among the list of top 100 living geniuses compiled by a panel of six experts in creativity and innovation from Creators Synectics, a global consultant firm.Engineer Ali Javan, physicist Nima Arkani-Hamed and biological anthropologist Pardis Sabeti were respectively ranked 12th, 32nd and 49th of this list.In 1975, Professor Javan (born 1926) received from the Optical Society of America its most prestigious honor, the Fredric Ives Medal, with a citation that praised him for “producing an optical device (the gas laser) of unparalleled applicability to scientific research“. In 1993, he received the Albert Einstein World Award of Science. Arkani-Hamed (born 1972) is a leading theoretical physicist with interests in high-energy physics, string theory and cosmology. He officially joined Harvard’s faculty in the fall of 2002. In the summer of 2005 while at Harvard, he won the ’Phi Beta Kappa’ award for teaching excellence.Sabeti (born 1975) is an evolutionary geneticist, who developed an algorithm that helped establish the effects of genetics on the evolution of human diseases. He is an assistant professor in the Center for Systems Biology and Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University.So why Iran does not employ these talented people to help develop the country in the scientific and technological fields? Unfortunately, the number of educated young Iranians trying to leave the country appears to have increased in the past years judging by the numbers sitting for the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) exam--a requirement for immigration to countries like Canada and Australia. And the cost to Iran of not stemming this brain drain--one government estimate put it at nearly $40 billion a year. Iran tops the world in terms of brain drain. That’s the conclusion of the International Monetary Fund, which recently surveyed 61 countries. The IMF says every year more than 150,000 educated Iranians leave their country in the hope of finding better educational, working and living conditions abroad.In fact, Iran is educating millions of its youth to serve the advanced countries.The reality is that the scientific and economic gap between Iran, as a third-world nation, and advanced or `North’ countries is wide and prospects for filling this distance in the near future appear dim. If more research facilities are provided and livelihood problems of researchers are seriously addressed in a way that they would feel free to produce science and new ideas inside Iran, brain drain will slow down. These facilities, combined with the inherent interest of Iranians in family bonds, will certainly act as a brake to dissuade some from leaving the country. However, the trend will not grind to a complete halt. Therefore, the officials should take measures for promoting the social and scientific status of scientists. They must also clear the way for researchers, who are determined to leave the country and continue their studies in other countries, to establish a kind of human rapport and cooperate with their homeland in future.

War on Terror or State Terrorism

The United State in past years showed that the end justifies the means--good or bad.

It uses every means to justify its imperialist policies around the world like sponsoring terrorism, covert and military operations, torturing, violating human rights, biased sanctions against countries and so on.
Since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, Americans encouraged former Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein, to invade Iran and open the way for implementing US policies in the Middle East and installing a puppet government in Iran.
The Bush administration also struggles to use the International Atomic Energy Agency and the UN Security Council to pressure the Islamic Republic to back down on its peaceful nuclear activities and recognize the Israeli regime.
The US congressional leaders agreed late last year to Bush’s funding request for a major escalation of covert operations against Iran aimed at destabilizing its leadership, The New Yorker magazine reported in an article on Sunday.
The article by reporter Seymour Hersh centers around a highly classified Presidential Funding signed by Bush which by US law must be made known to Democratic and Republican House and Senate leaders and ranking members of the intelligence committees.
The report confirmed the protests of Iranian officials that the US is sponsoring operations of terrorist groups inside the Islamic Republic aimed at killing and kidnapping innocent Iranian people.
It also unearthed that the US backs dissidents’ struggling to foment a “velvet revolution” in Iran to topple the Islamic Republic.
According to Hersh’s report, the $400 million funding is benefiting the Jundollah, a vicious organization backed by Al-Qaeda, which kidnapped 16 Iranian policemen and transferred them to Pakistan, killing four of the hostages last week.
Jundollah, which operates in Iran’s eastern Sistan-Baluchestan province and Pakistan’s Balochistan, has carried out a number of attacks against Iranian civilians as well as high-profile government and security officials.
The terrorist group is widely known to be secretly encouraged, advised and funded by the US intelligence agency, the CIA.
In a recent interview with The Los Angeles Times, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini suggested that Jundollah terrorists are supported by Washington.
“Now look at ABC television, openly interviewing Abdolmalek Rigi, the ringleader of the Jundollah terrorist group. And in Iraq, the terrorist group of the hypocrites, [the Mujahideen Khalq Organization (MKO)], who are on the terrorist lists in western countries, especially in the US, are active under the protection of US troops
in Iraq,” said the diplomat.
In May, Iran sent a formal protest note to Washington for spying on Iran’s nuclear activities. The Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned Switzerland’s ambassador in Tehran, who looks after US interests, to deliver a “strong protest over the hostile intervention of the US government”.
Tehran also had unearthed a number of spy networks aiming to infiltrate Iran and carry out sabotage actions in the west, southwest and center of the country.
Iran has complained in recent years that a series of bomb blasts in the border provinces of Khuzestan, Kurdestan and West Azarbaijan were carried out by forces backed by the US forces in Iraq.
The New Yorker’s report confirmed that US support for the dissident groups could prompt a violent crackdown by Iran, which could give the Bush administration a reason to intervene.
But the US official should know that Iran will defend its territorial integrity by all means, as Commander of Islamic Revolution’s Guard Corps Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari warned that in defense of Iran, all options are on the table.
The article clearly shows that the American government’s so-called “war on terror” is a hollow propaganda and they only pursue their hostile policies in the region which include oil and security for the Israeli regime.
Armed intervention and other direct or indirect forms of interference threatening the sovereignty and the political independence of states are against international laws.
So, Iran as a member of the United Nations should lodge a protest to the international bodies against the hostile move and urge the UN to condemn the terror-sponsoring country.

Rusty Tools

In recent days, the US warmongers have launched a new phase of psychological warfare to make the Islamic Republic give up its rights.Baseless allegations ranging from Iran’s interference in the domestic affairs of neighboring Afghanistan and Iraq to the confrontation of Iranian boats by an American ship in the Persian Gulf as well as regular claims over Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities are examples of this psychological warfare.Iranian officials have rejected all claims and called on these warmongers to provide evidence for their claims, but they did not present anything except more lies.The last one was a false report by a US defense official, saying on Friday that a vessel chartered by the US military fired warning shots at two speedboats believed to be Iranian that approached it in the Persian Gulf.However, Iran strongly denied any confrontation with foreign ships in the Persian Gulf waters.In January, the US Defense Ministry also claimed Iranian boats ’aggressively’ approached three US navy battleships, warning them they would explode in minutes. Iran has said it was a routine contact and the footage of the contact was released by the Arabic-language Alalam TV. No such claims were seen in the aired footage.These events coincided on Friday with another case of rhetoric by a top US military official who said the Pentagon is planning “potential military courses of action“ as one of several options against Iran.Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said a conflict with Iran would be “extremely stressing“ but not impossible for US forces, pointing to reserve capabilities in its navy and air force.Why are Americans trying to demonstrate that Iran is a problematic country?Firstly, the Islamic Republic proved that the country will not bow to increasing economic pressures and UN sanctions to halt its nuclear activities. Iran says its nuclear drive is aimed at generating electricity for its growing population.Secondly, Americans are mired in the Iraq and Afghanistan quagmires and seek a pretext to justify their mistakes at home.Lastly, they fear that Iran’s growing influence in the region is threatening their interests in the oil-rich region and can destabilize Israel. But US officials should know that their rusty tools will not derail Iran’s nuclear program. Instead of using fabricated claims against the Islamic Republic, the Americans should sit at the negotiation table without any precondition.President Ahmadinejad said recently that Iran is ready to discuss its nuclear program with any country, but will not yield to international pressure to halt its civilian nuclear work.The ball is in the US court. If the US wants to survive the regional dilemma of its own making, it should rectify its policy regarding Iran’s nuclear program and set aside its futile animosity toward the Islamic Republic.

Moderate Iranian Daily Banned

Iran’s government has renewed a ban on a moderate daily newspaper, Ham Mihan (Compatriot), less than two months after allowing it to return to news stands, the paper's director said.

"The (Tehran) prosecutor's office has sent us an official notice telling us not to publish," said Gholam Hossein Karbaschi, a former Tehran mayor who also publishes the Ham Mihan newspaper.

"They told us there were some mistakes in the way our case was handled," he added.

Tehran prosecutor Said Mortazavi said the paper's suspension was the result of procedural error's in the handling of Karbaschi's trial and incarceration for corruption from 1998 to 2000 after his 10-year tenure as mayor.

He said the ex-mayor had failed to appear in person at his trial as the rules required.

He said Karbaschi had also left it to his lawyer to countersign the parole order which saw his release from jail.

"So it was his lawyer who was tried and not him," Mortazavi said.

Ham Mihan had only returned to news stands on May 13.

It had been widely expected to take the place of fellow moderate daily
Shargh (East), which was banned last September.

But a day after its relaunch, Shargh too was allowed to resume publication.

The judiciary banned over 100 reformist papers during the last years of the rule of Ahmadinejad's predecessor, pro-reform President Mohammad Khatami -- part of the struggle for power between reformists and hard-liners.

Democratization of Afghnistan

An Afghan infant is treated in a hospital in Helmand province after being injured in an air strike by foreign forces fighting the Taliban, June 30, 2007 which left dozens of civilians dead.

Iranian Ancient Civilization Site Under Threat

Head of Iran’s Architecture Luminaries Association has questioned the extent to which an organization has the authority to make a decision that can submerge the site of an ancient civilization.In an interview with Fars, Ali Reza Qahhari also expressed concern about the flooding of Sivand Dam and said that head of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization has expressed approval for filling the dam with water without presenting any explanation to the Majlis or the people and will reportedly announce this in writing within a few days.He further said that the decision was made without regard to the outcome of excavations undertaken by 14 archeological teams from a number of countries.The groups conducted research works in different sections of the area, especially in Bolaghi Pass and achieved results which are unique, Qahhari said, adding that they came across mounds from the pre-Christian era, which are yet to be excavated.Meanwhile, settlements from the pre-Christian era, metal-smelting kilns, caves, stone furnaces belonging to Pars rulers, graveyards from the Ashkanid period as well as seven kilometers of stone boundary were discovered by the team, which are unique in the world.All these findings will be submerged once the Sivand Dam becomes operational, he said, noting that this is source of concern for environment experts as well as archeologists and architects.If the dam is filled with water, the area will undergo ecological changes, thus one of the beautiful areas in the world will be destroyed, Qahhari concluded.

Bush Seeks $130b for US Army

The U.S. Army, which has borne much of the weight of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, would get $130 billion under President Bush's 2008 budget — a sizable increase that would help ease the strain and meet equipment needs. The proposal represents a 16 percent hike over this year, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. When coupled with additional tens of billions of dollars in emergency war funding, it "should go a long ways toward making the Army better," said Steven Kosiak, an analyst with the private Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.
Officials would not comment publicly on the budget request because it will not be officially released until Monday.
While the number falls short of the Army's request, it suggests that arguments made by senior Army leaders were heeded by the Bush administration. Initial White House budget plans called for giving the Army $114 billion, which increased to $121 billion by October.
Gen. Peter Schoomaker, Army chief of staff, had said he needed $138 billion for 2008 to replace and repair equipment used in Iraq, cover other war costs and meet day-to-day expenses.
The Iraq war, which began nearly four years ago, has already exceeded the length of U.S. involvement in World War II. A recent report by a special commission on war policy warned that "U.S. military forces, especially our ground forces, have been stretched nearly to the breaking point."
The report said new attention — and billions of dollars — must be devoted to restoring the capabilities of the military so it is ready for future conflicts.
The $130 billion includes more than $46 billion for personnel, an 8 percent increase over this year, and nearly $24 billion to buy weapons and other equipment, a 42 percent hike.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates last month recommended boosting the Army's troop strength to 547,000 from its current 508,000 over the next five years, and increasing the number of Marines by 27,000 to 202,000.
With the military facing more costs for hiring recruiters, marketing and paying bonuses, the overall Pentagon budget earmarks about $12 billion to help increase the size of the Army and Marine Corps.
The administration will also seek additional funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in two separate requests — one for $93.4 billion to cover the remainder of the 2007 budget year, and one for $141.7 billion to cover projected war costs for 2008.
Because it bears the brunt of the fighting, Kosiak said the Army has been getting as much as 60 percent of the emergency war funds.

Iranian Becomes First Woman Space Tourist

Anousheh Ansari spent her childhood in Iran dreaming of space. Now, after years of hard work and study in the United States, she has realized her dreams and blasted into orbit on a Soyuz rocket.
Ansari took off with NASA’s Michael Lopez-Alegria and Russia’s Mikhail Tyurin from the Russian cosmodrome of Baikonur in Kazakhstan to, AFP reported.
She is thought to have paid about $25 million (20 million euros) for the flight, which will last about 10 days and include a stay aboard the International Space Station.
“Ever since I can remember it has been in my soul and in my heart. I’ve always been interested and fascinated by space,“ said Ansari earlier.
But it is her grounding in business and science and her iron resolve that have made the dream a reality.
Born in 1966 in Iran, Ansari left the country with her parents at the age of 16 shortly after the Islamic Revolution. Arriving in the United States speaking only Persian and French, Ansari managed to launch herself into the study of electronics and data processing.
She has taken US citizenship, degrees from George Mason University in Virginia and George Washington University in the US capital and has filed patents in the field of telecommunications.
And although her life now is a far cry from her origins in Iran, Ansari says she has not forgotten her birthplace, widely known for its hostility to the United States.
Earlier this year, she sported the flags of both Iran and the United States on her spacesuit.
“I felt that by wearing the two badges I can demonstrate that both countries had something to do with making me the person who I am today,“ she said at Star City.
In 1993, Ansari convinced her husband to leave the company where they worked to set out on their own. Their telecommunications startup grew to employ 250 people before Ansari sold it in 2000.
Her family has gone on to invest not only in technology, but also in space exploration. The family contributed $10 million to the X Foundation, set up to encourage advances in human space flight.
The money formed a prize, the Ansari X Prize, which in 2004 was awarded to Mojave Aerospace Ventures for launching a reusable space ship that reached space twice in two weeks.
If that is not enough to convince space enthusiasts of her credentials, she is also studying for a diploma in astronomy.
“I hope that not only my flights, but the life I have lived so far, become an inspiration for all youth all over the world, especially women and girls around the world to pursue their dreams,“ said Ansari.