Iranian Festival Interrupted

Charshanbeh Suri or Red Wednesday, a festival that is a precursor to the Persian New Year, and a festival that millions of Iranians celebrate, was interrupted this year, by government officials. The Supreme Leader wanted to ban the bonfire night because he did not want it to turn into a protest. The way FOX News reported the story was short and to the point. Basically just told the facts, and didn't have that many quotes from different people, just one from The Supreme leader, stating, "Charshanbeh Suri [Red Wednesday] has no Sharia basis and causes much harm and corruption and should be avoided altogether” (Supreme).

The BBC article talked more about the people who got arrested at the festival. Apparently 50 people were detained, and now won't be able to participate in the New Years activities. The reason for the arrests were because the younger people at the festival "clashed" with police officers. The 50 people who were arrested were causing"an unacceptable level of nuisance to the public" (Iranian). "Young Iranians went out into the street to leap though bonfires and set off firecrackers, traditional on Chaharshanbeh-Suri - or Red Wednesday - held a few days before Norouz, the Persian new year" (Iranian). The Supreme Leader doesn't like the festival because he says it is just a bunch of fire worship.

Al Arabiya used their big describing words to talk about how the Supreme Leader, ("Khamenei, Iran's all-powerful cleric") in Iran didn't want the festivals to go on. The article went on to describe the festivals and what they entailed. They go on to talk about how several casualties happen at the festival every year. The site just hams up the article, making people seem to be a lot more colorful, with their ample use of adjectives.

"Iranian police arrest 50 people at traditional festival." BBC News. BBC, 17
Mar. 2010. Web. 17 Mar. 2010. 8571001.stm>.

"Shun Persian fire festival: Ayatollah Khamenei." Al Arabiya. AlArabiya, 14 Mar.
2010. Web. 17 Mar. 2010. 102992.html>.

"Supreme Leader Tries to Ban Iranian Bonfire Night to Quell Protests." Fox News.
FOX News Network, 16 Mar. 2010. Web. 17 Mar. 2010.
.

Ahmadinejad visits Afghanistan

President Mahoud Ahmadinejad visited Afghanistan last Wednesday, and criticized the United States. According to Christian Science Monitor, the president was accusing the United States were not doing any good in resolving the problems in Afghanistan. “They are not successful in their fight against terrorists because they are playing a double game,” said Ahmadinejad. “They themselves created terrorists, and now they say they are fighting them. It’s not possible; we can see that. Billions of dollars spent [with] casualties on both sides" (Peterson). The article doesn't seem to have any bias, it includes quotes from different sources, Afghanistan, Iran, and the United States.

Al Jazeera reported the same story, but only really had quotes from Iranian and Afghanistan sources. This article focused on the same things Christian Science Monitor focused on, how Iran is accusing the United States to be "double dealing" This article did go into what Ahmadinejad and Karzai were discussing when Ahmadinejad visited Afghanistan. One of Karzai's spokesmen said,
"Ahmadinejad and Karzai had met to talk about "bilateral relations between the two countries and expansion of economic relations between the two countries" (Iran). This article also mentioned about the common concerns of the two countries, Iran and Afghanistan. They are both worried about the Taliban.

BBC news talked more about the Taliban and US soldiers in Afghanistan and also mentioned Robert Gates visit to Afghanistan a little more in depth. BBC also included this quote from Ahmadinejad, talking about how he doesn't understand why the US has troops over in the Middle East. "Your country is located on the other side of the world, so what are you doing here" (Mahmoud)? The BBC as usual has a straightforward, unbiased point of view. They take the intellectual road.

The most outspoken news source, at least on this subject, seems to Al Arabiya. Right in the first sentence they say "Iran's outspoken president" and "President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad lashed out at arch foe the United States" Both use quite strong words, and they seem to be not in favor of the Iranian President. The article just uses a lot of describing words, but reports the facts nonetheless.


"Iran attacks US Afghan role." Al Jazeera English. Al Jazeera Net, 10 Mar. 2010.
Web. 14 Mar. 2010. 20103101046294574.html>.

"Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attacks US for Afghan 'double game.'" BBC News. BBC, 10
Mar. 2010. Web. 14 Mar. 2010. 8559084.stm>.

Peterson, Scott. " Iran President Ahmadinejad attacks US during Afghanistan
visit." Christian Science Monitor. The Christian Science Monitor, 10 Mar.
2010. Web. 14 Mar. 2010. 2010/0310/Iran-President-Ahmadinejad-attacks-US-during-Afghanistan-visit>.

"US and Iran accuse eachother of playing 'double game.'" Al Arabiya News
Channel. Alarabiya Net, 10 Mar. 2010. Web. 14 Mar. 2010.
.

Iran Enrichment Plants

So Iran building enrichment plants is becoming pretty big news and the country seems pretty determined and on their way to actually succeeding. Alarabia News Channel reports about how the uranium plants are going to be in the mountains, to keep them safe from "any attacks." Compared to other news sources, reporting on the same story, Alarabia seems to concentrate on more statistics about centrifuges and how many the plants would be producing, then talking about world reactions to the talk of uranium plants. They do briefly talk about how the US and its allies want to have the United Nations put restrictions on the plants, but that is about it.

Compared to that is Fox News Channel, which basically a cry for help. They talk about all the bad things Iran could do with the uranium. It is a big worry for people in Washington and around the world. "Iran's enrichment of uranium is the central concern of the United States and other nations negotiating with the country over its disputed nuclear program" (Associated). Fox News Channel uses more adjectives, so the piece has a more emotional touch to it. They make the issue out to be a potentially harmful thing, which is how the United States feels about it.

BBC News had a whole article about the fears of people, and what Iran could do with the Uranium. They are taking a whole article to talk about what could happen, and why people are afraid. ". . . according to an unusually forthright report by the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) released last week, Iran's level of co-operation with the agency is decreasing, adding to concerns about "possible military dimensions" to its nuclear programme" (BBC). They go through what Iran's plans are with plants, supposedly, and what Iran has been telling the public. How the supreme leader told the public that plants will not be for weapons, and how leaders in Iran have repeatedly told the public that the uranium and nuclear power will be used for electricity.

Al-awwal, Rabi. "Iran to build 2 new enrichment plants in March." Al Arabiya
News Channel. AlArabiya.net., 25 Feb. 2010. Web. 24 Feb. 2010.
.

Associated Press. "Iran Unveils Plans to Work on 2 New Uranium Enrichment
Sites." Fox News Channel. FOX News Network, 22 Feb. 2010. Web. 24 Feb.
2010. .

BBC News. "Iran 'to build two new nuclear sites this year.'" BBC News. BBC, 22
Feb. 2010. Web. 24 Feb. 2010. 8528117.stm>.

Introduction to Iran

Iran, officially known as Islamic Republic of Iran, is a country in the Middle East. It was known as Persia until 1935. The country was run by a Shah from the early 1950s till 1979, when he fled the country. After, the country was under the control of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Khomenei. The country also has a president, which they democratically elect, or so it seems that they democratically elect the leader. Currently the president of Iran is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was elected in June 2009.

The country has many natural resources, including the much coveted oil. They also have a large abundance of natural gas; their reserves are only second to Russia. Currently the country is trying to enrich uranium, for weapons and for an alternative source of energy. People are worried about the enrichment of uranium, especially the United States.

Iran has begun picking out potential sites for their uranium plants, they have about 20 that they will propose to the president. They want to start construction of at least two plants by next year. (The Iranian New Year is in March.) Iran is trying to stress the point that the plants are for civilian energy. But of course the thought of nuclear weapons looms in the air.

The United Nations nuclear inspection agency has announced publicly that Iran may be working on nuclear weapons. A lot of the information that made the inspection agency publicly make that announcement was from the International Atomic Energy Agency. The IAEA wants Iran to do some explaining, like "Whether it has carried out activities involving high-precision detonators fired simultaneously. Some nuclear-weapon designs require such detonations before they explode" (csmonitor).

But, all this worry may be in vain. It seems that Iran is having trouble with the enrichment equipment. So, Iran's uranium plans may be put on hold, at least for a while.






Encyclopedia Britannica

Inspectors: Iran possibly working on nuke. What's the evidence?

Iran weighs sites for uranium enrichment plants, official says