The Seasons: Films by Artavazd Ashoti Peleshian

From Bidoun Magazine, Art and Culture from the Middle East:

Born in Leninakan, Armenia in 1938, Artavazd Ashoti Peleshian is an influential director of poetic film-essays. His films utilize a cinematic method developed by Peleshian called “distance montage” to capture everyday life in a manner which transcends documentary. Sergei Parajanov has called him “one of the few authentic geniuses in the world of cinema.”

You can view eight of Peleshian’s films at Ubu Web.

Seasons (1975)

[Vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/8606796]

Excerpt from Ubu Web:

Seasons (Vremana Goda, 1975) is perhaps the most famous of all Peleshian films and just its opening shot would show why – A man, clutching a sheep in his hand, trapped raging stream, trying to get to the shore along with the animal. Setting the tone of film and, to an extent, to the director’s whole filmography, Seasons‘ first shot effectively underlines the irony that forms the basis of the relationship between humans and nature. Seasons, as the title suggests, deals with the change of seasons.

Iran’s paramilitary, the Basij: from inception, to war, and public unrest

The Basij is Iran’s volunteer paramilitary under the command of the country’s parallel military force, the Revolutionary Guard (aka Sepah). They were founded in 1979, under Ayatollah Khomeini, and gained increased prominence during the long Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s, during which they defended the country against an Iraqi invasion of the southwest (where lie the bulk of the oil and gas fields). More recently, the Basij has become associated as one of the key coercive forces used by the government to put down opposition following the contested presidential election of June 12 which saw Mahmoud Ahmadinejad retain his post as president.

The paramilitary’s unpopularity among opposition demonstrators is evident in the following video showing people bringing down a billboard.

Here you can view an archival film from the Iran-Iraq war, which saw the Revolutionary Guard/Sepah and the Basij rise to prominence due to their success in defending the country against attack.

A small group of Basiji present what it is they believe is the role of their group, which they claim serves against tyranny and support religion.

In the early period of unrest against the contested June 12, 2009 presidential election, hundreds of thousands of people came to the streets to protest against the election result. On June 15, 2009, the Basij gained further notoriety among the popular opposition following the shooting and death of at least on protester at Azadi Square.

[Vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/8604701]

The late Ayatollah Montazeri, who died in December, was seen to be one of the most vocal supporters of the popular opposition and is widely quoted because of this. He was among the most senior Ayatollahs and a source of emulation for many people, he was also one of the founders of the Islamic Republic of Iran, with a heavy hand in the 1979 revolution. In the following video, he speaks of the Basij, stating that they must serve good, not evil, and that beating people is who might not agree with you is no way to behave. This video is in Farsi.

The regional policies of Turkey and Iran in the Middle East

Below is an excerpt from Iranian Diplomacy, from an interview with Jochen Hippler, a political scientist specializing on the Middle East. Interestingly, Hippler mentions a point that has been quite important in Turkish foreign policy toward the Middle East, that Turkey can act as a source of technology. Turkey’s alliance with Europe and the USA has given it access to technological expertise and materials that it can and has leveraged in its relations to the region, such as in the case of using its own companies to deliver services (such as negotiations around energy extraction and refinement), or even the potential transmission of technology to states. Furthermore, Turkey has the potential, due to its close partnership with and geographic proximity to Europe, act as a trade and transit bridge to the European continent, which can also be leveraged in its foreign relations.

Q: What do you think of the regional competition between Iran and Turkey? Just as Turkey, Iran is trying to influence the domestic and foreign policies of Arab countries. Many observers believe that there is a competition going on between Iran and Turkey to add more Arab countries to their camp. Do you agree with these observers?

Hippler: Not that much. I think there are two counter-arguments for such analyses. First of all, Iran is trying to find and integrate exceptions in the Arab World. It is following this policy in Lebanon, has relations with some Iraqi groups with this aim and also tries to exert its influence on Palestinian groups such as Hamas. The Arab World is looking at such efforts with suspicion. Arab countries think that Iran is trying to promote its ideology between Arab countries and revive its ancient influence over Arabs.

So I think that Iran’s policy contradicts that of Turkey and this gives Turkey the upper hand. For Turks, ancient past is history and can’t be developed anymore. Also, there is more sympathy between some Arab countries and Turkey. Religious factors –I mean the Shiite-Sunni issue- can bring Turkey and Arabs closer. So against Turkey, Iran doesn’t have so many opportunities.

On the other hand, Turkey’s chances aren’t that much better. Although Turkey’s position among the Arab countries is better than Iran, we cannot blow it out of proportion. I think that for Turkey, it is more important to attract Arab and Muslim countries and spearhead their ties with the United States and West. This can be an advantage for Turkey. Arabs have oil and Turkey has technology which comes from West, especially the United States. Arab countries need that technology. Through Turkey, they can export their products to the European Union. Strong ties with EU can help Turkey in its interaction with Arab countries.

In my opinion, this is the policy Turkey is following right now. Look at the quality of its relations with Syria, Egypt, Lebanon or even Jordan. So for those reasons, Turkey can outperform Iran in its ties with Arab countries. Compared with Iran, it can be a better diplomatic leader for Arab countries. Iran’s chances are lower. So I don’t think talks about regional competition between Iran and Turkey are realistic.

Juan Cole: ‘Iran and the Goldilocks Principle’

Excerpt from Juan Cole’s blog, Informed Comment:

I concur with much of what Flynt and Hillary Mann Leverett say in their piece, which argues that Iran gives no evidence of being on the verge of revolution. I should say that I know and admire them, and share their conviction that the Obama administration should engage the government in Tehran, whatever it is. We had diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union and face to face talks all through the 1980s, at a time when that regime really was on the verge of falling. You can’t know the future. Diplomacy, as Kissinger correctly observed, is a game played with the pieces that are actually on the board at any one time.

But I do not share their dismissive attitude to the Green movement. I think it is big, nation-wide, multi-class and significant.

…The NYT article about the tunnels under Iran’s nuclear enrichment plant is breathless and presents no evidence whatsoever for its thesis. Is it being alleged that Iran has squirreled away enromous numbers of centrifuges in the tunnels? How are they getting water and electricity? How would they avoid showing an electromagnetic signature? Has anyone seen a centrifuge down there? It is all innuendo, reminiscent of the allegations about Iraq’s supposed nuclear program in 2002-3.

…The ‘sinister tunnel’ argument comes just after media mogul and arch-warmonger Rupert Murdoch’s Times of London published a story based on obviously altered and forged documents claiming Iran was working on a ‘nuclear trigger’ for a bomb. Can you say, ‘Niger yellowcake,’ children? Thanks to Gareth Porter for exploding this fraud. See his piece on the way US intelligence community dismissed the document as fraudulent, and his more recent evidence for tampering with the text.

Redrawing Eurasia’s energy map: Russia, China, and Iran

The Asia Times carries an article by the regularly excellent analyst and former Indian career diplomat, MK Bhadrakumar, who investigates the energy routes running throughout Asia and into Europe. He provides background on the strategic decision and their implications. It’s a good read. Excerpt below:

We are witnessing a new pattern of energy cooperation at the regional level that dispenses with Big Oil. Russia traditionally takes the lead. China and Iran follow the example. Russia, Iran and Turkmenistan hold respectively the world’s largest, second-largest and fourth-largest gas reserves. And China will be consumer par excellence in this century. The matter is of profound consequence to the US global strategy.

…The United States’ pipeline diplomacy in the Caspian, which strove to bypass Russia, elbow out China and isolate Iran, has foundered. Russia is now planning to double its intake of Azerbaijani gas, which further cuts into the Western efforts to engage Baku as a supplier for Nabucco. In tandem with Russia, Iran is also emerging as a consumer of Azerbaijani gas. In December, Azerbaijan inked an agreement to deliver gas to Iran through the 1,400km Kazi-Magomed-Astara pipeline.

…To be sure, 2009 proved to be a momentous year for the “energy war”. The Chinese pipeline inaugurated by President Hu Jintao on December 14; the oil terminal near the port city of Nakhodka in Russia’s far east inaugurated by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on December 27 (which will be served by the mammoth $22-billion oil pipeline from the new fields in eastern Siberia leading to China and the Asia-Pacific markets); and the Iranian pipeline inaugurated by Ahmadinejad on January 6 – the energy map of Eurasia and the Caspian has been virtually redrawn.