I respectfully disagree.

You only need to drive in Tehran to see how much Iranians repect the law.

The way you write, if crimes are also the faults of the government since it has failed to properly train the people.

That is nonsense, of course. Go to Italy and watch how people change in their behavior from North to South. Same government, different behavior; say in Naples – they drive just like Tehran – not so in Milan.

the high number of annual deaths in driving accidents in Iran should indeed be attributed to the incompetence of the Islamic Repubic’s officials. basically, there is no difference between people here and there in terms of respecting the law. it’s the system that should be blamed the most for not training people in a proper manner;e.g from the very beginning in the elementary schools. or implementing the law equally for all. for so long, I, like you, was blaming ordinary Iranians for not following the rules. but that’s just one third of the big picture. the driving accidents have three main elements:

1-safty of the vehicles: which is pretty low and that causes a lot of damages, often death. this is the incompetence of Iranian officials. for more than 3 decades, Iran was producing Peykan in the same way! I am sure the system has the statistic of the death for different vehicles and it’s pretty obvious the good ones caused less deaths.

2-non-standard roads. this is very important. for example, consider a very important road like Haraz,that connects Tehran to the northern part of the country,. you would never find a road of that importance to be just two ways even in the developing countries. when you have to drive more than 4-5 hours a just 200 km road (in the busy days, it goes up), you really go crazy. when there is a lack of option, negligence and carelessness is inevitable.

3-human errors. for this also there are psychological reasons involved which is beyond the scope of this discussion. but generally, Iranians have shown a great degree of respect for the rule of law. for example, seat belt got popular in a matter of few years in Iran just bc of advertisement. and don’t forget Iran is a warm country; I mean with cars that don’t have air conditioners, naturally there is a less tendency for the seat belts. there is no reason not to see the implementation of other rules to every one. your claim is a sort of disrespect for the general understanding of Iranians. actually, there are many ways that you can neglect the driving rules, and I have seen many of them on the part of those family members that had connections. can you really suspend the driving license of a mid rank official? the answer is a big Noch.

and the story goes. is this really nagging?

I am in agreementg with your last statements.

I do not have any issue with criticism.

I do disagree with what I would consider nagging: like when US, under George Herbert Walker Bush, send troops there to help UN get food to the Somali people and many Arabs were saying that US is ought there to get to Sudan’s oil.

Or when the 22,000 annual deaths in driving accidents in Iran is attributed to the incompetence of the Islamic Repubic’s officials rather than the absolute disregard of Iranian drivers to following driving rules.

it seems, you forgot that I voted for Ahmadinejad. if anything, Islamic Republic is the main part of my identity. that doesn’t mean whatever he does is acceptable. for exactly the same reason I ask for accountability and responsibility of Iranian government and political system to Iranian citizens. he has to be criticized constantly so as not to go down to the illusion of doing everything right.

and I don’t see anything wrong in voting for Moin, Mouasvi…. what is wrong with that? that is election is all about.

I have no passion for Khamenei though. he did what was required of him as the one holding absolute power. being ready to defend the country against an aggression is the job of any leader.

“Happiness” is for children.

A real man lives on this side of “Happiness”, facing death, despair, and madness.

I am satisifed with the leadership of Mr. Khamenei in certain areas.

In 2006, when US-Iran War seemed imminent, he bravely maintained his position and told the Americans that he is ready for war.

Moreover, in the manufactured crisis of 2009 elections, he stuck to the Law.

Mr. Ahmadinejad broke with the mullahs on permitting women in the sports stadiums, in nominating 3 women ministers (with one approved), and in opposing the actions of the morality police.

He has wanted to reach a deal with US since his elections.

He did reach out to the Iranians living abroad.

And he has visited every Iranian province at least twice.

In 2005, 20 million people voted for him and a similar number voted for him in 2009.

If you do not like him, then vote for someone else – like Moin who did not get the vote back in 2005.

“…You make an important point, that the senior managers in vital Iranian industries are in their slots not because of managerial or technical ability, but for other reasons.”

this is a well known fact in today’s Iran, unfortunately. I didn’t make that. over the past 3 decades, loyalty has always sidestepped professionalism. I would say, this is one of the main reasons of migration for my generation. indeed, by now most of those guys in the high ranking posts could also manage to get the required degrees, thanks to IR’s massive expansion on the education level. the recent fissures are small part of a big problem.

fyi:

you seem to be very good at diverting from one issue to another. we are talking about Iran’s situation and our birthright of managerial growth over there. as for here, that’s a different story for a different kind of debate.

as for “What is the heart-burn here?”: nothing really, at least as yet; rest assured.

as I said before, you look things on the prism of Iran-West (the U.S) confrontation all the time. I understand the root cause of this development. but this is not gonna silence people inside the country to what something they really deserve. If you are happy with people like Khamenei, Larijani, Daneshjo, Namjo, Ahmadinejad, Bazrpash, Tavakoli,Shariatmadari,Mirkazemi,… and almost every body on the top, we are NOT.

Thanks. I think Italy, Greece and Iran would all be better off today if their monarchies had been retained.

I made a statement rebutting Nasser’s statement about where real Third World begins.

That was based on my information and judgement.

You and Nasser are entitled to your opinions where you wish to put that line.

You may wish to put it in the middle of Turkey which is an interesting view point.

My point was that the brain-drain has been a very common problem among many countries. Not just Iran and not just Islamic Iran.

Tunisia has been the most successful country in reducing brain-drain.

I guess I do not understand your complain. You get educated for free in Iran, you work a bit in Iran and gain some experience, and then you leave to work in an English speaking country where you make more money and you are free to do what you wish – all the time knowing that your chances for professional growth are limited in those countries as you are a recent immigrant.

What is the heart-burn here?

You make an imporant point, that the senior managers in vital Iranian industries are in their slots not because of managerial or technical ability, but for other reasons.
The underinvestment in oil and gas facilities partly resulted from this situation. Another aspect was obviously the gigantic investment in nuclear power, and its attendant santions. The current size of the Iranian economy is much less today than it would have been with better management over the past decade.

your approach is really interesting. first you raised the issue of better infrastructures in Turkey, then when confronted by me, you diverted to Pakistan and Egypt with almost no gas, oil…. You seem to be so impressed about IR’s job in terms of education. let me tell you a very harsh reality. IR, like a typical Mullah job, was successful in terms of quantity, but FOR SURE NOT for quality. that’s the core of the issue. the best get out or are practically depressed. this is not sustainable.

as for the number of Iranian professionals getting out. first you said something about that number in the U.S, tried to downgrade its significance, then when I confronted that claim, with your obvious negligence of places like Canada with a huge number of Iranian professionals, you moved to India…. I have already questioned the validity of your comparison with India and don’t want to repeat it here again. I have no clue about South Korea.

it’s not just about students my friend, neither it is about economy purely. most of those who migrated are not students. they were professional workers that got out of the country. many of them think, rightly so, that the ones on the top positions in every single office are not suitable for those posts. when you put somebody like Bazrpash as the manager of Siaypa, it’s quite natural for the capable ones in the lower ranks to be totally disappointed and try to get out. what would be the motivation? I personally can’t tolerate a bunch of fools are managing and I have to just listen. look at our ministers for example. I told you before. you can’t run a system with fools on the top. this is waste of time and energy.

let me tell you a real story. last time I was in Iran, I went to a well known industrial complex to see a couple of long time friends. one of them said, there are more than 1000 people working here (people with at least a bachelor degree, from high ranking universities). and he showed me their desks. do you know what he said? he said, look at their screens closely. most of these guys are preparing themselves for the English test. this is really depressing.

it’s obvious to me that you have not lived in Iran for quite a while and as a result are so detached from the reality and the sentiments. seeing everything based on the duality of Iran-the U.S confrontation is not productive.