RFE/RL's Radio Farda Chief Editor Fred Petrossian is the co-editor of a new book about last year's disputed presidential vote in Iran that led to the reelection of Mahmud Ahmadinejad.
The book, which is a collection of images, stories, blogs, and articles by some 20 people inside Iran and outside, is titled “Hope, Votes, And Bullets.”
Artist and blogger Kamran Ashtary and writer and editor Tori Egherman, along with Petrossian who blogs under the pen name Hamid Tehrani, collected and edited the articles, blog posts, and illustrations by Iranians whose lives were affected by last year’s events.
You can read excerpts from the book here:
Petrossian says that while “hope” was a real motivation for people to vote in the presidential election, including many who had not participated in previous elections, ”the outcome was a real shock that upset many, and protest was repressed by bullets.”
Petrossian, who voted in the election at the Iranian Embassy in Prague (he describes it as a strange place where he felt like Mickey Mouse in South Park), writes that he doesn’t regret it "for a fraction of a second." Without the massive turnout, people would not have uncovered the cheating. Life goes on and so does the struggle for freedom.”
When asked whether he thinks there is still any hope left after the postelection crackdown that put an end to the street protests, he said:
“Hope makes us live and inform. Hope made us write and edit this book.”
-- Golnaz Esfandiari
The book, which is a collection of images, stories, blogs, and articles by some 20 people inside Iran and outside, is titled “Hope, Votes, And Bullets.”
Artist and blogger Kamran Ashtary and writer and editor Tori Egherman, along with Petrossian who blogs under the pen name Hamid Tehrani, collected and edited the articles, blog posts, and illustrations by Iranians whose lives were affected by last year’s events.
You can read excerpts from the book here:
Petrossian says that while “hope” was a real motivation for people to vote in the presidential election, including many who had not participated in previous elections, ”the outcome was a real shock that upset many, and protest was repressed by bullets.”
Petrossian, who voted in the election at the Iranian Embassy in Prague (he describes it as a strange place where he felt like Mickey Mouse in South Park), writes that he doesn’t regret it "for a fraction of a second." Without the massive turnout, people would not have uncovered the cheating. Life goes on and so does the struggle for freedom.”
When asked whether he thinks there is still any hope left after the postelection crackdown that put an end to the street protests, he said:
“Hope makes us live and inform. Hope made us write and edit this book.”
-- Golnaz Esfandiari