Iranian Cleric Blogs for Free Expression

[kuozzman]

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=lifeAndLeisureNews&storyID=2005-02-17T130146Z_01_L15590702_RTRIDST_0_LIFESTYLE-IRAN-BLOGGER-DC.XML

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Blogging might not sound an appropriate hobby for a senior Iranian government official, particularly one who is a Muslim cleric.

But presidential adviser Mohammad Ali Abthai has turned the practice of writing Internet journals, or blogging, into a powerful tool against the reformist government's hardline foes and a means to reach out to the country's disenchanted youth.

Abtahi, 45, a mid-ranking cleric who last year quit his post as vice-president, says he learns more chatting with young people on the Internet than he does in any government report.

"A lot of them criticize the (political) system and sometimes I tell them they are right. I talk to them very freely," he said in an interview at his spartan office in affluent north Tehran.

His popular web site www.webneveshteha.com (webneveshteha means "web writings" in Persian) receives dozens of messages a day, to which he replies scrupulously, often working until 3 a.m.

[solinvictus]

1. Iran...

That's because until recently, the Iranian people had feelings of friendship toward America. I imagine any and all of that goodwill is now gone.

[ashmanonar]

2. COOL!

nice to see that SOME governments understand the power of youth and the internet. most of the US certainly doesn't.