Female Iranian athletes continue to face obstacles from their own government and...

"On Friday, a Bahraini FIFA official banned the Iranian women's national soccer team from playing against Jordan in the second round of the qualifiers for the 2012 London Olympic Games in the Jordanian capital city, Amman."

They forfeited their games and were eliminated without even the touching the ball.  How fair is that?


Here's the link to this informative piece discussing the situation.

Women on the Frontline: Iran

End of Saberi's chapter in Iran

She left Iran today, first to Austria, then probably to North Dakota! She won't be back in Iran for a long time because of what she endured and her bitter experience at the end.

Expect to see her on your TV sets very soon doing interviews!!!

I stand corrected - Saberi is staying in Iran for a few...

...days, her father said. She also thanked her supporters, stating that other than spending time with her family and friends she has no specific plans right now.

Saberi is released and...

...on her way back home, if not here already. We all knew she would be eventually, but now we are so relieved!!!

Ghobadi awaits Saberi's release because...

...they are a couple!

Bahman Ghobadi is an internationally acclaimed Kurdish-Iranian film director, whose films painfully portray the plight of Kurds in Iraq, Iran, and Turkey while applauding their resilience despite years of facing adversity. Roxana Saberi is an American journalist born to Iranian and Japanese parents, who was sentenced to eight years in prison for espionage in a closed one-day trial last week in Tehran (read the story below).

Ghobadi's new film has gone to the Cannes, but he now says he has no desire to go. He is staying put in Tehran waiting for the outcome of Saberi's appeal.

Ahmadinejad intervening in Saberi's and Derakhshan's cases - unusual but encouraging

Apparently, Ahmadinejad has sent a letter to Tehran's prosecutor requesting that Roxana Saberi - who was convicted of spying and sentenced to eight years in prison yesterday - must have her legal rights to defend herself. This is a first.

What does this mean? Is this a signal to the west, especially the U.S.? Is this a ploy? Is IRI showing signs of softening up? Or is this simply a showdown between different factions of the government in a presidential elections year? You tell me. I welcome your comments.

In the letter, Ahmadinejad has also mentioned Hossein Derakhshan, an Iranian blogger who has been jailed in Iran since November. Derakhshan is an Iranian-born blogger who left Iran a few years ago to live in Canada. While he constantly criticized the policies of the government on his blog, he was also vehemently against a military attack against Iran and was constantly accused to be a an IRI spy by anti-IRI groups outside Iran. He challenged the Iranian government's travel ban to Israel by visiting Tel Aviv and wrote about it in his blog. Last year, he went to Iran for a visit and was arrested. Derakhshan is also famous for being the "godfather of Iran's blog movement."

Iran's women volleyball team participating in Asian championships

They are in a group with Vietnam, Sri Lanka, and Australia. Iran is ranked 84th in the world. Their biggest challenge will be beating the 36th-ranked Australia. Vietnam is ranked 73d and Sri Lanka 84th. Rankings are current as of January 2009.

These women are Iran's lionesses. Take a look at this picture. Could you imagine playing a whole game like this?

http://www.mehrnews.com/en/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=858474

AFC holds women's refrees course in Iran

The course will run April 21-24 in provincial capital of Qazvin, 165 km (100 mi) northwest of Tehran.

http://www.the-afc.com/eng/articles/viewarticle.jsp_168624803.html