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Office For Strengthening Unity
The Office for Strengthening Unity (also Office for Consolidating Unity, ) is an Iranian student organization created in 1979, and has been described as "the country's most well-known student organization," and "Iran's leading prodemocracy student group". Founded in 1979 as a conservative Islamist organization to combat leftist, more secular, student groups, the OSU has evolved to support democracy and reform in Iran and thus is now in opposition to the political heirs of its founders. History Origins Originally known as the Office for Strengthening of Unity Between Universities and Theological Seminaries (''Daftar-e Tahkim-e Vahdat-e Hozeh va Daneshgah''), according to Iranfocus.com, the OSU was set up by Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti, at a time when Beheshti was Iranian Supreme Ruler Ruhallah Khomeini's top confidant and a key figure in the clerical leadership. Beheshti wanted the OSU to organise Islamist students to counter the influence of the opposition Mojahedin-e Khalq (M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reformism
Reformism is a political tendency advocating the reform of an existing system or institution – often a political or religious establishment – as opposed to its abolition and replacement via revolution. Within the socialist movement, reformism is the view that gradual changes through existing institutions can eventually lead to fundamental changes in a society's political and economic systems. Reformism as a political tendency and hypothesis of social change grew out of opposition to revolutionary socialism, which contends that revolutionary upheaval is a necessary precondition for the structural changes necessary to transform a capitalist system into a qualitatively different socialist system. Responding to a pejorative conception of reformism as non- transformational, philosopher André Gorz conceived non-reformist reform in 1987 to prioritize human needs over capitalist needs. As a political doctrine, centre-left reformism is distinguished from centre-right or pra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abbas Abdi
Abbas Abdi (; ; born 1 October 1956) is an Iranian reformist. He is also a journalist, self-taught sociologist, and social activist. Biography Abdi was born in 1956. He studied polymer engineering at Tehran Polytechnic. He worked briefly in the foreign intelligence department of the Prime Minister's Office of Research and Information and served as the cultural deputy in the Center for Strategic Research under the president's office. He was a member of the editorial board of the daily '' Salam''. Abdi was a member of central council of Iran Participation Front, and is currently the chairman of the Association of Iranian Journalists. He was the first person to storm the United States embassy in Tehran, along with other students, during the early years of the Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Student Organizations Established In 1979
A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution, or more generally, a person who takes a special interest in a subject. In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school or higher (e.g., college or university); those in primary or elementary schools are "pupils". Africa Nigeria In Nigeria, education is classified into four systems known as a 6-3-3-4 system of education. It implies six years in primary school, three years in junior secondary, three years in senior secondary and four years in the university. However, the number of years to be spent in university is mostly determined by the course of study. Some courses have longer study lengths than others. Those in primary school are often referred to as pupils. Those in university, as well as those in secondary school, are referred to as students. The Nigerian system of education also has other recognized categories like the polytechnics and colleges of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reformist Political Groups In Iran
Reformism is a political tendency advocating the reform of an existing system or institution – often a political or religious establishment – as opposed to its abolition and replacement via revolution. Within the socialist movement, reformism is the view that gradual changes through existing institutions can eventually lead to fundamental changes in a society's political and economic systems. Reformism as a political tendency and hypothesis of social change grew out of opposition to revolutionary socialism, which contends that revolutionary upheaval is a necessary precondition for the structural changes necessary to transform a capitalist system into a qualitatively different socialist system. Responding to a pejorative conception of reformism as non- transformational, philosopher André Gorz conceived non-reformist reform in 1987 to prioritize human needs over capitalist needs. As a political doctrine, centre-left reformism is distinguished from centre-right or prag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Akbar Atri
Akbar Atri (Persian: اكبر عطرى) is an Iranian democracy and human rights activist. He is the co-founder and co-director of Tavaana: E-Learning Institute for Iranian Civil Society. Atri joined the Iranian student movement in 1995 and was elected to a central leadership role in Tahkim Vahdat, Iran’s largest and most prominent student organization, annually from 1997 to 2005. He is a founding member of Iranian Students for Democracy and Human Rights. He spoke widely at universities throughout the country, organized discussion forums and led student protests in favor of freedom of expression and democracy. Atri has been imprisoned, fined, and physically abused at the hands of the regime's militias for his human rights activism. Atri left Iran in 2005 and in the same year was sentenced in absentia to seven years in prison for defiling the Supreme Leader and for other crimes against the Iranian regime. In 2005, Atri, along with Ali Afshari, Mohsen Sazegara, Mohammad Maleki ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ali-Akbar Mousavi Khoeini
Ali Akbar Mousavi Khoeini (; ; also known as Seyed Ali Akbar Mosavi) is a notable Iranian human rights activist and politician. He was an active member of Tahkim Vahdat before he was elected as a Member of Parliament in the 6th Parliament of Iran. In the parliament, he made a significant attempt to defend the rights of political prisoners during the 1990s. He is currently the President of Advar Tahkim Vahdat. Biography Mousavi Khoeini started his political career as an activist in the Islamic Students Association of Khajeh Nasir University. Students in "Islamic Associations" are the biggest pro-democracy student group in the universities in Iran. He was later elected to be a member of Adver Tahkim Vahdat, a representative body of Islamic Students Associations in Iran. In 1999, Mousavi Khomeini was elected to the Majlis of Iran (Iranian Parliament) from the district of Tehran. He and Fatemeh Haghighatjoo, Ali Tajernia and others started the student faction in the parliament ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Election Boycott
An election boycott is the boycotting of an election by a group of voters, each of whom abstention, abstains from voting. Boycotting may be used as a form of political protest where voters feel that electoral fraud is likely, or that the electoral system is biased against its candidates, that the polity organizing the election lacks legitimacy (political science), legitimacy, or that the candidates running are very unpopular. In jurisdictions with compulsory voting, a boycott may amount to an act of civil disobedience; alternatively, supporters of the boycott may be able to cast blank votes or vote for "none of the above". Boycotting voters may belong to a particular Regionalism (politics), regional or ethnic group. A particular political party or candidate may refuse to run in the election and urges its supporters to boycott the vote. In the case of a referendum, a boycott may be used as a tactical voting, voting tactic by opponents of the proposition. If the referendum requi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ali Afshari
Ali Afshari (; born 1973 in Qazvin) is an Iranian activist who seeks reform in the Islamic Republic. He is a member of the Central Council of Office for Strengthening Unity and the Central Council of the Islamic Student Association at the Amirkabir University of Technology He served as secretary of the association for three years. He was a Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy. Biography From 1995 to 1999, Afshari was a member of the Central Council of the Islamic Student Association at Amirkabir University of Technology, serving as the Secretary of the Association. From 1999 to 2004, he was a member of the Central Council of the Office to Foster Unity National Islamic Student Association (Daftar- Tahkim-e Vahdat). From 1996 to 1997, Afshari coordinated Khatami’s Student Political Campaign, where he coordinated student activities and gatherings to support Khatami’s presidential election nationally in 30 universities. From 2000 to 2003, he wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a media organization broadcasting news and analyses in 27 languages to 23 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East. Headquartered in Prague since 1995, RFE/RL operates 21 local bureaus with over 500 core staff, 1,300 freelancers, and 680 employees. Nicola Careem serves as the editor-in-chief. Founded during the Cold War, RFE began in 1949 targeting Soviet empire, Soviet satellite states, while RL, established in 1951, focused on the Soviet Union. Initially funded covertly by the Central Intelligence Agency, CIA until 1972, the two merged in 1976. RFE/RL was headquartered in Munich from 1949 to 1995, with additional broadcasts from Portugal's Glória do Ribatejo until 1996. Soviet authorities jammed their signals, and Second World, communist regimes often infiltrated their operations. Today, RFE/RL is a private 501(c)(3) corporation supervised by the United States Agency for Global Media, which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mohammad Khatami
Mohammad Khatami (born 14 October 1943) is an Iranian politician and Shia cleric who served as the fifth president of Iran from 3 August 1997 to 3 August 2005. He also served as Iran's Minister of Culture from 1982 to 1992. Later, he was critical of the government of subsequent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Little known internationally before becoming president, Khatami attracted attention during 1997 Iranian presidential election, his first election to the presidency when he received almost 70% of the vote. Khatami had run on a platform of liberalization and reform. During his election campaign, Khatami proposed the idea of Dialogue Among Civilizations as a response to Samuel P. Huntington, Samuel P. Huntington's 1992 theory of a Clash of Civilizations. The United Nations later proclaimed the year 2001 as the ''Year of Dialogue Among Civilizations'', on Khatami's suggestion. During his two terms as president, Khatami advocated freedom of expression, tolerance and civil society ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
