When I First Left Iran At The

Imagine You Are Walking Down A Leafy Path...the Sun Is Receding, And You Are Walking Alone, Caressed By The Breezy Light Of The Late Afternoon. Then Suddenly, You Feel A Large Drop On Your Right Arm. Is It Raining? You Look Up. The Sky Is Still Deceptively Sunny...seconds Later Another Drop. Then, With The Sun Still Perched In The Sky, You Are Drenched In A Shower Of Rain. This Is How Memories Invade Me, Abruptly And Unexpectedly.

In The Past 30 Years, Officials Of The Iranian Regime And Its Apologists Have Labeled Criticism, Especially With Regard To Women's Rights, As Anti-islamic And Pro-western, Justifying Its Brutalities By Ascribing Them To Islam And Iran's Culture.

I Finally Returned To Iran In 1979, When I Got My Degree In English And American Literature, And Stayed For 18 Years In The Islamic Republic.

The Stories From Iran's Present And Past Are Reminders That Freedom, Democracy And Human Rights, Or Fundamentalism, Fascism And Terrorism Are Not Geographically And Culturally Determined, But Universal.

The Negative Side Of The American Dream Comes When People Pursue Success At Any Cost, Which In Turn Destroys The Vision And The Dream.