Alireza Talakoubnejad
@websterkaroon • 13,594 subscribers
Iranian-American Muslim interested in contemporary Iranian society, sports, art, and culture. Join my newsletter: https://t.co/2aYqJaob0S
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MBS also looked uncomfortable when Trump was bragging about having bombed Iran
Alireza Talakoubnejad3,331,100 views • 8 months ago
Someone finally drew an infographic showing where each of the bridges that was hit was. It seems to strongly suggest that - at the very least - this is an attempt to significantly hinder Iran's transport and logistical capabilities, which will both damage the economy further & make reinforcing the Strait of Hormoz harder
Alireza Talakoubnejad27,497 views • 2 days ago
از توی فوتبالی بعیده, اگه آقای خیابانی بگه آره, از تو بعیده 😂😂😂
Alireza Talakoubnejad43,374 views • 8 days ago
The current state of the Islamic Republic is quite strange. From a social restrictions perspective, it is utterly incomparable to when I was young or even 5 years ago. This goes far beyond people choosing to mass defy hijab laws - the restrictions against things like mixed dancing, concerts, music festivals, rave like atmospheres, drinking, recreational drugs, and all sorts of out of marriage sexual relationships are dissolved to a unrecognizable very low bar compared to the past. No it's not Turkey or Dubai (yet) and yes people still do get in trouble frequently (particularly businesses who host things - which is why you'll go to high end restaurants where everything is happening and they don't care but they'll immediately stop you if you take a picture out of fear it will go viral). But the cat is out of the bag. In every corner of the country the rules are flagrantly defied. Not just in cute underground parties at some well connected kid's house or some hippies doing drugs in a desert 3 hours from the city - no very much in the open, often advertised on social media, and not hidden at all (both videos are from the last month - the second video is in Shiraz). This was unthinkable just a few years ago. On the other hand the political atmosphere is currently closed at a level I don't remember other than the first few months after the 2009 election. It resembles the Islamic Republic of the late 80s more than what we've seen for most of my life. And from an international relations perspective all caution & restraint are gone and you see the most extremist elements (who ironically were kept in check by the older Khamenei who mistrusted them just as much as he mistrusted liberals) increasingly running the show, eagerly acting in a way that I struggle to describe in anyway other than delusional insanity. The economy is shattered to a level in which even the upper middle class are struggling to make ends meet, let alone the poor who are living through unthinkable conditions. This is a very different Islamic Republic from the "normal" baseline my generation is used to. Quality of life continues to nosedive at a horrendous level. Uncertainty is everywhere. External attacks are no longer a fear but a near daily reality. It is increasingly unclear who (if anyone) is in charge and what direction they are trying to steer the country in. The current situation might last for a bit as a transition state, but it is very difficult to imagine something this unstable, with so many contradictions, and this reckless, being durable. At some point very soon something will have to give. It can't last forever like this.
Alireza Talakoubnejad37,718 views • 7 days ago
Mehdi Taremi: - In these past 2-3 years, from up above, from wherever you can think of they are ruining football. - How is it possible only 2000 people go to the Zob Ahan-Sepahan derby? Azadi Stadium not be finished for 4 years? Esteghlal Persepolis have to go play in Shahrestani Qods ... - Why? So that 50-60,000 people don't gather in one place. If this is the idea then what do you want ... to ruin football? - Is it possible that Tractor's field is always ruined? Our 4, 5 big teams have ruined pitches always so what? So people don't gather? - If the country has tensions or whatever, our football shouldn't have to suffer from it - If you want to get something (good results), you need to give something. Is it possible to play football in bad pitches? How many good fields do we have in our entire league? Zero. - How many players do we have that can play on these fields? Zero.
Alireza Talakoubnejad562,072 views • 8 months ago
Street rap battle between two Iranian female rappers (this is in Karaj)
Alireza Talakoubnejad46,926 views • 18 days ago
Adel Ferdowsipour's initial reaction to Iran's elimination: Clouds and wind and moon and sun and fate and the post and offsides all came together so that we were eliminated from the competition. But was our presence in a 48 team World Cup an accomplishment? We've previously said this - no. We have the history of being present in World Cups that Asia had just half a slot. And we went there and were present. Is that we were not able to be one of the 32 qualifying teams and get out of our group considered a defeat? A failure, a defeat, whatever we want to call it? Yes. It would be considered. That we did not establish a clear vision for the continuation of our country's football, that we do not have a young team, in six months the Asian Cup will be held, in four years the World Cup will be held, and we have not established any clear vision ... we've talked about this multiple times ... but there was no one listening. Our team came to these matches as one of the oldest teams and ultimately was eliminated from the competition. Did we have the necessary boldness to advance from our group? In my view - no. Could we have played better? Certainly yes. That we did not with the 4 points that they had repeatedly promised and said we will get at least 4 points and definitely advance and this will happen and that will happen ... is this considered a failure? Yes. But - Let's look at the other side of the issue too. Did we not have bad luck? We had a lot of bad luck! The events that happened, like the Austria - Algeria game was the pinnacle ... meaning the events of the games and things that happened lined up in a way that we ultimately do not advance. That in the last few games every single thing that shouldn't have happened did so one after another so we get eliminated ... did we have any luck in this angle? No. But couldn't we have had our fate in our own hands? Could we have played bolder? That we have drawn with Belgium, in a situation where many small teams have stopped big teams and gotten good results ... should it be considered an accomplishment? I don't know.
Alireza Talakoubnejad48,538 views • 21 days ago
Angry passengers in the Mashad airport who had received their boarding passes and turned in their luggage being told their flight to Bandar Abbas has been cancelled (due to the American attack on the city). Without a doubt the airline did the right thing & their safety was the most important thing. But this shows the reality of war. There are thousands of people who have had their flights cancelled, whether domestically or currently in Istanbul or Muscat (or about to leave Iran). This causes disruptions in their lives. For others like the fishermen who had their boats destroyed, it has ruined their livelihoods. And for some like the Artesh soldiers who were killed, it means their lives are gone. Their kids won't have fathers. Their wives will be widows. Even if they shoot back at Kuwait for the 40th time and later sit down and talk and sign a new piece of paper. That won't bring back the lives that were destroyed. Iran is not a cause. Iran is not a game of Civilization for you to larp on. It is a place, a home of 90 million people. Every time something like this happens it impacts them. Without a doubt if an enemy attacks, they must be resisted. But inviting those attacks out of a gamble for wanting more ... the stakes are very high. This situation of neither war nor peace from the past 12 months cannot last forever. Any "analysis" that says that is made by a moron. Iran needs stability. Iran needs peace. Perhaps it can take one more round of these, but this cannot last indefinitely.
Alireza Talakoubnejad24,882 views • 11 days ago
Celebrations in South Lebanon after Iran beats the US in the 1998 France World Cup
Alireza Talakoubnejad90,518 views • 1 month ago
