Selected Links & Sources
One of many sites explaining the festival of Naw Ruz, this site is very readable and entertaining, and has photographs:
https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/3/19/17138516/persian-new-year-nowruz-explained
There are innumerable books, websites, articles, and YouTube videos concerning Iran, ranging from Wikipedia-based information on every aspect of the country, its history and culture; from the mainstream and fact-based, to the controversial and radical. Online and print media churn out endless articles and I have availed myself of hundreds of these. For obvious reasons I cannot list them here.
For the purposes of writing Crimson Ink, the following is a small selection of the materials I used in my research and fact-checking. You may find them useful and they may pique further interest.
Books are being written all the time about Iran. Below is a small sample of those I used in the process of writing the Crimson Ink series. No doubt I will add more.
Media references to persecution and more:
These two provide a brief overview of European tribunals whose task was to review what transpired during the “Bloody Decade” of the 1980s:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJwrCL-kqzs
https://www.youtube.comwatch?v=MIj0OJvVW9k
The Chapter 17 interview of “Rana” is closely based on a YouTube interview. The young woman remains anonymous. The fictional “Rana” states that she consented to her interview for precisely the same reasons as the anonymous woman on YouTube. This same woman pleaded with viewers to tell her story, so I did. It is in Persian with subtitles.
https://www.iranhumanrights.org/2011/06/rape-and-torture-video-testimony/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dpQgBH37HM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMFVt219pto
Documentary on the Iran-Iraq war: This one is in 3 parts:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdO9h_5Nupk
Information on the Baha’i Institute for Higher Education (BIHE):
General information relating to the Baha’i Faith and its beliefs:
www.bahai.org This is the official website.
Some other useful links:
https://www.bic.org/focus-areas/situation-iranian-bahais/current-situation
https://iranpresswatch.org/post/category/yaran/
Interview with Nobel Prize winner and Human Rights lawyer Shirin Ebadi and statements by Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri regarding how the Baha’is should be treated. Montazeri defends their rights. Ebadi has mounted legal defense for the Baha’is. Both these people are Muslims.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqkzJOy_1WE
Some media and organizations:
Iran Human Rights Documentation Center: https://iranhrdc.org/
Justice for Iran: https://justice4iran.org/
Human Rights Watch: https://www.hrw.org/
Amnesty International: https://www.amnesty.org.uk/
Baha’i International Community: https://www.bic.org/
IranWire: https://iranwire.com/en/
