Please help Iran

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Iran is not a major MTN worry - Allan Gray

MTN fan Duncan Artus runs his slide...

Insights from Nando’s marketing chief into the revolution in his birthplace - and a message for MTN and other SA companies operating there.

Dear Alec

I am a South African - born in Iran and immigrated to SA with my immediate family in 1991 due to the Iranian regime's continued oppression of its people - I was 13.

My parents made the call to sacrifice their careers and way of life and leave Iran to give my sister and I the freedom of choice, speech and expression that they enjoyed during their youth.

It was a big sacrifice and considering what SA was going through during that period, "out of the frying pan and into the fire" could well have been our fate - luckily for us and millions of South Africans, the promise of true democracy prevailed in SA.

I know that you are aware of what is currently going on in Iran and the world leaders' response to it.

Sparked by what independent observers have largely labelled a fraudulent election, brave men and women are taking to the streets in total defiance of the theocratic and murderous government to face bullets, steel batons and tear-gas to, for the first time in 30 years, voice their demand for a government of their choice - for freedom.

They are being killed, arrested, tortured and their families harassed - the killed protesters families are being charged the equivalent of R25 000 "bullet fee" to collect the bodies of their loved ones and all the while, the protests are going on, lead by the maverick and the brave - by the ‘man and woman on the street' who have found their voice again.

As you know, free press does not exist in Iran. Journalists who dare to speak face certain detention, the full wrath of the quasi-law and eventually exile or worst. As a result, Iran has one of the largest number of bloggers and ‘citizen journalists' in the word. There is also a full foreign media ban in Iran as the government is under the illusion that this will keep the gross human rights violations away from the world's view.

Despite this, in what some media have perhaps prematurely called a revolution, ordinary people are taking amateur footage to show the world the regime's atrocities and are mobilising themselves via Twitter, Facebook and the other traditional clandestine means - the big media is now calling it a "cyber revolution".

I am writing this to ask you to support the plight of the Iranian people; progressive and peace loving people who aspire to participate fully in international debate and development. People who love song and poetry, expression, art equality and freedom - not the ambition of seeing "Israel wiped of the map" or to live in a country with nuclear arsenal as unfortunately portrayed by their non-elected leaders.

Iranians are not the bearded suicide bombers and turbaned clergy who use religion as an excuse to destabilise the world for the monetary benefit of a few - unfortunately their current regime is and hence so is the perception of the impressionable.

The Iranian people need to know that the world is watching them in this uprising and their mock regime's violent response to it. They need to know that their voices are being heard - and as their young fall and bleed to death on the pavements of Tehran, the world supports their fight.

The revolution is fuelled by heart, by guts and bravery, and the more citizens of the world show their support toward the Iranian people, the more we can fuel this movement from abroad and make the world leaders put pressure on the non-elected government of Iran.

I humbly ask that you to, where appropriate in your agenda, raise awareness to what is happening in Iran and rally South Africans to participate in this cyber revolution as millions of people across the world have done;

Follow the election on all international media channels - CNN, BBC, ALJAZEERA, SKY
Follow the events as they unfold on Twitter http://twitter.com/search?q=%23IranElection#search?q=%23IranElection or many other of their forums like Tehran, Neda, etc.
Show your support by adding a green overlay to your Twitter picture or Facebook profile http://tinyurl.com/m2u4dj
If you have a strong stomach, watch the most gut-wrenching video of Neda Agha Soltan who was shot in the heart. Neda's face has become an icon of this movement and her name a calling. Neda Means Song in Iranian. http://www.youtube.com/verify_age?&next_url=/watch%3Ffeature%3Drelated%26v%3DAC3wZIYrmsc. She is one of at least 17 people killed in the past 10 days and counting.
Talk about it, write about it.
Ask the government to respond to the gross human rights violations and support a free and fair election, like we had.
Wear green - it is a prominent colour of the Iranian flag and ironically symbolises FREEDOM. This uprising is known as the Green Wave in Iran.
Look at the last professional press pictures taken http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/06/a_troubled_week_in_iran.html

You might think that my naive list of actions or this plea for participation might be futile, but I assure you, the Iranian people are also watching the world.

You can make a difference. For justice and love of freedom.

* MTN's only official statement to date: "The MTN Group wishes to allay concerns precipitated by media reports that there has been a shutdown of telecommunication services in Iran, and that this could have a revenue impact on its operations in that country. These media reports are factually inaccurate. On the contrary, MTN's voice, SMS and Internet services are operational as normal in Iran."

* Sepanta Bagherpour is the marketing manager at Nando's