Roxana Saberi

The New York Times
Iran President-Elect Wants to Ease Strains With U.S., but Sees No Direct Talks
June 17, 2013
By Thomas Erdbrink

President-elect Hassan Rowhani of Iran after speaking at a press conference in Teheran on Monday for the first time since his election victory.

In his first news conference after winning Friday’s presidential election promising more freedoms and better relations with the outside world, Mr. Rowhani called the issue of nonexistent relations between Iran and the United States “an old wound, which must be healed.”

By Daniel Arkin, Staff Writer, NBC News

Thousands of joyous Iranians flooded the streets of Tehran on Saturday night after centrist cleric Hassan Rowhani scored a stunning victory in a closely watched presidential election, winning 50.7 percent of some 36 million votes cast in a six-way race, according to the country’s interior ministry.

But many analysts say it remains to be seen if Rowhani, 64, will usher in a new era of sweeping democratic reforms or if he will capitulate to the hardline conservative doctrines of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.

This is a video of the opening of the Hope Concert for the People of Iran that took place in Berlin on Friday. I was honored to emcee the event and to perform this opening piece (“Remember to Fly,” a piano piece that I composed partially in prison in Iran by tapping my fingers on the wall of my cell). I was deeply moved by the orchestra’s accompaniment and the warmth of the Berlin audience. I dedicated this performance to the hundreds of prisoners of conscience in Iran who are being punished for peacefully exercising their basic rights. My thoughts … Read the rest

The New York Times
OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR
Reading Marx in Tehran
By MANSOUR OSANLOO

(Note: An op-ed on the current state of Iran’s economy, by Mansour Osanloo, a former president of the Tehran Bus Drivers Union who was imprisoned by the Iranian government from 2006 to 2011. Osanloo writes: “In the face of this economic crisis, none of the current candidates on the ballot has put forward a tangible economic plan that addresses workers’ concerns.”)

June 13, 2013

IRAN’S presidential election on June 14 will be neither free nor fair. The candidates on the ballot have been preselected in a politically motivated vetting … Read the rest

I was honored to have the opportunity to open the Hope Concert for the People of Iran in Berlin with a piano performance and this short speech (text is here) about human rights in Iran.

This event took place at the Velodrom in Berlin, Germany, before thousands of people supporting Iranians who are peacefully pursuing human rights.… Read the rest

Berlin, June 7, 2013
Text of the opening speech at the Hope Concert for the People of Iran
(The entire text is also available in فارسی / Farsi)

My name is Roxana Saberi, and I composed much of this piece in prison in Iran. I didn’t have a piano there, but in solitary confinement, I practiced by tapping my fingers on the wall of my cell.

I’m not a professional musician like the many talented artists you will hear tonight, but I wanted to share this piece with you, and to dedicate it to the hundreds of prisoners of conscience … Read the rest

International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran
June 10, 2013
(In Farsi)