A professor with the Department of Political Science at Springfield College in Mobile, Alabama, specializing in Iranian studies, stated during a telephone interview that Omid was a cultural publication which specialized in literature and in the arts in general. However, some of the publication's articles have political overtones (30 Oct. 1996). This newspaper was founded after the 1979 revolution and was shut down twice by the Iranian authorities (ibid.).

The attached 5 June 1995 article from The Independent refers to the shut down in 1995 of Omid following the publication of an article written by Ahmed Khoimeny which criticized the Islamic Republic. Additional information on the above-mentioned topic could not be found among the sources consulted by the DIRB.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Reference

Professor With the Department of Political Science at Springfield College in Mobile, Alabama, specializing in Iranian studies. 30 October 1996. Telephone interview.

Attachment

The Independent [London]. 5 June 1995. Robert Fisk. "Love the Revolution, Shame the Reality; Iran's Public Enemy Number One Is no Longer Salman Rushdie or Even that 'Great Satan', America. Now the Battle is with Inflation and Corruption." (NEXIS)

Additional Sources Consulted

Written sources:

Abrahamian, Ervand. 1989. Radical Islam: The Iranian Mojahedin. London: I.B. Tauris.

Benn's Media 1996. 1996. Vol. 3: World. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Miller Freeman Technical Ltd.

Directory of Little Magazines and Small Presses. 1996. Edited by Len Fulton. Paradise, Calif.: Dustbooks.

The Europa World Year Book. 1995. London: Europa Publications Limited.

Frémy, Dominique and Michèle. Quid 1996. Paris; Éditions Robert Laffont.

Hiro, Dilip. 1987. Iran Under the Ayatollahs. London: Routledge.

Human Rights Watch (HRW). August 1993. Guardian of Thoughts: Limits on Freedom of Expression in Iran. New York: Human Rights Watch.

Iran: A Country Study. 1987. Edited by Helen Chapin Metz. Washington, DC: Secretary of the Army.

Iran: Political Culture in the IslamicRepublic. 1992. Edited by Samik K. Farsoun and Mehrdad Mashayekhi. London: Routledge.

Iran: A Travel Survival Kit. 1992. Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia: Lonely Planet Publications.

Moaddel, Mansour. 1993. Class, Politics, and Ideology in the Iranian Revolution. New York: Columbia University Press.

Observatoire de l'Information. 1989. L'information dans le Monde. Paris: Éditions du Seuil.

Reporters sans Frontières. 1994. 1994 Report. London: John Libbey.

Shi'ism, Resistance, and Revolution. 1987. Edited by Martin Kramer. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press.

Ulrich's International Periodical Directory 1996. 1996. New Providence, New Jersey: R.R. Bowker.

World Media Review: A Comprehensive Reference Guide. 1991. Edited by Harry Drost. Harlow, Essex: Longman UK.

Zabigh, Seperh. The Iranian Military in Revolution and War. London: Routledge.

Oral sources:

One additional oral source was contacted in searching information for this Response to an Information Request.