Who's story?

Well, the confusion in this country is anyone's story. Though I am the only one from my organization stationed in this country, my wings are clipped and what use is there for a correspondent who has to stay in the office and gather information where everybody can in a warm and safe environment all over the world through the internet!? It's true we're trying to gather information through our channels too, but these everyday events are just for filling up the news. For longer programs they can just take control in Tokyo and analyze everything through their channels... working in a warm and safe environment... this is where the dilemma is when you can't be in the streets being proud that you have the primary sources of information, and many information can just be picked up through YouTube and Twitter... I'm not at all satisfied by the way I'm working right now and only frustrations remain... I hope my broken wings would soon be fixed...

PS
My wife has gladly taken the burden of going out of this country to help us out with an important business task. She safely landed in Dubai and hopefully will return tomorrow. I'm very grateful that I have someone who I can trust to help us out! I hope she enjoys her brief stay there!

PPS
Without my wife at home... I had time to enjoy...


beer! but without alcohol...

Shaba!

We use this word when we see the normal world outside from jail... that's what I felt when I was able to see the central part of the city when I was able to attend a press conference at the foreign ministry and ride through the city...
The city looked normal except for several things... I talked about it on my live broadcast, but one thing I didn't talk about was the oppressive atmosphere I feel in the city now... It's making me gloomy and I regret it so much I have to stay here for at least another year or two!
There was another crowd of protesters in the square we had our live broadcast in February. There seemed to be clashes, but all we could do is hear that from witnesses...


everything looked normal... at least here...

PS
My wife cooked us...

something inside the pots...

curry rice! yeah!

Slowly uncovered

We had no idea how many were killed yesterday, and as the day went by, I thought the state media would not even release a clue. They did saying at least 10 were killed and more than a hundred injured.
It would be a lucky guess to say there's perhaps more casualties out there, but as I continuously say, there no way to confirm it!
Working on two live reports, the day went past so quickly. For two days in a row, I had to stay inside and read articles and blogs written by media and reformist supporters... There was breaking news that one of our foreign media collagues were told to leave the country in 24 hours. Will we get that call too!? Who knows... I might get lucky...

Decisive day!?

I'm not an Iranian and I can't sense how crucial the Leader's message to the people is. Could it be something like our Emperor's message during the second world war in our nation where it was a word of God that everybody had risked their lives for a "divine" cause. If it is, the protests should stop, but there's no indications that it will easily stop.
The Supreme Leader clearly warned that the protests should stop. He even hinted there could be bloodshed. The opposition has a mass demostration ready tomorrow and there's no clear sign of its cancellation. Are we going to see something we don't want to tomorrow?
I don't want to see these people killing each other, but now I think both sides see a "divine" cause in this, and who could stop either!? I don't think I can, so I have to stand put and report about what is going on... impartially!


in front of the University of Tehran


broadcast live!

Broadcasting frenzy!

I had three live broadcasts today... The death toll at yesterday's shooting has climbed to seven... They even announced the number on state media and it was very surprising that they even showed some footage!
Though I didn't go outside to cover anything, it was turmoil inside my office to prepare and talk about the breaking news updated as time goes by minute after minute!

PS
Our correspondent from Tokyo collapsed late last night... we had him go to the hospital first thing in the morning, and again I was very surprised I could have made the wrong mistake not to get him to one overnight... he seemed to have slept fine with some medication and after his treatment at the hospital, I finally felt relieved everything seemed to be fine... phew...

PPS
We had words from the authorities that we are banned to cover any material that is not permitted, especially the demonstration by the reformists... it's in fact a ban on the foreign media including us... I think we're in deep trouble!


this is how use things are censored!


I hope I can rest like you... or pretend I'm dead like you!

Bang bang!

They opened Pandora's box and now it's real turmoil heading our way! Gunshots have killed a protest participant and I could have risked my staff to get into major trouble! It could have been pure luck that it wasn't my staff who had been killed! I really have to be careful about my decisions as I'm in charge of their lives and not just about the broadcasting!
I was really happy to see their faces back in our office and I swore I have to think not twice but ten times before making decisions!

NO PICS TODAY...
HOW CAN I TAKE PICTURES...
IT'S TOO DANGEROUS TO DO ANYTHING!

Broadcasting time! But...

It was finally the date for our special reports about the election was going to be on the air. But I have to admit it was a rigid road to get here as what we had planned was coverage showing the incumbent and the challenger, perhaps in the middle of campaigning for the run-off election. As everybody knows, that's not the case, and even worse, there's unrest in the streets!
The President held his victory gathering and the reformists held a huge demonstration in the street that is very familiar to us... just around the corner from our office...
I have no idea where this thing will head... I'm sure it's not going to finish soon...


everything seemed normal in the city... which I found out later on that it was only at this moment that it seemed peaceful...

ELECTION DAY!

Time to vote for the people, and for me, time to get ready for broadcasting!
Overnight I had one live broadcast around 2:45AM and I had another one in the evening. I asked our coverage team from Tokyo to go out and film the people voting and I had to stay in my office... I just had time to go to a ballot station that was set at a school just about 30 meters from my office and I saw tons of people lining up waiting to cast their votes!

After I finished my broadcast, news came in that the voting time was to be extended... Well, they should vote as long as they want, but after that... it's time to see what their choice was... a hardliner or a moderate!



the two rivals were waiting patiently for the outcome... foo...

Live coverage day, but...

I was ready for live coverage and with some help from my wife, it went fairly well. I was already being requested to work on another proposal using the footage of the story that I'd done on the 24th. Since the story was an important one that I wanted to put my efforts in, I used most of my time late at night to write the proposal. I was getting really tired, but I just had to tell myself it's only 16 days till the election day.

PS
My wife bought a DVD... very cheap... only 1 Khomeini (=1 USD)... why is so cheap!?

obviously...

Time to rest... right!?

Waking up at around 6AM, it was time to finish the job. With my colleagues, we went off to the studio to finish my live coverage! It was the last one for the series: the 30th Anniversary of the Islamic Revolution...
I was so sleepy and I really wasn't satisfied with the quality of the work, but I was relieved everything was finished...

So I went out to finish some of the payments due...


going out to the exchange shop first!


oh, hello! an alien friend on the way!


a sunny and nice day!

And I took my colleagues out for lunch...
and my choice was of course...


meat!!

After my colleagues left the office, I once again fell asleep on the sofa of my office... Oh, I can really sleep tomorrow... right!?

Greatly relieved...

Mission complete... The fruit of our hard working two months was finally broadcasted... I also had the role of giving out a live coverage from the central square of Tehran along with a short video package in our prestige 30 minute documentary. I was expecting some trouble, but it happened two minutes before the live run! I lost the interruptible feedback (called IFB in media jargon) connected via my mobile phone and I had to go without it completely trusting the cue by my Japanese colleague talking to Tokyo with his mobile which became our lifeline...
Luckily the broadcast was finished in clean air and how alleviated I felt after I heard this from Tokyo! I had to be more cautious about preparing for these live coverages! I really thank God that it went fine as it was merely pure luck that it did not turn out to be a disaster. I also thanked God that the sun showed its face right before the live time. This was also a gift from God!
Motashakkeram!

Pics of the day...
It was still cloudy...

but good signs that we can see the sun coming out!

Just before the live coverage...

the sun came out... completely!

All I had to do was...

talk to the camera... believing in myself and my colleagues!

After the first phase... traps...

We were able to complete our first mission without any trouble as the live coverage was successful and my report was received quite well. I was thinking if the first phase goes well, all the other will. So I was happy that I could believe that, nothing more than me but for my colleagues, we would go through a successful path.
But I realized later on that I was being too optimistic! One of our colleagues fell into a trap and coping with it was very painstaking... Actually, we were not able to solve the problem and all I could pray it will tomorrow morning...
I can't forget... you never can be optimistic here, and it would be only after you finish the task, you can be relieved... I have to be very cautious... three more days!

Having a piece of cake before the live coverage...

yeah, it's going to be a piece of cake!

The popular place for live coverage!

here, before the famous spot!

Hello... I just finished my live report...

did you like it!?

PS
Former President Seyed Mohammad Khatami announced his run for the presidency in June... It seems to be a head to head between the active President and the former President... it would be nice if this would be the main focus in June, so it wouldn't be too complicated... well there still four months to go and let's not be too optimistic!

Mr. Khatami just before the announcement...

Another live in less than a week...

I woke up very early. 5AM in the morning and went down to see off my staff going out.
But I must confess I couldn't resist the dizziness and I went back to sleep again from around 6:30AM for another hour and a half. This really helped me to continue on through a harsh day.

It was the last sprut that really counted this time, unlike the live coverage nearly a week ago, but we managed to get the job done... I think...

After returning to the office, we went out to get some kyababs to reward our souls...

always great to have these!

It was a tough day, but how nice is it to have some company after the battle! Thank you for your presence!

Rushing out to wonderland!

I woke up at 6AM and finished recording my radio report and worked on my live coverage scripts. There was an international conference with Asian guests, but I had no time to cover it. I have to make decisions about which job is the priority... To be honest, I really was beginning to be a little skeptical about my trip to Dubai tonight that it may not be a real priority, but it was too late to reverse my decision, as there were so many important things waiting at the wonderland!

We went straight to the airport after my live coverage report.


saying good-bye to Milad tower... not focusing correctly... oops...

everybody was watching the soccer match between Iran and UAE! It would've been a challenge to go to Dubai if the Iranians had romped through their opponents, but it seems the game has ended in a tie! I saw the Japanese had scored first in their match against Qatar at Doha. Let's see how they've done after I reach Dubai!

Over the mountain!

As we say in Japan, I've managed to successfully go over the mountain and I should feel relieved... But I'm not... not at all...
There's too many mountains I can already see in front of me and they're not just humps but high and rugged ones that look really nasty!
So to be honest, when I was talking live at the studio today I was thinking about all the problems that lie ahead that I just wanted to finish the job quickly and go back to my office to prepare some documents I had to send to Tokyo...

It's a rare two day weekend from tomorrow, but I'm sure I won't get any rest with this situation but I'll try to be relaxed just a bit so I won't die from all of these troubles!

I went out to have some Shishlik with my colleague. They're a bit expensive, but who cares! Having good food is the best way to use money here after successfully going over one mountain!

this is one of the best I'd ever had!!

And for lunch...

a spaghetti our friend cooked for us!