|
In the News |
|
RICHMOND, VA WOMAN EMBARKS AS CIVILIAN AMBASSADOR TO IRAN June 28, 2008 Wendy Boggs, Adjunct Faculty in Virginia Commonwealth University’s Department of Gerontology, leaves Tuesday, August 5th for a 12-day fact-finding and friendship mission to Iran. She will be part of a peace delegation organized by the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), the oldest and largest interfaith peace organization in the United States. This will be the eighth such delegation FOR has sponsored to Iran. Ms. Boggs and other delegates will learn firsthand about Iran, even as tensions between the United States and Iran continue to rise amidst threats of new sanctions and rumors of military intervention in response to Iran’s nuclear program. The delegation will provide an opportunity for the citizens of both countries to exchange ideas about peaceful alternatives to the standoff between their governments and to build concrete people-to-people relationships. In the long term, FOR’s Iranian Civilian Diplomacy Initiative goals are: (1) connect peace constituencies in the U.S. and Iran; (2) broaden their understanding of each other; and (3) mobilize their advocacy for peaceful, proactive alternatives to current confrontational policies by both countries. Explaining her participation in the August delegation, Ms. Boggs states, “Peaceful relations begin with honest and open dialogue between people, as well as governments; it is easy to pass judgment, as well as initiate war, on a people you do not know. My hope is to help prevent a future war with Iran and to show that there are both peace-loving Americans and Iranians.” While in Iran, the civilian diplomats will visit cultural and historic centers in Tehran (the contemporary capital), Qom (world center of Shi’a theology), Isfahan (legendary capital of medieval Persia), and Shiraz (jewel of classical Islamic culture, as well as the seat of Iran’s ancient pre-Islamic civilization). The group will hold meetings with educators and students, politicians, artists, media representatives, and Muslim religious leaders, as well as members of the minority Christian, Jewish, and Zoroastrian communities. The delegation’s reports will be published on FOR’s blog, www.forpeace.net, and background information about FOR’s Iran program can be found online at: www.forusa.org/programs/iran.
Dr. Kaveh Ofogh, Chief Physician for the Southwest Virginia Regional Jail Authority was featured on the front page of Bristol Herald Courier on Sunday August 14th, 2005 explaining the dangers of prescription drug abuse.
Dr. Tourage Rafeei and his Center for Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine has received the national award for the best Physical Therapy Practice. The news magazine “Advance for Directors in Rehabilitation” in its vol. 14 issue11 on November 1st, 2005 has recognized Dr. Rafeei’s clinic as “Simply the Best” in Physical Therapy Practice. Please click here to read the full article.
Iranian Artist Visited Richmond: Farhad Moshiri, a well respected Iranian artist visited Richmond and gave a lecture at VCU. Click here to read about it. |
|
Central Virginia Iranian American Society |
|
Promoting and Appreciating Persian Culture |
