Interviews with Iranian Opposition Leaders

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During March and April 2007, Mother Jones released interviews with Iranian opposition leaders. The interviews were conducted by journalist Reese Erlich, author of “The Iran Agenda: The Real Story of US Policy and the Middle East Crisis.”

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Ebrahim Yazdi: The Freedom Movement of Iran leader speaks about Iran’s nuclear ambitions and why he thinks economic sanctions are helping its hardliners. [AUDIO]

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Bashar al-Assad: The Syrian president speaks about the tense relations between United States, Syria, and Iran. [AUDIO] [TRANSCRIPT]

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Akbar Ganji: The journalist and author talks about his six years as a political prisoner, Iran’s nuclear program, and the future of the country. [AUDIO] [TRANSCRIPT]

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Shirin Ebadi: The Nobel Peace Prize winner talks about her fight for human rights in Iran. [AUDIO] [TRANSCRIPT]

Photos of Ebadi and Ganji by Reese Erlich. Photo of Yazdi by Mansour Nasiri (www.nasiriphotos.com). Please do not reproduce without permission.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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