Talk:Manshour Varasteh

membership in the MEK and NCRI

Hello. I was asked to shed light on this situation. Reading the history section, there seems to be some confusion about Mr. Varasteh's membership in MEK/NCRI. He is indeed a member, as he has himself said many times on numerous official NCRI TV broadcasts. He's on tape representing the group here and here in Persian, for example. I urge Pahlevun and Stefka Bulgaria to please resolve this and edit the article themselves. Thanks. Iranians (talk) 23:19, 19 November 2018 (UTC)

Seeing no movements, I'll add the two references to the article. Iranians (talk) 19:52, 25 November 2018 (UTC)

Stefka Bulgaria Just removed the above sources without explanation. The comment was "Not RS". First of all, this is the official TV broadcast for the NCRI, so it is reliable as to the question at hand. Second, even if you discount the source, the man is literally introducing himself as a spokesperson on camera. It's absurd to call his own words about his own status "unreliable".

Iranians (talk) 10:06, 20 February 2019 (UTC)

Stefka Bulgaria Again removed the above sources without explanation. I asked them specifically to enter the discussion here. Iranians (talk) 04:10, 17 June 2019 (UTC)

Notability tag

@ Pahlevun Could you specify why you believe the article may not meet Wikipedia's notability criteria? Thanks, Stefka Bulgaria (talk) 10:01, 14 June 2018 (UTC)

Sure. Because it does not meet any of the criteria mentioned in WP:PROF and the article is written in a way that resembles Wikipedia:Masking the lack of notability. Out of twelve sources used in the article, seven are for the books listed in "Publications" section. Pahlevun (talk) 16:08, 14 June 2018 (UTC)

If you don't believe it meets notability requirements, why not then just vote it for deletion? I think the article as is meets general requirements; don't see the point to leave the tag without either solving the problem or getting rid of the article. Stefka Bulgaria (talk) 18:30, 15 June 2018 (UTC)

There's a reason that the Template:Notability exists and it is very clear. Pahlevun (talk) 18:59, 15 June 2018 (UTC)

The article meets GNG. If you disagree, you can take to AfD. In the meantime, I'll remove the tag. Thanks. Stefka Bulgaria (talk) 21:53, 15 June 2018 (UTC)

Do not remove it, per WP:DETAG. Pahlevun (talk) 21:57, 15 June 2018 (UTC)

If you don't think the article is notable, why not take it to AfD? Stefka Bulgaria (talk) 22:03, 15 June 2018 (UTC)

Why don't you improve the article? Pahlevun (talk) 22:13, 15 June 2018 (UTC)

Again, I don't improve the article because I don't think it needs work to meet GNG. So I need to ask yet again, if you don't think the subect is notable, why don't you take it to AfD? (would you kindly answer this time?) Stefka Bulgaria (talk) 07:08, 16 June 2018 (UTC)

Because I don't think it meets WP:PROF and I do whatever I deem the appropriate action. Pahlevun (talk) 18:44, 28 June 2018 (UTC)

Others have asserted the subject is notable, and have contributed to it as well. The article passes basically notability guidelines, and if you disagree, you should take this to AfD (or fix the article). Stefka Bulgaria (talk) 01:02, 11 August 2018 (UTC)

I really did fix it, after I removed the sources that do not mention the subject, as well as the unsourced content. Pahlevun (talk) 21:00, 19 August 2018 (UTC)

ok, great. Removing the tag then. Stefka Bulgaria (talk) 02:57, 22 August 2018 (UTC)

I also agree there is a WP:N problem here. The entire article relies heavily on a single publisher's blurb (biased by definition). The source is Biteback Publishing It's only a single promotional paragraph for one of their authors. There's not even a picture. This is hardly authoritative. Please improve the sourcing for the notability. Iranians (talk) 23:25, 19 November 2018 (UTC)

Hi, Stefka Bulgaria. I see you've added a new citation for this. Thanks for being responsive. However, I don't believe it still meets WP:N. Please read that page, this is what it clearly states: "People are presumed notable if they have received significant coverage in multiple published secondary sources that are reliable, intellectually independent of each other, and independent of the subject". I deal with this a lot in context of Iranian academics. What we have now, is clearly inadequate. There are currently three citations for this in the article attesting to Mr. Varasteh. One is a blurb from his own publisher, one is a paper he co-authored in 1992 and the third is a list of "6 works" as indexed by WorldCat library system. None of them are actual evaluations of his contributions or importance. None are independent, as the criteria suggest. All three must be removed. As it is, I do not think this meets the criteria, but perhaps you can add more actual critical evaluations of this person? It needs more like a public interview or news article highlighting his expertise. Thank You.

Iranians (talk) 20:01, 20 November 2018 (UTC)

OK, seeing no changes, moving to place notability and tag myself.Iranians (talk) 19:49, 25 November 2018 (UTC)

"Serves as a member and spokesperson for the NCRI

I don't see Simay Azadi TV and shanzdahazar as being reliable sources for this claim. You are welcome to take to WP:RSN for verification. Please note that, as per WP:ONUS "the onus to achieve consensus for inclusion is on those seeking to include disputed content." Stefka Bulgaria (talk) 13:05, 18 June 2019 (UTC)

Dear Stefka, Thank You for replying. The "reliability" in this case is not a report made by these organizations. I agree with you that they are biased as they are owned and operated by the MEK, so certainly biased. However it is not these organizations but Mr. Varasteh himself who is the authority here, making the claim. Nobody is relying on MEK-TV for anything factual. The videos only demonstrate what Mr. Varasteh himself describes. That is all. Iranians (talk) 09:12, 19 June 2019 (UTC)

If you are so inclined, we could produce a screenshot of Mr. Varasteh on Simaye Azadi, and include it in the article to better illustrate the point. Iranians (talk) 09:14, 19 June 2019 (UTC)