From Equator Generations of organisers and dissidents have kept the Iranian struggle alive A few hours after I was born, my mother and I were
Tag: Iran
Greetings to all the workers and toilers throughout Iran. A few days ago, we received news that was both happy and sad. We learned that
Freedom of Choice The oppression of women in Iran remains one of the clearest expressions of the theocratic order established in 1979. The nationwide “Woman,
In the months during which Iran’s economy has been worn down by inflation, job insecurity, and the consequences of war and regional conflict, working-class women
Toward the Divine State From the beginning, anarchists suspected that Iran’s revolution might end not in freedom, but in clerical rule. Today, with the benefit
A recent letter published in Counterpunch, signed by individuals ranging from Ajamu Baraka to Vijay Prashad, proves a remarkable episode in authoritarian apologia from the
As women’s presence in state-sponsored nighttime rallies in Iran has increased during the war and even after the ceasefire, this presence has become not only
In the past week, the Islamic Republic executed at least 11 prisoners whose cases had been reported by human rights organizations and state media: Peyman
An international petition against the US-Israeli war on Iran, titled “A Declaration to the Conscience of Humanity” and signed by 175 “personalities” from 30 countries,
Opposition to US wars unites circles that claim to be opposed to one another. A tribune published in Counterpunch proposes six resolutions regarding the United
Eight weeks into Trump’s war with Iran, the origins of the Islamic Republic are worth revisiting. The regime now confronting Washington was born in the
Kurdistan is often reduced to a militarized myth, erasing society, class, and everyday life. This essay argues for restoring social reality at the center, showing
A Response to CounterPunch’s Declaration “Six Non-Negotiable Terms from International Scholars…to End the U.S. War on Iran,” and to the Political Framework That Made It
The Middle East will not be stabilized by threading one crisis at a time. It will only be stabilized by a framework comprehensive enough to
The near-exclusive focus of international opinion and the media on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict conceals a far broader and more systemic reality: a forest of internal
In an earlier essay, I argued that the Islamic Republic governs through the geopolitical alibi: the habit of recasting domestic repression as a foreign-made crisis,
One of the laziest clichés about Iran is the idea that a single, unified “people” are standing against a single, unified “regime.” This formula works
As American and Israeli bombs fall on Iran, a question long central to Iranian political life returns with new urgency: How did we reach this
On Wednesday, 11th March, 2026, along with 135 other nations, India co-sponsored a resolution of the United Nations Security Council which condemned Iran for attacking
The progressive foreign response has often privileged geopolitics and anti-American imperialism at the cost of the struggle for democracy in Iran. The 13th century Persian
In the following analysis, Somayeh Rostampour shows how the repression that the Iranian government has carried out to crush protests, the monarchist attempt to co-opt
From New Lines Magazine Iran helped the Assad regime crush unarmed protests with staggering violence starting 2011. Now, it has turned those same tactics on
I. What has happened since the United States and Israel launched the latest war on Iran? The United States and Israel started a new round
The US attacked Kharg, but it did not hit Iran’s oil export terminal there. That apparent contradiction may explain the nature of this war better
From Equator Watching Turkish TV this past week has been a strange experience. Since 28 February, pro- and anti-Erdoğan channels have largely suspended their political
A Left politics that instructs the Iranian feminist to defer her liberation to the requirements of the anti-Western imperial struggle is not offering her solidarity.
From Equator Before the bombs fell, I had started an archive of debates taking place inside Iran in the aftermath of the January protests and
From Boston Review Alex Shams: You have written extensively on sociopolitical transformations in the Middle East in recent decades, including the Arab Spring revolutions that
Let’s be blunt. Kidnapping, arresting, or killing a political figure of one country by another state is defined as illegal in international law, not because
The killing of Ali Khamenei, alongside a number of senior figures from the IRGC and the ruling apparatus, is an exceptional development in Iran’s current
The company in question still operates in Estonia and Jordan The internet shutdown during Iran’s protests of December 2025 into January 2026, the longest in
February 21, 2026, saw Iranian universities once again turn into arenas of protest, chanting, and confrontation. The first day of in-person classes after weeks of
Despite the Islamic Republic’s transformations since 1979, one governing reflex has remained: it rules through the language of external crisis—war and later supplemented by the
In the following interview, Palestine solidarity activists from the Chinese diaspora speak with Iranian activists in exile about the uprising that took place in Iran
From New Lines Magazine In 2018, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman described the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Muslim Brotherhood and jihadist organizations (such
A New Age of Protest in Iran. Interview with Chowra Makaremi and Amir Ahmadi Arian – 28 January 2026
The protests that began in Iran last month have been suppressed with a level of state violence not seen since the 1980s, when the Islamic
Recent discussions explain the visibility of pro-monarchy slogans through external forces such as Israel’s misinformation campaigns, satellite television, and foreign-funded media. By locating the explanation
Let us look at the claim of “foreign interference” by Mossad and the CIA in Iran’s protests not through simple denial, but through political and
I have been reading left analyses of Iran recently and there is this pattern that keeps appearing in many. Religion disappears. The theocratic structure of
With the protests that have broken out in Iran, one has seen all-too-typical reactions from those often referred to as tankies or campists. With the
Much of what Paria Rahimi writes in “Why the Left Is Failing Iranians: Against Campism” (Jan. 15) resonates strongly with the experience of Ukrainians. And
Since 28 December 2025, millions of Iranians have been fighting the Islamic dictatorship across the country. Protest actions have unfolded in hundreds of locations, spanning
From Red Mole The message arrived in a left WhatsApp group on January 6th, 2026. A member asked if anyone had “a source for what’s
The unrest is growing and now includes a Kurdish general strike and participation by the Baluch and Azeri ethnic minorities The latest wave of protests
Host Adam Lucente interviews a number of Al-Monitor journalists on the US removal of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, as they dive into how the action
Interview by Gabriel Fonten with members of Anarchist Front, a collective spreading information about events in Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan The uprising in Iran has been ongoing for
How do “stupidity” and “vulgarity” turn into political action? This isn’t abstract. I still remember a moment in 2004, during a friendly football match between
On 15 August 2025, the Taliban marked four years since retaking control of Afghanistan – a period defined by deepening authoritarianism, economic collapse, and international
Through the paradigmatic case of post-revolutionary Iran, this article argues critiques of power-laden human rights politics epitomised by Makau Mutua’s 2001 ‘Savages, Victims, and Saviors
An interview with Saladdin Ahmed Bahozde from the forthcoming issue of Historical Expertise. Interviewer: Yurii Latysh. Historical Expertise [HE]: Your book Fascism in the Middle
From Himal Southasian Nearly a million Afghan refugees have been deported from Iran in 2025 – many after brutal detention and abuse – to face
1) When I set out to write this report, even the title gave me pause. „Fleeing“—it wasn’t a word I wanted to use. But it’s
On this page we document some dissident and alternative views on the conflict from social movements in Iran and its region.
Reports from the past week on workers’ struggles and other protest movements. Produced and edited by: Hayat Almasi and Evin Rezaei, Workers Communist Party of
This is reposted from Libcom, published there as “Iranian feminists speak out”, and originally published in English by the Anarchist Communist Group. Editorial comments below
We are publishing this translation as part of a series documenting some dissident and alternative views on the conflict from social movements in Iran and
Nearly a year after the eruption of the Woman, Life, Freedom protests across Iran in September 2022, Sedigheh Vasmaghi, a renowned theologian, former politician and
It’s hard to write about something like this. Events are moving very quickly, and it’s difficult for us mere mortals to stay on top of
We, Iranians and Israelis, share grave concerns for the future of our countries and the region. Israel and Iran have been engaged in indirect conflict
From Journal Farsi, affiliated with the Worker-Communist Party of Iran, of which Hamid Takvaee is the leader. We are publishing this translation as part of a
From +972 Magazine A people whose entire existence depends solely on military might is destined to end up in the darkest corners of destruction, and
Following the 12-day war between Iran and Israel, the Islamic Republic has initiated a new wave of widespread repression. Under the guise of “national security”
Today, Tehran, Pyongyang and Beijing support the Kremlin’s war effort while it poses as anti-imperialist — but Iran, China, and Korea were once the prey
From Ill Will Traversing a century of revolution, counter-revolution, and regime change in Iran, Arya Zahedi traces out the social, political, and ideological tensions that
Life in Iran is not lived, it is performed. Every movement, every word, every breath is dictated by an invisible force, an unyielding presence that
As thousands of bodies are blown apart in Gaza and children starve to death in the city’s rubble-strewn streets, numerous groups are exploiting this suffering
In this episode, School of International Service professor Shadi Mokhtari joins Big World to discuss the history of protests in Iran, the unprecedented international reaction
The killing of Mahsa (Jina) Amini in Iran a year ago ignited massive protests by Iranians against the Islamic regime. But civil unrest has been
This article takes the assassination of Qasem Soleimani as a case study that manifests the schism between the realities of those in revolutionary struggle and
For dancing in the streetsFor being afraid of kissingFor my sister, your sister, our sistersFor changing old valuesFor the shame of povertyFor yearning for an
A “Letter Against US Imperialism” has been circulating in leftist circles. It views the protests in Iran in a reductionist manner and unequivocally rejects them.