Persian edition An interview with Elham Hoominfar To mark the fourth anniversary of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement (2022), also known as the Jina Revolution after Jina Mahsa Amini, we spoke with sociologist Elham Hoominfar about that movement and the mass protests and bloodshed of January 2026, which took place
Class Struggle in the Shadow of Currency Crisis and War Majid Maleki Mighani Persian edition Abstract This essay argues that, after the crisis unleashed by the Woman, Life, Freedom movement, the Islamic Republic made tactical retreats in the cultural sphere in an attempt to contain its crisis of legitimacy. At
"But I also wanted to write about death, and about an old Sufi tradition, the idea that one may choose the manner and even the timing of one's own death. The notion that a person might decide for themselves how to leave the world."
This article argues that operational effectiveness, and the relative scale of casualties and destruction, cannot and should not serve as a moral or legal standard for judging the legitimacy of military intervention aimed at changing a government.
A Radio Payam Conversation with Abdee Kalantari and Siyavash Shahabi.
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 how both internal politics and external narratives flatten complexity across Kurdistan and Iran.
Panahi’s latest film is a political black comedy with a mystery at its core. Its subject is both grim and peculiar: the enduring bond between torturer and victim in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Iran forces a question many Western-left debates avoid: are political rights truly universal? When repression abroad is endlessly contextualized rather than opposed, solidarity dissolves into geopolitical caution and internationalism loses its meaning.
Mourning dance represents a shift in how grief is embodied. Each step challenges fear; each rhythm asserts presence. Dancing bodies become living archives, carrying memory through motion and making forgetting impossible.
On 8–9 January 2026, nationwide protests in Iran culminated in one of the deadliest crackdowns in recent history. This essay explores how symbolic power, media framing, and distorted risk perception shaped a collective perceptual error.
“Woman, Life, Freedom” began as a plural uprising from Iran’s margins. Through media framing and nationalist reframing, its radical challenge to centralism was narrowed into a single narrative, turning unity into a vehicle for erasure.
The patriarchal logic of monarchy extends beyond dynastic succession. Once detached from the palace, it reappears at the national level, reorganizing political authority through paternal symbolism and demands for loyalty rather than popular consent.