Iran

[flypanam]

Interesting article from Midnightsun, I found the last section on the tension in the protest movement between the on the ground protest movement and the emigre movement which have organised large marches in places like Toronto. Worth a read

Iran: A History of Violence and A Revolution in the Making

A conversation with Behnam Amini on the uprising in Iran, its historical roots, and its possible horizons.

www.midnightsunmag.ca

 

[zahir]

The first part of this discussion with Djene Rhys Bajalan gives an explanation of the Kurdish context in Iran, before heading off into a general critique of the US left's take on anti-imperialism.

 

[zahir]

Thread on some toxic political infighting in the Iranian diaspora:

 

[AmateurAgitator]

Unfortunately it seems to be a similar situation to Belarus - just can't overthrow the regime. Hope I'm wrong.

 

[zahir]

 

[teqniq]

Has stirring musical soundtrack which you may be inclined to mute. But the fact remains it looks very much like tumbleweed; nothing is open:

 

[zahir]

 

[hitmouse]

London demo today:


Also, the Final Straw interview with Iranian anarchists has now been transcribed:

https://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org/post/2022/10/09/feminist-uprising-in-iran-atlanta-radical-bookfair/#FeministUprisingInIran

Also available as a PDF:

https://ia801408.us.archive.org/20/items/tfsr20221009-atlbookfairzhinaamini/feminist-uprising-iran.pdf

https://ia801408.us.archive.org/20/items/tfsr20221009-atlbookfairzhinaamini/feminist-uprising-iran-zine.pdf

Some interesting points, including a reminder that every bullet, water cannon or tear gas canister fired by the Iran state is made somewhere and a lot of them will be made in Europe.

 

[not-bono-ever]

its got messy in Berlin back in 67 with anti Shah protests IIRC. that didn't end well and changed germany for decades. lets hope these protests go OK

 

[not-bono-ever]

How feminist are the protests in Iran? : The struggle for self-determination - Qantara.de

In their struggle for self-determination, Iranians are displaying a level of courage and cohesion we have not seen before. And this is why the protests sparked by Mahsa Amini’s violent death are feminist, writes Katajun Amirpur

en.qantara.de

bit of background the the scarf and women here.

 

[zahir]

eta:

 

[zahir]

The IRGC looking to create a distraction

 

[AmateurAgitator]

Some more anti-theocracy art

 

[zahir]

Iran’s fractured opposition begins to unify in support of protest movement

Discussions on forming a transitional government as Tehran regime faces its gravest challenge in years

www.independent.co.uk

 

[zahir]

A new trend on Iranian twitter

 

[agricola]

The IRGC looking to create a distraction

Isn't this part of the ongoing row between them and Baku about Armenia?

 

[zahir]

Isn't this part of the ongoing row between them and Baku about Armenia?

Yes, it's part of it.

https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-720371

Iran is expressing its concern to Azerbaijan about any changes in the border region by holding military drills in the area. Iranian regime media has emphasized this in the last several days, noting that Iran has moved its forces to the border region. According to the reports units of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps held a drill for three days, centered on the border strip of Ardabil and East Azerbaijan provinces of Iran, which border the countries of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Armenia. Iran is concerned that Azerbaijan wants to launch an attack on Armenia and cut the border between Iran and Armenia, which would disrupt a north-south trade route and ostensibly isolate Iran between Turkey and Azerbaijan by joining a land corridor from Ankara to Baku.

 

[zahir]

 

[zahir]

Thread on desegregating university cafeterias

 

[zahir]

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/10/iranian-protesters-in-their-own-words.html

We spoke to people in Iran who have risked their lives at protests from Saqqez to Mashhad (a religious center and Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi’s birthplace), Tehran to Sistan and Baluchistan, a region that witnessed a massacre in late September by security forces. Out of concern for their safety, they spoke on condition of anonymity, and our conversations took place over voice notes and chats set to expire. They spoke about what it’s been like on the streets over the past month and what has kept them going.

In most of the streets in the city center, people chant from their homes, blast music, and find each other. This is one way we create resistance. But the number of police is double the number of people in each neighborhood. I have never seen crowds start violence; it’s always the police. They have no idea what to do with the crowds. In Tehran, we haven’t experienced killings yet like in other places, because the cops are afraid of people filming and recording what they do. It’s clear that there is a lot of conflict within the police too. On multiple occasions, I’ve seen them get in arguments among themselves. If they see a group of mostly women or young kids protesting, there will be some officers who block the others from reaching them. We try to convince them to join us in solidarity. But there are plainclothes police, mostly on motorcycles, who are harder to identify. They are much more violent.

It’s not unusual to see girls wearing hijab among the protesting students. Girls with scarves and girls without scarves hold hands together and chant slogans demanding justice and freedom of choice to wear what they want. It is common to see women without scarves walking around the city. I saw a young girl without a scarf boldly pass in front of police on the street. A few meters away, some young Basijis ran after her. The girl continued walking slowly. When the Basijis approached her, she turned around and shouted, “What, what? Come on, kill me. Don’t you want that? Just like you did to Mahsa and Hadis?” All three of them stopped dead in their tracks, shock visible on their faces. They didn’t dare say another word.

It’s very important that all those people outside Iran watching us right now understand something about our slogan, “Woman, Life, Freedom.” They need to understand this slogan’s relationship to themselves. This is a critique of unequal power relations in all forms — of anyone who is stepping on your rights and limiting your freedom. This critique can be applied in every time and place. The worst thing that could happen would be if people in other countries look at us and see us as poor, oppressed women who are stuck fighting for rights like American and European women did a century ago — that they think we’re at the beginning of the road. People need to understand that our fight is shared with people all over the world including themselves.

 

[Crispy]

Is there any dissent among the ruling classes? It's rare for a government to be overridden without some inside help...

Or are they all dead or emigrated?

 

[teqniq]

Erm... What?

 

[zahir]

Erm... What?

Not so surprising really. From Borzou Daragahi:

Report by pro-govt media that an IRGC officer and a pro-regime Basiji paramilitary were gunned down in Zahedan, the scene of a massacre last month in which regime forces killed scores of unarmed civilians

 

[zahir]

 

[zahir]

 

[zahir]

 

[rubbershoes]

Iran’s fractured opposition begins to unify in support of protest movement

Discussions on forming a transitional government as Tehran regime faces its gravest challenge in years

www.independent.co.uk

At the demo on Saturday, Mrs Shoes picked up a sign that had the pre revolutionary flag on. I doubt that any in the opposition really want the Pahlavis back though

 

[zahir]

 

[zahir]

At the demo on Saturday, Mrs Shoes picked up a sign that had the pre revolutionary flag on. I doubt that any in the opposition really want the Pahlavis back though

There seems to be a lot of support for the monarchy in the US and Canadian diaspora. I don't think it translates into much support within Iran.

 

[zahir]

Is there any dissent among the ruling classes? It's rare for a government to be overridden without some inside help...

It may depend on what you consider to be the ruling classes. There are dissenting clerics and army and air force officers but I'm not sure they're anywhere near the levers of power. There seems to be criticism from within the IRGC of the role of the morality police in creating the crisis, but maybe with a view to changing the system to save the system.