Siyavash Shahabi

  • Femicide Crisis in Iran: Understanding the Urgent Need for Change

    Femicide Crisis in Iran: Understanding the Urgent Need for Change

    In just two days, two cases of femicide have shaken Iran. First, a lawyer murdered his journalist wife, Mansoureh Ghadiri Javi with brutal blows from a knife and dumbbell. In another case, another male lawyer killed his wife and son before ending his own life. According to the Iranian newspaper “Etemad”, from June 2021…

  • Debunking Reza Pahlavi’s Leadership Claims in Iran

    Debunking Reza Pahlavi’s Leadership Claims in Iran

    Iran stands at a crossroads, grappling with internal crises and external threats, yet Reza Pahlavi’s self-proclaimed leadership offers little more than a mirage. Declaring himself the “leader of the transition,” he has sidelined notions of democracy and pluralism in favor of an authoritarian vision, all under the guise of fulfilling a vague “call from…

  • Decolonization vs. Social Justice: Key Differences

    Decolonization vs. Social Justice: Key Differences

    Lately, you might have noticed the word “decolonization” popping up in conversations about social justice, education, and even mental health. It’s become a buzzword, a way to signal progressive thinking or a commitment to fairness. But at its core, decolonization isn’t about improvement or reform. It isn’t a metaphor to fit other goals or…

  • The Art of Survival in Iran’s Repressive Regime

    The Art of Survival in Iran’s Repressive Regime

    Life in Iran under a totalitarian regime is a relentless performance, a dance of endurance. It’s like Tehching Hsieh and Linda Montano’s “Art/Life: One Year Performance 1983–1984,” where they tied themselves together by an 8-foot rope, day after day. The rope held them close but kept them apart, bound by rules but divided by…

  • Iran’s Nuclear Tensions: A Deepening Crisis with the West

    Iran’s Nuclear Tensions: A Deepening Crisis with the West

    The nuclear standoff between Iran and the West is more than a diplomatic struggle—it is a tense, layered conflict that increasingly pushes toward a dangerous precipice. Iran’s relationship with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) exemplifies this tangled web of mistrust and maneuvering. The agency’s concerns over undeclared enriched uranium sites and Iran’s restricted…

  • The Face of Hate: How Islamic Regime Feeds on Anti-Semitic Lies

    The Face of Hate: How Islamic Regime Feeds on Anti-Semitic Lies

    Shariatmadari, a former interrogator from the 1980s and now the mouthpiece of Ali Khamenei, reflects a dark legacy in his editorial work. He distorts the global outrage over Palestinian suffering to propagate hateful narratives reminiscent of fascism. His recent statements accuse the German government of Zionist control and dismiss the Holocaust as a fabrication,…

  • My Favorite Cake: Cinema, Memory, and Resistance in Iran

    My Favorite Cake: Cinema, Memory, and Resistance in Iran

    For some time now, My Favorite Cake, directed by Maryam Moghadam and Behtash Sanaeeha, has been available to the public through some Telegram channels. After receiving attention in the 74th Berlin Film Festival’s cinema circles, audiences now have easy access to this film. My Favorite Cake draws power from its strong screenplay, memorable performances…

  • Iran-Israel Tensions: The Shadow of Military Strikes

    Iran-Israel Tensions: The Shadow of Military Strikes

    The escalating tensions between Iran and Israel have resulted in a complex situation with recent military actions unclarified by either side. Israel claims to have struck 20 targets deep within Iran, including a factory known for industrial machinery, while Iranian authorities dismiss these claims as false. The IRGC promotes a narrative of calm in…

  • Breaking Down Orientalist Views of Politics

    Breaking Down Orientalist Views of Politics

    Last October, I was talking with friends about the situation. Week after week, it became clear to me: they didn’t care about defending Palestine, or standing with oppressed people, or fighting against colonialism. It was only about fighting Israel, at any cost. I had a conversation with a Palestinian friend about why, as an…

  • The Anti-Colonial Dilemma: Israel and Palestinian Liberation

    The Anti-Colonial Dilemma: Israel and Palestinian Liberation

    What we face today on the global left is a fundamental issue, not just with ideology, but with clarity of purpose. There’s a fixation on the destruction of Israel, a vision rooted in an anti-Semitic worldview. It’s crucial to confront this head-on. The struggle for Palestinian liberation, over the past decades, has become entangled…

  • Iran on the Brink: War, Fascism, and the West’s Hypocrisy

    Iran on the Brink: War, Fascism, and the West’s Hypocrisy

    The people in the West, standing up for Palestine over the past year, are doing something important. It’s true, some of them also hold racist and Orientalist views, supporting Islamic fascism without realizing it. But for us Iranians, the fight against Islamic fascism and the struggle for Palestinian liberation are two separate matters. We…

  • The Story of a Nation? A Country? A People?

    The Story of a Nation? A Country? A People?

    I struggle to find the right title, perhaps because these words—nation, country, people—have lost their weight, their truth. For many of us, they are no longer symbols of pride or belonging. This isn’t just because I’ve wandered for over 12 years, moving from one place to another, but because the idea of a “nation”…