Shora Esmailian refuses to abandon hope for freedom and self-determination in Iran

About this episode

Shora Esmailian discusses the complexities of the struggle for freedom and self-determination in Iran amidst regional conflict and imperialist ambitions.

Shora Esmailian is a journalist, author and lecturer based in Sweden. Her latest book is entitled Gaza: Att Spranga Ett Getto (2024). She is also the co-author, with Andreas Malm, of Iran on the Brink: Rising Workers and Threats of War (2007, Pluto Press) and Explosive Power in Iran: Workers’ Fight and War Threat (2005).In the wake of the United States and Israel illegally attacking Iran and sparking a regional conflagration that is dragging the world deeper into ecocidal warfare, Esmailian describes a liberatory alternative. From her position in the Iranian diaspora and her perspective as a journalist and social critic, Shora opens up a conversation about the irreducible complexity of the struggle. In Iran, there are groups on the left that occupy a diverse array of anti-imperialist positions; should they converge in the aftermath of this bombing campaign, they might emerge as a force that can reclaim the country from both the repression of the Islamic Republic and the violence of Western regimes who continue to seek control over the region.Esmailian makes it clear, too, that Israel is committed to destroying Iran because it sees it as the last remaining force that can counter…

People in this episode

Guest: Shora Esmailian

Topics covered

• freedom
• self-determination
• Iran
• anti-imperialism
• regional conflict
• journalism
• social criticism

Keywords

• Iran
• freedom
• self-determination
• anti-imperialism
• journalism
• regional conflict
• Israel
• Palestine

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Gaza: Att Spranga Ett Getto, Iran on the Brink: Rising Workers and Threats of War, Explosive Power in Iran: Workers’ Fight and War Threat

Places: Iran, Sweden, Palestine, United States, Israel

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