Alex Shams

Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi | The dry and the wet burn together The war launched against Iran by the United States and Israel is a war of choice and of hubris. There is scarcely even...

Iran was at the negotiating table.

Instead, Trump and Israel chose this:

"Iran’s aim is not immediate victory but to raise the cost of the war to prohibitive levels.

If regime change is the declared objective, then compromise is not an option."

www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2026/ma...

My heart breaks for Iran

More than 1,000 people have been killed since the US and Israel started bombing

Millions are traumatized. No one is any freer

Iran After Khamenei An interview with sociologist Asef Bayat on the U.S.-Israeli war, democratic opposition to the Islamic Republic, and the country’s uncertain future.

“Only through autonomous and organized civic agency can Iranians safeguard their own future—and the future of their country—amid profound and uncertain transformation.”

Iranian sociologist Asef Bayat talks with @alexshams.bsky.social about the war, democratic resistance, and what may come next:

Iran After Khamenei An interview with sociologist Asef Bayat on the U.S.-Israeli war, democratic opposition to the Islamic Republic, and the country’s uncertain future.

www.bostonreview.net/articles/ira...

Superb interview with Asef Bayat:

‘Iran’s leftists are also frustrated with the Western left, which they believe mischaracterizes the Islamic Republic as “anti-imperialist” and overlooks the real struggles of Iranians fighting for dignity and democracy.’

I interviewed Asef Bayat about the Dey protests, the broader history of Iranian opposition to the Islamic Republic, the impact of foreign intervention and diaspora voices on the current political landscape, and possibilities for a democratic transition in Iran:

War on Iran and the Folly of Regime Change Essential reading from the BR archive.

The U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran mark a dramatic escalation of Trump’s belligerent foreign policy.

Essential reading from the BR archive on the folly of regime change, with Alexander B. Downes, Greg Grandin, Neta C. Crawford, @alexshams.bsky.social, @tparsi.bsky.social, Aslı Ü. Bâli & Aziz Rana:

Please stop saying the Iranian diaspora supports this war

Many of us oppose both Israel and Trump's unprovoked war AND the Islamic Republic

We are terrified for our loved ones in Iran cowering under the bombs

More than 700 Iranians have already died.

This war needs to end NOW

"Woman Life Freedom" doesn't mean "Bomb Iran"

A Society Exhausted by Repetition • EQUATOR A young Iranian weighs the protests in his country, and traces the line between hope and despair, in an essay delivered through a frail WhatsApp connection

Powerful letter from Tehran taking stock of the violence of the last weeks and the mood on the street:

"When politics lacks depth, spectacle rushes in. When history is erased, myth rushes in. When education fails, fantasy becomes governance."

www.equator.org/articles/teh...

Iran’s Protesters Are Caught Between State Repression and Foreign Intervention Both Trump and the Iranian government are treating Iranian protesters as political pawns.

"Iranians face a double bind between domestic oppression on one hand and foreign oppression on the other.

But that is not a reason to pity them.

It is a reason to honor their struggle and learn from it."

truthout.org/articles/ira...

Our Man for Tehran The U.S.- and Israel-backed campaign positioning Reza Pahlavi, son of the Shah, for regime change in Iran.

“Hardly anything could be more damaging to Iran’s pro-democracy movements than making this unpopular, deposed monarch with ties to Israel and U.S. neocons the face of opposition.”

@alexshams.bsky.social on Reza Pahlavi:

Our Man for Tehran The U.S.- and Israel-backed campaign positioning Reza Pahlavi, son of the Shah, for regime change in Iran.

“More surprising were cheers for the attacks heard from corners of the Iranian diaspora. While Netanyahu and Trump bombed Iran, dozens of prominent Iranian Americans waved Israel’s flag and pled for harder strikes.”

@alexshams.bsky.social on the political backdrop to calls for foreign intervention:

Iran's Protesters Are Caught Between State Repression and Foreign Intervention Both Trump and the Iranian government are treating Iranian protesters as political pawns.

"Iranians face a double bind between domestic oppression on one hand and foreign oppression on the other."

"Iranians deserve global solidarity."

"[W]e are all fighting despots and wannabe-despots in our own context."
#Iran #USA #Israel #Protest #Military

Kahrizak, 720×480 - Ajam Media Collective Blacking out communications and jamming signals have become tools of power worldwide, from Iran to Gaza and beyond. But blackouts do not erase events, they shape what can be proven, mourned, and acted...

"Blackout does not mean the screen is empty.

It has retreated behind walls, behind checkpoints, behind “authorized access.”

You do not stop seeing. You lose the right to see.

Somewhere in Tehran, a monitor stays on."

ajammc.com/2026/01/18/k...

Honored to make Boston Review's list of most-read pieces in 2025 with my profile of Reza Pahlavi, the son of an unpopular, deposed monarch giving cover to US and Israeli regime change operations for Iran:

www.bostonreview.net/articles/our...

Abandoned Legacy: The Left of Iran and Palestinians The genocide in Gaza has created new fault lines within the global Left. Friendships, families, relationships and solidarities have been cut through. For the Iranian Left, these fault lines have follo...

"The Iranian left sought to connect with Palestine to learn the tactics of urban warfare.

But they ended up living alongside Palestinians, forging emotional bonds, sharing meals, falling in love and ultimately fighting side by side."

www.versobooks.com/blogs/news/a...

Hidden in Plain Sight: Field Notes from Central Asia's Luli Communities - Ajam Media Collective The Luli, also known as the Jugi or Mugat, are a community that lives across Central Asia, part of the wider Roma and Domari diaspora. They are ubiquitous in public spaces yet excluded from national n...

The Luli are a Persian-speaking part of the Romani diaspora in Central Asia

Ubiquitous in public spaces, they are excluded from national narratives, paradoxically hypervisible and invisible

Frishta Qaderi shares from her research across Uzbekistan in Ajam's latest:

ajammc.com/2025/12/09/c...

Washington’s Gallery of Puppets From Venezuela to Iran, the United States can always find ambitious would-be leaders willing to advocate regime change. But they don’t have their countries’ best interests in mind.

"It should be immediately disqualifying for an aspiring leader to invite foreign attacks on the civilians that they are pretending to lead.

That is exactly what Machado and Pahlavi have done."

www.currentaffairs.org/news/washing...

mage: Fatima Joumaa/The Public Source Underground Networks of Solidarity From bread lines to aid networks, how Iranians resisted Israel's 12 days of bombardment. By Alex Shams

On June 13, 2025, Israel launched a surprise attack on Tehran. For 12 days, grassroots mutual aid networks helped evacuate students, deliver groceries, & more.

Alex Shams (@alexshams.bsky.social) spoke to Iranians who turned despair into solidarity.

🔗 thepublicsource.org/tehran-solid...

The Underground Networks that Defied Israel's War on Iran From bread lines to aid networks, how Iranians resisted Israel's 12 days of bombardment.

Read more from @alexshams.bsky.social about the underground networks that forged solidarity across Iran and beyond, defying Israel’s aggressions.
thepublicsource.org/tehran-solid...

Khak-e Hayat was a two-week research residency bringing together 14 artists, academics, and architects from Iran and Pakistan to explore the region’s shared ecological pasts and imagine alternative visions for a collective future.

Read on to learn more: ajammc.com/2025/12/03/a...

For Ajam's latest, Manar Heikal explores the history of her illustrious community - the Iranians of Cairo:

"You won’t find much about them in textbooks. There are no heritage signs, no archives, no plaques.

Our story was something quieter. More intimate."

Read it here:
ajammc.com/2025/09/28/i...

Ice stupas of the Ladakh desert: an ingenious solution to water scarcity – a picture essay Farmers in the northern Indian region used to rely on snow and glacier meltwater, but the climate crisis is disrupting the water cycle – which means new ways of storing water are needed

"Ice stupas are cone-shaped glaciers designed to store winter meltwater and release it during the growing season.

They are a practical solution for water scarcity, symbolizing the promise of community-led efforts to combat climate change challenges."

www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

Mexican congressional staffer resigns after TV comments about Charlie Kirk News network Milenio releases public apology after US deputy secretary of state threatens to revoke Mexican visas

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

The US crackdown on free speech has gone international

A Mexican congressional aide lost his job for comments about Kirk after pressure from the former US ambassador to Mexico

All to protect the legacy of a "free speech defender"

Absolutely dystopian

Opinion | I Was Supposed to Debate Charlie Kirk. Here’s What I Would Have Said.

"A foreign policy organized around punishing and killing our supposedly sworn enemies, diplomacy be damned, conveys the terrible message that we can only kill and maim our way to achieving the world we want to live in."

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/13/o...

‘We took the gloves off’: ex-IDF chief confirms Gaza casualties over 200,000 Retired general Herzi Halevi says ‘not once’ had legal advice constrained Israel’s military decisions in the strip

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

Shame on everyone who denied this was a genocide

"Reza Pahlavi, son of the former shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, told the Guardian in 2023 he was working with allies to draw up a charter of democratic principles for any new Iranian government to follow.

Sabeti worked as Pahlavi’s “security adviser."

After crafting quiet Florida life, Shah of Iran’s alleged ‘chief torturer’ must now face trial Parviz Sabeti crafted an anonymous new life for his family – but now he faces a $225m lawsuit for atrocities committed in prisons in Tehran and elsewhere

The Shah's chief torturer was hiding in plain sight in a Florida suburb.

Until 2023, when his daughter posted a picture of him depicting him as a freedom fighter - and ignited a firestorm among Iranians worldwide.

The crazy story of Parviz Sabeti:

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...