Interview with a member of the Union of Anarchists of Iran and Afghanistan

We are used to seeing anarchism as a purely Western phenomenon. Rebellions, riots and uprisings further east are more associated with Islamists than anti-authoritarian ideas. All this generates a number of stereotypes about the inhabitants of these regions. However, it turns out that groups of anarchists exist even where American bombs fall and that people are executed for Facebook posts. Pramen interviewed the Union of Anarchists of Iran and Afghanistan.
Your group is called the Union of Anarchists of Iran and Afghanistan. What motivated you to join forces in both countries? Geographic proximity ? No language barrier? Transparency of borders? Common history?
Since anarchism leads to positions against borders and states, in the case of Iran and Afghanistan, it is important to remember that these are only names, the names of two regions. We do not justify the existence of borders and states, and we want our revolutionary demands to be universal and not related to any particular area. In general, the main reason is that comrades speak the same language and cooperate within both regions.
We know little about Iran and Afghanistan in Eastern Europe [and West!]. Public opinion is shaped by mainstream media. The main speech on Iran is the nuclear program, sanctions and periodic revolts. For Afghanistan, it’s war and drug trafficking. But in reality, we know very little about how workers live in these countries. Can you tell us a little more about the socio-political realities?
For Iran and Afghanistan, the anarchist movement is new and evolving. In recent years, more and more young people have become anarchists. In addition, feminist, anti-capitalist, environmentalist, antispecist movements, labor movements, student movements and refugee-related movements have increased considerably. Only the anti-fascist movement remains very weak.
There is no great anarchist movement in Afghanistan, but anarchism is also developing there. Religion and patriarchy are still a problem in Afghanistan. The same problems exist in Iran, because the Islamic Republic sees as its mission to spread the structures of oppression, but there is a part of the society which opposes it voluntarily. The Islamic Republic defends reactionary religious traditions, but there are people who oppose it and oppose state propaganda.
How did an anarchist movement emerge in Iran and Afghanistan and what are its roots?
The first anarchist publication in Farsi was made 42 years ago in the diaspora. In 1977, two years before the reign of the Islamic Republic of Iran, there were several anarchist publications outside Iran, which were distributed for several years. But since they were only published abroad, they had no influence on the events in Iran. This lasted until anarchist students returned to university in 2007. Nine years later, we organized ourselves abroad to post our information on blogs, Facebook and other sources. . Five years ago, three anarchist groups, one in Iran, one in Afghanistan and “Asr Anarshism” (comrades from the Iranian and Afghan diaspora) created the Anarchist Union of Iran and Afghanistan. Shortly after,
Tell us exactly about your group. Your activities, your plans, your organizational structure and, of course, your experience in the fight against repression.
One of our campaigns involves Soheil Arabi, an anarchist prisoner initially sentenced to death for Facebook posts [“insulting the Prophet”]. He has been in prison since 2013. He was first sentenced to death, then finally to three years in prison in 2014, after which, in 2015, his sentence was re-examined and commuted to two years in prison. Soheil should have been released last year, but he is still in prison and has gone on several hunger strikes, which indicates a severe crackdown on him. The Union of Anarchists of Iran and Afghanistan has published a five-part magazine called The Suffering and Memory of Anarchists in Iranwhich contains some serious lessons about our struggle. We also have 44 pages on social media. For this reason, many of our anarchist comrades in the Union have been imprisoned and tortured for their activity and struggle. Of course, our activity in Iran and Afghanistan is not public, and that’s why we can not name everything we do. But Iranian comrades are active in all liberation movements in Iran. And, like everyone else, when they participate in demonstrations, they are persecuted, imprisoned and tortured. In most cases, the regime does not know they are anarchists.
Your region is portrayed in the media as a region of incessant ethnic and religious conflict. What is your position on Islam and Christianity? Are there any believers among you?
The Middle East is not the only region suffering from ethnic, economic and religious problems. But the abundance of oil in the region means that states fuel these differences. We are against all religions, including Islam. Currently, the most important tool for solving these problems will be to pay attention to the self-organization of our communities, which we do intensively. One of the most important problems for Iran and Afghanistan is the desertification of the territories, the lack of water. In forty years, the Islamic Republic of Iran has caused irreparable damage to the environment, and many lakes and rivers have dried up. Only 1.8% of Iran is still in its natural state and does not experience an ecological crisis.
Maybe you would like to add something else?
We would like to thank you for this interview. By the way, there is an anarchist union in nine other countries, except Afghanistan and Iran. A Moroccan comrade works with us and publishes articles in Arabic and Farsi on the Asr Anarshism website. We work with all languages ​​in general.
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