What Iranians Want by Arash Azizi

The first major book on the new Iranian revolution

On Tuesday 13 September 2022, Iran’s police forces brutally beat Mahsa Amini, only 22 years old. By Friday she is dead. By Sunday, women have taken to the streets across Iran, setting their headscarves on fire and cursing the Supreme Leader. Months later, workers down their tools and businesses close. The battle-cry everywhere: Women, Life, Freedom.

This isn’t a passing protest wave – this is a revolution. Arash Azizi guides us through Iran ablaze, history being made in real time. From an International Women’s Day celebrated inside Iran’s most notorious prison to mass strikes in Kurdistan, ordinary Iranians are risking everything to bring down the regime. One year later, one thing’s clear: no Supreme Leader can turn the clock back. A different Iran is within sight; Azizi shows us what it might look like.

Arash Azizi is a historian and the author of The Shadow Commander: Soleimani, the US, and Iran’s Global Ambitions. He has written for numerous publications, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Newsweek, New Lines Magazine, Toronto Star and Jacobin, and several of his book-length translations have appeared in Iran and elsewhere. He lives in New York City. @arash_tehran