A-Infos (en) Italy, FDCA, Cantiere #43 - Iranian Anarchists: "We continue to organize and resist" - Gabriel Fonten interviews the Anarchist Front (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

When you last spoke with Freedom, protests in Iran were rapidly 
spreading and intensifying, but repression was also increasing. Can you 
explain what has happened since then and what your collective has done? 
---- Since our last interview, the situation in Iran has changed 
violently and unprecedentedly. Widespread protests in many cities have 
been met with severe repression. Security forces have attacked 
protesters using live ammunition; thousands have been killed or injured, 
and tens of thousands arrested. A tense security climate has spread 
across the country.
There are also reports and documented evidence indicating that, under 
current wartime conditions, some detainees are being held in locations 
exposed to airstrikes and are effectively being used as human shields.
In the midst of this situation, before the movement had a chance to 
regroup, another development occurred: on February 28, 2026, large-scale 
military strikes by the United States and Israel against Iran began, 
hitting hundreds of targets across the country. Several senior 
commanders and political figures of the Islamic Republic were killed in 
these attacks, and the country is now in a state of war.
The Islamic Republic's power structure is facing a serious crisis, but 
the country's political future remains uncertain and contested.
US and Israeli forces have targeted numerous sites in Iran, and in these 
attacks, not only military targets but also civilians have been killed. 
At the same time, the Islamic Republic has used its missile capabilities 
to strike targets in the region.
These clashes endanger the lives of millions of people across the 
region, and hundreds of civilians have lost their lives so far. The 
region's historical experience also shows that foreign intervention has 
rarely led to real freedom and has often produced new forms of 
domination, instability, and geopolitical competition.
Under these conditions, our activities as anarchists have continued. We 
have sought to prevent these voices from being silenced in the midst of 
repression and war by documenting events, publishing statements, 
maintaining international solidarity networks, and broadcasting the 
voices of workers, women, and various sectors of society.
At the same time, we have placed particular emphasis on broadening 
discussions on self-organization and horizontal organizing in 
neighborhoods, workplaces, and universities, and connecting these nuclei 
with broader networks of social solidarity.
We believe that without such social bases, every wave of protest will 
remain vulnerable to state repression.
Have people managed to defend themselves from the repression they have 
experienced?
In many cases, people have sought to defend themselves in a variety of 
ways: from creating solidarity networks to care for the wounded and 
assist the families of detainees, to various forms of resistance in the 
streets. However, we must be realistic: the Islamic Republic's 
repressive apparatus is extremely vast and highly organized, which has 
made collective defense difficult.
Under these conditions, people have developed methods such as rapidly 
dispersing into the streets, organizing anonymously, and supporting each 
other within neighborhoods. In some regions, such as Kurdistan and 
Baluchistan, where there is a longer history of social resistance, local 
communities have in some cases been better able to protect themselves. 
In large cities, however, repression has been extremely harsh.
The most vulnerable group remains political prisoners, particularly 
those arrested during recent protests, held in extremely dangerous 
conditions and still facing the threat of heavy sentences or even execution.
The experience of this period shows that local social solidarity 
networks can play an important role in collective defense and supporting 
resistance.
When we last interviewed the Anarchist Front, the Iranian government had 
just completely blocked the internet. Have there been significant 
changes in your ability to communicate and access the internet since 
then? Have people managed to circumvent these restrictions?

The Iranian government continues to use internet blocks or restrictions 
as one of its main tools of repression. In recent years, whenever 
internet access has been widely disrupted, it has almost always 
coincided with violent crackdowns and the direct use of firearms against 
protesters.
With the outbreak of war, internet blackouts were again implemented on a 
large scale, depriving millions of people of online communication. Even 
before the war, during the recent protests, internet restrictions had 
become more severe and prolonged than in the past, interrupting 
communication between activists for weeks.
However, people have acquired considerable experience and skill in 
circumventing these restrictions. Tools such as the V2Ray protocols and 
applications like Psiphon and Lantern are widely used, and whenever a 
connection is available, Telegram remains one of the most important 
communication platforms.
Satellite internet has also become important for some activists, 
although access remains limited.
At the same time, the experience of recent years has shown that no 
social movement can rely solely on the internet. The true foundation of 
any social movement is built through direct relationships, mutual trust, 
and real connections between people.
You warned against the risk of monarchists (who represented a small 
minority in the protests) trying to use the movement as a springboard 
for their own political project. To what extent do you think they were 
successful?
Royalist factions have attempted to present themselves as the only 
political alternative, using media platforms under their control and 
with the support of some foreign governments. Reza Pahlavi and his 
supporters have actively attempted to present themselves as a 
transitional government and have received support from some 
Persian-language media outlets and some Western governments.
However, the actual social base of this movement within Iran is much 
more limited than its media presence suggests. Many of the people who 
participated in the protests took to the streets against all forms of 
authoritarianism and do not see the return of the monarchy as a solution.
In reality, a large segment of Iranian society understands very well 
that replacing one form of authoritarianism with another is not a 
solution. Therefore, we continue to emphasize that the future of freedom 
in Iran lies neither in the restoration of the monarchy nor in the 
continuation of other authoritarian structures, but in social 
self-government and democratic forms of social organization.
From our perspective, the liberation of the Iranian people cannot be 
the result of projects imposed by foreign powers. Freedom can only 
emerge from the struggle and will of the people themselves, and turning 
social movements into instruments of interstate rivalries inevitably 
ends up harming society.
Is there anything else you think our readers should know about the 
situation in Iran? And are there ways they can offer support?
It's important to understand that the people of Iran are not simply 
passive victims of this war. Within Iranian society, many social 
movements exist: workers, women, students, ethnic communities, and 
anarchist activists who continue to resist and organize under extremely 
difficult conditions.
Iranian society is complex, multiethnic, and dynamic, and the struggle 
for freedom continues in many forms. What matters most is international 
solidarity among popular movements, not support for state projects or 
top-down solutions.
Readers outside Iran can play an important role by amplifying and 
translating independent voices, organizing solidarity initiatives, and 
helping to make social struggles in Iran more visible. The more these 
voices are heard, the harder it will be to silence them.

We are here. We continue to organize and resist.

Neither the Mullahs nor the Shah!
Woman! - Life! - Freedom!
This article was published on the Freedom website on March 10, 2026 
(https://freedomnews.org.uk/2026/03/10/iranian-anarchists-we-continue-to-organise-and-resist/).

https://alternativalibertaria.fdca.it/wpAL/
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