INTERVIEW WITH MEMBERS OF ANARCHIST FRONT, A COLLECTIVE SPREADING INFORMATION ABOUT EVENTS IN IRAN, AFGHANISTAN, AND TAJIKISTAN ~ Gabriel Fonten ~ The uprising in Iran has been ongoing for over a week. It is not only an economic protest, but also a practical revolt against the entire logic of state power. People have disrupted control of the streets, destroyed the symbols of repression, and stood against bullets. This is precisely anarchy in action: paralysis of the government machine from below, without the need for immediate replacement with new power. The regime responded with direct shooting, raids on hospitals and mass arrests, but the crackdown has failed so far. Sporadic and floating tactics (burning cars, breaking cameras and blocking dispatch routes) have moved power from the centre to the sidelines and created a space for real self-management: mass donation, hospital defense, and direct display of information without intermediaries. To find out more, we sent some questions to the Anarchist Front, a collective spreading information about events in Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan. How widespread is support for the strikes among the general population? Support for radical strikes and protests in Iran is extremely widespread. Out of Iran’s thirty-two provinces, only two or three have not participated in these strikes and protests. How would you characterise the current general strike in Iran? What caused the strike? At present, strikes and protests are unfolding simultaneously, and the situation is escalating rapidly. What began as a peaceful shutdown of Tehran’s Grand Bazaar by shopkeepers turned violent after security forces intervened. From there, protests quickly spread to cities across the country. At the heart of this unrest lies unbearable economic pressure and rampant inflation that has made everyday life impossible for large segments of society. The first strikes emerged among mobile phone sellers, driven by the chaos of fluctuating exchange rates and the soaring cost of imported goods. These protests are entirely spontaneous and self-organized. There is no leadership, no political faction directing them, and no central command issuing orders. This is anger rising directly from the ground. At the same time, the son of Iran’s former king is once again attempting to capitalize on the situation. Whenever protests erupt in Iran, he rushes to claim them as his own. While it is true that he has some supporters inside the country, the vast majority of his base resides abroad. Beyond royalists, decades of repression by the Islamic Republic have effectively destroyed the possibility of other organized opposition forces emerging inside the country. How are protests being organised and what groups are looking to benefit from them? This wave began with the closure of markets in response to the catastrophic collapse of the rial, extreme inflation, rising taxes, and the regime’s complete inability to manage the economic crisis. It rapidly transformed into accumulated rage against the entire structure of power. Slogans such as “Death to Khamenei” and “Basij, Sepah, ISIS — you are all the same” reflect the depth of this anger. The root causes are the total economic collapse of the regime, stemming from systemic corruption, massive military expenditures, and foreign sanctions. However, sanctions are merely an excuse the regime uses to justify repression. https://cdn.freedomnews.org.uk/news/2026/01/video_2026-01-03_18-52-56.mp4 Naziabad Organization is largely horizontal and decentralised: through social media networks, local calls by bazaar merchants, and the organic spread of street-level rage—without a central leader or guiding party. This is precisely its strength: genuine self-organisation by ordinary people against domination. However, this is where the danger lies. Exiled opposition groups—particularly royalists aligned with Reza Pahlavi—have entered the scene and are attempting to hijack this popular uprising. Through calls issued from abroad, they inject slogans like “Long Live the Shah” in an effort to steer protests toward the restoration of another hereditary dictatorship—one that previously crushed people through SAVAK and bloody repression, and now seeks to reclaim power through diplomatic smiles and empty promises. Beyond these groups, anarchists, segments of communists, parts of liberals, and republicans also support this movement and stand to benefit from the fall of the Islamic Republic. Meanwhile, sections of the Islamic Republic itself are attempting to portray this uprising as an internal reformist movement, in order to preserve the regime in a modified form. Could you introduce yourselves as a collective: where did you emerge from, what is your purpose, how are you organised? The Anarchist Front is the newest form of a path that began in 2009—a path marked by many rises and falls, from The Voice of Anarchism to the Federation of the Era of Anarchism. Today, with a renewed structure that brings together experienced comrades and new forces, we once again place emphasis on self-organisation and radical struggle—both in raising political awareness and in actively encouraging and supporting struggles on the ground. The Anarchist Front is founded on the principles of solidarity, anti-authoritarianism, and relentless resistance against all forms of domination. We do not seek to reform the existing order; we seek to destroy it—so that no power, no class, and no borders remain. Our struggle is rooted in the historical protests and resistance of people in the geographies of Iran and Afghanistan, while at the same time remaining deeply connected to the global anarchist movement. While our primary focus is on Iran and Afghanistan, our horizon goes far beyond borders. We strive for a world where freedom, equality, solidarity, and genuine mutual aid are realised—without any form of rule or exploitation. For us, anarchism is not merely a theory; it is a way of life, a mode of action, and the process of building a world free from power, repression, and lies. A lot of your coverage focuses on violence against women. Do you see this as part of the current strike? Today, women, students, and youth are actively present in the streets. They formed the core social body of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement. Therefore, yes—the current strikes are aligned with the demands of the Mahsa movement and with women’s rights struggles. We believe this movement, while preserving the spirit of Woman, Life, Freedom, has also created an opportunity for more passive and conservative segments of society to enter collective struggle against the Islamic Republic and unite with others. https://cdn.freedomnews.org.uk/news/2026/01/video_2026-01-03_18-45-51.mp4 Mourning procession for protester Ismail Qureshindi Our primary concern—beyond confronting the criminal Islamic Republic, which killed more than seven people in our geography just last night—is confronting royalist currents that have infiltrated the movement and are exploiting the situation. Their misogynistic tendencies are clearly visible in both their discourse and political practice. What is the state of anarchism in Iran and Afghanistan, and what challenges do activists face? Threats, summons, beatings, death threats, imprisonment, and sexual violence are realities anarchists have faced over the past two years and even before that. In the past five months alone, two of our comrades have been arrested and four others summoned. Conditions inside Iran are extremely dangerous for us. At present, one of our direct comrades from the Anarchist Front, Afshin Heyratian, is imprisoned in Evin Prison. Other anarchist comrades are imprisoned in prisons in Yazd Province. We hope that through struggle we can free our comrades and create conditions of safety for ourselves. Do you see a risk of foreign intervention in Iran? What would be the result? As mentioned earlier, royalists and supporters of Reza Pahlavi are deeply dependent on Western powers. Along with other sections of the opposition, they have created conditions in which Western governments—under the guise of helping the Iranian people—openly discuss military attacks or media intervention in Iran. Trump and Netanyahu have repeatedly threatened Iran with military action, particularly during moments of active protest. We take this opportunity to state our absolute and unconditional opposition to any military occupation or foreign intervention by Western states in Iran—at any level and in any form. Just as we were present during the twelve-day Iran–Israel conflict in the fields of reporting, mutual aid, and resistance inside Iran, we insist that if foreign intervention occurs, we have both the will and readiness to confront it. We are a local force, composed of horizontal and diverse networks of anarchist activists who previously organized together within the Federation of the Era of Anarchism. We are not primarily a militarist group. However, depending on future developments, we may adopt new positions and prepare ourselves accordingly. We do not view Iranian society as a whole as eager for foreign intervention. Finally, how can people overseas keep up to date with events in Iran and Afghanistan? We provide real-time reporting and organising in Persian. Our reporters are in direct contact and physically present in major Iranian cities. At the end of each day, the Anarchist Front’s news and journalism platform publishes a comprehensive daily report in Persian. In addition, we publish daily news in Italian, Spanish (Argentina), Arabic, English, and occasionally in German and Swedish. A platform also exists for comrades from non–Persian-speaking countries, including an international coordination group. We receive reports from around the world and act as an anarchist political force offering solidarity and support during ongoing crises. Regarding Afghanistan and Tajikistan: our comrades are present inside Afghanistan, and we also have comrades in Tajikistan. Similar to Iran, we engage in both news work and practical action in these regions. Our final demand is the continued awareness of free people of all tendencies across the world. We ask them not to turn their eyes away from the specific conditions of the Middle East and North Africa—especially Iran and Afghanistan—and to resist false information, misleading narratives, and grand narratives that erase society, its dynamics, and its demands from political analysis. We also call for solidarity and mutual cooperation. The post Iranian anarchists: Uprising is “genuine self-organisation by ordinary people” appeared first on Freedom News.

IT SEEMS LIKE IN THE YEAR 2024, GOVERNMENTS AND THE PEOPLE SUPPORTING THEM HAVE ACCOMPLISHED THE IMPOSSIBLE IN TERMS OF NORMALISING DEATH—BUT REFUSAL PERSISTS ~ Juju Alerta ~ With a wild demonstration to enliven the St Pauli district of Hamburg, people from different countries gathered in the city in mid-November to exchange stories and discussions about the Refusal of Military Service and Anti-Militarism. People from various countries with experience on the topic spoke about their particular situations. PALESTINE/ISRAEL Spokespeople from the Mesarvot organisation and the New Profile movement, both active in supporting networks for people refusing the mandatory military service in Israel shared their experiences and advice. They discussed their own experiences both of conscientious objection and of being drafted as women. One younger speaker (age 21) had to go to prison for 87 days for openly refusing to attend the army in 2022, they supported the suggestion of a public and online movement. The second spokesperson is of an older generation (age 42) who shares their own considerations and ideologies for the need for people to keep their refusal to join the army hidden and private. Both want the scary tales around the objection to breakout. People fall into pitfalls while being interviewed, just because they lack the right information, speakers want to harness their stories to inspire something achievable for everyone affected within a highly militarised society, especially one using automated technology for genocide. The Israel Defence Forces have a long history of discrimination when it comes to the treatment of conscientious objectors (ie. Religious, gender, ethnicity discrimination). GREECE In Greece, both the heroism of refusing conscription combined with invisibility, creates a social distance to the topic. Often objection is considered to be a private thing, not something belonging to a political movement. Drafted men could be undertaking tasks on migratory projects or its militarised borders. The Greek Army has a presence at the Red Sea and in the Middle East, as well as being strongly influenced by NATO bases on Greek territories, which might be the reason why it abstained from a vote calling for an immediate humanitarian truce between Israel and Hamas, on October 27 2023 at the UN General Assembly. Financial sanctions can affect individuals refusing to attend the army and evading the draft for up to 30 years. One example is that freelance workers can get “force-taxed”. In general, the economic penalties seem common in European territories, however it is relatively new in Greece compared to Germany. If someone in Greece needs some months to secure his finances and possessions from governmental involvement in the case of military service refusal, the same process would take Germany ten years to do due to  its erudite use of bureaucracy as an oppressive instrument. The society in Greece in general is in favour of the army, despite of it is being not such a strong force of a few million people, and even the leftist parties in Greece seem to not be opposed to it – the communist party being highly patriotic and not in favour of a revolutionary access to weapons. The physical training in the army itself in reality is secondary to patriotic brainwashing and lecturing on how to be a ‘proper man‘. SWITZERLAND Switzerland is a good example of an economical beneficiary of military technology exports, whilst also enjoying living in peace. Surprisingly, they too have mandatory military service. Objection to conscription costs citizens 3% of their annual income to military exemption tax, or the seizure of valuable items. Since the 13th century its general democratic voting system was decisively in favour of a military, because direct voting campaigns are usually highly financialised affairs, orchestrated by various lobbies. You also have an option (or a trap) of civil service to fall into, if you are an ideological objector. This is an increasingly common way of deterring objectors, by forcing them into longer drafts of civil service, than expected in the military service conscription. The military is seen of more use for internal affairs, so you could compare it to a highly economically and technologically developed, patriotic, guerrilla army, where they even have a saying: ”Switzerland doesn’t have an army, it is an army”. For instance, during the Cold War the army was distributing a manual titled Total Resistance, that the RAF considered using it (though eventually it proved not to be that useful to them). The Army’s main operations consist of securing the border, fighting social movements, and event security, such as at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meetings and the Zionist World Congress (in Basel, 2022). A curious fact is, that the Swiss Army can refuse to draft you, if it has profiled you as too subversive for the army. Since it is considered as too easy to escape the service, it is treated on an individual basis rather than a collective one. RUSSIA On November 17th, Russian anarchists organised a block for an anti-war demonstration in Berlin, carrying a banner reading “Death to the Empire”. The fight against the mobilisation in Russia is a fight against destruction of rights and the authoritarian-conservative politics of Putin during a state of war. Before, mobilisation to service in the army was largely avoided by people using any means necessary, as it was seen as an absurd, useless and meaningless time spent – according to a spokesperson, who avoided mobilisation via migration. The army was heavily corrupt, so it could be avoided for instance by buying fake medical documents. Russian society sees it as a cultural rite of passage for a man to experience violence and trauma, since the army’s nightmare is constituted through strong hierarchy and discrimination. Currently, the anti-war charity Go By The Forest helps a lot of deserters from Russia. The most strict conditions are found at the frontline, in Luhansk and Donetsk deserters get tortured and detained in illegal secret prisons. Inside the country itself the laws are becoming increasingly repressive for conscientious objectors. The war reproduces coloniality through the racialised mobilisation, mostly ethnic minorities are overwhelmingly sent to die. A big class difference is also observed within the poorer provinces who populate a majority of those drafted, as well as lower classes from the cities, which maintains the status quo. A common practice of the fascist paramilitary Wagner Group is the illegal mobilisation of prisoners through violent exploitation. The avoidance of the Russian army prompts existential questions for the affected since the start of the invasion on Ukraine. There are few possibilities for challenging Russian conscription, so the attacking of military railroads, fragging (coined by conscripted Americans who protested the Vietnam War soldiers by attacking army superiors) and migration became the only possible, but necessary reactions. Besides, sanctions led to nothing else in reality but a militarisation of economy, where new technological developments are being tested to practice. GERMANY Overall, the  demonstration in Hamburg acts as a good reminder that in Germany the situation, according to the organisers discussion of various indicators, could revert to the mandatory military service that existed prior to 2011. A strong stance is needed to challenge the increased financing and interest in the military. This situation demands the biggest resistance in Germany since 1945 and this weekend in Hamburg served to inform attendees about possible ways to act. It seemed that the organisers prepared the questions for the speakers in advance, and it was interesting to learn, how the patriarchy is shaping the significance of the military. In the future it would be encouraging to see a broader perspective and representation on feminist struggles related to warfare, and to widen the scope of activist participation from other countries. This could build upon the foundations of including different viewpoints, to garner a fruitful dialogue. Instead of enabling the normalisation of necropolitics, we should resist: there is no speculation on death, and there are no varying degrees of it. Speaking about war is speaking about death without any compromises. The deadliest of it could be the human next door, if they do not t care to oppose it. It is worth the fight against the globalised, capitalised, nationalised State war-machine on all fronts, even if the possibilities may vastly vary depending on the region in which the military operates. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Top photo: Russian-anarchists-in-exile march at anti-war demonstration on November 17th in Berlin. Photo: avtonom_org The post Report from anti-war congress in Hamburg appeared first on Freedom News.