What Iranians Want: Women, Life, Freedom

by Arash Azizi

The first major book on the new Iranian revolution

On Tuesday 13 September 2022, all Mahsa Amini has planned is a day shopping in Tehran. Her birthday is next week. But she is arrested as she comes out of the subway – the Guidance Patrol deem her hijab inadequate. On Friday she is pronounced 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 Women, Life, Freedom.

This isn’t a passing protest wave; something has changed irrevocably. 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 taking risks to fight for a better future. Even as the regime spills blood in retaliation, Iranians have not given up. Today one thing’s no Supreme Leader can turn the clock back. A different Iran is within sight; Azizi shows us what it might look like.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, History, Iran, Middle East, Audiobook

256 pages, Hardcover

Published February 13, 2024

About the author

I write and flaneur. I live in New York.

نویسنده، مترجم، فلانور و پژوهشگر تاریخ. مقیم نیویورک.

Reviews

[Kate Vane · Rating 4 out of 5]

What Iranians Want provides a comprehensive account of the many protest movements against the Iranian government. Taking its starting point the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022 and the anti-hijab protests it sparked, it examines the decades of campaigns by feminists. There are chapters on workers, environmentalists, media and culture and insights into the sometimes surprising positions of the regime on foreign policy and the protests against them.

What Iranians Want is an accessible and concise read. The stories are inspiring, both on an individual level and in showing the breadth and depth of opposition (I was particularly moved by the women who came together to celebrate International Women’s Day inside prison).

As someone who doesn’t know too much about Iran, I at times felt I would have liked less detail and more scene-setting (call me superficial, but more of a story). For example, Azizi uses short-hand terms such as reformist and hardline to describe political figures, without expanding on what they mean in this context.

I was also hoping for more analysis. How are the Iranian people going to move from protest to political change? The various groups each have their own demands, beyond the call “Women, life, freedom”. How will they work together (or not)?

I think What Iranians Want would be most useful for people who are already familiar with Iranian politics and society, who want the granular detail of the history of the different movements and their impact today.
*
Copy from NetGalley

[Mansoor · Rating 2 out of 5]

هرچند نویسنده تا خرتناق چپ و چوله است، فصل مربوط به سارینا اسماعیل‌زاده نسبتا خوب بود
.....
"When Michel Foucault, the celebrated French philosopher, wrote about his admiration for Khomeini and the movement in Iran, an Iranian woman named Atoussa H. called him out in a public letter. ‘Everywhere outside Iran, Islam serves as a cover for feudal or pseudo-revolutionary oppression,’ she wrote. Foucault suggested she failed to approach Islam with even ‘a minimum of intelligence’. Meanwhile his ‘intelligence’ extended to arguing that by ‘Islamic government’ no one possibly meant ‘a political regime in which the clerics would have a role of supervision or control’."

[Sankalpita (bookGeeks India) · Rating 4 out of 5]

"What Iranians Want: Women, Life, Freedom" isn't just a book—it's a captivating narrative of the ever-growing Iranian revolution. It delves deep into the heart of Iranian discontent, exploring why its people are not just dissatisfied, but actively fighting for change. For Iranians, enough is enough, and the book illustrates their collective yearning for change.

As I immersed myself in its pages, I found the historical context provided particularly illuminating. From the seismic shifts of the 1970s to the ripple effects that followed, every event mentioned in the book sheds light on Iran's evolving socio-political landscape.

The pivotal 2022 movement, which initially sparked with women taking to the streets, soon grew into a wider uprising. Workers went on mass strikes, while business owners shut their shops in a unified act of defiance.

While not exhaustive in its coverage, it serves as a compelling introduction to its subject matter. It offers a nuanced exploration of specific incidents while providing context for understanding the broader dynamics at play.


Read the detailed review on India's No. 1 Book Blog - https://www.bookgeeks.in/what-iranian...

[Vance Miguel Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Arash Aziz is truly an expert on capital “R” Revolution. The continuous connections between the Iranian women’s movement and so many other major domestic and political movements in and outside of Iran, made this book truly an almanac of cases of heroism. The Iranian Women’s Movement again and again shows the human spirit is indomitable. Reading about the organic tactics that women used over decades of this movement just shows me that righteous movements bear signs of humanity in them that spills out of every facet of the cries and claims it professes. I will always listen to the song “Baraye” and think of the bravery of Iranian women in the midst of enormous powers like Iran and the United States making their lives worse.

[Johanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must-read for understanding Iran's fight for freedom, an enigma to most in the West.

Required reading!
This book is a brilliantly researched and accessible dive into the history of political movements in Iran, specifically focusing on the brave women who have repeatedly risen up against the government. It's utterly fascinating, emotionally charged, and thought-provoking.

Azizi takes you beyond the Western media headlines, offering a comprehensive look at Iran's people, their struggles, and their unwavering fight for equality and freedom.

Despite the often harrowing stories, the book is also brimming with hope. It showcases the incredible resilience and courage of the Iranian people, particularly the women who continue to stand up for their rights despite facing immense challenges. It really made me check my own privilege.

A highly recommended read!

[AD: Thanks to Netgalley for a free copy of this audiobook in return for an honest review]

[Bahar Almasi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you, Arash Azizi, for authoring this book. It's crucial for the world, especially the West, to understand that the portrayal of Iranians by our government is not accurate. Naturally, encompassing all pivotal events and figures in a single book is challenging, but I hope this serves as an initiation for numerous future works in English that will uncover the realities obscured by the Islamic Republic. I would have appreciated additional insights into the student movement, LGBTQ+ advocacy, and the challenges faced by Kurdish, Arab, and Baluch communities.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Survival Iranian style means moving the most alive parts of ourselves into the shadows.

For a while now I like how many other women have stopped pulling up my scarf to cover my hair when I pass by the guard. I know nothing can stop one of these soldiers raising his gun and targeting my body with rubber bullets, but what is happening here is for the great public good.


To write is to testify to exume to dig deep wells.

[Sherry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very well thought, researched and documented book about the political upheaval in Iran going back and forth between past and the present, about the uprisings and revolts against the government, the patriarchy and the tyranny. The book starts with the killing of a 22 year old girl Mahsa Amini just because she was having a good day and wearing a bad hijab. The book circles around the generations of struggle and sacrifices Iranians have seen and endured.

The book is an enthralling and heroic tale of women and feminists of Iran who rose against the authorities and the government which were insistent upon subduing women and still are. It's a tale of courage, strength and resilience. The book gives the date/year wise accounts of when and how tyrants keep you in a chokehold so that they doesn't even let you breathe freely. It's about the consistent struggle to attain freedom, just for the bare minimum. The feminists of Iran were and are persistent enough to carry on the revolution through generations. As the generations progressed the meaning of freedom seems bigger and better.

This is the most present book I have read because the struggle continues and we don't know what the future lies ahead of Iran. We can keep an open eye on the geopolitical situation in Iran and pray that struggle and sacrifice wins.

PS: It's a very good book, if you're into geopolitics and want to understand how the tyrannical rule works, this is the book for you. It also has references in case should you feel the need to go through some articles and videos to understand better.

[S. A.]

“I am homesick in my homeland.”

[Anouk Devlieger · Rating 4 out of 5]

goed gestructureerd en toegankelijk geschreven

[Alan Eyre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Colorful, inspiring recounting by ‪@arash_tehran‬ of Iranian popular attempts to regain their freedoms since the 79 Revolution. Filled w/the names of common man heroes who rose up, said their truths, and were cut down by theرژیم ضخامت مار دوش - Heroes and martyrs on every page.

[Behrooz Parhami · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to the unabridged 6-hour audio version of this title (read by Sara Bahadori, W. F. Howes, 2024).

Touted as the first major book on the uprisings in Iran in 2022 and 2023, in the aftermath of Mahsa Jina Amini’s death while in the custody of Tehran’s Morality Police, Azizi’s narrative guides us through a major reawakening of Iranians, woman in particular.

Iranian women began protesting against mandatory hijab rules almost immediately after the Islamic regime took over. And they have never let up in the 4.5 decades since. The #WomanLifeFreedom movement (the author uses “Women” instead of “Woman” in the original slogan) is unique in the Middle East for being women-led, while motivating efforts by diverse groups to reclaim everyone’s civic & human rights, not just women’s rights.

Initially, men did not support women in their fight, or supported them halfheartedly. They would tell women that hijab isn’t a problem that deserves our limited influence and energy. Even some women supported this view, pointing to a number of more-important sociopolitical causes. Most activist women, however, were adamant that mandatory hijab was indeed a serious violation of their rights. “It’s only a small step from telling you what to wear to telling you what to think,” they would argue.

Many Islamic clerics, led by Supreme Leader Khamenei, have insisted that hijab is a fundamental requirement of Islam. The government, however, has gone back and forth between strict enforcement of hijab rules and more relaxed policies. Nevertheless, quite a few women activists are behind bars, serving ridiculously long sentences, for merely removing their hijabs in public or encouraging others to do so.

Presently, extensive networks of closed-circuit cameras are being employed by the Islamists to monitor women and to arrest, imprison, flog, or fine them for their hijab-less appearance, or wearing hijabs that only partially cover their hair & bodies, in public or even inside their cars while driving. At no other time in history has technology been such an enabling tool of oppression for dictatorial regimes.

Besides women’s issues, Azizi also covers the struggles of labor activists, trade unions, student groups, ethnic & religious minorities, teachers, environmentalists, journalists, publishers, and a number of other entities. For a short while, under the reformist President Khatami, some freedoms emerged for the above-mentioned groups, but, even then, hardliners were watching intently and taking down names for subsequent punishment. The hardliners began their crackdown once President Ahmadinejad took over.

Despite its backward regime, Iran’s society is undergoing a cultural renaissance, a transformation that raises hopes of a better future, as ordinary people and celebrities gather the courage to say no to oppressive laws and policies. Azizi’s optimism is aptly represented in the following lines uttered by the recently-turned-activist actress Taraneh Alidoosti in her role as Shahrzad in a popular TV series: “This door will open. This night will end and the sun will rise again. Be Patient.”

[Jesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really nice and enthusiastic book that is maybe bigger on hope than on support for that hope, but don't you want him to be right? I think its biggest virtue is just how effectively and naturally it demolishes outsiders' (Americans', at least) simplifications and misunderstandings of contemporary Iran, most particularly in the wealth of protest movements it documents--not just the uprisings after the morals police murdered Mahsa Amini, but labor organizing, environmentalism, literature and the arts, political reform, and a brief but powerful bit on ethnic discrimination, which here features Afghan refugees in the role of "they're taking our jobs!" and also "they're just bad." Even on TV, apparently, and in malls, at least one of which advertised days of open segregation so that "real Iranians" could enjoy shopping in alleged comfort, it's the typical xenophobia, just with different fill-in-the-blank characters.

The most powerful section comes when he explores the social-media life of Sarina, a girl killed in the Amini protests (just watched Seed of the Sacred Fig, which includes cell-phone footage from numerous street actions), showing us her love of indie rock, her attempt to assert a sense of herself that differs from the official line and is just...normal, her acting in some ways very much like any teenager anywhere and in others like specific teenagers in very specific political/social/gender/religious circumstances. It's heartbreaking in its normality, and also in the time he takes to dig into what she showed of herself--even got a supportive post from Hozier, whose music she liked. It's generally a little short on analysis, at least until the end--if you want a legit use of the phrase "hopes and prayers," this would absolutely fit--but in the conclusion he explores what might happen if some or all of these efforts actually work, the most realistic case of which seems to be perhaps something like Egypt, with another unrepresentative government run by the military (some Republican Guard faction here, which in his telling seems much more fractured than was/is the Egyptian military in 2013, or really, since 1952) that allows a few more civil liberties.

Also made me want to see if there's good writing out there on the internal politics of the ulama, something I haven't explored since I read Hooman Majd's books a while back. In his telling, there's no natural successor, and in fact whoever the next Supreme Leader is, he won't have anywhere near the same power. So whenever Khamenei, in power since 1989, dies, sounds like we're getting a version of Conclave where the stakes truly are as high as that movie makes them seem.

[Brandon Wilde · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book portrays the perspective and rationale of many pursuing a new Iranian revolution. It’s important to note that it reads more like an opinion piece than a historical or sociological account. That said, it effectively explains several sources of resentment among the Iranian population and its diaspora, while recounting recent revolutionary events in the country.

The book feels as though it were conceived based on the movement's adopted anthem, Baraye by Shervin Hajipour. It uses a long-form medium to explore the grievances voiced in the song, touching on topics like the loss of the Persian Cheetah and the poor treatment of Afghan migrants. For someone like me, who isn’t deeply connected to the community, the book offers helpful context that hasn't made it into history books yet. However, I found the narrative flow difficult to follow at times—a mix of chronological and thematic structuring that caused me to repeatedly wonder what time period was being discussed.

I was also somewhat put off by instances of hyperbole and the black-and-white portrayal of key figures, like in the statement "Women stood in Khamenei's way by their very existence" (Chap. 1). Perhaps that's to be expected in a book of this nature, however.

All in all, I think the book probably serves its purpose well and will be helpful to those seeking to better understand this burgeoning sentiment among Iranians.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book looks at the protests in Iran in 2022-2023 following the death of a young woman who was attacked by the authorities for wearing a bad hijab. Each chapter looks at a different group who the author claims was involved in the protests. The book provides a lot of insight, but doesn't really analyze the protest movement associated with Woman, Life, Freedom. The author also discusses a number of protest movements that were current at the same time (labor, environmental, ethnic, etc), but doesn't really make the case that they were related to the Woman, Life, Freedom protests. Overall, the author provides valuable insights, but doesn't analyze or tie the various threads of his writing together well.

[Brian Fiedler · Rating 4 out of 5]

For Iranians, the book pages could be covered with tears. For me, I listened in some sadness and horror. But the ultimate story of Sarina Esmailzadeh almost got me to tears.

I listened to the audiobook. The book seems faultless to me, but, except for Iranians reviewing their history, a listener may find it hard to keep track of the names.

I also have to feel some despondence at my inability to help the Iranians get what they want.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really excellent intro to Revolution in Iran. While it doesn’t deep dive into how each protest germinated, formed and began, it certainly focuses on the more recent ones and mentions other catalysts that should urge you to look further. Wonderful primer for those looking for a starting point into Iran and the political landscape it is now.

[Bookworm · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have been looking forward to reading this book as I loved author’s first book, Shadow Commander, but I am a bit disappointed!
If you normally follow Iran’s events, don’t bother reading this book as it just narrates the major upheavals that we have already heard on the news!

[Akura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cried around 15 times reading this book, no lie. The writing is readable and easy to consume, I got everything that I wanted from this book and am very thankful to Azizi for highlighting the struggle and those lives lost to it

[Cole Himali · Rating 5 out of 5]

really. freaking. good. its about women life freedom and so much more than that. i wasnt expecting this comprehensive of a history in such short chapters but it was a really pleasant surprise. if you have to read one book about modern iranian history it should be this one

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This gave a great overview of all kinds of recent protest movements in Iran, not just the best-known ones like the Green Movement and Women Life Freedom. While it lacked in-depth analysis of how these movements form, it left me feeling a refreshing optimism about Iran’s future.

[Olia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am glad I read this book and I highly recommend it, however I did struggle with structure and timeline. It was a little hard to follow given that we kept going back and forth a decade or few every chapter or so

[Chris Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good

[Arya Tabaie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Given the recency of some of the events discussed, the amount of ideological appropriation done by the author was commendably small.

[Cara Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 Good primer on various aspects of the Iranian protests (labor rights, religious freedom, feminism, environmentalism, etc.) from the 1950s to today

[Abraham Bonilla · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good intro to understand the political oppression of the Iranian regime . I didn’t like the way the book was written. It felt like a narration of events.

[Paige · Rating 2 out of 5]

What Iranians Want is a series of anecdotes about the various protests for women’s, refugee’s, and activist’s lives. I’m embarrassingly ignorant about Iran’s history so some prior research was necessary to enjoy this book, since Azizi provides very little—if any.