Arash Azizi

Published by Haaretz By now, it shouldn’t be surprising to anyone that there are those on the Western left who openly support the attacks of October 7 on Israeli civilians. The past six months have produced a long list of examples. The latest came when Verso Books, easily the most renowned left-wing publishing house in the English-speaking …

Published in the National Anarrative that has persisted throughout the decades-long cold conflict between Iran and Israel is that, before the 1979 Iranian Revolution, the two countries had excellent relations that only soured after the Islamic Republic’s establishment. Reza Pahlavi, Iran’s last crown prince, himself has repeatedly espoused a version of this narrative in his …

Published by the Atlantic The moment we were all afraid of finally arrived yesterday evening. For me, it was announced by a phone call from a terrified teenage cousin in Iran. Had the war started? she asked me through tears. Iran had fired dozens of drones and missiles on Israel, hitting much more widely than most of …

Published in the Liberties Iran today may be best known for two things: one of the most repressive regimes in the world and one of the most remarkable cinemas in the world. The coexistence of the two is a conundrum that perplexes many people. How does a country known for ferocious repression of dissent and …

Published by Liberties “Were you culture-shocked?” is the question people often ask upon discovering that, at  the age of twenty,  I moved from Iran to the West. “Of course I was,” I usually say. “I still am.”  But I suspect they mis-imagine the tribulations of that transition. Exchanging the Tehran of the 2000s, where I …

Published by the Atlantic On March 29, a friend of mine, the Iranian journalist Pouria Zeraati, was crossing the road outside his Wimbledon home in southwestern London, to get his car. A man approached him and asked for change; then another man, with his face covered, gave Zeraati a bear hug while the first man …

Published by the Spectator The Middle East is bracing for an attack whose exact source, targets, method, timing and scope are unknown. On Monday, a suspected Israeli air strike targeted a group of Iranian officials in Damascus, Syria, and citizens of the region are now waiting to see how Iran’s regime will respond. Israel has …

Published by the Atlantic American leftists are facing a question that has become a perennial bugbear. Come November, should they support the Democratic incumbent Joe Biden to defeat Donald Trump? Or, given their profound reservations about both candidates, should they abstain from voting at all? Biden’s support for Israel’s brutal war in Gaza has given …