Iran – Alex Shams

Iran Mexico

Workshop: Investigating Power

January 27, 2025 by Alex Shams

Investigando El Poder: Etnografía del Estado y la Masculinidad En el marco del Laboratorio Interdisciplinario de Etnografía del Colegio de México, voy a dar el siguiente taller: En este taller,

Arab World Iran Israel Lebanon Palestine USA

The “Terrorists” in My Grandmother’s Neighborhood

January 13, 2025 by Alex Shams

Originally published in the Boston Review on January 13, 2025. Down a tree-lined street near my grandmother’s house in Tehran is a mosque where locals go to chat, rest, and

Iran Palestine

A Persian Christmas Story: How A Jewish Shrine in Qazvin Connects Palestine and Iran

December 24, 2024 by Alex Shams

Originally published on Ajam Media Collective on Dec. 24, 2024. In Qazvin, a few hours west of Tehran, there is a turquoise-blue shrine locals know as Peyghambarieh, “the place of

Iran Opinion

Iran Braces for Uncertainty After President Raisi’s Death

July 16, 2024 by Alex Shams

Published on June 9, 2024 on Truthout. Besides crushing dissent, the former leader did little of note. Could a new president be different? When Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s helicopter went

Iran Reporting

They Risked Their Lives for Freedom in Iran. Now They Fear Israel’s Bombs.

April 29, 2024 by Alex Shams

Originally published on Truthout on April 29, 2024. Having survived waves of domestic repression, protesters in Iran are now in the crosshairs of Israeli bombs. In fall 2022, they were

Iran Reporting

‘We Have to Know When to Hope and When to Be Hopeless’: How six Iranians feel about the Woman Life Freedom movement, one year later

September 16, 2023 by Alex Shams

First published in New York Magazine on Sept. 16, 2023. As told to Alex Shams. One year has passed since protests first broke out across Iran following the killing of

Iran Reporting

How Bazaar: The surprising way a Japanese soap opera shaped the Iranian secondhand economy

September 1, 2023 by Alex Shams

Originally published in Mildew Magazine, Sep 2023, based on an article in Ajam Media Collective.

Iran

Woman, Life, Liberty: A Movement In Its Context

August 26, 2023 by Alex Shams

Presentation in Spanish on August 29, 2023 at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, about the Woman, Life, Freedom movement in Iran to mark its one year anniversary, as part

Iran

Persianate Futurism: First Time on the Overnight Train from Tehran to Samarqand

June 21, 2023 by Alex Shams

Originally published on Ajam Media Collective on May 28, 2023. This post is part of the Persianate Futurism series, a collection of works which asks: What will the Persianate world

Iran Reporting

‘We Have Broken the Wall of Fear’: Iranian protesters on what brings them back to the streets four weeks in

October 13, 2022 by Alex Shams

Originally published in New York Magazine on Oct. 13, 2022. Written by Alex Shams. Since mid-September, Iranians have taken to the streets to protest the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini