ATGENDER Statement of Solidarity with the People of Iran

ATGENDER stands in firm solidarity with the people of Iran who have once more courageously mobilised against a severely oppressive and violent regime. Over the past weeks, according to reports by human rights groups, thousands of people have been murdered, injured, and arbitrarily arrested amid the widespread protests. Nevertheless, the full scale of these events during a total internet blackout remains uncertain. We strongly condemn the Iranian state’s systematic use of lethal force, repression, and intimidation to silence dissent and maintain authoritarian control.

At the same time, ATGENDER denounces and repudiates the role of U.S. neo-imperialism and broader imperial dynamics. These forces have historically contributed to instability, authoritarianism, and suffering in the region while presenting themselves as global “saviours”. We strongly reject narratives that frame external military or political intervention as a solution to the violence inflicted on the Iranian people. As history has repeatedly shown us, liberation cannot be imposed from the outside, nor can it be achieved through imperial agendas or zionist interests that reproduce domination under the guise of freedom.

Protests in Iran are marked by an extraordinary diversity of participants. People from both large metropolitan areas and small towns, across generations, genders, ethno-religious backgrounds, and social positions, have taken to the streets. These mobilisations are no longer confined to a specific group, class, or gender identity. Rather, they express a profound and collective rejection of a regime that has demonstrated its incapacity to govern except through violence, exclusion, and coercion. The protests reflect a shared demand for dignity, justice, and self-determination.

In the same vein, we acknowledge the diversity of political positions present in Iranian society and across the diasporas. These positions range from calls for systemic transformation from below to appeals for external intervention or the restoration of former political orders. While such divergences reflect the complexity of political imaginaries shaped by decades of repression, exile, and geopolitical pressure, they also require critical engagement.

In this context, we remind our members and the broader community of gender scholars committed to feminist, queer, decolonial, anti-authoritarian, anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist principles that we uphold the right of the people of Iran to determine their own futures free from state violence, imperial interferences, or instrumentalisation of their struggles. We urge the international academic, activist, and institutional communities to elevate Iranian voices, to challenge simplistic geopolitical framings, and to remain attentive to the structural conditions that shape repression and resistance alike.

ATGENDER stands with all those who risk their lives for justice, freedom, and collective emancipation.