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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Iran v. US Imperialism: An Interview with Navid Farnia & Nina Farnia</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">Navid Farnia and Nina Farnia</div>
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<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time">February 11, 2026 - Black Agenda Report - <font size="1"><a href="https://www.blackagendareport.com/iran-v-us-imperialism-interview-navid-farnia-nina-farnia">https://www.blackagendareport.com/iran-v-us-imperialism-interview-navid-farnia-nina-farnia</a></font></div>
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<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><img src="cid:ii_mliisntu0" alt="image.png" width="410" height="273"><br><p><font size="1">Boston Iran War/Peace Protests, 2020.</font></p><p>Responses to questions on the protests in Iran, US imperialism and Iranian resistance.</p><div><p><span lang="EN-US">Iran
has witnessed protests since 28 December 2025. This interview unravels
the various domestic and international factors around the protests, and
resistance against imperialism. </span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US"><strong>1. Dynamics of the Situation: Can you
historicize a bit the eruption of recent protests? Are they a
continuation of other protests Iran experienced in recent years? In your
answer, can you integrate the local dynamics (e.g., the gender
question; the relevance of the Tudeh - Communist Party of Iran - if at
all) with global factors that are meddling in Iran?</strong></span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US">The protests in Iran began following a severe drop
in the value of the national currency, the rial, of somewhere between
30 and 40 percent. This was caused by sanctions and intentional
currency manipulation on the part of US and European-led actors. In
fact, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced at Davos the </span><a href="https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/522979/US-treasury-chief-admits-sanctions-intended-to-fuel-unrest-in"><span lang="EN-US">\u201ceconomic statecraft\u201d</span></a><span lang="EN-US"> policy that the US has deployed against Iran, which includes currency manipulation. </span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US">Following the drop in the rial\u2019s value, merchants
and shopkeepers, numbering in the low thousands, protested. Officials
from the government quickly met with them and with labor unions and
created a plan to address the concerns. After this resolution to the
protestors\u2019 concerns, the Mossad and the US launched an urban warfare
campaign in major cities across Iran to distort and displace the calls
made by Iranians into a regime-change operation. Thousands were killed
by these foreign agents with methods that are eerily similar to those of
ISIS and the Zionists, including slit throats, beheadings, etc. </span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US">The gender question in Iran is significant because
the Western media and pundit class largely approaches it in a
decontextualized and anti-factual way. But it is important to arm
ourselves with facts, with actual information. For example, Iranian
women continue to dominate university student populations, and the STEM
fields. They are active throughout society, at all levels. It is only
after the 1979 Revolution that this occurred, and that literacy among
women dramatically increased. To the extent that we want to use women\u2019s
clothing as a metric of women\u2019s liberation, the government no longer
enforces hijab restrictions. Though I will say that this is a
remarkably capitalist, individualistic, and frankly backward method for
assessing liberation, as it recenters the capitalist gaze on the
commodified female body as the primary metric, rather than women\u2019s
actual development and participation in society as full human beings. </span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US">As for the Tudeh Party, it lost much of its
membership, influence and power during the monarchy after experiencing
severe repression. Its heyday was nearly a century ago, after which it
was effectively replaced by more radical left forces. It continued to
be a relatively small political party, with membership in the low
thousands, through the 1979 Revolution and after. It came under fire
from the Iranian left after the Revolution because it publicly supported
and participated in the establishment of the Islamic Republic, but
clandestinely sought to destabilize it during the Iran-Iraq War through
attempts to organize a military insurrection. At that time, most of the
Iranian left united to defend the nation\u2019s sovereignty against the US
proxy\u2019s invasion. The other significant political party that expressed
this type of opportunism was the Mujahedin-e-Khalq, which is now
expressly working with the CIA and the Mossad. Lacking in modern
significance, clear strategy and political honesty, the Tudeh Party is
largely distrusted and dismissed. It is notable that the fall of the
Islamic Republic of Iran will not be good for workers, for farmers, for
women and the youth and the elderly. Syria and Libya are instructive in
this regard, as is the fall of the Soviet Union. I will explain that
further, later in the interview.</span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US"><strong>2- History of anti-imperialism to the
present: Combatting western mainstream media framings of \u2018regime\u2019,
\u2018authoritarian\u2019 and \u2018theocratic\u2019. How are these framings used to
delegitimize the Islamic Republic of Iran\u2019s staunch anti-imperialist
stance? </strong> </span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US">First, it should be noted that Iran\u2019s position in support of the oppressed peoples \u201canywhere in the world\u201d is</span><a href="https://ecnl.org/sites/default/files/files/2021/IranConstitution.pdf"><span lang="EN-US"> </span><span lang="EN-US">enshrined</span></a><span lang="EN-US">
in its constitution. The Islamic Republic has fulfilled this position
in practice throughout its existence, but it is especially evident today
in its alliances. Iran has important alliances in the West Asia region
with both state and non-state actors that likewise have a commitment to
national liberation and anti-imperialism. This is why Iran has
steadfastly supported the Palestinian resistance, including Hamas,
Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and other resistance organizations. In fact,
as the late Palestinian activist Nizar Banat</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHqSH7Gwc7g"><span lang="EN-US"> </span><span lang="EN-US">emphasized</span></a><span lang="EN-US">,
Iran is the only country in the world with a permanent clause in its
national budget that supports the Palestinian Revolution. Iran\u2019s
support for anti-imperialist resistance also permeates across the
region. It supports Hezbollah in Lebanon, Ansar Allah in Yemen, and the
Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq, all of whom have resisted foreign
domination in their homeland (together, these forces in Iran, Yemen,
Palestine, Iraq, and Lebanon comprise the Axis of Resistance). Iran
also played a significant role in supporting the Syrian government
against the predations of the United States and Israel until it was
toppled in December 2024. And beyond the region, Iran has fostered
friendly ties with Venezuela, with whom it collaborates in various</span><a href="https://www.anti-imperialists.com/red-papers/aisc-red-paper-1---the-terms-of-struggle-in-venezuela-imperialism-vs-sovereignty/"><span lang="EN-US"> </span><span lang="EN-US">industries</span></a><span lang="EN-US">,
along with Cuba, the Democratic People\u2019s Republic of Korea, the
Alliance of Sahel States, and of course, China and Russia. The common
denominator among all these countries is their resistance to U.S.
imperialism. Imperialism targets each country in various ways, be it
sanctions, blockades, proxy wars, terror attacks, bombing campaigns, and
outright invasions and military occupations. </span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US">Iran presents the greatest threat to
Zionist-imperialist interests in the region, and the U.S. and Israel are
running out of options to topple the Islamic Republic. It\u2019s therefore
not a coincidence that Western media would depict the Islamic Republic
as a \u201cregime\u201d or \u201cauthoritarian\u201d because that is precisely how it
characterizes any country which opposes U.S. domination. The United
States aims to trivialize and criminalize anti-imperialist resistance
and has historically done so in the name of \u201cfreedom\u201d and \u201cdemocracy.\u201d
The Trump government has mostly dropped these pretenses, though. This
reality reflects the failure of liberalism to contain and pacify
anti-imperialist resistance. </span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US"><strong>3- Development within the imperialist
system: Iran\u2019s national sovereign development is clobbered by sanctions
and economic warfare. Some critics claim that Iran is even a capitalist
country. Can you explain how this framing ignores the role of
imperialism and its impact on the working classes in Iran?</strong></span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US">The defining feature of the age in which we live is US-led imperialism, the primary contradiction in the world today. </span><span lang="EN-US">Imperialism is characterized by material relations of exploitation between the Global North and the Global South. </span><span lang="EN-US">As
the central process undergirding imperialism, capitalism is a world
system premised on the accumulation of capital and the movement of value
from Global South nations to the metropole. </span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US">Iran is of the Global South. It is a formerly
colonized nation that, despite great resistance to US imperialism
through the 1979 revolution and its continuing progress toward national
liberation from US-led imperialism, is still victimized and criminalized
by it, precisely because of its resistance. That criminalization
occurs through sanctions and blockades, designations of its political
leadership, military apparatuses and industries as terrorist, and its
isolation in the global economy. US-led imperialism steals Iran\u2019s
national resources through physical seizure of its tankers, currency
devaluation leading to dramatic inflation, and devaluation of its
resources on the global market. In sum, Iran does not extract resources
from others and is not a recipient of value transfer. It is a victim
of drain including wealth drain, brain drain, premature death of its
population, military incursions, etc.</span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US">The premise that Iran is capitalist presumes a
transnational capitalist class in which Iran is a beneficiary or
participant. It also presumes a transnational working class outside of
the nation-state system in which anti-imperialist national liberation is
most commonly practiced. Class is then abstracted outside of
geographic, global economic, racial, and political dynamics. In point
of fact, the wealth gap between the North and South has increased, not
decreased since at least the 1970s. The wealthiest in the world\u2014the
possessors of capital\u2014continue to be located overwhelmingly in the
North, in the regions of the world racialized as white, while the
overwhelming majority of the exploited continue to be in the South, the
darkened regions of the world.</span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US">I read the claim of a capitalist Iran as a
discursive move to shift attention away from US-led imperialism and its
violence against Iran. This move has the effect of reinforcing the
imperialist position that Iran is terrorist or authoritarian by
virtually sidelining imperialism as an abstracted and non-primary force
in Iran and the world today. It is anti-internationalist,
anti-dialectical, anti-materialist, and incorrect.</span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US">I\u2019ll end by adding that Iran\u2019s national resources
are largely controlled by Iranian government institutions. It is in
effect a nationalist economy. The wealth acquired through government
control of those resources is then used to </span><a href="https://www.statista.com/chart/16900/key-economic-social-data-about-iran/"><span lang="EN-US">subsidize social development</span></a><span lang="EN-US">
programs that since the 1979 Revolution have improved literacy, infant
mortality, life expectancy, and decreased poverty, alongside the
development of an excellent national healthcare system informed by
collaboration with and knowledge gained from Cuba. This has all been
done in spite of the US, European and UN imposition of one of the most
severe sanctions regimes in world history.</span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US"><strong>4. Oil and sanctions: The U.S. has a
history of using control over oil resources as a weapon of empire, as
recently seen in Venezuela. Iran's economy is being strangled by
sanctions that are a form of economic warfare. How does the struggle
over Iran's oil and the use of sanctions reflect a broader neo-colonial
strategy of resource control and punishment for sovereignty?</strong></span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US">Here, we see how resistance exposes the
contradictions of imperialism and renders them irreconcilable. On the
one hand, yes, sanctions do reflect an imperialist strategy of resource
control and punishment for sovereignty. On the other hand, the
imposition of sanctions indicates how the U.S. has been unable to truly
eradicate Iranian self-determination. This is where the contradiction is
most apparent. While sanctions intend to cripple the Iranian economy
and produce difficulties in people\u2019s everyday lives, they have also
forced Iran to develop a national culture of self-reliance rooted in
resilience and ingenuity. Iran\u2019s self-reliance prevents sanctions from
producing their intended effect. We can speak about Iran\u2019s oil and
other resources, but it\u2019s actually important to start with Iran\u2019s
sovereign defense capacity. Iran possesses robust and world-leading
ballistic missile and UAV programs. Those capabilities were decades in
the making and</span><a href="https://english.khamenei.ir/news/11803/Imam-Khamenei-s-decisions-changed-the-course-of-our-military"><span lang="EN-US"> </span><span lang="EN-US">derived</span></a><span lang="EN-US">
from a staunch emphasis on self-reliance. Thus, the contradiction of
sanctions stems first and foremost from resistance and self-reliance.</span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US">Regarding the oil industry, Iran absolutely
remains a constant target of the U.S.-led imperialism. As we know, the
U.S. attack on Venezuela and the unlawful and brutally violent
kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro and First Combatant Cilia Flores
highlights the U.S.\u2019s effort to control Venezuelan oil. But it also
shows how every other mechanism the U.S. had used to date has failed,
and it remains to be seen whether even the kidnapping will work in
controlling Venezuela\u2019s oil industry. </span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US">Beyond this, we should also note that the entire
discourse around oil sometimes obscures the real effects of sanctions.
Sanctions intentionally target everyday people. People in Iran do not
have</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAuzbrzht4g"><span lang="EN-US"> </span><span lang="EN-US">access</span></a><span lang="EN-US"> to life-saving medications because of sanctions, for instance. Yet, Iran endures, as does Venezuela. <strong> </strong></span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US"><strong>5. Weaponization of the \u201cdiaspora\u201d: While
we recognise that some strata of the population have grievances that you
alluded to in your answer to the first question, western mainstream
media focuses largely on the diaspora, platforms them, and presents them
as the sole experts who know the facts on the ground. Can you speak
about the role of the diaspora in the imperial core in legitimizing
imperialist interventions? How is the weaponization of \u201clet\u2019s hear from
an Iranian to speak about Iran\u201d a shallow use of identity politics
camouflaged in orientalist framing of an alleged subaltern who is
speaking?</strong></span><em><span lang="EN-US"><strong> </strong></span></em><span lang="EN-US"><strong> </strong></span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US">So too does the notion of the diaspora as an
abstracted category facilitate US-led criminalization, isolation and
exploitation of Iran. Iranians both in Iran and around the world are
diverse and have a range of views on Iranian politics, but by and large
they support the Iranian government against US-led imperialism. This
support was showcased during the 12-Day War when Iranians around the
world defended the state\u2019s sovereignty against the US-sponsored attack
by Israel. It was showcased again in January when millions of people in
Iran marched through the streets of multiple cities in protest against
the urban warfare of the Zionists and the US.</span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US">What is understood to be the \u201cIranian diaspora\u201d
includes a small group of organizations created and/or funded by the
CIA\u2019s National Endowment for Democracy. It also includes opinion leaders
who seek a sort of Perestroika in Iran, similar to that imposed on the
USSR, which ultimately enabled the western pillaging of the Russian and
Eastern European economies, led to civil war, balkanization, and the
estimated death of 17 million, as argued in the article, </span><a href="https://www.iskrabooks.org/plb6"><span lang="EN-US">\u201cNeoliberal Holocaust\u201d</span></a><span lang="EN-US"> by Pawe\u0142 Wargan. </span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US">In this context, \u201cLet\u2019s hear from an Iranian\u201d and
\u201ctwo things can be true at once\u201d are platitudes designed to advance US
imperialism\u2019s aims against Iran. They erase context, contingency,
history, dialectical processes, and material relations. They replace
political and economic analysis with identity and vibes.</span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US"><strong>6. The triad of Imperialism, Zionism and
Reactionism: Why are the Zionists, the reactionary Iranian diaspora, and
the US benefit from the destabilisation of Iran? Can you speak about
the documented cases of CIA, Mossad and their local functionaries (paid
agents or individual actors acting on behalf of imperial-zionist
interests) exacerbating the loss of life and property? </strong></span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US">The story of the CIA\u2019s involvement in Iran begins
with the lead-up to the 1953 coup d\u2019etat that ousted the democratically
elected Prime Minister Muhammad Mossadeq. The oil issue is again
relevant here because Mossadeq sought to nationalize Iran\u2019s oil industry
at the expense of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, a British company.
Oil nationalization had widespread popular support across Iran.
Conversely, the British initially sought to oust Mossadeq without the
U.S.\u2019s help, but they were only successful with the CIA orchestrating
the operation in August 1953 (it should also be noted that the U.S.\u2019s
initial coup attempt failed as well). Part of this operation included
the CIA paying local functionaries to engage in rioting as a diversion
while military personnel positioned themselves to besiege Mossadeq. So,
the \u201criots\u201d we have seen in 2026 have historical precedent.</span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US">With the reinstatement of the shah Muhammad Reza
Pahlavi after the coup, the U.S. essentially took control of Iran\u2019s oil
industry. The shah meanwhile developed an expansive police state,
undergirded by his secret police force, SAVAK. Both the CIA and Mossad
had a close relationship with SAVAK, including by training Iranian
agents. It\u2019s therefore no surprise that the former shah\u2019s son, Reza
Pahlavi, is likewise cozying up to the U.S. and Israel. When the
Mossad-orchestrated urban war (riots) began, it was Reza Pahlavi who
beat the war drums and even called on the U.S. to bomb Iran. These
monarchist counterrevolutionaries are directly responsible for the
violence and death that occurred in Iran during the urban war. And we
should be clear that they are complete opportunists who are willing to
hand Iran over to the United States and Israel if it means they can
serve as loyal puppets to imperialism.</span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US"><strong>7. Opposition to foreign intervention:
What are the specific dangers of this "US-Zionist meddling" in Iran
today, and how might it seek to transform Iran from a pole of regional
resistance into a client state, particularly regarding control of its
oil? How can solidarity networks abroad articulate a clear, unambiguous
opposition to foreign military intervention, sanctions, and hybrid
warfare?</strong></span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US">The primary goal of US-led imperialism in Iran is
to end its support of the Palestinian resistance and its participation
in the Axis of Resistance, and to wrench control of Iranian resources
away from the Iranian government and into the hands of Global North oil
majors, commonly called \u201cBig Oil.\u201d It\u2019s as simple as that. This would
lead to massive underdevelopment across all aspects of social and
political life not just in Iran, but across the region. I encourage
everyone to read Walter Rodney to understand this process.</span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US">Thus, the answer to this question is also quite
simple. Just say no sanctions on Iran, no war on Iran, call for an end
to US meddling and imperialism, for a Free Palestine from the River to
the Sea. Otherwise, we risk the end of the last independent and
sovereign state in West Asia, the only state that has a budget for
supporting the Palestinian resistance and the regional resistance. We
risk US imperialism\u2019s complete takeover of West Asia and its many
resources. We risk the expansion of zionist genocide across the whole
region. The Palestine, Syria and Libya examples have unfortunately
proven that if we do not resist US imperialism, we risk the continuity
of life itself.</span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US"><strong>8. Iran, Axis of Resistance, and
Multipolarity: Why is Iran framed as a \u201cterrorist state\u201d? What role does
it have in combatting imperialism in Western Asia (and much of the
world)? How is Iran integral to the decline of US imperialism and the
rise of multipolarity?</strong></span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US">The 12-Day War has proven Iran\u2019s pivotal role in
challenging and ultimately defeating Israel. We should be clear that
even despite the unprovoked attack against Iran in June of last year,
the Islamic Republic swiftly recovered and dealt the Zionists a
strategic defeat over the ensuing twelve days. By the end of that war,
Israel called upon the U.S. to intervene by hitting Iran\u2019s nuclear
facilities and then to call for a ceasefire. And now, as we wait to see
whether the U.S. will again strike Iran, reports from Israeli media are
surfacing that Netanyahu told Trump Israel is not ready to defend
itself should Iran respond. These reports may be part of the
psychological war but the point remains that Iran did significant damage
to the Zionist entity.</span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US">All of this to say, if Israel collapses, U.S.
imperialism stands no chance in the West Asia region. These are the
stakes of an Iranian victory over the U.S. and Israel. The world now
knows who the actual terrorist states are even despite all the resources
allocated by the Zionist-imperialists to spread propaganda about the
Palestinian resistance, Iran, and the rest of the Axis of Resistance.
The imperialists have already lost the narrative war, and we must be
clear on this.</span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US">Lastly, Iran absolutely reflects the rise of
multipolarity, both in the region and the world. However, Iran also
shows that multipolarity cannot be achieved without national
liberation. During the 1960s, the Soviet Union aligned with national
liberation movements across the globe. In doing so, it also undermined
U.S. imperial hegemony. We are witnessing a similar phenomenon now. The
momentum toward national liberation in West Asia, West Africa, and I\u2019d
say other parts of the world very soon, fuel multipolarity. Conversely,
multipolarity gives space to national liberation movements. For
instance, Russia\u2019s defensive war against NATO in Ukraine helped create
the conditions which led to Operation Al Aqsa Flood. Russia and China\u2019s
support for the Alliance of Sahel States have helped those countries to
withstand attacks by counterrevolutionary forces to date. In short, we
can\u2019t talk about multipolarity without equally uplifting national
liberation in the struggle against imperialism.</span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US"><strong>Navid Farnia</strong> is a scholar of
African American Studies. His research broadly explores the relationship
between racial oppression in the United States and U.S. imperialism
with a focus on revolutionary movements and counterrevolutionary
responses. Navid\u2019s book manuscript, National Liberation in an
Imperialist World: Race, Counterrevolution, and the United States,
traces the U.S. national security state\u2019s evolution by examining how
U.S. officials responded to national liberation movements at home and
abroad from the 1950s to 1980. Navid has also written on the impact of
economic sanctions imposed by the United States on Third World
countries, the emergence of a multipolar world order, the South African
liberation leader Chris Hani, and the regional dynamics of the ongoing
Palestinian liberation struggle. Navid is a member of the
Anti-Imperialist Scholars Collective.</span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US"><strong>Nina Farnia</strong> is a law professor
and legal historian whose scholarship exposes the role of imperialism in
US law and politics. Her forthcoming book is entitled Imperialism and
Resistance (Stanford University Press 2026), and is based on her
dissertation, Imperialism in the Making of U.S. Law, 1940-2008, which
won the 2023 Julien Mezey Dissertation Award from the Association for
the Study of Law, Culture, and the Humanities. Nina is a member of the
Anti-Imperialist Scholars Collective.</span></p>
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