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#IranianwWomen have been organizing since the late nineteenth century, across class, ethnicity, region, and political position. The question is not who speaks for them. It is who benefits when that range is collapsed into a single voice. #IranWar

I also take on the anti-war left, which treats gender apartheid inside Iran as an acceptable cost of opposing imperialism. That is the same erasure arriving from the other direction.

#Israeli state accounts push the same message in visual form, including a deep fake built around the rape of a real woman. Which of course is not beyond what Islamic Republic regime is capable of, but alas, in this specific case is a fake video.

Five months into this war, the case for it is still being made in the language of women’s rights. @NazaninBoniadi called war “like #chemotherapy.” @MasihAlinrjad & @ShirinEbadi6 have turned their platforms into a sustained case for outside force.

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War in the Name of Iranian Women

I was honoured to write the summer feature for #Herizon, Canada’s leading critical #feminist magazine: “War in the Name of Iranian Women: Feminist Rhetoric, State Propaganda, and the Media Production of Consent.” herizons.ca/article/war-...

herizons.ca

Why and how are the bodies and sovereignties of Iranian women appropriated and weaponized to justify imperial intervention and oppression? This article reflects on the logics of empire that deny Irani...

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Reposted by Maral Karimi

Informed Perspectives @informedops.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

Peace talks between Iran and the US continue this week. #CdnMedia, contact these experts for comment: Dr. @maralkay.bsky.social - tinyurl.com/4vetav8f Catherine Morris - tinyurl.com/356bwhzx Somia Sadiq - tinyurl.com/2f448a78

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Maral Karimi @maralkay.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

wrote this 4 @thewalrus, roundtable of experts on war w #Iran on April 6. Despite so-called #ceasefire, strategic asymmetry remains unchanged “For the Iranian regime, pressure is read as existential threat; concession is only possible if it extends regime survival.” thewalrus.ca/iran-war-exp...

thewalrus.ca

Experts Size Up Trump’s Options in Iran. None Look Good | The Walrus

US objectives appear increasingly incoherent

Maral Karimi @maralkay.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

My contribution to @thewalrus.ca on what the coverage of #IranWar is missing: External war does not automatically produce democratic transition. It can strengthen the very security institutions that suppressed the #WomanLifeFreedom movement. thewalrus.ca/iran-foreign...

thewalrus.ca

Eight Experts on What You’re Not Being Told about the War in Iran | The Walrus

The questions that aren’t making it into the battlefield dispatches

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Reposted by Maral Karimi

The Rundown @therundowntvo.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

From fears of a wider war to Canada’s stance under international law, what comes next after the U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran? @jeyantvo.bsky.social asks @maralkay.bsky.social (@torontomet.bsky.social) and Jon Allen (@utoronto.ca), former Canadian ambassador to Israel.

youtu.be

Can the U.S.-Israel Strikes on Iran Escalate into a Wider War? | The Rundown

YouTube video by TVO Today

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The Rundown @therundowntvo.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

“I’m not comfortable with Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu deciding who the good guys and bad guys are in the world.” — former Canadian ambassador Jon Allen (@utoronto.ca) on the attack on Iran, with @maralkay.bsky.social (@torontomet.bsky.social) & @jeyantvo.bsky.social | Producer: Preeti Bhuyan

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Maral Karimi @maralkay.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

was quoted in @LeDevoir on rising U.S.–Iran tensions: U.S. intervention would likely begin w limited targeted strikes on nuclear sites not #regimechange, warning Iranian lives risk being instrumentalized amid escalating rhetoric & internal repression #IranProtests media2.ledevoir.com/images_galer...

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Maral Karimi @maralkay.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

I sat down with Jayan Jeganathan @JeyanTVO of @TVO for an in depth conversation on #IranProtests, Trump's plans for Iran and the opposition. Watch full video tonight on TVO or later on YouTube (I shall post). Special thanks goes to @PreetiBhuyan for producing.

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Reposted by Maral Karimi

The Rundown @therundowntvo.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

"Iran is going to be an extremely tough pill to swallow for [Trump]... he doesn't have an endgame in Iran," @maralkay.bsky.social (@torontomet.bsky.social) tells @jeyantvo.bsky.social, tonight on The Rundown at 8pm | Producer: Preeti Bhuyan

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Maral Karimi @maralkay.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

I’ll be speaking live on CBC Radio across multiple regional programs discussing #IranProtests Starting 2:30 pm local time, airing coast to coast to coast, including Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa, Halifax, Calgary… You can listen on CBC radio live, by tuning into regional station #DigitalBlackoutIran

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4-In other words, they have accepted, a century ago, that resistance and emancipation are long term projects that need to be developed from bottom up. ‎⁧‫#بژی_کوردستان‬⁩ ‎⁦‪#IranProtests2026‬⁩

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3-‎The political maturity of the Kurdish region never ceases to amaze, but it is not accidental. It is the cumulative outcome of decades of resistance, collective organization, and the deliberate cultivation of grassroots political consciousness. ‎⁧‫#بژی_کوردستان‬⁩ ‎⁦‪#IranProtests2026‬⁩

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2-‎The route to emancipation in Iran passes through ⁦‪#Kurdistan‬⁩ & does not include a singular authoritarian figure, crowned or turbaned, at the helm. Iran will not progress an inch unless it addresses its gender apartheid and its ethnic minoritization. ‎⁧‫#بژی_کوردستان‬⁩ ‎⁦‪#IranProtests2026‬⁩

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Maral Karimi @maralkay.bsky.social · 20/06/2025

‎In solidarity with protests across Iran, Kurdish regions have gone on strike. As the images show, shops are closed, no foot traffic, and even street vendors have complied. ‎⁧‫#بژی_کوردستان‬⁩ ‎⁦‪#IranProtests2026‬⁩

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My latest op-ed on #Iran-Israel war in the @thestar.com "Western coverage often casts Iranians as a single, uniform bloc, either villains or oppressed. On the ground, however, reality shows a far more intricate, textured landscape." www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

thestar.com

The Iran-Israel conflict is about more than just missiles. This is how Canada should respond

Why Iran’s inner turmoil, not its rockets, should guide Canada’s response.

Maral Karimi @maralkay.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

Reporter: "How imminent is #Israeli strike on #Iran" #Trump: "I don't want to say imminent but it looks like something that could very well happen...#Iran can't have nuclear weapons"

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Maral Karimi @maralkay.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

بیایید هر روز با خود تکرار کنیم: ⁧‫#تجاوز‬⁩ جنسی بیش از آنکه ناشی از نیاز جنسی باشد، تلاشی‌ست برای سلطه بر بدن «دیگری». دیگریی، بدنی، که در طی فرآیندی تاریخی از انسانیت تهی شده است. ‏تجاوز نتیجه مناسبات قدرت و سلطه‌است و نیاز جنسی نقش ثانوی داره.

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Maral Karimi @maralkay.bsky.social · 03/06/2025

Presenting my research @ the Canadian Communication Association @ 3:30PM today. Hope to see you there. Here is the title: "Reframing Narratives of Conflict: Media Representations of Bashar al-Assad’s Fall and the Moderation of #AbuMohamadal-Jolani" #Congress2025 @CCA_ACdC

Maral Karimi @maralkay.bsky.social · 02/06/2025

جناب مستطاب فوتبالیست مملکت رسما اعلان کردن همه مردها می‌توانند متجاوز باشند (نهادینگی فرهنگ تجاوز) و برخلاف زمانی که زنها درباره آزارهای جنسی می‌نویسند، هجوم «البته نه همه مردها» را نمی‌بینیم (جنسیت‌زدگی و دفاع از ساختار مسلط مردسالار) ‏⁧‫#کره_جنوبی‬⁩

Maral Karimi @maralkay.bsky.social · 30/05/2025

I'm glad the uneducated members of the Right have learned to hide behind the word 'activism'. A term that represents the very ideals they fear: equity, fairness and anything that just may level the playing field for the marginalized.

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Maral Karimi @maralkay.bsky.social · 29/05/2025

امیدوارم. واقعا امیدوارم

Maral Karimi @maralkay.bsky.social · 29/05/2025

بعید می‌دونم، تعداد زیادی از امضا کننده‌ها در فضای مجازی حضور دائم دارند و بعیده از ماجرا بی‌خبر باشند. برخی هم که بیشتر رسما کنار آزارگران دیگر ایستاده‌اند. متن بیانه هم که فبها!

Maral Karimi @maralkay.bsky.social · 29/05/2025

#نرگس_محمدی زن مقاومیست. متاسفانه تجربه مکرارا کارکرد فرسایشی جوایز و نشانهای بین‌المللی را نشان داده. برنده پس از مدتی تبدیل میشود به دستگاه صدور بیانه و مصاحبه‌های بی‌سر و ته. مثل این بیانیه زیر که فهرستی بلندبالاست از اصلاح‌طلبان حکومتی، تا آزارگر جنسی و مهره‌های امنیتی. x.com/nargesfnd/st...

x.com

Maral Karimi @maralkay.bsky.social · 12/05/2025

Should we tell him that no political gift is ever free? #AirForceOne