The Interview – Azar Nafisi: Iranians Are Fighting for Their Freedom

BBC World Service | Aired: February 11, 2026
Host: Asma Khalid | Guest: Azar Nafisi

Episode Overview

This episode features a candid and illuminating conversation between host Asma Khalid and Azar Nafisi, renowned Iranian-American writer and activist best known for her memoir "Reading Lolita in Tehran." Set against the backdrop of ongoing protests and increasing repression in Iran, the interview explores Nafisi's personal experiences under the Islamic Republic, the ongoing fight for freedom by ordinary Iranians, and the role of literature and art in resistance. Nafisi speaks passionately about existential struggles for agency, the universal desire for freedom, and what the world can do to support Iranians without repeating the mistakes of history.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Universal Fight for Freedom

• Freedom Is Universal, Not Western or Eastern
  • Nafisi stresses that Iranians seek the same freedoms as any global citizen, not special treatment (03:40, 10:30).
    • “The fight in Iran for freedom should be supported not because it is philanthropy... we better go and rescue them. I have seldom seen the kind of courage Iranian people have shown. Thousands of them poured into the streets saying freedom is neither Western nor Eastern. Freedom is universal.” – Azar Nafisi (03:40, 10:30)
• Repression as Existential Threat
  • She underlines that the struggle is not only political but existential—about authentic selfhood, dignity, and survival (04:51, 14:43).
    • “We’re fighting for our existence. We’re fighting for our survival.” – Azar Nafisi (05:59)

2. The Atmosphere in Iran – Fear, Hope, and Unity

• Ongoing Crisis and Loss of Contact
  • Nafisi shares that she remains out of contact with friends and family in Iran, highlighting the real dangers they face (06:51).
• Widespread Protest and Unprecedented Solidarity
  • The latest uprisings are not limited to youth or women, but unite a broad cross-section: retirees, shopkeepers, men, and women alike (07:37).
    • “It is everybody… men and women are united. This movement, this uprising is not just political. Everybody participates in it.” – Azar Nafisi (08:01)
• Nonviolent Resistance
  • She lauds Iranians’ nonviolent protest in face of brutal repression—pointing out the regime's violence is itself a sign of its fragility (08:53).
    • “Two things are amazing. One is this regime’s greed for blood… that shows how weak it is that it has to constantly kill.” (09:14)
• Enduring Slogan: "Woman, Life, Freedom"
  • The central role of women and the significance of this slogan is repeatedly emphasized.

3. Lessons from the Revolution and the Perils of Foreign Intervention

• Reflecting on the 1979 Revolution and Its Aftermath
  • Nafisi candidly admits to her own confusion and lack of historical awareness during the anti-Shah protests, owning her past mistakes (17:25).
    • “I was against the Shah and I didn’t know much about things, but I feel that I have to own the fact that I was wrong. I wanted human rights, but I didn’t know how to gain it.” – Azar Nafisi (17:25)
• On Foreign Interference
  • While wary of Western involvement repeating old mistakes, she calls for international solidarity rather than invasion or violence (10:30).
    • “Iran does not want invasion. It does not want more violence. It wants more support. Some people are starving to death.” – Azar Nafisi (11:43)
  • She compares Iran’s struggle to South Africa’s fight for liberation, referencing Mandela’s leadership as a model (12:03).

4. The Depth of Iranian Grievances

• Economic Disaster and Existential Despair
  • Economic hardship, hunger, and denial of basic rights feed the movement. Nafisi recounts friends telling her of children starving in schools (14:43).
  • The wish for change is not about a simple swap of rulers but a transformation of mindsets and values (15:59).
    • “Some Iranians were against the Shah... you should get someone who is better than him, not such a corrupt and violent government that we, the Iranian people, brought into our own country.” – Azar Nafisi (16:12)

5. Literature and Art as Forms of Resistance

• Why "Reading Lolita in Tehran"?
  • When asked why she risked teaching banned literature, Nafisi highlights literature’s capacity to renew perspective and preserve identity under tyranny (19:04).
    • “If I am a stranger to myself, I might as well be dead. Because you want to be alive in order to be allowed to be alive.” – Azar Nafisi (19:10)
  • Literature is not escapism, she argues, but a tool for survival and truth-telling that tyrants deeply fear (20:09).
    • “If literature is not important, why is it that some of the most powerful tyrants... torture and kill writers, poets, filmmakers, artists? ... Tyrants hate the truth. They are the first enemy of truth.” – Azar Nafisi (20:34)
  • She shares the story of public defense of Iran’s poets and the lasting power of poetry and art, even as regimes change (22:19).
    • “The regime could bring down the statue of a king, but they could not bring down the statue of a poet. That shows the poet’s strength.” – Azar Nafisi (23:56)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Universal Freedom (03:40, 10:30)
  • “Freedom is neither Western nor Eastern. Freedom is universal.”
• On the Regime’s Fear (05:25)
  • “The first thing that a totalitarian regime does is to lie, is to turn reality into a lie.”
• On Nonviolence and Hope (08:53)
  • “What can they do? Can they put everybody in jail? They cannot.”
• On Literature’s Power (19:10, 20:34)
  • “If I am a stranger to myself, I might as well be dead.”
  • “Tyrants hate the truth. They are the first enemy of truth.”
• On Iranian Identity and Poetry (22:19, 23:56)
  • “It gives us unity. My father used to tell me, ‘This country we live in is very ancient… what gives continuity to us is our poetry.’”

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [03:40] – Nafisi on universal desire for freedom and solidarity with Iranians.
• [04:51] – The existential battle: being denied the right to selfhood.
• [06:51] – Ongoing peril faced by friends and family inside Iran.
• [07:37] – Description of the wide spectrum of Iranians engaged in protest.
• [10:30] – Perspectives on foreign intervention and Iran’s need for solidarity, not invasion.
• [14:43] – Grievances: economic despair and the need for transformation beyond regime change.
• [17:25] – Nafisi admits her own flawed hopes during the revolution.
• [19:04] – Literature as soul-preservation and defiance: origins of "Reading Lolita in Tehran."
• [22:19] – The enduring power of poetry as the essence of Iranian identity.
• [23:56] – The resistance of Iranian culture and poetry to tyranny.

Tone & Style

Nafisi brings a reflective, passionate, and deeply personal tone, mixing sorrow with hope and intellectual rigor with warmth. The conversation is marked by heartfelt homesickness, clear-eyed historical honesty, reverence for art’s place in resisting tyranny, and a call for international empathy grounded in shared humanity.

For listeners seeking understanding of Iran's current struggle from the perspective of one of its most prominent literary voices, this interview is essential, poignant, and inspiring.