Introduction: Unmooring Liberation from the Twelve-Day War

Abstract This introduction gives an overview of the dossier, bringing together contributions on Israel's invasion of Iran during the Twelve-Day War from inside Iran as well as from exiled researchers and activists. It advances an internationalist position that seeks to move beyond both imperialist narratives and campist apologetics by taking struggles for liberation as its point of departure. While situating this war within the broader process of transformations of the Middle East that primed October 7, 2023, and subsequent reconfiguration of the region through violence, warfare and the genocide in Gaza, this piece delves deeper into the genealogies of this war. Alongside the two nationalist tendencies of ethno-nationalism and patriotism described here, a third alternative began to emerge in the wake of the war, distinguished by its qualitatively different and emancipatory character. This alternative was articulated by both political organizations and activists inside Iran such as independent labor organizations and political prisoners, as well as diasporic leftist collectives. Constructed around a “dual negation,” this stance expressed a call for genuine democratic transformation grounded in grassroots mobilization and solidarity. It offered a critique not only of the immediate protagonists involved in this war but also of the broader structures underpinning violence and domination in the region, ultimately highlighting an internationalist path forward.