DOIW Statement on International Women’s Day Amid the Catastrophe of US imperialism’s and its genocidal accomplice’s attack on the Iranian People
This year, March 8 is marked amid the catastrophe of the war of aggression unleashed by US Imperialism and its child-killer accomplice, and the bombardment of the people of Iran. March 8, International Women’s Day, the day to honour the long and arduous struggle of women for equal rights and liberation from gender-based violence and discrimination, arrives in our country under catastrophic conditions. The people of our homeland are deeply concerned about current events and are living through anxious and unbearable times. The eyes of the world, alongside their solidarity with our people and with contempt for the aggressors, are fixed on the news and images of the devastating war in the Middle East and the brutal and terrorist attack of the fascist US government and the racist Israeli regime against our country and its official figures.
Our grieving homeland was still reeling from the killing of thousands of innocent people in the popular protests of December 25-January 26, carried out by the dictatorial regime of the Supreme Religious Leader, and from the killing and destruction left by the US/Israel twelve-day assault on Iran a few months earlier, when it came under missile and military bombardment of two fascist aggressor states, a destructive war that the people of Iran and all progressive forces were very concerned about and anticipated, was unleashed. In the savage bombings that targeted the key civilian infrastructure of the country, on the first day of the attack alone, more than 160 innocent schoolgirls and 14 teachers were tragically killed in a girls’ school in Minab, southern Iran.
The blood of young people that was shed in the brutal massacre of the protesters in January 26 has not been washed off the streets, alleys, and public spaces of large and small cities across Iran yet. Families continued to hold the memorial ceremonies—transforming traditional mourning rituals into acts of collective remembrance and resistance—when Trump’s bombs and the child-killer Netanyahu’s missiles began to rain down on them. The cry of “No to dictatorship” and “No to war” had been growing louder in universities and institutions of higher education when, by the order of the leaders of the imperialist U.S. government and its criminal accomplice Netanyahu, attacks on Iran began—aimed at expanding a devastating war, destroying Iran’s infrastructure and human resources, and once again derail or suppress the struggles and aspirations of our people.
Iran’s history bears witness that the people of our homeland have waged a long and difficult struggle against authoritarian monarchic and theocratic regimes, and against imperialist intervention, and for democratic rights, freedoms, and social justice in Iran. Progressive Iranian women have been at the forefront of this struggle, and they have persisted despite the constant violation of their rights, as evidenced in their mass participation in the 1979 Revolution for independence and freedom, the overthrow of the Pahlavi dictatorship that had been restored to power through the CIA coup d’etat of 1953, to their role in recent popular movements. Over a century of women’s heroic struggle for equality and against both gender and class oppression—alongside their advocacy for peace, against war, and resistance to foreign aggression—are well documented in our history.
From the first commemoration of International Women’s Day in Iran[i] 103 years ago, in March 1923, organised by progressive women, to the present, women in Iran have remained active not only in the struggles for legal rights and equality, but also in broader democratic, anti-dictatorship and anti-imperialist movements. They have played active roles in key historic moments such as the Constitutional Revolution, the nationalization of the oil industry – stopping the plunder of Iran’s oil resources by imperialism- the struggle against the Shah’s dictatorship, the 1979 Revolution and the overthrow of the monarchy, campaigning for peace and efforts to end the Iran-Iraq war, and especially in recent decades in opposition to the misogynistic and authoritarian policies of the ruling regime. Women’s struggle has left its indelible mark on the social movements of our country. The “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement stands as a powerful example of this ongoing struggle.
For over a century, despite repression and restrictions, women in Iran have continued to mark March 8—whether in prisons or in the broader “prison” of the country itself—while steadfastly pursuing freedom and equality.
March 8 and the United Nation’s Theme
The 2026 UN theme for March 8 is: Rights, Justice, Action, For all Women and Girls, emphasises the need for governments to take effective action to remove structural barriers towards achieving justice and equality.
In our country, the policies of the misogynistic and reactionary regime that pursues political Islam, have systematically restricted women’s employment, and deepened gender inequality in the labour market. Under the current conditions of a sick and feeble economy, and the state’s economic ‘surgeries’—combined with economic mismanagement, US imposed sanctions, and destructive neoliberal policies that favour big capitalists—the greatest harm has fallen on women and girls. During structural adjustment and gradual changes to the Labour Law in favour of big bourgeoisie, the permitted working hours for married women in various industries was reduced, mandatory hijab was imposed in workplaces, the pay gap with men increased, women were denied benefits stipulated in the labour law based on experience, right to employment insurance. In the 7th Development Plan too support for women’s employment is conditional on women being married and having children.
Iranian women have consistently fought for their most basic rights—including freedom of choice in dress—as well as fundamental rights; demanding an end to gender exploitation, and to all forms of inequality and exploitation including those based on religion, ethnicity and class, and all the social ills that emanate from them. They have led campaigns such as ‘No to Femicide’, and ‘A Woman is not anyone’s Honour’ despite all the restrictions imposed on them. They have led the way on opposing child labour, and child marriage, and environmental protection, campaigns against the death penalty, safeguarding the memory of the fallen activists, students and mothers for justice, alongside the civic and social movements of workers, retirees and academics. In historic and influential events such as the “Woman, Life, Freedom” uprising, women have played an epic role pursuing their humane demands and achieving irreversible gains. The brave women and girls of Iran played a pivotal role, in the nationwide Woman, Life, Freedom movement, as one of the turning points of the popular freedom-movement of our homeland, and made gains that where still evident by the protests of December 25 and January 26.
March 8 and Women Against War
In today’s turbulent world, we witness more than ever the dominance of U.S. imperialism and its allies, especially the far-right government of Israel. Wars and regional conflicts intensify violence and destroy not only infrastructure and human lives but also the environment and economies. Women and children are the primary victims of this disaster, one that is orchestrated by imperialist powers to serve their various geopolitical interests, and the media at their service, plays its part by under-reporting the innocent civilians killed in the attacks. To these powers human rights is optional. The war against the people of Palestine, and Gaza that lies in blood and ruin, is an example of their lies when they speak of human rights.
The people of Iran—especially its women—have never wanted war, as demonstrated again during the recent 12-day conflict. They prioritise the territorial integrity of Iran and have clearly expressed their commitment to peace, as they did in the Meeting of Civil Organizations on Peace, which was held last summer on World Peace Day in Tehran.[ii] Yet today, our homeland is under a criminal attack by the fascist governments of United States and Israel and facing an unwanted and destructive war, so that Netanyahu achieves Israel’s 40-year-old dream of fragmenting the Middle East – a sentiment expressed in the recent utterances of the butcher of Gaza – and so that it paves the way for imperialism to plunder Iran and the region, and advance its geopolitical interests in the region.
In this criminal war, which was unleashed mid-negotiations as last year, schools and hospitals have been targeted. According to reports of the Red Crescent in Iran, to-date (the third day of the war) 787 people have been killed, including schoolchildren and students. Among them were schoolgirls in Minab and young female athletes killed in an attack on a sports facility in Fars province.
Following these attacks, and following the statement by DOIW, condemning these criminal attacks, numerous progressive women’s organisations worldwide have condemned the aggression and offered solidarity messages. Progressive women’s organisations from Italy, Lebanon, Turkey, Japan, Austria, and the UK have expressed their support for the people of Iran. The President of the Women’s International Democratic Federation emphasised that the Iranian people have the solidarity of progressive forces worldwide. The Organisation of Progressive Women in Turkey has expressed its solidarity with the people of Iran and called on Turkey to close its air space to US and Israeli planes, writing: “We stand firmly alongside the people of Iran against the Imperialist and Zionist aggression against Iran”.
The Democratic Organisation of Women of Iran, values this international solidarity, and strongly believes that wars bring devastating consequences, especially for women and children. We demand an immediate ceasefire and negotiations for peace. We call on all peace-loving people worldwide to raise their voices against war.
The DOIW expresses its deepest sympathy to the suffering people of Iran, and on the occasion of 8th of March, the day of solidarity of women worldwide for the goal of achieving peace and freedom, equality and social justice, and the environment, we reaffirm that the future of Iran must be determined solely by its people—not by foreign powers whose hands are stained with the blood of countless victims.
Victory to the struggle of the people of Iran for a national and democratic state!
Long live peace, freedom, equality, and social justice!
March 3, 2026
[i] In the Northern city of Rasht
[ii] Telegram channel “Mothers of Peace Iran” 24 September 2025
