The Writers' Association of Iran is an organization founded in 1968 by forty-nine notable Persian writers with the objective of promoting freedom of speech and fighting against censorship. These writers included Jalal Al-Ahmad, Bahram Bayzai, Darioush Ashouri, Mohammad, and Mohammad Sepanlou. It is one of the oldest and most influential trade union for Iranian writers. It has been an opposition union since its establishment. The Iranian Writers' Association (IWA) was banned in 1981 by the Iranian authorities.