DIVISIONS AT THE TOP, ANGER AND RESISTANCE FROM
BELOW
The biggest political crisis in
Meanwhile, the U.S. and Israeli rulers (whose
actions, including sanctions, covert operations, threats of war, and Obama’s
diplomatic and propaganda initiatives, contributed to this unexpected crisis),
are openly evaluating what impact recent developments will have on their
efforts to contain and weaken Iran as a regional power and obstacle to their
own imperialist hegemony. Against this backdrop, their talk of “crippling
sanctions” and possible military attack is growing louder.
Mourning Neda Agha-Soltan
The latest outpouring of opposition took place
on Thursday, July 30, when thousands (some estimated tens of thousands) tried
to gather at the gravesite of Neda Agha-Soltan in Behesht-e-Zahra cemetery in
Tehran to mark the 40th day since her murder by the IRI in defiance of a
government ban on protests. Neda had become a worldwide symbol of the
uprising—and the regime’s murderous brutality. When mourners attempted to
gather, they were attacked by the regime’s police and paramilitary forces,
sprayed with tear gas, and clubbed. Protesters, whose chants included “death to
the dictator,” “this government is dead,” and “Neda lives! [Iranian President]
Ahmadinejad is dead!” reportedly tried to regroup and march through
There are calls for more demonstrations in coming
days and weeks, including a call circulating for everyone in Tehran to come
into the streets—and for no one to stay home—on Wednesday, August 5, to protest
Ahmadinejad’s swearing in.
(For more coverage of the Iranian people’s
uprising, see “Live from
Iran’s Dungeons of Torture and Murder
In recent days there have been new revelations
about the IRI’s vicious attempt to crush the people’s uprising with torture and
murder. These revelations have poured fuel on the flames of mass outrage
against the Islamic Republic but also provide a very stark exposure of the
horrors of religious fundamentalism in power.
Accounts of the widespread abuse of arrested
protesters in
“We were all standing so close to each other
that no one could move. The plainclothes guards came into the room and broke
all the light bulbs, and in the pitch dark started beating us, whoever they
could.” By morning, at least four detainees were dead, he added.
“In another account posted online, a former
detainee describes being made to lie facedown on the floor of a police station
bathroom, where an officer would step on his neck and force him to lick the
toilet bowl as the officer cursed reformist politicians.
“A woman described having her hair pulled as
interrogators demanded that she confess to having sex with political figures. When
she was finally released, she was forced—like many others—to sign a paper
saying she had never been mistreated.”
Others describe fingernails being pulled out. Hospital
officials have reported evidence of over 100 deaths since June 12. And more and
more families are receiving the battered corpses of their loved ones.
(“Reports of Prison Abuse and Deaths Anger
Iranians,”
Unprecedented Crisis of Legitimacy and A Leap in Revolutionary Sentiments
The immediate trigger for this crisis was the
apparent rigging of the June 12 presidential election which returned current
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to office. This seemingly stolen election sprung
from bitter factional infighting at the highest levels of the clerical/Islamist
establishment over how to best preserve their reactionary theocratic rule. And
the election theft and these fissures in
While this uprising was initially sparked by
the stolen election, and encompasses many different viewpoints (including many
who—at least for now—follow the more liberal of the Iranian theocrats and hope
that the Islamic Republic can be reformed for the better), at a deeper level,
it reflects the profound hatred significant sections of Iranian society have
for the stifling, oppressive character of life under Islamic theocratic rule,
anger which is deepening with each outrage committed by the IRI to maintain its
grip on political power. This in turn has intensified the divisions at the top
of the Islamic state, and clerical infighting has then created new
opportunities for expressions of mass anger and discontent. All of this has
radically changed
“An analytical declaration on the present
crisis and the tasks of revolutionary communists” by the Communist Party of
Iran (Marxist-Leninist-Maoist) dated June 28, 2009 calls the situation, “an
unprecedented crisis of legitimacy for the Islamic Republic of Iran and a leap
in revolutionary sentiments among the masses of people.”
“It was clear from the beginning that we were going to face an intense situation with the presidential election,” the document states. “But nobody imagined the extent of its dimensions or the degree of bloodiness.” (A World to Win News Service, July 27, 2009)
(See also V.T., “Response To Election Fraud
Reveals Deep Schisms in Iranian Ruling Circle and Broad Based Profound Hatred
of the Regime—UPRISING IN IRAN,” at revcom.us/a/169/Iran‑en.html; and Larry Everest, “Roots of the
Iranian Uprising: A Society Drowning in Corruption, Destruction, Superstition,
Dark Religious Ignorance, Drug Addiction and Prostitution,” Revolution
#169, June 28, 2009, revcom.us/a/169/iranian_uprising‑en.html)
Iran’s Rulers: Unable to Rule in the Old Way
The fractures within Iran’s ruling class—both
those between the “reformist” wing and those currently in control of the state,
as well as among those currently in power—have continued to intensify despite
the efforts of Supreme Leader Khamenei, President Ahmadinejad, and their allies
to quash dissent and opposition.
Some examples give a flavor of the breadth and
intensity of these disputes. On July 17, former President Ali Akbar Hashemi
Rafsanjani, one of the founding members of the Islamic Republic and a major
godfather-type figure in Iran who backed Mir Hossein Mousavi in the June 12
election, condemned Ahmadinejad’s (and implicitly Khamenei’s) leadership,
calling the situation a “crisis” and warning that the ruling class could
“collapse” if steps weren’t taken to bridge the growing gap between ruled and
rulers.
Two days later former President Khatami called
for a referendum which would basically overturn the results of the election. The
next day Supreme Leader Khamenei counter-attacked, warning the critics to be
careful and—sounding like the Bush regime’s Ari Fleischer—to watch what they
said.
This was followed by an open letter from 70
leading opposition movement figures condemning the government’s crackdown for
being “illegal, immoral” and using “irreligious methods,” while demanding the
release of those arrested. Revelations of prison abuse have also sparked bitter
recriminations among
There are also growing fractures among the
so-called “conservatives” now currently in power. Ahmadinejad was forced by
Khameini to rescind his pick for First Vice President, Esfiander Rahim Mashaei.
Ahmadinejad then turned around and made Mashaei his top aide, causing an uproar in right-wing circles and leading to speculation
that Ahmadinejad may not serve out his term.
The CPI-MLM calls the situation “an
unprecedented split among the rulers on top (an expression of the fact that
they can no longer rule in the same way as in the past),” intensified over the
past several years: “The continual economic crisis, the deep dissatisfaction
regarding the regime among various classes and strata of the people and U.S.
imperialism’s pressure on the IRI were the most important factors intensifying
the regime’s international contradictions.” (Statement of June 28)
Their differences are over how to best preserve
the Islamic Republic. “One faction believes that the whole system will fall
apart without some reform in the IRI’s ruling structures. The
other fears that such reforms would trigger the regime’s collapse,” the CPI-MLM
states. (Four days before the election, Yadollah Javani, head of the
Revolutionary Guard political office, warned that if Mousavi or others wanted a
velvet revolution, it would be “quashed before it is born.” (Roger
And, at least for the present, all the IRI’s
leading political figures and factions—including those who have condemned the
June 12 election—are working furiously to direct that discontent toward
maintaining and strengthening—not weakening, much less overthrowing—the Islamic
Republic.
Obama and U.S.
In the midst of this crisis, what is the
The Islamic fundamentalist rulers of
At root, this is contention taking place—within
the framework of imperialist relations—between two historically outmoded,
reactionary strata, both of which are exploiters and oppressors. One of these
outmoded strata exists among colonized and oppressed peoples—and the other
“outmoded” is the ruling strata of the imperialist system. The country of
Today, even while offering some expressions of
support and concern, the
In this atmosphere of tension and uncertainty,
there are alarming signs that stepped-up imperialist intervention and
aggression, and possibly military attacks against
Obama seemed to contradict this position the
day after Biden spoke—stating he wanted the issue solved “in a peaceful way,”
and just this past week top U.S. officials—Defense Secretary Robert Gates and
National Security Advisor Gen. James Jones—met with Israeli officials to
discuss Iran.
The well-connected Israeli newspaper Haaretz
reports (July 31) that while Gates told the Israelis that the U.S. “red light”
against attacking Iran (something top Israeli officials have repeatedly
threatened) still stood, “the Americans—influenced by the Iranian regime’s
conduct toward the post‑election unrest that began in early June—are for the
first time showing more understanding for Israel’s view of events. The
Haaretz also notes that these talks took place just
after the completion of a joint American-Israeli exercise at
(Haaretz also notes that while there
may be differences between Israel and the Obama administration on Iran,
strategic cooperation continues: “Though it seems the red light on an Israeli
attack still stands, the recurrent warnings by Israel’s prime and defense
ministers about all options being on the table actually serve American
interests: They allow Obama to wave the Israeli stick at the Iranians as part
of his effort to get the Iranians to agree to a dialogue, and possibly even to
concessions.”)
“Let’s Go Iranian”
Given imperialism’s historical and present-day
domination of Iran (even as the particular forms it has taken have gone through
various changes), and ongoing U.S., Israeli and European intervention in and
threats against Iran, it’s imperative that people in this country both support
the just struggle of the Iranian people and oppose all the moves by our own
rulers to maintain their suffocating and deadly grip on Iran and the region.
The heroic struggle of millions has not only
changed the political landscape in
“I teach at a NYC high school, and recently one
student stood up to our very intimidating principal, (something that almost
never happens). When he did not get permission for what he intended to do,
another student said ‘Let’s go iranian on him.’ By that he meant organize a
protest. And so now they ‘
“Point being, even these students who get very
small amounts of news equate ‘Iranian’ with bravery and I completely agree, and
wish I had that kind of intestinal fortitude. You have our greatest admiration
and respect!”