Supporters of Workers Fund Iran will be pounding the streets in the Berlin marathon on September 25th . They will be getting their running shoes on to raise sponsorship money for the important and unique work of this charity – can you support them?

Workers Fund Iran (WFI) was founded in December 2005 inspired by suggestions from veteran Iranian labour activist Albert Sohrabian (1927-2004). WFI aims to reduce and relieve poverty amongst Iranian workers (both employed and unemployed). This results from both the economic policies of the Iranian regime and the sanctions imposed by other countries. The charity puts at the centre of its activities the drive to rebuild international working class solidarity, directly with the workers of Iran. The charity is an independent organisation. Funds sent to Iran will be distributed amongst the most needy working class families who are facing destitution, regardless of political affiliation. We hope the funds will stop families sending their children to the streets as beggars or peddlers and selling their body parts, which is a common practice.

You can sponsor us on line using Charity Choice’s website
https://www.charitychoice.co.uk/donation.asp?ref=154051

So far runners from England, France, Italy, Germany, Sweden and USA will participate to raise funds for this cause. You can show your support by wearing Workers Fund Iran T-shirt and walking with us. If you would like to run the half marathon or the marathon with us and support our cause please send us an email workersfund@gmail.com.

A campaigning has been launched for the freedom of Marzieh Vafamehr, an Iranian actress who has been sentenced to 90 lashes and one year in jail for her role in My Tehran for Sale, an Australian film about an actress whose theatre work is banned in Iran.

Actors’ Equity of Australia has set up an on-line petition calling for her release.

Vafamehr, wife of the acclaimed film-maker Nasser Taghvai, was arrested in July after starring in the film, which touches on many of the taboo issues of modern life in Iran. Iranian human rights activists have reacted with outrage to her conviction and in particular the fact that she faces 90 lashes. It comes only two days after a student activist, Peyman Aref, was lashed 74 times in Tehran’s Evin prison for insulting the president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The film, directed by Granaz Moussavi, features Vafamehr as an actress who flees to Australia as an illegal immigrant after being persecuted in Iran. She appears with a shaved head and without a hijab in some scenes. In the film, an underground party where men and women dance and drink is disrupted by a group of moral police who arrest some of the partygoers. My Tehran for Sale premiered at the Adelaide film festival in 2009 but remains banned in Iran.

Other members of Iran’s film industry have also been arrested in recent years. Pegah Ahangarani, a popular actor was released from jail in July. Director Jafar Panahi received a six-year prison term and 20-year ban from film-making last year. Mohammad Rasoulof was also sentenced to six years in jail. Ramin Parchami, an actor who voiced support for the opposition, still remains in jail.

Go to Equity’s web site at www.equity.org.uk for more information. You can find the petition at http://www.equityfoundation.org.au/newsbites/actors-equity-calls-for-the-release-of-marzieh-vafamehr.html

Bina Darabzand, a leading member of the Consistency Committee to Establish Workers’ Organizations in Iran, and his son Oktai, a journalist and blogger, have recently fled Iran due to threats by the Islamic Republic regime against their lives and security. They have sought refugee status in Turkey; however, they remain under pressure from the Turkish authorities to return to Iran. Given the serious and continuing risk to their lives, we urge UNHCR to expedite the processing of their cases, grant them refugee status as a matter of urgency, and quickly facilitate their resettlement to a safe third country.

Bina Darabzand
Bina Darabzand is a prominent activist who has been politically active from the age of 15, first against the Shah’s dictatorship, and then against the Islamic Republic regime. In addition to being a leading member of the Consistency Committee to Establish Workers’ Organizations in Iran, he has also re-started his political blog, http://salam-democrat.com.

Numerous labor activists with the Consistency Committee to Establish Workers’ Organizations in Iran have faced persecution and imprisonment for exercising their fundamental rights to organize, and for demanding workers’ rights, including unpaid back wages, fair pay, and benefits. Behnam Ebrahimzadeh, a member of the same Committee, is a political prisoner serving a 20-year sentence for his membership in this organization. Nearly all members of the Committee to Establish Workers’ Organizations have been arrested, beaten, or persecuted by regime authorities in Iran including Shahrokh Zamani and Muhammad Jarahi, who are now serving 11- and 10-year prison sentences, respectively, in Tabriz Prison. Others have been released temporarily and only on the basis of having paid multiple hundreds of millions Tomans in bail.

Oktai Darabzand
Bina’s son, Oktai Darabzand, is a journalist with a focus on political and human rights issues. Six years ago, Oktai established a weblog called “Aseman Daily News,” which published the news of political prisoners from jail as well as other human rights violations by the Islamic Republic regime. The blog also included social, economic, and foreign news sections. Journalists and bloggers covering human rights news in Iran are routinely persecuted, tortured, sentenced to lengthy prison terms, and even sentenced to execution in Iran; Reporters Without Borders provides an overview of the risk faced by such journalists and bloggers in Iran (link).

During the 2009 uprising, Oktai’s weblog was blocked on the orders of the Judicial Power. Immediately, with funding from his father, Oktai opened a website with the same name (http://asemandailynews.com),  continuing with his activities.

However, in April of 2011, Oktai’s website was designated by the regime as “a PMOI site.” Many members of PMOI (Peoples’ Mojahedin of Irani, or Mojahedin-e Khalgh) – and those accused of affiliation – are condemned to brutally harsh prison sentences and execution. Jafar Kazemi, Ali Saremi, and Mohammad Ali Haj Aghaei are only 3 recent and well-known examples of those accused of PMOI membership who have been executed on that basis.

Although Oktai has no political affiliation or contact with any organized group; however, because of his journalistic activities, and because the Islamic Republic has designated his site as being affiliated with PMOI, his life is at clear and unquestionable risk in Iran.

Situation in Turkey
Bina and Oktai entered Turkey and registered with the UNHCR. However, they were soon informed by the Ankara Police (Foreign Citizens Bureau) that the Turkish Ministry refused to recognize their status as asylum-seekers; they were given until 8 February 2012 to leave Turkey and return to Iran. Thanks to pressure from Iranian and European supporters, UNHCR accelerated the interview process and contacted the Turkish Interior Ministry and Police, requesting that they respect Bina and Oktai’s status as asylum-seekers whose case is pending review.

The Turkish police demonstrated their anger at the pressure that had been exerted on them to accept the Darabzand’s appeal. Ultimately, Bina and Oktai were required to leave Ankara and go to a small town that has no facilities, not even a bus terminal, 3 hours from any city. They are to wait for a response from UNHCR there, but they remain at elevated risk of deportation at any moment. Should they be illegally deported to Iran by the Turkish authorities, not only would they face certain imprisonment and torture, but both of their lives would be at risk.

TAKE ACTION NOW:
There is an urgent need for people to write to UNHCR in Turkey and request that UNHCR expedite the processing of the Darabzand’s cases, grant them refugee status as a matter of urgency, and quickly facilitate their resettlement to a safe third country. A sample letter follows; we ask everyone to use the sample letter, or write a letter of your own, and send it to UNHCR in Turkey, with copies to the Turkish Interior Ministry, asking UNHCR to take urgent action, given the threat to the Darabzands’ lives, and their current insecure situation in Turkey.

Sample Letter and Addresses:

Addresses:
To: turan@unhcr.org
cc: mustesarlik@icisleri.gov.tr; gsekreter@icisleri.gov.tr; diab@icisleri.gov.tr

To the UNHCR office in Turkey:

I am writing with regard to the urgent cases of Iranian asylum-seekers Bina Darabzand (UNHCR case #385-11C08824 ) and his son Okatai Darabzand (UNHCR case #385-11C08827).

Bina Darabzand is a well-known life-long anti-regime political activist and leading member of the Consistency Committee to Establish Workers’ Organizations in Iran – an organization whose members have all been subjected to beatings, persecution, and lengthy jail sentences. Members who are not currently political prisoners have been forced to flee Iran to save their own lives. Yet leading activists like Bina remain at risk even in Turkey.

Oktai Darabzand is a journalist covering human rights and other news in Iran. He is without political affiliation, yet his website has been designated by the Islamic Republic authorities as belonging to anti-regime organization PMOI. The Islamic Republic regime’s notorious brutal repression of journalists and its ongoing persecution of members of PMOI underscore the need for Oktai Darabzand to be granted to asylum and protection.

Both Bina and Oktai Darabzand have legitimate claims of asylum, and both remain in danger as long as they remain under their current insecure situation in Turkey.

I urge UNHCR to expedite the processing of the Darabzands’ cases, grant them refugee status as a matter of urgency, and quickly facilitate their resettlement to a safe third country.

Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Country of Residence]

In his speech to the February 11 solidarity film screening of Hands Off the People of Iran (which raised £180 for Hopi), John McDonnell MP explained how the British government is preparing to step up its intervention in the Middle East:

I was present in the Commons on January 24, when foreign secretary William Hague made a statement on European Union sanctions against Iran. In response to a question, he said that, while the UK was “not calling for, or advocating, military action”, it is “the job of our armed forces to prepare for many contingencies” and “all options remain on the table”. This was reflected on the Labour front bench by shadow foreign secretary John Spellar, that well known progressive politician (there’s no irony in Hansard, but I hope it’s not the same in this meeting). Spellar reflects the same attitude – that we should be ready for military action.

Some caution was sounded, including from Tories – the Tory chair of the Iran All-Party Group basically said, ‘Look at the situation from Iran’s point of view. It’s surrounded by nuclear states: Pakistan, India and Israel. Then there are the occupied territories. What would the government think if that was happening here?’ So, while there is a clear majority on all sides of the house for ensuring that military intervention remains on the agenda, there were reservations being expressed even on the Tory side. The Iran All-Party Group is basically an alliance of Tories and big capital, which is concerned about the repercussions on trade more than anything else.

There were two interventions from our side: from myself and Jeremy Corbyn. Jeremy raised the issue that, if there really is so much anxiety about nuclear weapons – Hague’s line is that we need to intervene now before nuclear weapons were obtained and developed – then the government should adhere to its legal commitments under various treaties and press for a conference to establish a nuclear-free zone within the Middle East. Hague’s response was fairly derisory, refusing to confront the issue that there might be another path to securing peace. Obviously, they don’t want to confront Israel – that’s not on their agenda either.

I asked a question about current military action and about the covert operations and assassinations that have already happened. Interestingly enough, Hague denied the UK’s involvement in assassinations, but it’s useful to look at the phrasing he used: he said he was not going to comment further, because the British government does not comment on intelligence matters. What that confirms effectively is that they know about the covert operations – the assassinations as well as the bombings, etc. But they are unwilling to acknowledge the role of Mossad, with the support of some movements within Iran itself, for those sorts of military actions. Of course, you can only put one question; you cannot engage in debate.

But if you compare the responses last month to what was being said in the run-up to the war against Iraq, there is a clear similarity. There is a need to ratchet up sanctions, and a tacit acknowledgement that covert operations are already happening. There is a build-up on the Tory side, backed by the Labour front bench in a coalition of agreement, if you like: all three parties agree that military intervention would be supported if and when they felt it was appropriate. As with Iraq, once that ball starts rolling, it begins to pick up speed and I genuinely think that is where we are at. I do think that they are now clear in their own minds that military intervention will take place – it will probably take the form of a strike by Israel and then if necessary another intervention force of some sort.

There are also arguments about intervention in Syria, maybe moving towards a no-fly zone. That then gives them a base to move on to Iran later. They are plotting these options very clearly and we need to do the same thing in relation to our response to what we think those next steps will be.

There will definitely be an escalation of sanctions, and our job is to expose their implications. Here I must mention the work Yassamine Mather has done – on the resulting economic situation in Iran, on the destabilising effect on the Iranian currency and on trade, and the knock-on effect that has on ordinary working class people. I think it is critical that we get than message out, because it is not reported anywhere: there’s no discussion of this in our national press or media at all. We in Hands off the People of Iran have argued that sanctions are just war by another means – war perpetrated not on the ruling elite of Iran, but on the ordinary working class people. They’re the ones who actually suffer as a result of sanctions.

We need to be the people who are exposing the covert operations, because I don’t think we can give the media the credit for doing that. The fact that it’s not British troops on the ground is irrelevant: whether it’s British boots or not, there’s a covert war going on and it’s our job to expose that. Above all else, our job is to try and make sure the anti-war forces in this country are mobilised effectively and, hopefully, in a non-sectarian way to prevent any further military action taking place.

I think that, with Iraq still in the memory, there is a popular sentiment that can be mobilised against direct intervention by this country in Iran. But it has to be worked upon. So I think our job in the coming weeks and months is to continue the work which Hopi is doing and to expose what’s going on, to expose the sanctions, to expose the build-up of covert operations and to expose the potential that there is for intervention by the US and the UK and others in some sort of ‘coalition of the willing’, which I think they’re trying to prepare, certainly in propaganda terms.

It’s interesting that the propaganda is so extensive. The Guardian – supposedly a left-liberal newspaper – carried a piece by Jonathan Freedland [February 11] arguing in favour of an intervention in Iran. It actually attacks those people who demonstrated on the Stop the War Coalition demo on January 28 – we also participated, of course. The arguments are beginning to be presented in terms of a ‘humanitarian intervention’ – an intervention that is required at this stage to prevent the development of nuclear weapons.

Well, Jeremy posed the right solution, you have to be engaged in the debate about nuclear proliferation overall if you are going to tackle this issue. And the reason they don’t want to address it seriously is because they are not willing to address the issue of the nuclear arms held by Israel. So, again, it’s our job in the coming period to expose that and work against military intervention. If we can win the argument against direct intervention, we can then roll back the argument about the sanctions issue as well.

We might well then be able to start a discussion deep in the heart of the labour and trade union movement in this country about the real force for change in Iran. In other words, how can we give effective support to the progressive forces, individuals and organisations in Iran? At the moment the solidarity work of the labour and trade union movement is at an extremely low level – a few tokenistic statements by the general secretary of the TUC, for example. It hasn’t become a feature of the international work of the labour and trade union movement in this country amongst the official organisations, and that’s part of our mission in the coming period. We must learn how to be successful in raising this in individual trade unions and we need to step up to the plate on this now.

Let me finish on this. On the first day following the recess there will be a debate in the Commons on Iran, on the initiative of Elfyn Llwyd of Plaid Cymru, who is reasonably progressive on a number of issues. Jeremy and I will be intervening in that debate. We as Hopi need to prepare the lines of argument that should be posed in parliament – because, as sure as day follows night, there will be an organised intervention, not just from the Tories, but from the Labour side as well. They’ll be seeking to consolidate their consensus over sanctions, but also ratcheting it up into support for intervention. So we on our side have to use that debate as best we can to argue not just against sanctions and military intervention, but also for an alternative. That means revolutionary change in Iran. But revolution on the basis of working class people and working class organisations, together with progressive forces, coming together to challenge the current regime.

If Hopi can make such an intervention in parliament, that will give a lead to others. One thing that struck me about the January 24 exchanges in parliament was that MPs were absolutely lost. Then there was the realisation: ‘Oh my god, we are going down the same route as with Iraq.’ The same drums are beating. That shift from ‘weapons of mass destruction’ to sanctions, covert operations and military build-up. As soon as the navy arrives in the Gulf area then the inevitability of military intervention is posed.

There might just be the potential to set out our alternative – an alternative to the usual escalation that develops into another war. If we can make a good intervention in parliament, then we can use that as part of our propaganda base to alert the British people as well.

Sarah McDonald and other comrades will be running the Vienna marathon to raise money for Iranian Workers, here she explains why you should show support

The threat of war in the Middle East is increasing daily. The drums are beating especially loudly in Israel, and the Iranian people are facing a fight on two fronts: against imperialist intervention and against the Iranian regime. Now, more than ever, we must show active solidarity.

Workers Fund Iran was set up in December 2005. It aims to reduce and relieve poverty amongst Iranian workers (both employed and unemployed), who are victims both of the economic policies of the Iranian regime and the sanctions imposed by imperialism. It aims to put at the centre of its activities the need to rebuild international working class solidarity, directly with the workers of Iran. WFI is involved in many fundraising activities to support its work, ranging from solidarity meals to solidarity cricket (!). Yet another WFI tradition is perhaps the ultimate test: marathon running. The last such event with WFI participation was in Berlin, where well over €500 was raised last September. This year, 40 WFI runners will be pounding the streets of Vienna in the name of international solidarity.

Last August, as I was whiling away another pleasant summer’s day in the CPGB office, I was asked if I’d be up for running a marathon at some point over the next year. “Why not?” I replied. Words I have come to regret uttering on many an occasion over the past eight months or so (normally somewhere around the 18km mark during a training stint). Having been a semi-competent middle-distance runner for the last six or seven years, I wasn’t quite starting from scratch – but going from the concept of running 26.2 miles to the reality of it is … well, painful.

So a small squad of us registered for the Vienna marathon (the point, for me at least, where the idea become a reality). Since then, we’ve battled the weather, training through the winter’s high winds, cold and rain. We’ve sustained injury (all of us have done ourselves damage at some point through running stupid distances). Now, with less than three weeks to go we’re hoping to make it intact to the finishing line (my personal goal is not to get overtaken by a 70-year-old dressed as a chicken), with a pint of Austria’s finest beer glowing in the sky like a Monty Python-style Holy Grail animation. Though we are looking forward to April 15 (albeit with trepidation!), I think it’s a safe assertion that we’re looking forward even more to April 16 when this is all over (as, I’m sure, are our friends, colleagues, family, etc, who we’ve bored to death with our running tales).

There are important lessons to be learned from this experience (not least, don’t mix isotonic sports drinks with energy gels). By taking part in events that involve active solidarity you get a sense of being a part of something, whether that’s through training, competing with each other (in a comradely fashion, of course), organising meals for the runners, putting on meetings and events around the marathon or planning walking tours exploring the history of Red Vienna. It’s fair to say those who are running and those who are flying across to support us are very much immersed in the event. In essence, our comrades have put in blood, sweat and tears (some of us quite literally).

We are now asking for your support. With two and a half weeks to go, we need all the sponsorship we can get. So, comrades, dig deep! Think of those hours of pounding the pavements and parks; though sleet, snow and iliotibial band syndrome.

The most important lesson, of course, is that it is both possible and urgently necessary for the working class to organise solidarity, not charity. The popularity and universality of sport can greatly assist this process. For example, the BBC’s Sport relief recently saw people in this country raise over £50 million. What a shame that these funds will be frittered away, filtered through the corrupt, bureaucratic and undemocratic apparatuses of bourgeois charity. Surely, our goal as the workers’ movement must be to raise this kind of money and beyond – strengthening the cause of working class self-organisation and combativity across the globe. The funds we raise right now will, of course, be much smaller. But they are symbolically important, and point towards what our movement could achieve.

We would also urge comrades to show their support for the Iranian people by attending the Hands Off the People of Iran school in central London over the weekend of the April 21-22. There will also be a full update of how our marathon runners got on in Vienna and you can, of course, buy us a well deserved pint in the pub afterwards.

You can sponsor us by going to http://hopoi.org/?page_id=11 (please clearly state the purpose of the donation: ie, Workers Fund Iran marathon) or by clicking here: http://www.charitychoice.co.uk/workers-fund-iran-11724

We would very much appreciate your support!

Ben Lewis reports on comrades running the Nottingham half-marathon in support of Workers Fund Iran

On Sunday September 30, six bright-eyed and bushy-tailed runners from Workers Fund Iran lined up with around 6,600 other competitors to take part in the Ikano Robin Hood half-marathon in Nottingham. The event was billed as a “fast and scenic route through the city” and “an ideal course for beginners and faster runners looking for a personal best”.

For the WFI team, the event was a key part of our training for the Florence marathon on November 25 (more on this below), as well as a way of publicising the charity and recruiting new runners. While some of us were wondering whether going for a team curry the night before was the optimal form of pre-race nutrition, all of our runners – old and new – did WFI proud.

Having previously crossed the finish line together at the Vienna marathon, Jamie Tedford and I ran separately this time around. In the end I beat him by a mere six seconds, with a time of 1 hour, 27 minutes and 46 seconds. (I can only explain this six-second victory by the fact that a bloke dressed as Robin Hood was closing down on me in the back straight, so I somehow managed a bit of a sprint to ensure that he did not pass!) Jamie and I finished, probably in a much worse state than in Vienna, 205th and 200th respectively.

Particular credit must go to two of our new runners, Natalya and Melissa. Having heard about the fund from their two brothers, who have both taken part in WFI solidarity cricket matches, they decided to join us in Nottingham. Sporting the swish WFI T-shirts, they finished 33rd and 42nd in the women’s race, clocking up seriously impressive times of 1:34.14 and 1:36.03.

Our two Iranian comrades, Nasrollah and Ali, did not exactly trouble the leaders, but their efforts to even get to the race perhaps embody the dedication involved in solidarity running. Ali, without doubt WFI’s best runner, has almost 60 marathons under his belt. Although 13 miles is little more than a stroll in the park for him, he came all the way from Italy to run and say hello to his WFI comrades in Britain.

Up until recently, Nasrollah has mainly concentrated on the organisational side of things for WFI. But of late he has subjected himself to a strict dietary regime in order to prepare for Florence. Chocolate and beer were the first casualties, he assures me. He has not run in a long time, so decided to mainly walk around Nottingham, battling through in a time of 3:40.26. He was joined over the line by his faithful comrade, Ali, who probably accumulated something close to 35 kilometres along the way. (He would run little stretches ahead of his co-runner, come back to join him and then set off again!)

Despite all the runners noting how hard the race was, we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, and the seeds have been very much sown for Italy in November. The WFI team is starting to diversify – while most of our runners are Iranian exiles, there are several non-Iranians in Europe who have been recruited.

Quite frankly, the more people that can be attracted to WFI and its message, the better: the situation in Iran is now spiralling out of control. Iran’s currency, the rial, has fallen in value by 60% in just over a week, which will bring nothing but desperation and hardship for the Iranian people. If they get paid at all, wages can drop in value within the space of just a day. Basic foodstuffs and life necessities can shoot up in price in a very small time.

Regardless of what some of the more unhinged elements of the far left may think, these conditions are not exactly propitious to some kind of democratic and progressive change in Iran. When people are struggling to even put food on the table, then this does not bode well for the cause of human liberation.

This is where Workers Fund Iran steps in, raising much-needed funds to ensure that those suffering the most under the burden of International Monetary Fund ‘reforms’, sanctions and a brutal theocratic regime are not simply left to rot.

Obviously, for all the hard work and dedication of our small number of activists and runners, the funds that we raise through our sporting events, social meals and film/music nights are very limited. For the time being at least, we cannot compete with the slick machinery of charities like Macmillan or Unicef, let alone the funds of the Central Intelligence Agency and its heinous operations. But such basic solidarity work is also an act of great symbolic importance: there is an alternative, however embryonic, to both the imperialist war drive against Iran and the mullahs’ regime: working class solidarity.

And this is the message we will be taking to the streets of Florence, where we are expecting around 30 runners to fly the flag. With so many, and with your support, we can easily raise thousands of euros for Workers Fund Iran. But don’t wait to be asked to donate. Go to workersfund.org and transfer some cash. If you would like to take part, or just fancy a trip to Italy to cheer on our runners, then please get in touch via workersfundiran@gmail.com.

Between imperialism and a hard place

A number of members and supporters of the campaign have donated clothes and other items to be sold in aid of HOPI. Amongst the donors are an acclaimed Iranian designer who has given many brand new designer clothes. Plus we have some retro-style punk and rock n’ roll shirts, a few leather biker jackets and some rare punk singles – for all you aging spiky tops out there.

Check out the selection here: myworld.ebay.co.uk/2013hopi

The auction will end on Sunday July 14 between 7pm and 8pm – so please make sure you get bidding before then! All the money raised will be thrown into the work of Hopi as it faces up to the new challenges of solidarity and anti-war campaigning.

If none of our stuff takes your fancy, you can always support the work of Hopi in the good old-fashioned way by making a donation. Just follow the link to Paypal on our website.

Many thanks for your support!

In solidarity,

Hands Off the People of Iran

The thawing of the relations between the Iran and the west has resulted in an intensification on the repression bearing down on activists domestically and a flurry of executions of prisoners, some of them long term. Urgent solidarity is required in particular with the following activists

• Behnam Ebrahimzadeh, a member of the Committee for the Establishment of Workers’ Organisations in Iran (CEWO), who has served three years of a six-year sentence.

• Reza Shahabi, member of the coordinating committee of Vahed bus workers, still in jail for his part in the 2006 strike and for organising workers in this sector. We note that Shahabi is very ill and his condition is deteriorating daily.

• Shahrokh Zamani, a Painters Union militant and another CEWO member. He is currently serving an 11-year sentence and has been tortured on a number of occasions. Zamani is held in Rajaei Shahr prison, one of the worst detention centres in Iran, because he is accused of “insulting the leader”, a charge that was added six months into his sentence.

• CEWO member Mohammad Jarahi, who was arrested in January 2012. He, like fellow-prisoners, has had a number of serious health issues, but has been refused release on health grounds.

• Worker activists Pedram Nasrollahi, Mohammad Mohammadi and Abdolreza Ghanbari are also in prison and their lives are in danger.

• In Kurdistan province, in addition to nationalist prisoners, worker activists Vafa Ghaderi, Khaled Hosseini and Ghader Hosseini all face jail sentences and on November 4, hours after the execution of the Kurdish prisoners, Vafa Ghaderi was arrested.

Oppose the crimes of the theocracy! Oppose the threats and sanctions of the imperialists!

Download a PDF of this motion here.

THIS BRANCH/REGION/NATIONAL ORGANISATION NOTES:

– The recent flurry of executions in Iran of activists from oppressed national minorities;

– The continued imprisonment – and in some cases, torture – of hundreds of political opponents, including leading workers’ movement activists;

– The ominous parallels between this period of retreat by the Iranian regime (over nuclear negotiations) and that in 1987 (the end of the Iran-Iraq war);

– That the end of the 1987 conflict sparked a murderous cull by the regime of thousands of left activists incarcerated in the regime’s jails as the theocracy sought to reinforce control domestically after setbacks on the international front;

– The silence of western governments and ‘human rights’ NGOs over these outrages in 1987 and today.

WE FURTHER NOTE THAT:

– US secretary of state John Kerry has promised that “95%” of sanctions on Iran will remain in place, despite recent progress in negotiations;

– Sanctions are a form of war, a siege on a society;

– It has been the working people of Iran that have borne the brunt of sanctions and that sections of the ruling elite in the regime have actually used to economic and social dislocation to enrich themselves further;

– Sanctions therefore serve the strategic aim of US-imperialism in the region of the installation of pro-western governments via ‘regime change from above’, not democratic upsurge from below.

WE THEREFORE RESOLVE:

– To demand the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners in Iran;

– To continue to support campaigns both against imperialist sanctions and intervention against Iran, and in support of the workers and oppressed of that country and their struggles against the ‘Islamic republic’ regime.

- Support, where possible with material aid, the struggle to form genuine workers’ organisations in Iran, independent of the religious state and its security forces;

– To make a donation to Workers Fund Iran (www.workersfund.org), a charity that directly aids the working people of Iran but refuses to take funds from any governmental bodies or western NGOs;

– To invite a speaker from the anti-war campaign Hands Off the People of Iran (www.hopoi.org) to one of our meetings in the near future.

Reza Shahabi – an Iranian labour activist member of the executive committee of the VAHED Bus Union – has been on hunger strike for almost 40 days in prison in Iran. According to the latest reports from Tehran, his protest is now having grave physical effects on him and he has become paralysed down the left side of his body.

Shahabi has spent the last four years in prison, accused by the Islamic state in Iran of “gathering information and colluding against state security, spreading propaganda against the system and ‘Moharebeh’” (translated as “enmity against god”). Over the last few years, his state of health has deteriorated markedly. Vindictively however, the authorities have not allowed him access to appropriate medical treatment.

Shahabi is an anti-war, anti-imperialist worker activist. In his defence, Hands Off the People of Iran is joining forces with the veteran labour activist, Ali Pichgah (a former leader of Iran’s oil workers’ strike) to call for his immediate, unconditional release.

As a matter of urgency, Reza Shahabi now needs hospital treatment. His life is being endangered by the Iranian authorities’ refusal to allow him proper medical care. We hold the government of Iranian president Hassan Rouhani directly responsible for Reza Shahabi’s life. This brave working class leader has taken a stand against capitalist exploitation and oppression in Iran – as well as any attack on the country by the west or Israel – and it is incumbent on all anti-imperialist/anti-war activists to support Shahabi in these extremely difficult days, when he is putting his life on the line for his beliefs.

What you can do:

• Support the demand of Hopi and Ali Pichgah for the immediate release of Reza Shahabi! Publicise this protest widely!
• Email your name/your organisation to Hopi at office@hopoi.info and we will add your details to the protests we are coordinating (please indicate whether personal capacity or not)
• Invite a speaker from Hopi to a meeting of your organisation to explain our anti-war/anti-imperialist work and the situation of the working people in Iran
• Write to the European embassy for Iran (notify us if you do):
  Ambassade de la Republique Islamique d’Iran
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Michael Copestake reports on HOPI’s successful weekend school

“The only thing that is certain is uncertainty,” said Labour MP John McDonnell in his talk at the April 21-22 weekend school organised by the Hands Off the People of Iran at the University of London Union.

Given the negotiations between the five members of the United Nations security council plus Germany and Iran that have just completed in Istanbul and are due to resume next month in May in Baghdad (of all the places to talk peace in the Middle East, could there be a more ironic one?) and the decline in the number of those mobilised on demonstrations and marches against war, the truth of this statement should be well noted by all. The continued threat of direct military action against Iran combined with factors such as the US electoral cycle constitute a heady and unpredictable brew.

The weekend school was part of the continued efforts of Hopi to reorientate the left against both the imperialist war drive and the sickening anti-working class regime of the Iranian state itself. Aiming to provide an analysis of the forces driving to war and the general condition of the Iranian state and society, Hopi brought together a range of speakers, including Iranian activists and exiles, National Union of Journalists president Donnacha DeLong, as well as comrade McDonnell himself.

Irrationality

The speaker for the first session on the Saturday was CPGB’s Mike Macnair, who sought to explain what he judged to be the increasingly irrational military adventures of the United States and its imperialist allies. These tend to end in social chaos, as in Iraq, rather than the imposition of some pax Americana, and comrade Macnair linked them to three distinctive cyclical tendencies within capitalism.

The first of these is the business cycle, which in its upswing phase imbues a sense of optimism and belief in progress, while a period of downturn or stagnation provokes attempts, including through war, to distract attention from the ensuing crises of capitalist legitimacy.

The second cycle is much longer-lasting and relates to the rise and decline of the hegemonic capitalist state itself. Giving examples of this process from history, comrade Macnair referred to the Netherlands, the British empire and now, in the present day, the United States itself. Here the qualities which create the success of the new pretender in stealing the crown from the previous declining hegemon breed their own failure over time. These take the form of the loss of previously world-beating industrial production, which provokes the use of brute military force to maintain ‘top dog’ status – irrational adventurism in order to maintain credibility and deter potential successors.

Lastly there is the general decline of capitalism itself, said the comrade. This expresses itself in the fact that United States intervention has not stimulated the significant economic development of capitalism in the states where it has intruded that was seen in the case of previous imperial powers. Taking patterns of immigration as a measuring stick, comrade Macnair noted that previous empires led to an exodus of the population of conquering powers to the new colonies, whereas today the reverse is true – people from the oppressed countries are driven to seek a better life in the core countries.

It is the failure of much of the left to understand these factors that leads it down the dead end of calling for the bourgeoisie, in essence, to act more rationally: it should desist from starting wars and spend the money on the welfare state or whatever. But that fails to grasp the wider – perfectly rational from the point of view of imperialism – imperatives that drive the seemingly crazy waves of destruction.

This interpretation proved controversial for some in the debate that followed, with speakers questioning the category of ‘irrationality’ and suggesting it was lacking in explanatory power. Others pointed out that the war on Iran has been a long time coming, with sanctions going back over 30 years, when capitalism was, presumably, still more ‘rational’. The connection between the business cycle and general political ideology was questioned by one speaker, as was the phenomena of a ‘cyclical hegemon’, while another comrade wondered exactly why China might not be a legitimate rival to the US for this position. During the following exchanges comrade Macnair offered a robust defence of his thesis and expanded on many of its elements in relation to the points being made.

Iran working class

Iranian trade unionist and former political prisoner of the Iranian regime, Majid Tamjidi, gave an illuminating and hard-headed assessment of the plight of the Iranian working class, caught as it is in the vice of imperialist sanctions and neoliberal Islamic despotism.

What came through in comrade Tamjidi’s talk was the nightmarish coincidence of the needs of the US and Iranian states, which serves to push both further down the road towards military conflict. The bluster and bravado with which the Iranian regime responds to sanctions and threats of war feed US portrayals of Iran as intransigent and in need of a swift and harsh remedy. The missing element in the narratives of both the imperialist and Iranian governments is the masses themselves, yet they are being crushed under the weight of both sanctions and the neoliberal policies of the theocratic state, resulting in 60% of Iranians living below the poverty line, 12 million on insecure ‘instant dismissal’ temporary work contracts, and at least 30,000 deaths per annum in workplace accidents.

This focus on the desperate economic situation of Iran and the Iranian working class was picked up in a session on the second day on the political economy of Iran, addressed by Mohamed Shalgouni of the Organisation of Revolutionary Workers in Iran and Hopi chair Yassamine Mather.

The audience was straining to hear the words of comrade Shalgouni, not just because he was so quietly spoken, but because of the great interest in the things he had to say. He provided a compelling dissection of the role of the regime in the economy of Iran, of which 70% is directly or indirectly controlled by the state and its related bodies, increasingly under the auspices of utterly phoney privatisations that give ownership of companies to state and military officials technically at ‘arm’s length’ from the government in a kind of pocket-bursting, oligarchic give-away, last seen on a such a scale in the crash privatisations undertaken in the collapsing Soviet Union. That there can be such a bonanza for state bureaucrats and heavies is a legacy of the revolution, which resulted in the expropriation of the holdings of the royal family and a series of nationalisations. This self-interested gangsterism by the state, taken with three decades of increasingly severe sanctions, has led to the ruin of much of what remained of the Iranian economy and, with the possible closure of French car plants under the pressure of the United States, the situation grows more and more dire.

Indeed, the size of the ‘black economy’, much of which is controlled by state, army and militia bureaucrats, and includes imports, currency and the trade in alcohol, is estimated at being worth $60 billion a year: about the same as Iran’s official imports. As comrade Yassamine Mather elaborated, domestic industry, including the production of agricultural staples at a price affordable to the Iranian proletariat, has been deliberately run down by the mercantilist, middle-man interests of the state and bourgeoisie, as it is easier to extort money from the masses when all of the country’s needs are met by imports controlled by the collective state gangster rather than from domestic production.

Aware of the basket-case economy and a desperate, volatile society it has created, the Iranian state, whilst it slashes subsidy and welfare for everyone else, continues to subsidise around five million supposedly grateful economic dependants who can potentially act as extra-military brownshirts against Iranian workers when society inevitably produces explosive protests.

Speakers from the floor wondered how the supposedly deeply religious government of the clerics justified its privatisations, though the answer was provided quickly that this was done with great ease – and was typical of theologians throughout history, whenever god gets in the way of fistfuls of hot cash. Other questions ranged from the role of the military in exploiting the economy and the possibility of conflict between them and the clerical wing of the state.

Solidarity

More focused on the immediate situation facing the wider world and its working class movement was the talk given by comrade Moshé Machover, co-founder of Israeli socialist party Matzpen. This was also the case with the panel discussion led by left-Labour stalwart John McDonnell MP, who humorously referred to himself and Jeremy Corbyn as the “parliamentary wing” of Hopi, Sarah McDonald, a runner in the previous weekend’s Vienna marathon in aid of Workers Fund Iran, and NUJ president Donnacha DeLong.

Comrade Machover focused on the relationship between Israel and Iran. He believed that the recent Istanbul negotiations with Iran had produced a vaguely positive outcome despite Hillary Clinton’s hawkish rhetoric. Attempting to identify exactly why Israel was so pro-war, the comrade identified two main factors. The first was that an Iran with nuclear arms, or nuclear potential within the terms of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, reduces the relative power of Israel in the region and its ability to be the watchdog of the United States.

The second reason was that the Israeli state is seeking a pretext in order to engage in a further ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians, thus solving the so-called ‘demographic problem’ of the growing Arab population of Israel. The acceptance by the Israeli military in its own documents and in the words of some of its own leading figures that the ‘Iranian bomb’ is not a serious threat disproves the notion that this issue is about Iran’s nuclear capability. It is more about provoking a situation of such turmoil that the mass expulsion of Palestinians could be more conveniently undertaken.

The panel discussion made up the final session of the weekend, with comrade De Long recounting his experience of the Iranian regime during his time as an Amnesty International worker and gave an example of the power of the social media in spreading cutting criticisms of the regime than can serve as morale boosters and potential incitements to action for ordinary Iranians.

John McDonnell reported that the word in the Westminster village was that, should there be an attack on Iran, it may be around September time, though the Israelis were suffering from an itchy trigger finger and he did not discount them acting alone. Comrade McDonnell emphasised the correctness of Hopi’s line against imperialism, sanctions and the regime itself and that it was essential that these ideas be spread more widely into the labour and trade union movement as a whole. Whether this took the form of meetings with individual trade union general secretaries and MPs, of cultural events and campaigns such as the film screenings in aid of Jafar Panahi, of direct action or of good, old-fashioned marches and demonstrations was not important: what matters is spreading the message.

The comrade also emphasised another part of what Hopi stands for as particularly important: support for working class and progressive forces and for socialism in the Middle East. We absolutely must not, the comrade insisted, ever refrain from stating plainly that the only progressive force in Iran (and elsewhere) capable of combating imperialism and overthrowing the neoliberal clerics is the working class, and that the only way to lasting peace and prosperity in the whole region is through socialism.

Describing her experience of practical solidarity with the Iranian working class was CPGB member Sarah McDonald, fresh back from the Vienna marathon. She, along with others, had raised almost £1,000 for Workers Fund Iran. Comparing the project of transforming the left into a healthy and principled anti-war force to a marathon rather than a sprint, the comrade emphasised how the act of having to ask others for support and sponsorship for the marathon had itself been a very useful form of political activity: it provided the opportunity to explain the aims of Hopi and its stand against any war against the people of Iran.

During the ensuing debate comrade McDonnell was asked what the atmosphere in parliament was like at the moment, given that earlier in the year he had reported that it felt like a rerun of the lead-up to the Iraq war. He replied that the atmosphere had calmed somewhat, but that in the EU Britain remains the most hawkish state. Donnacha DeLong, by this point proudly wearing his cap decorated with anarchist badges, suggested that Hopi might be able to use the Levenson inquiry to expose the collusion between the Murdoch press and the government to bring the Iraq war to bloody fruition.

Others from the floor emphasised that, despite real anti-war sentiment – for example, around the Afghanistan debacle – the conclusion that many had reached from Iraq and the endless ‘numbers are everything’ marches organised by the Stop the War Coalition was that war cannot be stopped. That is why it is so essential to link the struggle against war to a rounded, working class politics and that is what Hopi will continue to do.

On Wednesday 26th Sptember 2012 , Take One Action film festival showed the film This is Not a Film, by Mojtaba Mirtahmasb & Jafar Panahi in Edinburgh Filmhouse. Over 100 people attended the film show which was Followed by discussion with Yassamine Mather (Chair of Hands Off The People of Iran) and Film/Theatre director Jeremy Raison.

Jeremy Raison spoke passionately about his meeting with Panahi and tried to explain some of the complexities of the film, Panahi’s satirical look at his own house arrest, the frustration of facing a 6 years jail sentence, ban of twenty years from making films, directing films for his support for the protests of 2009 . The film was rated as the number one film of 2011 by Rotten Tomatoes (considered a reliable film review aggregator.

Raison explained the significance of some of the hidden messages in the film shot on Panahi’s iPhone and a cheap DV camera and smuggled into France in a cake for a last-minute submission to Cannes.

Yassamine Mather responded to questions about repression in Iran and emphasised that political activists face much harsher sentences , including long prison sentences and execution however highlighting the plight of this famous director gives a glimpse of the intolerance of the Islamic regime vis a vis any dissent. She also spoke about the economic hardship facing most Iranians, not just because of the corruption and disastrous effects of neoliberal (Islamic ) economic policies of the regime but also crippling sanctions However she reminded the audience that bombing Iran will make the situation far worse , Iranians  do want regime change but they are weary of US/Israel/Eu plans for regime change form above , especially as they look at their immediate neighbours Iraq and Afghanistan , where regime change US style has made an already intolerable situation even worse.

Simon Beaston of Take one Action reminded the audience that Ken Loach , one ‘Take one Actions’ Patrons is a supporter of HOPI and reminded the audience to take one action following the film on the basis of what was discussed .

Arab Spring is the theme of this year’s Take One Action festival and the film ½ Revolution, Omar Shargawi and Karim El Hakim‘s was shown after Panahi’s film to a pcked audience. According to reviewers in US, 1/2 revolution is  “a visceral ersonal documentary focusing on 11 days of the 18-day revolution, captures the ground-level events with a gut-churning immediacy and veracity often missing from news reports, as well as amateur footage posted to the Internet”. In the absence of Omar Shargawi who had not been able to travel to Edinburgh, HOPI chair Yassamine Mather responded to questions about the Arab spring, She argued that most of the uprisings had economic as well as political reasons, that the West’s economic crisis is having a devastating effect in the third world. That the success of Islamic fundamentalism has two reasons : decades of severe repression by pro US regime’s against secular, democratic , socialist forces at a time when Islamist benefited from the relative freedom of using mosques, Islamic schools for political agitation. She mentioned vast sums of Saudi and Gulf money given to the Muslim brotherhood in Egypt, Tunisia, Syria as reasons for their recent electoral and political ‘success’ . The audience applauded her interpretation of these events and HOPI gained a number of new supporter at the end of this session

How can we achieve principled communist unity in the Middle East? We spoke to Mohammad Reza Shalgouni, a member of the Organisation of Revolutionary Workers of Iran (Rahe Kargar)

How do you see the current situation in the Middle East and in Iran itself following first the nuclear deal and then its ‘decertification’ by Donald Trump?

Over the last few years the Middle East has been torn apart by a destructive crisis – caught in the midst of a full-scale international conflict. All sides have played a crucial part in initiating and continuing this situation, but of course the United States, Britain, France and their regional allies – in particular the kingdoms in the oil emirates of the Persian Gulf – have played a crucial role in the ensuing tragedy.

This disastrous situation entered a new phase with the Republican Party’s victory in last year’s US elections and, given the declared aims of the Trump administration, one cannot see an end to it. Let us not forget that the Trump administration is the first US government that openly admits it is seeking ‘regime change’ (be it in a ‘peaceful manner’) in Iran. It also wants to transfer the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and with unprecedented clarity declares in a gathering of Arab leaders that it is not concerned about human rights, that its only preoccupation is the defeat of Islamic terrorism (and, of course, only the anti-US version of this phenomenon).

In the current situation in the Middle East a number of issues have special significance.

Following the events of the last two decades, the house of Saud sees its future in danger and is therefore employing a more active and aggressive foreign policy – attempting to impose its hegemony over other Arab states and creating a situation where the Saudi dynasty is secure. However, this policy means the Saudis themselves are facing major crises.

Firstly, their attempt to confront Shia movements has not only increased the confrontation with the Islamic Republic of Iran: it has also created an extraordinary situation in Yemen, Bahrain and even the eastern provinces of Saudi Arabia (where the country’s major oil reserves are to be found), to such an extent that it is difficult to see how they can control this situation. For example, the catastrophic situation in Yemen is far worse than the tragedy in that engulfed Syria.

Secondly, Saudi attempts at eradication of various networks associated with the Muslim Brotherhood have led them to a confrontation with Qatar, and as a result the Gulf Cooperation Council is on the verge of destruction. It has also led to a situation where Saudi and Arab Emirates relations with Turkey have soured to critical levels.

Thirdly, in the Syrian civil war the intervention of the Russian airforce has changed the balance of forces in favour of the Assad regime and, as a result of this, for the first time since the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia has become a major player in the Middle East.

In Turkey itself, after decades of Kemalism and its emphasis on secularism, with the formation of a personal dictatorship by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan the separation of state and religion has become meaningless, and repression against the Kurds has increased. This might lead to longer and more serious confrontations in that country, thereby increasing the Middle East’s many crises.

As for Iran, which in the past wanted to unite ‘all Muslims’ against both the ‘east and the west’, it now has to confine itself to uniting various Shia sects against the Sunnis and to relying on sectarian divides to become a regional power. However, the creation of groups similar to Hezbollah in Iraq and Syria will in the long run weaken the current rulers of Iran.

The Iranian regime is engulfed in deep sectarian wars with Sunnis (who encompass nine tenths of the world’s Muslims) and in the longer term victory against such forces is impossible. This also increases the threat of military confrontation with the United States and its allies. We should not forget that right now in Iraq we are witnessing a situation where some Shia groups are distancing themselves from Iran and in Syria, where the majority of the population is Sunni, there is increasing antipathy towards the Iranian regime.

Under such circumstances the Trump administration is trying to use a number of punitive measures to render the nuclear deal with Iran meaningless. It is hoping to reverse George Bush’s failure to change the map of the region.

What is your analysis of the referendum that took place in Iraqi Kurdistan and what effect has it had on Iranian Kurdish groups?

Iraqi Kurdistan is already benefiting from a solid, all-encompassing autonomy and within Iraq’s federalist constitution that situation would have been maintained.

In the most optimistic scenario, separation from Iraq would lead to complete dependence on one or other of the neighbouring states. Such dependence would be dangerous even in the European Union, never mind in the kind of jungle rule prevalent in a crisis-riddled Middle East. Following separation from Iraq, the Kurdish regional government would inevitably become another little oil state, similar to those of the Persian Gulf, but even more fragile than them: unlike those kingdoms, Iraqi Kurdistan is land-locked.

The separation of Kurdistan would inevitably lead to further nationalist and regional wars in the Middle East and we know that nationalist struggles can lead to the same kind of cannibalistic confrontations that religious infighting causes. The Kurdish vote for independence immediately prompted anti-Kurd sentiment in Iran, Iraq and Turkey.

The separation of Kurdistan from Iraq would no doubt increase tensions amongst various Kurdish groups both inside Iraq and in neighbouring countries – firstly because establishing democracy in Iraqi Kurdistan would face many obstacles and secondly because the regional government would undoubtedly have to compromise with one of the neighbouring countries – oppressors of Kurds within their own borders – in order to survive. Here it is not accidental that Masoud Barzani, president of the Kurdish regional government, had (until recently) good relations with Turkey – a vicious enemy of the Kurds both in Turkey and Syria.

The separation of Kurdistan would make the coexistence of Sunnis and Shias more difficult in Iraq and would lead to the complete destruction of Iraq as a nation-state – a situation that would no doubt increase the reactionary influence of Iran and Saudi Arabia amongst opposing religious sects, leading to more widespread religious-based violence. In addition, let us remember that separation from Iraq would not be as peaceful as the separation of the Czech and Slovak republics, in that it would lead to ethnic cleansing in some areas. For example, the issue of the control of Kirkuk, Khaneghin and even Mosul would lead to further confrontations, causing deeper, unresolvable divisions.

The Kurdish referendum took place at time when, after years of struggling for independence, the majority of the Kurdish population had come to the conclusion that the peaceful coexistence of nationalities was the best way of achieving democracy and exercising the right to self-determination. This way of thinking is currently dominant amongst Kurds in Turkey (the largest group of Kurds within a country in the Middle East).

The result of the 2015 elections showed how such an attitude can strengthen the alliance between progressive forces and the workers’ movement. In those elections, the Peoples Democratic party (which had only had come into existence three years earlier) united the Turkish Kurds with a number of leftwing tendencies in Turkey, and managed to get the best result ever achieved by the left in Turkey. If it had not been for the manifold plots of Erdoğan’s security forces and the mistakes of the armed wing of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), this would have undoubtedly changed the political scene in Turkey in favour of democracy.

All this shows clearly that the solution is not separation, but voluntary, democratic coexistence of all nationalities and peoples of the region, which can pave the way for democracy in the entire Middle East. This is the path that progressive Kurdish forces will have to accept sooner or later.

However, unfortunately the majority of Iranian Kurdish groups, under the influence of nationalist sentiments and slogans, supported the Kurdish referendum. They essentially interpret the right to self-determination as separation.

Your organisation has recently left the ‘Council of Cooperation’ of Iranian left and communist groups. You have stated that this was related to the illusions held by certain groups that ‘regime change from above’ could lead to ‘democracy’ or even ‘socialism’. Can you explain your reasons for leaving this alliance?

From the outset our organisation was in favour of a powerful class bloc created through an alliance of the left and for more than two decades we have defended our line in favour of the unity of supporters of socialism. It was in this context that we joined the Council of Cooperation in Iran.

The reality is, however, that our understanding of socialism was always different from the majority of the groups in this alliance, mainly because most of them do not draw a clear line between themselves and the ‘socialist states and communist parties’ of the Soviet era. These were parties that did not believe in the participation of the majority of the population in shaping the transition to socialism. Nevertheless, we defended our line within the alliance, inviting others to debate such issues, while participating in joint activities.

However, the change in the line of the Communist Party [mainly a Kurdish organisation – translator], towards an alliance with those Iranian Kurdish forces associated with US-sponsored ‘regime change from above’, made it impossible for us to remain in the Council of Cooperation. In response to our opposition to this line, the Communist Party denied that the US had any plans for regime change from above. This comment was made in circumstances when after Trump’s victory the United States openly talks of such plans – indeed some of the groups that the Iranian Communist Party wants to ally itself with are openly seeking financial support from Saudi Arabia, Israel and the United States itself.

So the Communist Party wanted to remain in the alliance of the left, while participating in a Kurdish unity front, advocating regime change from above. This would have meant the Council of Cooperation becoming a junior partner of the US in blatant contradiction to the first principle of the alliance of left and communist forces: ie, “commitment to the revolutionary overthrow of the Islamic republic” – from below and by the majority of the Iranian people.

There has been a considerable amount of fake news about the demonstrations that started in Mashad and other towns in Khorassan province on the 28th of December 2017. These demonstrations have continued, five days later in Tehran, as well as in many other towns and cities across the country. The protesters are angry and fearless, and their grievances are reasonably clear. What began with outrage against rising prices, unemployment and poverty has evolved into more political slogans against corruption and against the dictator, Ayatollah Khameini.
Basic food prices have sky-rocketed in the last few weeks, with the price of eggs rising by 40% in a matter of days. In some of Iran’s major cities, rents have risen by 83% in the last 3 years alone. Mass unemployment is a big issue – particularly in the provinces where the protests emerged. The rate of inflation may have fallen from 35% under the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but it remains at unsustainable levels.

Despite being controlled by the factions of the Iranian regime, the relative diversity of the media inside Iran has ensured that most Iranians are aware of, and indeed well-informed about, the multi-billion dollar corruption scandals in which all factions of the regime are implicated. Rouhani’s government, senior ayatollahs associated with more conservative factions of the regime and the former populist president Ahmadinejad (who claimed to be the defender of the disinherited) are all embroiled in corruption and embezzlement. Ahmadinejad and his close allies are currently facing criminal charges of serious corruption in Iranian courts. But the upshot of both factions exposing their opponents’ bribery and fraud is that Iranians are increasingly conscious of the venality of the entire Islamic regime.

Contrary to initial claims by Rouhani’s allies, the protests are definitely not part of a plot by ‘conservative factions’ to discredit his government. In Mashhad and other cities in Khorassan province, the slogans were clear that the main target of most demonstrators was Ayatollah Khamenei. In the last few days, the most common political slogans were: ‘marg bar dictator’ (Death to the Dictator!) , ‘Khamenei haya kon mamlekato raha kon’ (‘Khamenei you should be ashamed – leave the country alone’) and  the more polite slogan, requesting that Khameni stand down: ‘Seyed Ali (Khamenei), excuse us. Now we have to stand up’.

In the northern city of Rasht there were initially anti-Rouhani slogans, but they soon became focused on the dictator himself. In Tehran, the student protesters’ chants were far more radical: ‘na eslahtalab na ossoul gara’ (‘No to the Reformists, no to the Conservative Principalists’); ‘Student-Worker Unity’ and ‘No Longer should there be a Choice between Bad and Worse’.

For all the claims of exiled groups in the extended publicity they receive from sections of the media, including BBC Persian radio (but, interestingly, not BBC Persian TV),  these protests have nothing to do with the Royalists or the Mujahedin. Following the slogans of protesters on social media, it is apparent that pro-Shah slogans have only appeared in very isolated cases, such as in the religious city of Ghom. On one occasion, in Rasht, some in the crowd shouted slogans in favour of the Shah, prompting others to respond by calling for an Iranian republic (as opposed to an Islamic Republic). Indeed, protesters are countering possible Royalist influence by shouting ‘na mir na rahbar ,na shah na rahbar’  (‘No Kings, No Shahs, No Supreme Leaders’).

The fact that the protest in Mashad coincided with a call to protest on television made by (one of) the pretender(s) to the throne, Reza Pahlavi, should not be taken seriously. He issues such calls on a daily basis and these are very rarely heeded. No, the catalyst for the demonstrations is the hunger and suffering experienced by Iranians, lead several protesters to claim that dying is better than continuing to live as they are now.

No future in the past

However, for those Iranians who think that there was no poverty or hunger under the Shah, it might be worth reminding them of a quote by Empress Farah Diba. When informed by her advisers that ordinary people were complaining that they couldn’t afford to buy meat, she responded in true Marie Antoinette style by telling the nation that it would benefit from vegetarianism.
As for corruption, it is true that the Shah’s mistrust of everyone, including former ministers, meant that only a limited circle of individuals close to the Shahs and the court benefited from rampant state fraud. The multiplicity of factions in the Islamic regime means that a far larger group of individuals and their families are beneficiaries of global capital’s riches for the wealthy in the third world. Moreover, the so-called ‘targeted sanctions’ imposed by the West between 2007 and 2015 period allowed sections of the Islamic Republic with access to both  foreign currency and internal black markets to amass astronomic fortunes. As such, the Islamic Republic is in many ways even more corrupt than the Shah’s Iran. But we live in different times.

And corruption is certainly not unique to Iran or even just to developing countries. However, in most other countries, those fed up with corrupt leaders have a chance to elect political rivals. And although it takes a relatively short time before the new rulers surpass their predecessors’ corruption , the whole process at least provides the illusion that the population has some control and can again test new leaders. But after 39 years of being in power, all factions of the Islamic Republic are steeped in corruption – even when they are in opposition.

As for democracy under the Shah, he merged what he called the ‘Yes’ and the ‘Of course’ party into one: Hezb Rastakhiz. Iran had only two daily papers, Keyhan and Etelaat. Both were pro-Shah and the lack of oppositional factions within the regime ensured that there were no exposés of dodgy dealings by the Shah’s opponents.

When it comes to repression, let us remember that the shah’s security forces, SAVAK, shot Catherine Adl, the paralyzed daughter of his own physician, while she was sitting in a wheel chair, for opposing inequality and injustice in Iran. You can guess what he did to opponents with whom he wasn’t acquainted.

Some Iranians, no doubt prompted by constant Saudi, Israeli and Western-sponsored media outlets, blame Iran’s interventions in Syria and Yemen for the worsening economic situation. This has led to nationalist slogans such as ‘No to Gaza, no to Yemen’. The regime is not blameless here either: promoting General Soleimany as an ‘Iranian’ warrior and conqueror certainly has ramifications. However, the students and youth of Tehran responded to these slogans with their own: ‘ham iran, ham ghazeh  zahmtkesh taht setame’ (‘The Poor are Oppressed both in Gaza and Iran’).

Capitalist Mullahs

The real reasons behind Iran’s economic situation are more complicated than military expenditure in the Middle East. The promised economic boom following the nuclear deal has not materialised and now doubts about the future of the deal – particularly given Trump’s outspoken opposition – have created despair, especially amongst young Iranians. In responding to the riots, Rouhani claims that poverty, unemployment and inflation are not unique to Iran. This is certainly true, but what he failed to mention is that, for all its anti-Western rhetoric, the Islamic Republic is an ardent follower of the neo-liberal economic agenda. Rouhani’s government of technocrats is rightly blamed for obeying the restructuring programmes of the IMF and the World Bank, which is one of the reasons behind the growing gap between the rich and the poor. This gap is reflective of a government that constantly strives to keep up with global capital’s demands for restructuring, for the abolition of state subsidies and for privatisation. Food subsidies have been slashed. The official rate of unemployment (12%) is a joke – the real figure is much higher, even if we take into account low-paid, precarious employment. No one has job security, unless, of course, they are associated with a stable faction the regime or the security forces.
2017 might go down as the year when neo-liberalism faced serious challenges in advanced capitalist countries. But until the recent protests, in Iran 2017 was a year in which neo-liberalism was going well – Rouhani’s government was praised for its economic performance by the World Bank and the IMF. There can be no doubt, then, that this wave of opposition took the government completely by surprise. The Ministry of Information’s pathetic calls on the population to request ‘permits to organise protests’ seems to have been ignored, for nobody believes that the state will allow such protests.

And it will certainly not allow the working class to begin to assert itself: there are calls for strikes by teachers and steel workers, but the reality is that the ‘capitalist mullahs’ (as people are calling them in the streets of Tehran) have managed to decimate the organised working class. Steel and oil workers are no longer employed by single state-owned industries. Large industrial complexes are sub-contracting every aspect of work to smaller contractors. As a result, organising industry-wide strikes, let alone nation-wide strike action (a significant factor in the overthrow of the Shah’s regime) are no longer possible.
As things stand, therefore, the protesters’ demands are quite diffuse and there is no single organising and coordinating force which can set out an alternative for the struggle. As events unfold, this factor will become all the more necessary.

Support

There are three main things that we can do in order so support the protests in Iran:

Show solidarity with those arrested, support the relatives of those killed by the security forces and draw attention to the government’s repressive measures.

Remind anyone with illusions about the previous regime that it was no better than this one and provide clear examples rather than just repeating slogans or insulting those who entertain illusions in the past.

Expose the true nature of the Islamic Republic of Iran, while reminding those hypocrites like Trump that “it is the economy stupid” – the source of the current rebellion in Iran is precisely the neo-liberal economic model which he and his allies are seeking to enforce across the globe.

یاسمین میظر- برگردان: ماهان نوری
در پی اعتراضات دی ماه، اتفاق نظر عموم بر این بود که اکثریت ایرانیان با وضعیت اقتصادی وخیمی مواجه­اند، در عین حال که پایین­ترین لایه­های طبقه کارگر با گرسنگی و فقر کامل دست به گریبان­اند. با این حال، سلطنت­طلبان تبعیدی و در میان شگفتی بخشی از «چپ» مقیم خارج، همچنان اعتراضات را فقط حول مسئله دموکراسی و علیه «ماهیت اسلامی» دولت ایران می­داند. در نتیجه، در میان گروه­های چپ­گرای تبعیدی شاهد تلاشی در ایجاد اتحادهای بی قید و شرط هستیم، چنین اتحادی آخرین بار در سال 1979 با روحانیون و اسلامگرایان در برابر رژیم شاه شکل گرفت که فاجعه به بار آورد. این بار، اتحاد با سلطنت­طلبان، جمهوریخواهان نومحافظه کار آمریکایی، حامیان ایرانی دونالد ترامپ، از جمله فرقه مجاهدین خلق، واقعا خنده­دار به نظر می­رسد.

گفته می­شود از آنجایی که پیکارهای جاری برای«دموکراسی» (ضروری است قبل از اینکه طبقه کارگر بتواند سازمان یابد) است و به این دلیل که شاهزاده اعلام کرده «به دنبال کسب قدرت نیست»، اتحاد همه نیروهای مخالف ضروری است. خوب است به یاد داشته باشید که آیت الله خمینی نیز قبل از بازگشت به ایران وعده داده بود قدرت را در دست نخواهد گرفت. اکنون می­توان دید کجا ایستاده­ایم.
در دوره سرمایه جهانی، زمانی که ما درباره دموکراسی صحبت می­کنیم، به خصوص در خاور میانه جنگ­زده، بسیار مهم است که منظور خود را توضیح دهیم. از سال 2001، مردم منطقه از تحقق «دموکراسی» از طریق سیاست­های تغییر رژیم از بالا درمانده شده­­اند. علاوه بر این، اگر دلایل تظاهرات و شورش­های اخیر در ایران علیه هر دو جناح رژیم را درنیابیم، نمی­توانیم جنبش واقعی و یکپارچه­ای ایجاد کنیم و در نهایت به آرمان­های افرادی که مدعی دفاع از آنانیم، خیانت کرده­ایم.
نئولیبرال
اما ابتدا اجازه دهید خلاصه­ای از وضعیت اقتصادی ایران و نقش هر دو جناح رژیم را در ایجاد فاجعه سرمایه­داری نئولیبرالی در ایران را بیان کنم.
از اواخر دهه 1990، صندوق بین­المللی پول و بانک جهانی، شرکای ارشد اقتصاد ایران بودند؛ بخشی از آن به دلیل بدهی­های بین­المللی ایران و بخشی دیگر به خاطر سرمایه که حتی در یک جمهوری شیعه نیز جهانی است. امور مالی، تجاری و صنعت به طور کامل با سرمایه جهانی درآمیخته است. هر سال نمایندگان سازمان­های بزرگ بین­المللی مالی به ایران سفر می کنند تا آخرین پیشرفت­ها در زمینه خصوصی­سازی، حذف یارانه­ها و غیره را ارزیابی کنند. طنز ماجرا اینجاست که نخستین باری که به دولت ایران برای تحقق الزامات صندوق بین­المللی پول تبریک گفته شد در دوره دوم محمود احمدی نژاد، رییس جمهور پوپولیست ایران بود که به رغم ادعای دولت «محرومان» و اهمیت به فقرا، در واقع دولتی بود که در دوره حیاتش، شکاف بین غنی و فقیر به طور چشمگیری تحت نام خصوصی­سازی ( بعدا توضیح خواهم داد که به چه شکل عجیب و غریبی در ایران اجرا شد) افزایش یافت.
رهبر، سپاه پاسداران و حتی دولت «اصلاح طلب» حسن روحانی همگی نقش خود را در این بین بازی کردند. علی خامنه­ای، رهبر ایران، قانون اساسی را تغییر داد تا مجوز خصوصی­سازی در بخش­های حیاتی اقتصاد، از جمله حمل و نقل، مخابرات، نفت، گاز و پتروشیمی داده شود. صنایع خصوصی و نیمه خصوصی، تمام تعدیلات ساختاری را که اجرای چنین سیاست­هایی می­طلبید را اجرا کردند، از جمله بیکارسازی هزاران کارگر و تبدیل بیشتر مشاغل به قراردادهای کوتاه مدت، و در برخی موارد با شرایط سختگیرانه. کاهش و در برخی موارد حذف یارانه­ها، خواسته همیشگی صندوق بین المللی پول بوده است که خود بر گستره فقر افزود.
بدون تردید تحریم­های تحمیلی ایالات متحده و متحدان آن به فقیرکردن کشور کمک کرد، و در عین حال رهبران سپاه پاسداران انقلاب و همچنین سران شرکت­های خصوصی وابسته با آن را ثروتمند کرد. این گروه­ها دسترسی انحصاری به بازارهای خارجی دارند و از مزایای نرخ مبادله ارز خارجی مناسب برخوردارند. بنابراین، توانستند ثروت فردی و جمعی خود را با هزینه اکثریت مردم ایران افزایش دهند.
با توجه به همه این­ها، شگفت انگیز است که در وضعیت کنونی برخی برای دفاع از کارگران ایران، دست یاری به سوی سرمایه جهانی و متحدان داخلی آن – به عبارت دیگر همان نیروهایی که خصوصی سازی را بر جمهوری اسلامی ایران تحمیل کردند-دراز کرده­اند. باید اعتراف کنم، حتی با معیارهای سیاسیون در تبعید، از این بهتر نمی­شود – تکیه بر خود سرمایه­داری برای رفع مشکلات اقتصادی ناشی از سیاست­های اقتصادی نولیبرالی که توسط نهادهای آن اعمال می­شود!
شکی نیست که خصوصی­سازی که خامنه­ای با تغییر قانون اساسی به آن «مشروعیت» داد تا مجوز مالکیت خصوصی بر صنایع کلیدی را صادر کند، کپی برابر اصل خصوصی­سازی های کشورهای پیشرفته سرمایه­داری نبود، که در آن افراد و سازمان­های مناسب همراه با نهادهای قدرت – به ویژه نیروهای نظامی و امنیتی- از آن سود بردند. با این حال، از نظر تاثیرات، همتای نزدیک الگوی سایر نقاط جهان به خصوص در کشورهای کمتر توسعه یافته است.
در حال حاضر اقتصاد ایران از سه بخش تشکیل شده است: بخش خصوصی، بخش دولتی و بخش نیمه دولتی/خصوصی. با این وجود، سه بخش با یکدیگر همکاری نزدیکی دارند و اگرچه در برخی مواقع بین آنها اختلاف نظر وجود دارد، در کل سه بخش تشکیل دهنده اقتصاد، عملکرد خود را با توجه به منافع مشترک خود هماهنگ می­کنند. در همین حال، سلطنت­طلبان، همراه با سیاستمداران بورژوا لیبرال به ما می­گویند تنها اقتصاد خصوصی «درست» باعث شکوفایی اقتصاد می­شود. می­توان تصور کرد که معنای خصوصی­سازی برای آن­ها زمانی­ست که به جای عناصر رژیم، خود سود آن را به جیب بزنند. مطالعات درمورد وضعیت فعلی ایران نشان می­دهد که بخش­هایی صنایع همچنان متعلق به اشراف قدیمی ایران است؛ برخی از آنها با پهلوی­ها رابطه خوبی نداشتند و تحت حاکمیت آن­ها به خوبی فعالیت نمی­کردند. بخش­های دیگر سرمایه متعلق به ثروتمندانی هستند که پس از ریاست جمهوری اکبر هاشمی رفسنجانی بخشی از پول خود را برای سرمایه­گذاری به ایران بازگرداندند.
بخش دیگر استثمارگران فوق ثروتمند طبقه کارگر، اعضای سابق سپاه پاسداران انقلاب هستند که در طول یک دهه گذشته به سرمایه­داران بخش خصوصی تبدیل شدند. بسیاری از آنان و آقا زاده هایشان، ثروتمندان تازه به دوران رسیده ایران هستند و با وجودی­که از مزایای نزدیکی با قدرت برخوردارند، اما جای رابطه ایدئولوژیک و سیاسی آنان با آرمان های دولت دینی را منافع شخصی و خانوادگی و انباشت بیشتر و بیشتر ثروت پر کرده است. حقیقت این است که تصویری که بورژوازی لیبرال از ایران (از جمله سلطنت طلبان مشروطه خواه) ترسیم می­کند، کشوری است که همه چیز متعلق به بخش دولتی است و تنها بخشی که از آن سود می برد سپاه پاسداران است.
جبهه متحد
به همین دلیل است که «جبهه متحد برای دموکراسی» در کنار لیبرال های بورژوا، که اصلاح­طلبان ملایم چپ (کسانی که البته جای تعجب نیستند که برای کارزارهای سیاسی خود در پذیرش بودجه ایالات متحده یا اروپا تردیدی به خود راه نمی­دهند، کسانی که به طور آشکار و نهان از مداخله امپریالیستی حمایت می­کنند، چپ­نمایانی که به دنبال تحریم­های بیشتر علیه ایران برای نقض حقوق بشر هستند) پیشنهاد کرده­اند اتحادی غیرممکن است. مانند این است که از مدیران طرح سرمایه­گذاری خصوصی PFI که از خصوصی­سازی بخش­های خدمات درمانی ملی سود می برد خواسته شود به کارزار نجات خدمات درمانی بپیوندد. بله، احمقانه به نظر می­رسد.
این هفته در رسانه­های اجتماعی یک ویدیو منتشر شد که ظاهرا جلسه اسکایپی فعالین ایرانی بود با یک چپ گرای سابق در تبعید در لندن، که به آنها خاطر نشان می­کرد چگونه نومحافظه­کاران در امریکا و کانادا برای حمایت از طبقه کارگر ایران وقت و پول زیادی سرمایه­گذاری کرده­اند. تصور می­کنم توصیه­های او به متحدین جدیدش این بود که طور جدی از نارضایتی فقرا و طبقه کارگر استفاده کنند.
این به همان نفرت­انگیزی مداخله است – هم پایه دانستن اعتراض های واقعی دهها هزار ایرانی با بخش­های دست راستی– کاملا درست است که برخی از کسانی که ادعا می­کنند که حامیان طبقه کارگر ایران­اند، به طور جدی به دنبال حمایت «اتحادیه­های کارگری» حمایت شده از سوی سیا هستند، بخشی از تلاش بیش از دو دهه گذشته ما، برای افشای این افراد و گروه­ها عمدتا بر گوش­های ناشنوا کوفته است.
پاسخ ایدئولوژیک را اتحاد برای رهایی کارگرانAWL مطرح کرد. اظهاراتی که واقعا شگفت­انگیز است: «مبارزه برای یک دموکراسی سکولار راهی است که به کارگران کمک می­کند تا مبارزات اقتصادی و سازمان­های خود را گسترش دهند و آنقدر قدرت یابند تا برای طرح و جلب حمایت آرمان­های سوسیالیستی رشد کنند.»1
سازمان اتحاد برای رهایی کارگران، همراه با تقریبا تمام گروه­های دیگر از سنت تروتسکیستی در سراسر جهان، بیش از دو دهه گذشته بیشترین حمله را به چپ ایران را برای حمایت از تئوری انقلاب انجام داده است و آن ها را مسئول شکست قیام در بهمن 1357 دانسته است. اکنون به ما می­گویند که باید ابتدا برای دولت دموکراتیک سکولار در ایران بکوشیم، با تشویق به آنچه که «تغییر رژیم» می­نامند. این افراد حتما فکر می­کنند مردم ایران احمق هستند: با مشاهد تغییر رژیم و «دموکراسی» در عراق و افغانستان، آیا کسی می­تواند به طور جدی، با نگاه حق به جانب، چنین مزخرفاتی را به زبان آورد؟ افغانستان و عراق پسا تهاجم را برخی «دموکراتیک» می­دانند، اما من مطمئن هستم (به استثنای اقلیت کوچکی از سلطنت­طلبان ابله اکثرا در تبعید) هیچ ایرانی به آن نوع «دموکراسی» که اکنون در عراق یا افغانستان برقرار است رشک نمی­برد.
گروه­هایی از چپ ایران با مواضعی شبیه به اتحاد برای رهایی کارگران وجود دارند، از جمله آنهایی که از صهیونیسم حمایت می­کنند تا کسانی که به طور علنی به عنوان مدافعان دولت اسرائیل عمل می­کنند. نادیده انگاشتن فلاکت فلسطینیان یک مسئله است، اما این ادعا که اسرائیل «دموکراسی» است و از این رو برنامه هسته­ای آن مسئله­ای ندارد (چه نظامی و غیر نظامی) موضوع دیگری است. بگذارید یادآوری کنم که برنامه­های هسته­ای به ویژه برنامه­هایی که در کشورهای مذهبی خاورمیانه مانند ایران و اسرائیل دنبال می­شوند، به دلیل ماهیت مخفی تاسیساتشان، خطرناک­تر از هر جای دیگری است. این باعث می­شود که آنها حتی از دیگر نیروگاه­های هسته­ای، هم برای شهروندان خود و هم برای مردم جهان، خطر بیشتری داشته باشند. از پیش می­دانستیم دیمونا (کارخانه نساجی که در واقع یک نیروگاه هسته­ای است) یک تهدید جدی است. با این حال، صهیونیست­های ملایم ما صریحا معتقدند که در دموکراسی دولت اشغالگر هیچ کدام از این­ها مهم نیست. به عبارت دیگر، فناوری هسته­ای به دست دولت­های مذهبی تا زمانی که آن دولت اسلامی نیست، بلااشکال است.
البته، هیچ کس نباید گروه­های ایرانی مرتبط با این دستورکار ملایم صهیونیستی را جدی بگیرد – آنهایی که من دیدم انشعاباتی از انشعابات سازمان های کوچک هستند با نام­هایی که گویا از مونتی پایتون زندگی برایان آمده­اند. این گروه­ها مانند غباری در تاریخ­اند، اما نباید آسیب­هایی که «اتحاد» آن­ها به فعالین کارگری زندانی در ایران وارد می­آورند را کم اهمیت بشمریم که به دروغ متهم به ارتباط با قدرت­های خارجی می­شوند. تعجب­آور نیست عناصری در میان چپ واقعی، از «کارزارهای

Iran’s Islamic government might be taking a more ‘moderate’ approach regarding nuclear negotiations, but as far as internal repression is concerned its stance is as bad as ever before – as bad as the worst periods of the rule of the last president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

In the last week of October alone, Iran’s judicial system ordered the execution by hanging of at least 20 political opponents, all from national minorities (16 Baluchis and four Kurds), and the regime banned the ‘reformist’ daily, Bahar, for publishing an article questioning the historical veracity of events involving the first Shia imam.

The Baluchi separatists were executed in retaliation for an attack by a group of armed men on a border post that took the lives of 14 government soldiers in the south-eastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan. Meanwhile, in West Azerbaijan province two Kurds who had been sentenced to death following brief trials were executed. But two other Kurdish political prisoners, both serving 30-year prison sentences for opposition to the regime and membership of an illegal organisation, suffered the same fate. The family of one, summoned to collect his body, were told he was executed in the prison’s visitors area.

The brutal hanging of those prisoners carried a deliberate message for all the regime’s opponents. Supreme leader Ali Khamenei might have ‘drunk the poison’ when he made his U-turn as far as international negotiations on Iran’s nuclear facilities are concerned, but he has no intention of tolerating any opposition or dissent. On the contrary, it appears that political prisoners and the opposition in general will be made to pay the price for the failure of the regime’s foreign policy.

Opposition groups have warned that last week’s terror reprisals have all the signs of the type of repression the regime imposed immediately after the end of Iran-Iraq war in 1987. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s version of ‘drinking the poison’ (peace with Iraq) was followed by the execution of tens of thousands of political prisoners, some nearing the end of their jail sentences. Such measures are intended to demonstrate that, just because the Islamic republic has been forced to make foreign policy concessions, that does not mean it is weakening in its attitude to its internal opponents.

A number of leftwing political prisoners in Evin prison have started a hunger strike in protest at this new wave of terror. In September, just before president Hassan Rowhani’s trip to New York, the supreme leader ordered the release of more than 80 ‘prisoners of conscience’. However, only 42, many of them approaching the completion of their prison terms, were freed. Hundreds remain behind bars.

The ‘moderate’ Rowhani has said nothing. It is clear that the new president does not want to jeopardise his relationship with the conservative factions of the regime, and the security forces they control. Of course, we should not forget that while in New York Rowhani spent a considerable amount of time discussing Iran’s economy with the International Monetary Fund and, as the latest ‘economic restructuring programme’ takes shape, control of the working class and the population at large remains high on the government’s agenda.

In another attack on freedom of expression, the authorities shut down Bahar on October 28, five days after the publication of a controversial article that cast doubts on whether the prophet Mohammed had appointed a successor. The newspaper’s punishment was predictable, since the article contradicted one of the fundamental beliefs of Shia Muslims. The head of the judiciary, Sadeq Larijani, warned that any publication taking up an “unacceptable stance” would face suspension or a ban.

This venture into theological history was something of an exception for the ‘reformist’ media, which has been mainly concentrating on the continuing house arrest of the leaders of the green movement. However, the victims of the worst aspects of the regime’s repression are not under house arrest and their families are not allowed regular prison visits. Although no-one can justify the continued house arrest of the ‘reformist’ leaders Mir-Hossein Moussavi and Mehdi Karroubi (especially when you consider that Rowhani was supposed to be their ally), for us in Hands Off the People of Iran the urgent task is to save political prisoners whose life is in danger – incarcerated labour activists whose only crime is defending their fellow workers; national and religious minority activists, whose only crime is not to be Shia.

We also need to publicise and support the struggles of thousands of workers who have had the courage to protest outside their factories, outside the Islamic majles (parliament) or in front of provincial offices, demanding payment of their withheld wages; workers at the Qazvin car manufacturing plant, workers in the petro-chemical industries, workers who have demonstrated in their tens of thousands against the drying up of the river Karoun in Khuzestan province.

Not surprisingly Iran’s new-found allies within the ‘international community’ are not condemning this wave of repression and the Iranian organisations tied to (at times dependent on) US and European money are not in a position to do much. As we have said time and time again, UN institutions, and imperialist-funded ‘human rights’ NGOs do not campaign for these imprisoned Iranian workers. If last year they were queuing up to support women’s rights, and to try leaders of the Islamic regime for crimes committed in the past, they are showing no interest in the recent executions up and down the country. That is why we need a different kind of solidarity: workers’ solidarity from trade unionists and labour activists independent of US-sponsored labour organisations and free of any associations with Zionism, Sunni fundamentalists or other reactionary religious or nationalist forces. In this respect we also need to point to the illusions of large sections of the Iranian left in ‘international law’, the United Nations and its institutions.

Our solidarity

All in all, not a good week for Iran’s new government both internally and internationally. However, the question many comrades ask is, what can we in Hopi do?

The answers are neither simple nor straightforward. Our numbers are few and our resources limited. However, we have been able to give a comprehensive analysis of the current nuclear negotiations, explaining the obstacles and the loopholes of the process, and we have continued our adherence to revolutionary principles when it comes to building solidarity with the Iranian working class. As uncertainty and political change have provoked increased protests against the regime, as state repression is stepped up, we need to do a lot more in building support from trade unionists and workers’ organisations, keeping in mind the damage already done by those who have failed to take a clear line on imperialism and indeed global capitalism.

More than ever before, supporters of the Iranian working class must take a principled stance in opposition to imperialist intervention. But campaigns in solidarity with Iranian workers should not be tarnished by association with pro-imperialists, such as the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, the American Federation of Labor/Congress of Industrial Organizations, which have a history of collaboration with successive US administrations.

In the last few weeks during various discussions with labour activists inside and outside Iran, these comrades have expressed their continued concerns about irresponsible attitudes regarding solidarity with Iranian workers. On the one hand, we must do all we can to help incarcerated comrades. On the other hand, at no time can we afford to lower our guard vis-à-vis institutions and organisations associated with US and European powers. It is not an easy task, but we must be aware that anything else endangers the very lives we want to save. So let us concentrate on finding allies amongst activists and organisations that share our concerns about imperialist intervention, who like us understand Iran’s complicated politician landscape.

Support for the Iranian working class must include a call for the immediate, unconditional release of labour activists held in prison. In the current climate their lives are in danger.

These include:

•   Behnam Ebrahimzadeh, a member of the Committee for the Establishment of Workers’ Organisations in Iran (CEWO), who has served three years of a six-year sentence.

•   Reza Shahabi, member of the coordinating committee of Vahed bus workers, still in jail for his part in the 2006 strike and for organising workers in this sector. Shahabi is very ill and his condition is deteriorating daily.

•   Shahrokh Zamani, a Painters Union militant and another CEWO member. He is currently serving an 11-year sentence and has been tortured on a number of occasions. Zamani is held in Rajaei Shahr prison, one of the worst detention centres in Iran, because he is accused of “insulting the leader”, a charge that was added six months into his sentence.

•   CEWO member Mohammad Jarahi, who was arrested in January 2012. He, like fellow-prisoners, has had a number of serious health issues, but has been refused release on health grounds.

•   Worker activists Pedram Nasrollahi, Mohammad Mohammadi and Abdolreza Ghanbari are also in prison and their lives are in danger.

•   In Kurdistan province, in addition to nationalist prisoners, worker activists Vafa Ghaderi, Khaled Hosseini and Ghader Hosseini all face jail sentences and on November 4, hours after the execution of the Kurdish prisoners, Vafa Ghaderi was arrested.

150 signers after the first day online

Comrades,

I’ve decided to enter the 10k race at Milton Keynes Festival of Running on March 9 and use it to try and raise some money for WFI from friends, family and contacts. I am going to prioritise approaching local contacts who have shown support for HOPI’s activities in the past (one of whom also came to yesterday’s dayschool) and those around my Left Unity branch. As well as raising a bit of money it should strengthen the prospect of organising further political work around Iran in the future in MK.

I’ve set up a charity choice event page, so feel free to share it: http://www.charitychoice.co.uk/fundraiser/daveisaacson/10k-run-at-milton-keynes-festival-of-running

Two marathons were mentioned yesterday that WFI comrades are gearing up for. Oslo and ???? I ask not because I think I’ll be in a position to run one(!), but so I can tell others who might be interested.

Dave.

رفقا

من تصمیم گرفته ام در مسابقۀ دو 10 کیلومتری شهر میلتون کینز انگلستان شرکت کنم و امیدوارم که بتوانم از طریق فامیل، دوستان و آشنایانم برای صندوق کارگری ایران WFI پولی تهیه کنم. سعی من این خواهد بود که در درجۀ اول به کسانی مراجعه کنم که در گذشته هم از فعالیتهای ” هوپی ” حمایت کرده اند و بعد به کسانی مراجعه خواهم کرد که در اتحاد چپ انگلستان میشناسم. فکر میکنم که این کار باعث میشود که در کنار تهیه پول ، چشم اندازهمکاریهای سیاسی آینده در شهر میلتون کینز در رابطه با ایران محکم تر خواهد شد .

 من لینک زیررا برای اهداء وجه نقد خود به اطلاعتان میرسانم ، میتوانید آن را به اطلاع یگران هم برسانید .

 http://www.charitychoice.co.uk/fundraiser/daveisaacson/10k-run-at-milton-keynes-festival-of-running

 در ضمن دو مسابقۀ دوی دیگرصندوق کارگری ایران در راه است . نیمه ماراتون گوتمبرگ در سوئد و ماراتون اسلو در نروژ. ممکن است من نتوانم در آنها شرکت کنم ولی میتوانم به دیگرانی که علاقمندند اطلاع دهم. شما هم اینکار را بکنید.

 با سپاس

Dave.

Workers Fund Iran does excellent work raising practical solidarity with working class people (employed and unemployed) in Iran. Iranians suffer both from the effects of US-led sanctions and the neoliberal and repressive policies of their own regime. These factors combined with the global economic crisis have resulted in intolerable conditions for the mass of people in Iran. Inflation has skyrocketed, unemployment is rife, and even amongst those who have jobs many have to go months without receiving wages. Worker activists who seek to organise to improve their conditions are regularly arrested, imprisoned, tortured and even killed. They deserve our solidarity. Please give generously to Workers Fund Iran.

This will be my first major running undertaking since running Vienna marathon for WFI, 2012… and I have no illusions about the pain in store for me and for the many friends and colleagues who will suffer my endless moaning about it (if not for me, at least make a donation so they don’t suffer in vain!). I have talked a few colleagues into running this new half marathon route round LB Hackney for their charities of choice. If you’re in London on June 22, why not come along and support us? Make a last minute solidarity donation and take us out for a pint!
Link to Charity Choice page and sponsor form here.

شرکتدرماراتنکوتاهلندنبرایصندوقکارگرانایرانی

صندوقکارگرانایرانتاکنوندرجلبحمایت‌هایکاربردیبرایهمبستگیباکارگران(وکارگرانبیکار) ایرانیبسیارموفقعملکردهاست. درحالحاضرمردمایرانهمتحتفشارتحریم‌هایاعمالشدهبهرهبریآمریکاهستندوهمازسیاست‌هایاقتصادیسرکوبگرانه‌ینئولیبرالیحکومتخودرنجمی‌برند. اینعواملبههمراهبحراناقتصادیبین‌المللیبهشرایطیغیرقابلتحملبرایاکثریتمردمایرانانجامیدهاست. تورمسربهفلککشیده،بیکاریمتداولاستوحتیبعضیازافرادیکهسرکارمی‌روندماه‌هایمتمادیحقوقخودرادریافتنمی‌کنند. فعالینکارگریکهسعیدرسازماندهیخوددارندتابتوانندشرایطکاریبهتریبه‌دستبیاورند،بهصورتمداومدستگیرمی‌شوند،بهزندانمی‌افتندوشکنجهمی‌شوند. آن‌هاسز

اوارهمبستگیماهستند. سخاوتمندانهبهصندوقکارگرانایرانکمککنید!

من(سارامکدونالد) وچندیننفردیگردرحمایتوبرایجمعآوریکمکبرایکارگرانایرانیخواهیمدوید.

اگرروزبیستودومژوئندرلندنهستیددرماراتنمحله‌یهکنیبهمابپیوندید! اگردرلندننیستیدمی‌توانیدازطریقاینشمارهحساببهصندوقکارگرانایرانکمککنید. حمایتشمابهبهبودوضعیتمعیشتکارگرانایرانوخانواده‌هایآن‌هاکمکخواهدکرد.