In comparison to the mass protests that arose in 2009 after the fraudulent presidential election, these protests are different in several important respects: 1. They directly oppose poverty and systemic corruption. 2. They include the wide participation of the working class (men and women), many unemployed. . 3. Demands include an end to the Islamic Republic, Death to Supreme Leader Khamenei, Death to president Rouhani, Death to the “Revolutionary Guards” and an end to Iran’s military intervention in Syria and Lebanon. 4. In some cases, individual women have bravely taken off their headscarves or veils in public places and have encouraged others to follow them.
Frieda Afary
December 31, 2017
The protests that started in the city of Mashhad on Thursday December 28 have quickly spread to more than 40 cities including Tehran, Kermanshah, Rasht, Isfahan, Shiraz, Hamedan, Kerman, Zanjan, Ahvaz, Bandar Abbas, and even the city of Qum, Iran’s religious capital. The participants are mostly young people under 30 but in some cases have included parents with their children. So far, at least 5 people have been killed in Lorestan and over 50 people have been arrested by heavily present security forces. Some government buildings and banks were set on fire by the protesters and pictures of Khamenei and Khomeini have been burned.
In comparison to the mass protests that arose in 2009 after the fraudulent presidential election, these protests are different in several important respects: 1. They directly oppose poverty and systemic corruption. 2. They include the wide participation of the working class (men and women), many unemployed. . 3. Demands include an end to the Islamic Republic, Death to Supreme Leader Khamenei, Death to president Rouhani, Death to the “Revolutionary Guards” and an end to Iran’s military intervention in Syria and Lebanon. 4. In some cases, individual women have bravely taken off their headscarves or veils in public places and have encouraged others to follow them.
No one can deny that these protests are arising after at least a year of almost daily labor actions and strikes against non-payment of wages and terrible working conditions, as well as protests by impoverished retirees, teachers, nurses and those who have lost their meager savings in bankrupt banks. Slogans have also called for freedom for all political prisoners and an end to dictatorship.
At the same time, there is no doubt that there is a strong nationalist tone to some of the slogans such as “Neither Gaza, Nor Lebanon, I sacrifice my life for Iran” or a monarchist influence expressed in slogans which support the legacy of Reza Shah Pahlavi.
Some Iranians believe that the protests might have been started by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to consolidate its power, given the infighting within the regime and the threat of a direct war between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Others believe that monarchists and the Mujahedin Khalq, with support from the Trump administration, have had a major role in encouraging the protests.
For those Iranians opposed to all these actors and genuinely hoping for a liberatory movement, it is extremely important to learn from the lessons of the Syrian revolution. If the mass movement against poverty and dictatorship limits itself simply to the overthrow of the regime without an affirmative and progressive vision, it faces the danger of being taken over by right-wing populists or monarchists and becoming a pawn in the imperialist rivalries.
This is a time when those Iranian socialists and Marxists who do not support authoritarian brands of socialism can make a difference by organizing within this movement on the basis of opposing Iran’s capitalist state, helping the development of workers’ councils, defending and promoting women’s struggles against patriarchy/ misogyny, and speaking out against the discrimination suffered by Iran’s ethnic and religious minorities such as Kurds and Bahais.
Deepening the content of the current protest movement is the best way to challenge and oppose imperialist war drives by the U.S., Israel, Saudi Arabia, Russia, China, Iran, Turkey, and to express solidarity with other progressives in the region and around the globe who demand social justice.
Frieda Afary
December 31, 2017
Also see the two links below:
International Campaign in Solidarity with Middle Eastern Political Prisoners
https://allianceofmesocialists.org/14964/
The Particular Features of the Islamic Republic’s Capitalism and the Need for a Humanist Alternative to Capitalism/Militarism
thank you, Frieda Afary, for this balanced analysis of these protests. It’s the first I heard of the right wing forces possibly at work in these protests. Another question, in my mind, is how the issue of socialism relates to these protests. This seems relevant to me in a similar way that it was in the Arab Spring. After all, weren’t the neoliberal economic policies an important underlying cause of that revolt? Maybe the main slogans revolved around “democracy”, but underlying it were the economic changes, no? And isn’t neoliberalism a necessity for capitalism in the 21st century?
Thank you, John. It is critical for socialists and progressives in Iran and elsewhere to actively support the labor, feminist, student and oppressed minority struggles that make the bulk of the opposition to the regime. As to your question about how socialism relates to the latest protests: Labor struggles, protests of the retirees, teachers and nurses against impoverishment and horrible working conditions have been widespread during the past year. The neoliberal economic policies have been part of the strategy of Iran’s state capitalist regime to free itself of the meager rights that Iran’s constitution has given to workers. However, the concentration and centralization of capital in the state/army/IRGC is growing. Iran, like the rest of the world needs a socialist humanist alternative to capitalism. However, such an alternative can only be realized as an international project. This is why international solidarity is so critical. Please see the links at the end of the article.
I am full of admiration for the courageous people participating in these protests, and am wondering if there’s any way we can convey our solidarity and support for some of the objectives Frieda has listed, especially freedom from poverty and unemployment, freeing the Republic of Iran from the stranglehold of the unelected Islamic theocracy (velayat-e faqih), an end to the military interventions in Syria and elsewhere in the region, and women’s liberation. I feel the tragedy of the Syrian revolution is not so much the lack of an affirmative and positive vision but the lack of international solidarity, which allowed Hezbollah, the IRGC and the Russian military to move in and help Assad to crush it. It was also the lack of solidarity from progressives and the left that allowed the right wing to grow – when people’s survival is at stake and their children are being slaughtered, they tend to accept help from whoever is offering it.
Congratulation to your thoughtful analysis! I also share your general positive attitude to the protests. Here is a link to our statement from the Revolutionary Communist International Tendency (RCIT):
Long Live the Popular Uprising in Iran!
For Committees of Action of the Workers and Poor! For Organized Self-Defense against the Police Repression! Down with the Capitalist-Theocratic Regime! Unite the Struggle of the Iranian Masses with the Arab Revolution!
https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/long-live-the-popular-uprising-in-iran/
Internationalist Greetings,
Michael Pröbsting (International Secretary of the RCIT)
Great article! Longlive The Struggle Of Iranian Working People!
long live the struggle of the class working in Iran until the completion of the permanent labor revolution