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Rarely in the last 27 years have workers faced such hardship and extortion. Tyrannical market relations and the destructive policies of capitalists have reduced Iranian workers to worthless commodities and today we see that they have no protection. The working class is being destroyed by the pressures and difficulties it faces ... I am saying this so that Mr Ahmadinejad, who always boasts about his humble beginnings, realises how his government and his minister of labour deals with the workers.”
As we approach the September 23 anti-war demonstration, it is timely to remind everyone that the Islamic regime in power in Iran is part of world capitalism - an enemy of the working class, presiding over a repressive state. It has killed thousands of socialists and communists, imprisoned workers and repressed women, while following the instructions of the IMF and the World Bank. The gap between rich and poor has reached a critical point, the contradiction between the rulers and the people is increasing and militarist Mahdi worshippers in the government are pursuing incredibly dangerous policies.
Of course no-one believes imperialist claims of defending the Iranian people, spreading democracy in the region or supporting Iranian women. Such lies and the attempts to justify US war efforts have only one consequence - strengthening the regime’s grip on power inside Iran. Both the neo-conservative rulers of the United States and the religious conservatives in Iran compete in creating a warlike atmosphere where each vies with the other in their resort to racism and nationalism, while pursuing religious wars and using their respective god to fool ordinary people and justify militarism.
However, there is another side to this coin: capital’s rationale - the need to control the market and natural resources, as well as the need for political and economic domination, have created the conditions for global conflict and military intervention. For all their services to neoliberal capital, the current rulers of Iran have not managed to convince the Bush administration that they can deliver capitalism’s interests better than any other alternative.
It is yet to be seen if the US-UK commitment to regime change in Iran will lead to another bloody war. Several EU states (not to mention anyone with an iota of intelligence) has already told both governments time and time again that the current regime in Iran represents the best hope for the future of capitalism in that country. It is yet to be seen if they heed that advice.
That is why the anti-war movement must join forces with its true allies - the Iranian working class - in a genuine movement against war, neoliberal capital and nuclear proliferation. In such a struggle the capitalist fundamentalists in power in Tehran cannot be considered allies.
As we approach the September 23 anti-war demonstration, it is timely to remind everyone that the Islamic regime in power in Iran is part of world capitalism - an enemy of the working class, presiding over a repressive state. It has killed thousands of socialists and communists, imprisoned workers and repressed women, while following the instructions of the IMF and the World Bank. The gap between rich and poor has reached a critical point, the contradiction between the rulers and the people is increasing and militarist Mahdi worshippers in the government are pursuing incredibly dangerous policies.
Of course no-one believes imperialist claims of defending the Iranian people, spreading democracy in the region or supporting Iranian women. Such lies and the attempts to justify US war efforts have only one consequence - strengthening the regime’s grip on power inside Iran. Both the neo-conservative rulers of the United States and the religious conservatives in Iran compete in creating a warlike atmosphere where each vies with the other in their resort to racism and nationalism, while pursuing religious wars and using their respective god to fool ordinary people and justify militarism.
However, there is another side to this coin: capital’s rationale - the need to control the market and natural resources, as well as the need for political and economic domination, have created the conditions for global conflict and military intervention. For all their services to neoliberal capital, the current rulers of Iran have not managed to convince the Bush administration that they can deliver capitalism’s interests better than any other alternative.
It is yet to be seen if the US-UK commitment to regime change in Iran will lead to another bloody war. Several EU states (not to mention anyone with an iota of intelligence) has already told both governments time and time again that the current regime in Iran represents the best hope for the future of capitalism in that country. It is yet to be seen if they heed that advice.
That is why the anti-war movement must join forces with its true allies - the Iranian working class - in a genuine movement against war, neoliberal capital and nuclear proliferation. In such a struggle the capitalist fundamentalists in power in Tehran cannot be considered allies.
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