Despite the unbridled suppression by the police state and the prevailing police atmosphere, the street protests have not only continued, but have also spread from universities to high schools. The Islamic criminal bourgeoisie knows that repression alone cannot prevent the demonstrations from carrying on, but in addition to police repression, it must also resort to other solutions to vent the anger of the protesters and channelize their protests. It was in this context that Mohseni-Eje’i, the head of the judiciary, invited the protesters to talk, and the governor of Tehran announced that the security officials are trying to determine two or three places for meetings.

Certainly, no one cares about the statements of these criminals and people continue to protest. But the continuation of the protests alone does not guarantee their success. From the far right to the far left, they know that street and student protests, no matter how long they carry on, will not be able to topple the Islamic Republic, and the possibility that they will be suppressed is increasing every day. They emphasize the lack of connection between the street and the factory and the lack of synchronization between the labour strikes and street protests. They stress the fact that without the working class joining these protests, the Islamic bourgeoisie will be able to suppress them. Therefore, they want a nationwide strike. In other words, the right and left tendencies of capital want the working class to launch a nationwide strike with democratic and anti-dictatorship demands, so that movement in the political superstructure of the society is not only possible, but is also accomplished more quickly.

On 10 October 2022, the workers of Bushehr and Damavand Asalouye petrochemicals and the Abadan and Kangan refineries joined the protest and strikes. Workers with the slogan “Death to the dictator!” entered the protests, although this was not a class slogan but an anti-dictatorship one. The shameful Islamic bourgeoisie is aware of the potential of workers, especially of this element of the working class, and it knows that it is only this social class that can endanger the life of the bourgeoisie. Therefore, the labour protests were suppressed before they could spread to other sectors, and a large number of workers were arrested. Repressive forces entered the workplaces and established a strict security environment to ensure the process of capital accumulation continued.

It is important to emphasize that the failure of pro-democracy and anti-dictatorship movements will lead to organized violence and will create a kind of frustration, but the failure of a class movement will bring precious gains for subsequent battles. One clear example is the labour protests in the autumn of 2017, the achievements of which still represent a beacon for future struggles, despite their suppression.

Despite that fact that between 2,000 and 3,000 labour strikes or protests take place in Iran every year, the standard of living for the working class is not only failing to improve, but is also worsening every day, and most people live below the poverty line. The question that arises is, despite this fighting, why are the results so insignificant? The reason is that except for short periods, unfortunately, the protests at workplaces are isolated and, most importantly, they have not been able to target the source of their exploitation. After briefly participating in protests, the working class did not seriously engage in anti-dictatorship demonstrations. The current labour protests and strikes that are occurring in a large number of industries, such as those of the Kian Tire and Aydin chocolate factory workers, as well as the tractor engine manufacturers and truck drivers, etc., are protesting against the low levels of wages, layoffs, working conditions, salary deferrals, etc., which continue as before.

One of the most deadly poisons that is spread by the left of capital and creates illusions in the working class is that the paper messages and solidarity of the labour unions, or the letters from their heads to the officials of the Islamic Republic, are considered to represent the class solidarity of the workers of Europe or the world with the working class of Iran. This problem prevents the formation of real solidarity between different battalions of the labour force. The same unions that blacklist militant workers mourn the death of Queen Elizabeth and call off labour strikes. Contrary to the claims of the demagogues of the left of capital, the most effective form of solidarity involving the different factions of the labour force is achieved through solidarity in the class struggle.

It is not only the criminals of the Islamic bourgeoisie who are worried about the protests. The Western bourgeoisie is also concerned about the radicalization of social protests and the possibility that they will get out of control and lose the initiative for future alternatives. We have the goals of the Western bourgeoisie, on the one hand, putting pressure on the Islamic bourgeoisie, and on the other, preparing an alternative for a rainy day to replace the Islamic bourgeoisie. In previous articles, we emphasized that bourgeois institutions and Western journalism in particular play the biggest role in engineering public opinion, and we pointed to the large demonstrations on 1 October 2002.[1]

One of the problems facing the Western bourgeoisie is that protests inside Iran are more radical compared to street demonstrations abroad. For example, the slogan “Death to the oppressor, whether he is the king or the supreme leader!” makes it a little difficult for the Western bourgeoisie to present an alternative. Therefore, the Western bourgeoisie must work more delicately than in 1979 to provide a possible replacement.

It was in line with such reasoning that two days before the Berlin demonstration, on 20 October 2022, a press conference by Reza Pahlavi (the former crown prince) regarding Iran’s political developments was widely broadcast on several national networks simultaneously. In this conference, he emphasized the necessity of forming a temporary government during the transitional period after the Islamic Republic and said:

“The day will arrive when the arrow of power will fall from the regime’s hands and from this very moment, we must be ready. It is clear that the interim government, more than anything else, must have popular legitimacy.” [2]

He also emphasized that over the past month, he has had numerous meetings and consultations with Western policy-makers and legislators, and that “the American government to so quickly alter its position on Iran”. In other words, Western politicians and legislators, especially those in the US, have changed their positions and announced their support for him. They want to bring him to the front of the stage so that on a rainy day, they can use him and provide him as an alternative or as part of one.

It was in line with the continuation of such a scenario that, in an extension of the great demonstration of 1 October 2022, on 22 October 2022, another one was planned in Berlin. Many efforts are made to bring anonymous characters to the front of the scene so that their acceptability in possible scenarios is more easily accepted. This event was held with the support of democratic institutions, as those from the right to the left supported the demonstration. The radical phrase part of the left of capital under the title of an independent line formed a part of the blackness of the army. The Western bourgeoisie, relying on the power of the media and social networks, was able to engineer public opinion and present its image of these “great and historic demonstrations”.

Demonstrators present in Berlin, in the name of defending Ukrainian citizens, tied the Ukrainian flag to the Iranian one at the beginning of the rally and sent both into the air with the help of a large helium balloon. The BBC happily described the news of this solidarity as follows:

“The protesting Iranians in Berlin showed their support for the citizens of this country, whose land is under Russian military aggression, by raising Ukrainian flags”.[3]

Most importantly, the main speaker of the Berlin demonstration was Mr Esmaeilion, who actually conveyed the main message of the demonstration to the world with his words. He asked the leaders of the free world to impose targeted sanctions against Islamic criminals and said he wanted the free world to act in the same way with the criminals of the Islamic bourgeoisie as it does with Putin. He said:

“We look the leaders of the free world in the eyes and tell them: Stop negotiating with the criminal government called the Islamic Republic of Iran. They are not representatives of Iran. Expel their ambassadors from your countries. Show your position towards justice and human rights. Stop cooperating with the oppressors and hold them accountable, as you are doing with Putin”.[4]

At the same time as he was looking into the eyes of the leaders of the free world, some people chanted the slogan “Death to the oppressor, whether he is the king or the supreme leader!”, and because the event was broadcast in real time, meaning that the slogan could be heard live and there was no possibility of censorship, the freedom-loving journalist of the free world, whose salary is paid by dollars from Saudi oil, appeared in the role of dictator journalist and asked the demonstrators to stop chanting because this slogan does not fit with the scenario created by the Western bourgeoisie. The “libertarian” American government has announced that it will not tolerate Internet censorship by Islamic dictators and is looking to provide Starlink Internet for Iranians. Mélanie Joly, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the civilized government of Canada, stated that she was heartbroken by the misogyny of the Islamic bourgeoisie and that she wants to be the voice of Iranian women who fight for their rights, saying nonsense like this:

“We have a duty to strengthen the voice of Iranian women who are fighting for their rights”.[5]

Contrary to the statements of tricky demagogues like this respectable lady, the sexual oppression of women is not limited to headscarves, and is a reflection of the brutal capitalist system. In the same civilized Canada, according to the Canadian Women’s website, a woman in Canada is killed by her life partner every six days.[6] A long list can be made of the troubled consciences and sad hearts of the democrats for their dirty goals, that is, creating scenarios for a rainy day.

The real root of the problems in the life of the working class and most members of society is not the ideological superstructure of the ruling bourgeoisie, which can be solved by moving those problems, but is instead located in the infrastructure of the society, namely the mode of production and the dirty capitalist system. With the displacement of the ruling regimes, there will be no improvement in our lives, and the same exploitation, involving people living below the poverty line as well as unemployment, etc., will continue. As in 1979, our struggles should not once again serve the scenarios of the Western bourgeoisie. We should not be the black army of another Guadeloupe.

The chained workers!

The future of our movement depends only on our independent struggle, separate from any capitalist institution, whether it is in support or opposition. Our struggle must be against wage slavery, exploitation, the brutality of capitalism, etc., and in other words, it must target the foundations of capitalism. We have to fight for our own class interests and with class demands. Only we can repel the attacks of the bourgeoisie from our own class land. The working class should not be dragged into the pro-democracy movement, and worse than that, the blackness of the working class in the pro-democracy and anti-dictatorship movement will continually weaken the working class.

In the case of people’s protests and movements, if the working class dissolves itself into democratic and libertarian movements, it will only weaken the proletariat itself, not the bourgeoisie. 

Only the working class as a social class is able to end the misery of the capitalist world. Our class interests are not in changing the ruling body, which occurred in 1979, but in intensifying the class struggle, which will spread to other countries due to its anti-capitalist nature, and will challenge capitalism. Only the working class as a social class can end the misery of the capitalist world through a communist revolution.

Long live the war between the classes!

Firoz Akbary

25 October 2012

Notes:

[1] The continuation of the social protests and the entry of the working class into the demonstrations

[2] The press conference of Reza Pahlavi

[3] The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

[4] The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

[5] Voice of America

[6] Canadian Women’s Foundation

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