THREAD: Our two previous posts on the US government’s assassination of Qasem Soleimani were from Iranian anarchists and Marxists who not only opposed American imperialism but also the Iranian government.
2/ While opposition to American imperialism is a no brainer, a question amongst some may be “How could they oppose the Iranian government, isn’t it progressive and anti-imperialist?” In reality it isn’t.
3/ The current Iranian government arose out of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, where the workers and the oppressed rose up and overthrew the monarchy led by the Shah, as the regime was oppressive....
4/ it failed to manage the 1970’s economic crisis and enabled Western neo-colonial domination of Iran through its alliance with the US and Israel.
5/ In particular the masses were enraged by the US having overthrown Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh through the 1953 coup d’etat due to his nationalisation of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (now known as BP).
6/ Within the revolutionary movement there were multiple political tendencies, including liberals, leftists, Islamists and combinations of these. Throughout the revolution these tendencies co-operated and competed with each other as the situation demanded,
7/ .... with the Islamists under Ruhollah Khomeini becoming the predominant tendency within the revolutionary government. Khomeini claimed to support a republican government where he and other clerics would advise but not rule.
8/ However, after the two referendums in 1979 that voted in favour of an Islamic Republic, Khomeini’s Islamists seized power and implemented a constitution where he became another autocrat.
9/ Once Khomeini was in power, the Iranian government proceeded to suppress all opposition to Khomeini’s rule through imprisonment, torture and execution, including leftists, liberals, feminists, Kurdish, Arab, Balochi and other separatist movements, the workers movement....
10/ as well as the workers councils/shora movement that had arisen during the Iranian Revolution (communemag.com/the-iranian-re…, this was the final wave of workers councils in the 20th century). The Iraqi government’s invasion of Iran in1980 led to the Iran-Iraq War...
11/ which helped the Iranian government suppress his opposition on the grounds of them being traitors and aiding the enemy. Therefore, by the time the war ended in 1988 with a stalemate, during which the Iranian government tried to invade Iraq to overthrow Hussein....
12/ and establish an Iranian-style regime there, the opposition was now underground. The lack of opposition then allowed the new Iranian ruling class to initiate Iran’s transition to neoliberal capitalism (weeklyworker.co.uk/worker/1192/wr…) , with it remaining neoliberal to this day.
13/ From that time to the present day, the autocratic, patriarchal, homophobic, transphobic, colonial and neoliberal Iranian government has continued its repression of the above and other opposition movements through imprisonment, torture and execution.
14/ This includes the recent uprising in Iran by the workers and the oppressed that has been happening since May 2019 (and.notraces.net/2019/12/11/pod…) in the context of an economic crisis created by a combination of US sanctions and economic mismanagement by the Iranian government.
15/ Therefore, there is nothing progressive about the Iranian government. Meanwhile, the Iranian government’s geopolitical maneuverings demonstrate that there is nothing anti-imperialist about the regime.
16/ Since the revolution, the Iranian government has engaged in wealth extraction from and expanding its influence in Lebanon through its alliance with Hezbollah, supported the Houthis in overthrowing the Yemeni government....
17/ kept the neoliberal al-Assad dictatorship in power in Syria, and backed militias and parties in the Iraqi government to maintain its influence. The Iranian government has done this to end the regional hegemony of its rival Saudi Arabia and the colonial presence of the USA...
18/ in the Middle East/West Asia in order to become the regional hegemon of the West Asia in alliance with the Russian government. The Iranian government does this not due to something inherent in Islam as Islamophobes claim....
19/ but because, as anarchists like Peter Kropotkin (theanarchistlibrary.org/library/petr-k…), Kōtoku Shūsui (libcom.org/library/monste…) and others demonstrate, due to the struggle to accumulate profit and power that is inherent to the capitalist world system...
20/ leading to states competing with each other to achieve geopolitical and economic supremacy over their rivals. Therefore, the Iranian government isn’t seeking to overthrow capitalist imperialism, it is competing within it to achieve its own hegemony.
21/ One of the key figures associated with both this domestic and international repression was Qasem Soleimani in his capacity as the leader of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Corps. Therefore, when he was assassinated by the US government...
22/ Therefore, when he was assassinated by the US government, no tears were shed by anarchists, Marxists and others in Iran and across West Asia who had suffered at the hands of the forces that he led. It is because of all of this.....
23/ that the Iranian anarchists and Marxists in our two previous posts oppose both the US government and the Iranian government and war between them, with proposing instead the need to build an international revolutionary movement.....
24/ that abolishes the capitalist world system and establishes a global post-capitalist society, as anarchists and Marxists have done ever since the First International’s founding in 1864 (libcom.org/library/chapte…). To turn this proposal into reality...
25/ it is vital that radicals everywhere discuss what actions need to be taken to build this international counter-power instead of supporting one side or the other in inter-state capitalist conflicts. If we don’t, then the capitalist world system will continue to exist....
26/ and millions upon millions will continue to die due to the wars, global poverty and climate crisis that it creates. As the anarchist Marie Louise Berneri once said “Neither East Nor West!” For global anarchy!
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