Hands Off Iran! No More Western Backed Regime Change Wars!

03-01-2018 – Like a broken record, the same old regime change rhetoric is being wheeled out once again by the paid and unpaid agents of Western imperialism. In the name of “human rights”, “democracy” and “freedom”, we are once again being softened up for yet another Western backed regime change war – this time on Iran. This follows the catastrophic regime change wars waged by the US Empire and its domestic and international allies on Libya and Syria. Regime change intervention was also attempted by the US Empire in Yemen, Ukraine, Venezuela and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK or “North Korea”). Many of these interventions could have triggered World War III – nuclear Armageddon.

It’s a dead giveaway – when “protests” in Iran are backed by US President Donald Trump, Hillary “Destroyer of Worlds” Clinton, the Zionist Israeli state, and the Wahabist Saudi Arabian monarchy, you know they are suspect. When the same celebrities who cheered on arguably the dirtiest imperialist war in history – the six year war on Syria – clamour to cry crocodile tears for “freedom” in Iran, you know something is off. When US Senator John McCain – known for posing in photos with Ukrainian fascists and ISIS mercenaries, and farcical US Ambassador to the United Nations (UN) Nikki Haley – infamous for the absurd claim that the DPRK is “begging for war” – tweet in favour of an alleged democratic uprising, you know the reality must be the opposite.

This is of course not the first time that the US has attempted to foment a “colour revolution” in Iran. In 2009, some protesters hit the streets claiming, without a shred of evidence, that the elections which resulted in the re-election of then President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad were fraudulent. The US hailed a “Green Revolution” which, however, did not gain anywhere near majority support amongst Iranian people, and was subdued by the security forces. This time, sources from inside Iran have stated that the protests in Iran over the last week are much smaller than the ones in 2009, and so have even less chance of gaining mass support amongst Iranians.

In fact, what have been more or less ignored by the Western corporate media are pro-government demonstrations which have been held, which vastly outnumber the anti-government rallies. Last Saturday, pro-government demonstrations were held in 1200 cities and towns across Iran. These rallies have been held every year since 2009, to demonstrate opposition to attempts by Iran’s international enemies to foment destabilisation.[1] The chances of the current anti-government demonstrations gaining overwhelming support amongst Iranians are miniscule. But that is not the point – their aims are precisely to gain international “assistance” – in the form of a US led regime change war, a la Syria. The parallels with the so-called Libyan “rebels” in 2011 openly calling on NATO to bomb their country are striking.

Another clue that Western governments and some of their client states are behind the anti-government protests, is the fact that “economic” demands very quickly became “political” demands. Apparently beginning over concerns about unemployment and inflation, chants have rapidly moved towards a line identical with that of the US deep state designs for the Middle East. Reports have it that some protest chants went: “Let go of Palestine…not for Gaza, not for Lebanon…I’d give my life for (only) Iran.”[2] Without mentioning it, this refers to Iran’s role in preventing the victory of ISIS and Al Qaeda in Syria, along with the assistance of the Lebanese Hezbollah – not to speak of Russia. Iran currently has the permission of the Syrian government to clean up the remnants of ISIS which are still in Syria, and still being backed by the US government, though not openly. If Iran, Russia and Hezbollah had not intervened to help defeat the US funded mercenaries, Iran would almost certainly have been the next target. The Iranian military’s actions were necessary not just for the survival of Syria, but for the survival of Iran itself. Yet the anti-government protestors condemn the Iranian government for possibly even saving their own lives.

It should be noted that there are indeed some serious economic problems in Iran, which working people would be justified in protesting about. Reportedly there is 12% unemployment, along with 25% youth unemployment. Economic growth is stagnant, and inflation is pushing up the price of necessary items such as food. Yet in fact, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei has been one who has been vocal in demanding government action about this! The Western supported protestors target Khamanei regardless, giving the game away as to what they are really demanding. What is more, the US led economic sanctions on Iran are to a large degree responsible for some of the poor economic conditions within Iran. And in fact, Iranians arguably have more democratic rights to protest about such things than the citizens of the governments now assaulting them – Israel, Saudi Arabia, and arguably the United States.

While the world’s workers need not politically endorse the economic or political actions of the theocratic Iranian government, it is in the interests of the working class to stand by Iran during imperialist attempts to undermine or overthrow its state. In addition, there is a dire need to stand with anti-imperialist and non-imperialist states whose actions are, for the moment, preventing the US and their allies from launching a nuclear holocaust. Such states include Iran, Russia, China, Syria and the DPRK.

One system is responsible for the ongoing threat of a global nuclear war, from which much of humanity may not recover. This is the system of capitalist-imperialism. A worker led struggle to uproot this system and replace it with socialism is an urgent task. As part of this, an anti-imperialist anti-war movement must be built to not only demand an end to civilisation threatening wars, but to demand the restoration of basic living standards which the profit system has denied us. HANDS OFF IRAN!

WORKERS LEAGUE