17-01-2026: On January 12, millions marched in nation-wide demonstrations in Iran in support of the Islamic Republic, its constitution and its government. The marchers were explicit with their condemnation of what became foreign backed riots that had beset the country in the week after the new year. Most of the rallies started at 2pm and continued until 5pm, however in some provinces the rallies started at 11am or even 9am.[1] Iranians from all walks of life gave up a day to firmly reassure the world that they will not tolerate violence against them ultimately perpetrated by the Israeli state, with backing from the US (United States of America) imperialism. It was a formidable show of determination, and a sign that the Islamic Republic of Iran retains overwhelming domestic support. Moreover, the concept that any Western country – almost all of whom join with the US government in condemning Iran – could have millions of their own citizens marching in support of them, is inconceivable. Millions occasionally protest against Western governments over various issued, but never in support of them.
Protests hijacked
There appears to be little doubt that on the first day of the protests, December 29, those demonstrating had genuine concerns about the difficulties caused by the Iranian currency devaluation. The shopkeepers and bazaar owners would have had trouble selling their goods as a result of the economic problems. However, within a day or so, the rallies were infiltrated by rioters bent on extreme violence. The mayor of the capital Tehran reported that the rioters had damaged 10 government buildings, 48 fire trucks, and 42 buses and ambulances. 25 Mosques were firebombed, 26 banks were struck and three medical centres were attacked.[2] The Iranian government stated that over 100 police officers were killed in violent assaults by the rioters.[3] Some were reportedly beheaded, others were simply bashed to death. Western based “human rights” organisations claimed that over 500 protestors were killed by the Iranian security forces and 10 000 were detained[4] – but these claims are very likely to be totally unsubstantiated.
Some of the rioters filmed themselves beating Iranian guards to death, in gruesome scenes.[5] In the town of Kermanshah, armed rioters and militants roamed the streets, resulting in the death of 3 year old Melina Asadi, who was shot.[6] Rioters also burnt the marketplace in the city of Rasht to the ground. Needless to say, this terroristic violence has zero to do with a protest about any issue. The last Secretary of State to be appointed by US President Donald Trump, Mike Pompeo, gave the game away as to who might have orchestrated the appalling violence on the streets of Iran. He posted on social media wishing a “Happy New Year to all Iranians [and] Also to every Mossad (Israeli secret intelligence) agent walking beside them”.[7] In fact, Mossad itself posted on X in Farsi, stating ..”we are with you. Not only from a distance and verbally. We are with you in the field.”[8] The rioters were backed by the Komala Party, an exiled Iraq based
Iranian Kurdish separatist organisation, which is considered a terrorist organisation by the Iranian government.[9] US President Trump went so far as to claim that if the Iranian government shoots and kills protestors, the US will “come to their rescue”. Trump wrote that “We are locked and loaded and ready to go”.[10] German Chancellor Friedrich Merz chimed in by claiming that the Iranian “regime” is in its final days and weeks.[11]
Uprising?
Some in the Western left make incredible claims that the process is a popular or even a working-class movement. This is risible, given the explicit and open backing by the Israeli state and US imperialism itself. In fact, the infiltration of the initial protests and their transformation into gruesome violence, appear to be the first phase in yet another regime change war on Iran. It needs to be seen in the context of a desperate US empire lashing out in multiple directions, coming soon after the kidnapping of the Venezuelan President.[12] The US state was not even able to attempt regime change in Venezuela, a key ally of Iran. But now it is expected by many pundits that Washington and Tel Aviv will re-start another war for regime change against Iran. Any attack on Iran, is well understood to also be an attack on Iran’s strongest allies in the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China (PRC). US imperialism is not anywhere near strong enough to take on Russia and China directly, but it somehow believes that it has a chance of overthrowing Iran, its goal ever since the 1979 revolution.
Socialists in general do not support a theocratic state, but it needs to be recognised that the 1979 revolution in Iran was a mass movement motivated by fervent anti-imperialism and elementary concepts of social justice, even as its leadership came under the sway of Shia Islam. It is preposterous that the son of the deposed monarch, the former Shah – Reza Pahlavi – is being feted for a return to power in Iran. Pahlavi left Iran in 1978 and has been living in the US ever since. He has close to zero support inside Iran. The overwhelming majority of Iranians have all kinds of criticisms and proposals for how their economic conditions (largely as a result of US sanctions) could be vastly improved. At the same time, they are more than aware that a return to a US/Israeli backed monarch would throw them back a century or more. They are determined to maintain their independence, won at the cost of huge sacrifices.
The global context for what may be a horrific full-scale imperialist war on Iran is one where capitalism in the West is in the process of being supplanted by a rising multipolar world. The socialistic PRC is eclipsing the capitalist West in almost all fields – manufacturing, industry, science, technology, telecommunications, transport, infrastructure and much more. Washington and their allies are well aware that, on current trends, the West will never catch up. It therefore must wage war, even World War III, if it is to have a chance at maintaining the pre-eminent position it had for the past 500 years. This is arguably the basic reason for not only a regime change war on Iran, but the attack on Venezuela, the assassination attempt on Russian President V Putin in Novgorod[13] and the December sales of $11.15 billion worth of advanced weaponry by the US to Taiwan.[14]
No to imperialist war
Virtually unmentioned by the Western corporate media as a reason for its unending angst, are the institutions of multipolarity, which have perhaps formed in response to ongoing hostile acts against the Global South by US and European state. Iran is a key member of the non-imperialist BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa plus 15 other states) bloc, as well as a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), the Eurasian security alliance.[15] There is little doubt that Iran, Russia and China are in constant communication about contingency plans should the US launch its regime change war on Iran. In fact, it was likely that Iran had Russian assistance with jamming technology when it was able to not only shut down the internet during the period of peak violence, but also disable Elon Musk’s Starlink network – the first time a country has been able to do so.[16] This move probably prevented further violence from occurring, as the riots burnt themselves out within a few days afterwards.
Working people must rise to the challenge of preventing imperialism from waging war on Iran, which could lead to a global conflagration. Not only out of solidarity with 92 million Iranians, but due to the fact that the war on Iran is a direct extension of the war at home. Millions in the West are enduring a skyrocketing cost of living crisis, a dire housing affordability crisis, a lack of accessible health care, increasing censorship, the stifling of free speech, a climate collapse, and more. All of these elements are linked to the billionaire corporations seeking new markets to plunder, for the benefit of no one but the obscenely rich. A multipolar world is but a first step in a new direction, and while not socialist, it potentially can be pushed down this road. It is imperialism, rather than Iran, which is on its last legs. For it to be buried, Marxist vanguard parties need to guide working people towards its own forms of democratic rule. NO WAR ON IRAN! NO TO REGIME CHANGE! LIFT THE SANCTIONS!
Workers League
E: workersleague@protonmail.com
[1] www.presstv.ir/Detail/2026/01/12/762246/Leader-Iran-nation-foiled-enemy-plot (14-01-2026)
[2] www.tass.com/emergencies/2069471 (14-01-2026)
[3] www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/11/iran-says-dozens-of-officers-killed-as-protesters-defy-government-crackdown (14-01-2026)
[4] www.apnews.com/live/iran-protests-updates-1-12-2026 (14-01-2026)
[5] www.x.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/2010766238486544690 (14-01-2026)
[6] www.thegrayzone.com/2026/01/12/western-media-riots-iran-govt-regime-change/ (14-01-2026)
[7] www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2026/01/03/mike-pompeo-praises-iranian-protesters-and-every-mossad-agent-walking-beside-them/ (14-01-2026)
[8] www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-881733 (14-01-2026)
[9] www.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20260108-iranians-protest-for-12th-day-as-kurdish-opposition-calls-for-general-strike (14-01-2026)
[10] www.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20260102-trump-warns-us-will-rescue-iran-kills-peaceful-protesters (14-01-2026)
[11] www.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/global-trends/irans-regime-in-its-final-days-and-weeks-german-chancellor-merz-predicts/articleshow/126499832.cms (14-01-2026)
[12] www.politico.com/news/2026/01/05/maduro-pleads-not-guilty-court-hearing-00711006 (14-01-2026)
[13] www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-says-it-will-give-us-proof-attempted-ukrainian-strike-putin-residence-2026-01-01/ (14-01-2026)
[14] www.cnbc.com/2025/12/18/us-taiwan-china-arms-sale-.html (14-01-2026)
[15] www.caspiannews.com/news-detail/iran-becomes-full-member-of-shanghai-cooperation-organization-2023-7-5-51/ (14-01-2026)
[16] www.tkp.at/2026/01/13/irans-erfolgreicher-krieg-gegen-starlink-und-das-internet/ (14-01-2026)
Image: Iranians rally on January 12, 2026, to defend their republic against the foreign backed riots in the first week of the new year. http://www.presstv.ir
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