The uneasy agreement between the 5+1 powers and Iran over the country’s nuclear programme has provoked controversy in both countries and an almost hysterically hostile campaign from Israel. In the confusion, some clear facts emerge.
University of London Union, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HY
Registration: 10am
10.30-12.45
1) Imperialism, nuclear negotiations and US -Iran relations: Mike Macnair.
Israel and the need for war: Moshe Machover
13.30-15.00
2) Workers’ struggles before and after 1979: Torab Saleth
The Rouhani government, sanctions and workers’ struggles: Yassamine Mather
15.15-16.15
3) Iran’s national minorities: Nasrollah Ghazi
This event will be broadcast on Livestream
Sanctions have destroyed Iran’s economy, creating intense hardship for the majority of Iranians. However, they have done little or nothing to dent their declared targets: Iran’s nuclear programme and the private wealth of senior clerics. This was the conscious aim of the west, confirmed by recent comments from Obama, who made clear that the strategy of sanctions was to impoverish and drive to desperation the ordinary people of Iran and facilitate regime change from above. Therefore this has been a partial, but important, success for imperialism. It now poses new tasks for the anti-war and solidarity movement in a fluid new situation in the Middle East which is full of both dangers and possibilities for the working class and its allies.
This is why Hands Off the People of Iran is convening an important day school in central London to discuss the issues and map a way forward. The draft agenda is below, but check back regularly for updates and additions.