The contradictory figure of Ayatollah Montazeri died in the early hours of Sunday, December 20. In one of his last statements, he warned that the current crisis in Iran was threatening the entire basis of the regime. Yet how did this man – originally a stalwart of the state, one of the main architects of… Continue reading Ayatollah Hussein-Ali Montazeri (1922-2009)
Category: Articles
Is it the oil, stupid?
To say that oil figures prominently in the Middle East is to state the obvious. However, does this mean that the politics of imperialism in the region should be solely or mainly explained through attempts to gain control over oilfields and pipelines? That has certainly been the approach of much of the left in Britain… Continue reading Is it the oil, stupid?
Yassamine Mather: Workers organise against the regime
Workers organise against the regime first published in the Weekly Worker November 19 2009 More than 300 workers in the Abadan oil refinery gathered on Thursday November 12 to protest against non-payment of wages and bonuses, saying they had not been paid for more than three months. Hopi chair Yassamine Mather reports: The refinery authorities… Continue reading Yassamine Mather: Workers organise against the regime
Green road to nowhere
The sham presidential election of June 2009 has unleashed a rainbow of political forces, writes Yassamine Mather, including an increasingly strong red component. The task of the left is to support and strengthen the red component of this rainbow, the Iranian working class, as the only force capable of bringing about democracy, and the only… Continue reading Green road to nowhere
The Iranian coup four months on
Mehdi Kia examines the state of the movement against the clerical regime It is now four months since the coup in Iran, thinly disguised as presidential elections. Even though the victors of the coup appear to have succeeded in consolidating themselves and the opposition forces have apparently been pushed back into defensive positions, the massive… Continue reading The Iranian coup four months on
Threats over uranium enrichment aid regime
Ahmadinejad uses the ‘enemy without’ to justify increased repression, arrests and the torture of the ‘enemy within’, writes Yassamine Mather The dramatic statements by Obama, Brown and Sarkozy about Iran’s undisclosed nuclear enrichment plant, made in a ‘breaking news’-style press conference on the first day of the G20 gathering in Pittsburgh, were clearly intended to… Continue reading Threats over uranium enrichment aid regime
Mass protests re-ignite
Yassamine Mather calls for support and solidarity for workers in Iran If anyone was in any doubt about the continuation of the political crisis in Iran, demonstrations on Friday September 18 in Tehran, Tabriz, Mashad, Shiraz, Isfahan and elsewhere put an end to that. Tens of thousands of Iranians, ignoring repeated warnings by the security… Continue reading Mass protests re-ignite
Misogynist torturers cling to power
Workers are growing in confidence, reports Yassamine Mather Over the last few weeks, following the show trials of ‘reformist’ personalities and the imposition of even more severe forms of repression in Iran, the nature of protests has changed considerably. However, demonstrations continue on a daily basis in Tehran and most other Iranian cities, with numbers… Continue reading Misogynist torturers cling to power
Show trials and apologetics
Just as Iranian ex-leftwingers in the west call for reconciliation between the two wings of the Islamic regime, the ruling faction clamps down on its rivals. Yassamine Mather reports The Stalinist show trial of Saturday August 1 – when a number of prominent ‘reformists’ appeared on Iranian state TV to ‘thank their interrogators’ before repenting… Continue reading Show trials and apologetics
Out of step with the masses
With the crisis-ridden Islamic regime wracked by divisions, what is the state of Iran’s opposition? Yassamine Mather surveys the sorry scene Statements from some of the most senior clerics of Iran’s Islamic state has left little doubt that the Shia republic is in deep crisis. First came the rather sad sermon of ayatollah Ali Akbar… Continue reading Out of step with the masses