Iranian workers should be careful about who they associate with, writes Yassamine Mather In the aftermath of the protests of late December and early January, there is a consensus that the majority of Iranians face a dire economic situation, while the poorer sections of the working class face hunger and complete destitution. Yet exiled royalists… Continue reading No to unprincipled alliances
Category: Articles
Drumbeats of war
Beirut is now the focus of the burgeoning Saudi-Iranian rivalry The political saga involving Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Iran continues to make headlines and we are nowhere near a resolution of the situation. In the meantime, the war in Yemen – scene of another proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia – is entering… Continue reading Drumbeats of war
Redrawing the map: why is Trump abandoning the nuclear deal?
War will follow war In a single speech on October 13, lasting just a few minutes, Donald Trump managed to succeed in doing what had seemed impossible for decades – uniting the Iranian government and the almost all the opposition to the regime (ironically including sections of Trump’s own ‘regime change from above’ gang), as… Continue reading Redrawing the map: why is Trump abandoning the nuclear deal?
Nationalism and imperial power
The Kurdish regional government (KRG) in Iraq will be holding a referendum on the issue of independence on September 25. There have been appeals for it to be delayed and the date has changed a number of times, but at the moment it looks like the vote will go ahead. In… Continue reading Nationalism and imperial power
Part and parcel of global capital
In late July around 50 political prisoners in Iran’s Rajai Shahr prison were moved to new cells, where windows are covered by metal sheets, access to drinking water is limited and prisoners complain of suffocation and dehydration. In protest 17 of them began a hunger strike. One of them is labour activist Reza Shahabi. He… Continue reading Part and parcel of global capital
Genuine, consistent solidarity
Last week Iran’s Islamic Republic tested a ballistic missile – at a time when US military threats against Iran have dominated Middle Eastern news. The test was unsuccessful, but its political repercussions were serious. After months of restraint, maybe the country’s rulers thought that president Donald Trump – under attack for the Russia dossier and… Continue reading Genuine, consistent solidarity
The threat of military action against Iran is once more very much on the agenda
One of the scariest characters around the new Trump administration is Steve Bannon, the 63-year-old who ran Breitbart News before joining the Trump campaign. Now he is chief strategist and senior advisor to the US president. Just in case you are not familiar with Breitbart News, it is a rightwing outlet, known for headlines such… Continue reading The threat of military action against Iran is once more very much on the agenda
Trump threatens N-deal
You would have thought that the peoples of the Middle East, who have suffered so much this millennium under the Bush and Obama administrations, might be spared more destruction and devastation, but unfortunately things do not look good. With the new Trump administration it is very likely that, in addition to the existing… Continue reading Trump threatens N-deal
After the fall of Aleppo
Yassamine Mather Before the death of ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani on January 8 (an event that has dominated Iranian politics and news), Iranian clerics and leaders of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards had been competing with each other in making exaggerated claims about the significance of the fall of Aleppo: it was a victory against “heresy” and… Continue reading After the fall of Aleppo
Yalda, Triumph of light
Shabe Yalda, the festival of Yalda, is celebrated by Iranians, Kurds, Afghans, Tajiks and others, on the last day of the Persian month of Azar – which falls on December 21 or 22. It is a celebration of the longest night of the year, 40 days before what is assumed to be the end of… Continue reading Yalda, Triumph of light