Tehran Rally Against Ahmadinejad اعتراض به نتایج انتخابات 18 june 2009, ۱۳۸۸ خرداد ۲۷ سال:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgXGP2zrTFg&feature=channel_page]
Tehran Rally Against Ahmadinejad اعتراض به نتایج انتخابات 18 june 2009, ۱۳۸۸ خرداد ۲۷ سال:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgXGP2zrTFg&feature=channel_page]
In line with the recognition of the labour rights, we request that June 26 Action Day – Justice for Iranian workers – to include the human rights of all Iranians who have been deprived of their rights.
In recent days, we continue witnessing the magnificent demonstration of millions of people from all ages, genders, and national and religious minorities in Iran. They request that their basic human rights, particularly the right to freedom and to choose independently and without deception be recognized. These rights are not only constitutional in most of the countries, but also have been protected against all odds.
Amid such turmoil, one witnesses threats, arrests, murders and brutal suppression that one fears only to escalate on all its aspects, resulting in more innocent bloodshed, more protests, and certainly no retreats. Iranian society is facing a deep political-economical crisis. Million-strong silent protests, ironically loud with un-spoken words, have turned into iconic stature and are expanding from all sides. These protests demand reaction from each and every responsible individual and institution.
As previously expressed in a statement published on-line in May of this year, since the Vahead Syndicate does not view any of the candidates support the activities of the workers’ organizations in Iran, it would not endorse any presidential candidate in the election. Vahed members nevertheless have the right to participate or not to participate in the elections and vote for their individually selected candidate.
Moreover, the fact remains that demands of almost an absolute majority of the Iranians go far beyond the demands of a particular group. In the past, we have emphasized that until the freedom of choice and right to organize are not recognized, talk of any social or particular right would be more of a mockery than a reality.
The Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Vahed Bus Company fully supports this movement of Iranian people to build a free and independent civil society and condemns any violence and oppression.
In line with the recognition of the labour rights, the Syndicate requests that June 26 which has been called by the International Trade Unions Organization ‘Day of action’ for justice for Iranian workers to include the human rights of all Iranians who have been deprived of their rights.
With hope for freedom and equality
The Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Vahed Bus Company
Hopi Emergency Meeting
What lies behind the crisis in Iran?
With Yassamine Mather and Moshe Machover. Followed by a fundraising social.
20 June 2009, 2pm
Caxton House,129 St. John’s Way London, N19 3RQ
Against the backdrop of ‘Supreme Leader’ Khameini coming out in favour of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and against further demonstrations and unrest, it is particularly encouraging that both shifts at the Iran Khodro car plant have come out on strike. They have issued a statement condemning the repression and saying that what they are witnessing is an insult to people’s intelligence. These workers have a particular history of militancy and combativity and HOPI is doing all it can to support them.
The image below is from the front cover of the newspaper Keyhan, where it shows that the Ahmadinejad demonstration on Sunday was put through photoshop to replicate parts of the crowd – underlying the regime’s utter desperation. As comrades may recall, the same method was used to produce photos of a rocket launch where one of the rockets failed to get off the ground.
Yassamine Mather, Hopi chair, looks at the social upheaval englufing Iran and the tasks of internationalists
The election campaign of the four presidential candidates was largely ignored by the majority of the population until early June, when a series of televised debates triggered street demonstrations and public meetings. Ironically it was Mahmood Ahmadinejad’s fear of losing that prompted him to make allegations of endemic corruption against some of the leading figures of the religious state, including former president Ali Akbar Rafsanjani and Ali Akbar Nategh Nouri, former interior minister and adviser to supreme leader ayatollah Khamenei.
In doing so he crossed one of the red lines of the Islamic regime. Once that was done, the floodgates were open. The language used by all three of his opponents – Moussavi, Karroubi and Rezaii – became more colourful. As Ahmadinejad continued to rail against 20 years of corruption and political and economic interference by the “economic mafia” associated with important figures, including Rafsanjani (currently chairman of the ‘assembly of experts’ charged with electing the supreme leader), his opponents wasted no time in using equally strong language to condemn his own presidency, pointing out the worsening economic situation, mass unemployment and 25% inflation, as well as Iran’s “embarrassing international profile”.
In response to these accusations, Ahmadinejad’s election campaign made some historic claims. Apparently he is the man who brought Islam to Venezuela and Latin America! He has secured a written apology from Blair (prompting a denial by the foreign office). And he is the only president who is so feared by the US that it has been forced to drop regime-change plans for Iran. At times Iranians must have thought their president and his supporters lived in a parallel universe.
In just 10 days the two opposed factions between them managed to expose every unflattering aspect of the 30-year-old Islamic regime. No-one in opposition could have done a better job – no-one else had such in-depth knowledge of the levels of corruption and incompetence prevalent among the inner circles of power.
It was unprecedented for the authorities, including Ahmadinejad’s government, to tolerate the various election gatherings and slogans. But the eyes of the world were now on Iran and the regime put on a show: Bassij militia and Islamic guards turned a blind eye to women who failed to adhere to Islamic dress code for the duration of the campaign. Comrades and relatives inside Iran were telling us the atmosphere was like the pre-revolution days of 1979. Political discussions were held at every street corner, political songs of the late 70s became fashionable amongst a generation born long after the February uprising.
Those who had advocated a boycott of the elections were constantly reminded that it was the mass boycott of the 2005 presidential elections that had allowed Ahmadinejad to come to power. Consequently many life-long opponents of the regime reluctantly decided to vote, if only to stop the re-election of the incumbent. On polling day the regime’s unelected leaders basked in the euphoria of a large turnout, yet they were already facing a dilemma: how to keep control in the post-election era.
If Mir-Hossein Moussavi did become president, those who voted for him would expect serious change and the supreme leader was well aware that neither he nor the new president would be able to meet expectations. That is why he and the senior religious figures around him decided to do what most dictators do: rig the elections and declare Ahmadinejad the winner. Nothing new in such measures; but the supreme leader and his inner circle made two major miscalculations: they underestimated the anger and frustration of the majority of the population; and they failed to realise that the high turnout could only mean a massive ‘no’ to Ahmadinejad and, by proxy, to the entire Islamic order.
Added to this was the sheer incompetence of the vote-rigging. In previous presidential elections, the vote had been announced province by province. This time the results came in blocks of millions of votes. Throughout the night the percentage of votes going to all four candidates changed very little. It seemed obvious that the interior ministry was playing with the figures to make sure the overall percentages remained constant.
Early on Saturday morning, the supreme leader congratulated Ahmadinejad, which was seen as official endorsement of the results. But by Sunday afternoon, under the pressure of impromptu demonstrations, he was forced to reverse this decision, and called on the council of guardians to investigate the other candidates’ complaints. By the afternoon of Monday June 15, with a massive show of force by the opposition – over a million demonstrators on the streets – he was instructing the council of guardians to call for a recount. By Tuesday there was talk of new elections.
Had our supreme leader studied the fate of that other Iranian dictator, the shah, he would have known that at a time of great upheavals, as in 1979, once the dictator hesitates and dithers he loses momentum, and the thousands on the street become more confident.
The slogans and militancy of demonstrators in Tehran and other Iranian cities is today the driving force in Iran – and not only for the supreme leader and his entourage. These slogans also dictate the actions of the so-called ‘official opposition’. The meek, scared Moussavi, whose initial response to the vote-rigging was to seek a reversal of the results by the “centres of Shia religious guidance”, suddenly gained courage and appeared at Monday’s protests. After promising that he would protect people’s votes, he could not ignore the tens of thousands who on Saturday and Sunday were shouting, “Moussavi, return my vote”, “What have you done with our vote?” and even one of the students’ slogans, “Death to those who compromise”.
There can be no doubt that Ahmadinejad’s press conference and victory rally on Sunday played a crucial role in increasing the size of the anti-government demonstrations on Monday and Tuesday. As riots were taking place all over the capital, the reference to Iran as a “very stable country” reminded many of the shah’s claims that Iran was an island of tranquillity, less than a year before he was overthrown. In response to a reporter’s question about protests in Tehran, the president referred to his opponents as “dust and tiny thorns”. A comment that he will regret forever, as the huge crowds on Monday and Tuesday kept taunting him.
Demonstrators in Tehran are also shouting slogans adapted from those of 1979, often prompted by leftists and students: “Tanks, guns, Bassij are not effective any more”, “Death to the dictator”, “Death to this regime that brings nothing but death”. Clearly the supreme leader’s standard response of bussing in supporters from the countryside to put up a well-orchestrated show of force (as they did for Sunday’s and Tuesday’s pro-Ahmadinejad rallies) does not work any more. Sunday’s event failed miserably, with reporters claiming that many of those arriving by bus could only speak Arabic. By Tuesday some of Ahmadinejad’s non-Iranian supporters arrived at the rally with yellow Hezbollah flags. As Mr Ahmadinejad has no supporters amongst Sunni Arabs in the Khouzestan province of Iran, if these reports are correct one could guess that participants at the state-organised rallies included the thousands of Shias invited in June every year from Iraq, Lebanon and Pakistan to participate in the events commemorating the anniversary of the death of Khomeini.
It is difficult to predict what will happen in the next few days. However, one can be certain that nothing will be the same again. No-one will forget the fact that both factions crossed many ‘red lines’, exposing each other’s corruption, deceit and failure. No-one will forget the obvious vote-rigging that makes a mockery of ‘Islamic democracy’ – when Moussavi called it a “charade” he was only echoing the sentiments of the masses.
On Tuesday another presidential contender, Mehdi Karroubi, said: “This week ‘the republic’ was taken out of the Islamic regime”. No-one will forget that the immediate response of the regime to peaceful protests was to arrest, beat up and shoot opponents. No-one will forget that at least seven people have been killed in these protests.
There is little doubt that Moussavi /Karoubi/Khatami and Mohsen Rezaii will look for compromises and will ultimately sell out. However, these protests have gained such momentum that already in Tehran people compare the plight of Moussavi (if he does become president) with that of Shapour Bakhtiar – the last prime minister appointed by the shah, whose government lasted a few short weeks before the revolution overthrew the entire regime.
However, before the British left gets too excited and starts sending its blueprints for revolution to Iran, let us be clear about some facts: working class organisation remains very weak during this crucial period; most of the Iranian left is as confused and divided as it was in 1979, but now, of course, it is much smaller. Repression against labour activists and leftist students is harsher than ever.
Yet students’ and workers’ organisations have been very active in the anti-government demonstrations and they have managed to change some of the slogans of the protests, turning anti-Ahmadinejad slogans into slogans challenging the entire Islamic ‘order’. There was talk of a one-day general strike. However the organisations discussing this decided to try to improve the left’s intervention in current events before contemplating such ambitious calls. We should not expect miracles, but one can see that unlike the Iranian exile left (some of whom have benefited from the largesse of organisations offering regime-change funds, while others have tailed rightwing-controlled international trade unions) the left inside Iran has been conscious of the revolutionary potential of this period and, given its relative weakness, is doing what it can to make an independent, principled, but systematic intervention. That is precisely why the authorities’ attacks on university campuses, where the left is strongest, have been so severe; and why we must do all in our power to support comrades in Iran.
When it comes to predicting Iranian politics, no one can claim to have a crystal ball. However, it is reassuring to see that the unique position Hands Off the People of Iran took – against imperialism, against the threat of war and for the overthrow of Iran’s Islamic regime – has been vindicated by the events of the last two weeks. Imagine what would have happened if during the last year we had witnessed a military strike by Israel against Iran’s nuclear industry, or various US plans for regime change from above had materialised. Political Islam in Iran and the region would have been the undisputed winner of such a scenario. We were right to argue that positive change can only happen from below and from inside Iran and we will continue to maintain this position.
At the same time, these events have exposed the ignorance of groups such as the Socialist Workers Party, whose leaders kept informing us about the virtues of Islamic democracy in Iran. We have seen the selection of candidates by an unrepresentative nominated council of guardians; the role of the supreme leader in inventing the results of an election; and the brutal repression of legal and official opponents. If that is what the regime can do to its own, one can imagine the kind of treatment reserved for its opponents.
But even under the threat of beatings and executions, an overwhelming majority of the Iranian people have shown that they do not believe SWP-type apologia. No-one in their right mind should ever make such claims again. Hopi’s judgement was correct and we did not compromise our principles; that is why, now that the Iranian working class is in need of international solidarity more than ever, we are in a good position to help deliver it.
Older articles
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Abominable Warmongering Left
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Yassamine Mather
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No Friends of Women
Yassamine Mather continues her discussion of political islam by examining the women’s movement in Iran, its achievements and contradictions
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Yassamine Mather looks at al-Sadr’s pragmatic opportunism and puts the record straight
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Hopi attends, but does not endorse pro-imperialist protest. Mark Fischer reports.
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Galloway’s Iranian propaganda?
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Hopi’s Yassamine Mather trounces Nick Cohen in debate, reports Mark Fischer
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By Larry Everest
Iran: No let up in US threats
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Interview with Ben Lewis, member of the steering committee of Hopi
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by Reza Fiyouzat
Who REALLY Holds the People of the World Nuclear Hostage?
Why a U.S. Attack on Iran Must be Stopped.
In his infamous “Axis of Evil” 2002 State of the Union address, Bush put Iraq and Iran in the bullseye of the next phase of the “war on terror.” He outlined what were to become the whole set of concocted lies about Iraq’s “WMDs”—lies used to justify a war that has brought about—according to documented estimates—over a million deaths and created four million internal and external refugees.
Political Islam in the Service of Imperialism
by Samir Amin. All the currents that claim adherence to political Islam proclaim the “specificity of Islam.” According to them, Islam knows nothing of the separation between politics and religion, something supposedly distinctive of Christianity.
The 1979 revolution and the failures of the left
This document was written in early 1983 by Saber Nikbeen, (Torab Saleth) then a member of the International Executive Committee of the USFI (United Secretariat of the Fourth International, the most well-known leader of which was Ernest Mandel), as part of the pre-world congress discussions. The author of this document was very critical of the USFI for a de facto support of a grouping that had illusions regarding the Khomeini regime.
Filling a political gap
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Lies cannot stop imperialists
In her speech to the October 27 conference of the Stop the War Coalition, Somaye Zadeh of Campaign Iran tried to counter the imperialist lies about the Tehran regime with misinformation of her own. Yassamine Mather insists upon the truth
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Pro-Tehran apologetics in the Stop the War Coalition represents a kind of nostalgia for the ‘anti-imperialist front’, writes Mike Macnair
For principled solidarity
Unite in opposition to both imperialist war and theocratic rule, says Yassamine Mather
America’s Bleeding “Cakewalk”
March 2007. The campaign of misinformation by the Bush administration is already under way against Iran, writes Cyrus Bina
From Stealing to Robbing: A Post-Script to “No Blood for Oil!”
a talk given by George Caffentzis at Stony Brook University on March 27, 2003
Making Cars in Iran: Working for Iran Khodro
April 2007. Critique article by David Mather, Yassamine Mather & Majid Tamjidi
US ‘double or quits’ – Mike Macnair
March 16 2006. Three years after the invasion of Iraq, and with Iran now in US sights, ‘Out now!’ must still be our main demand, writes Mike Macnair
Defiance grows
May 3 2007. Immediately after the London May Day demonstration, Hands Off the People of Iran held a public meeting near Trafalgar Square. Hopi activist Torab Saleth introduced the discussion
Double standards in London and Tehran – Yassamine Mather
April 12 2007. In the furore over the capture of British sailors and marines and their theatrical release by Iran’s islamic regime, a number of essential points seem to have been forgotten by the British media, and even by so-called anti-war broadsheets, says Yassamine Mather
Will Tehran be next? – Yassamine Mather
February 22 2007. Every day the media publish new information about plans for a military attack on Iran and, although many of these stories are simply recounting previous revelations, there is no doubt that the danger of (limited or extensive) military action by the US is now very real. Yassamine Mather reports
Mobilise the dispossessed – Mehdi Kia
Not a mistake but a state crime – Mike Macnair
Heads in the sand – Yassamine Mather on the Stop the War Coalition’s Scottish conference
Defend Iran’s workers, not its rotten regime – Yassamine Mather
Against imperialist war, for Iran workers – Yassamine Mather
Bush ups the ante – Mike Macnair
Yassamine Mather explains why the campaign Hands Off the People of Iran has been set up
Imperialism and method – Mike Macnair
Imperialism versus internationalism – Mike Macnair
Imperialism lives on – Mike Macnair
Secrets and lies – Mike Macnair
Middle East: Imperial assault and tasks for the left – Ardeshir Mehrdad interviews Alex Callinicos
Political Islam – Capital and Class – Ardeshir Mehrdad and Yassamine Mather
Variant 25 Spring 2006
Iran’s workers need support Weekly Worker 639
Deliberate mistake? Why did Iran’s president demand that Israel be “wiped off the map”?
Against war, for workers’ rights Weekly Worker 623
Sabre-rattling threats – Weekly Worker 593
Workers Left Unity Iran – The anti war movement, Hezbollah and the issue of political freedoms
Fearing for the worst Weekly Worker 583
Dangerous adventure – Iran’s Nuclear industry
Basra quagmire – Yassamine Mather – Weekly Worker 613
The fake left looks to change from above Weekly Worker 582
Alliance Against War in support of Iranian workers’ struggles May 2006 – published in Variant and Workers Weekly
Workers Left Unity Iran calls for participation in 18 March Worldwide protests against the war
Reject sanctions and the mullahs
Open letter to the anti-war movement from Workers Left Unity Iran
La guerre et les luttes de classe Yassmine Mather – À L’Encontre
Marxism Fringe July 2006 London University – The need for genuine working class internationalism, in particular when it comes to the question of Iran. Yassamine Mather
Empire and Beyond ,University of Leeds,Organised by The Conference of Socialist Economists, Capital and Class – ‘Car Workers in Iran – exploitation and conflict’ David Mather
Socialisti Parti (4th International) Sweden
Gutenberg April 2006
The anti war movement should support the struggles of Iranian workers
Iran Discussion – Human Rights Film Festival Scotland – Sat 14 Oct 2006
Yassamine Mather ‘The practical solidarity of the anti-war movement should be directed primarily towards the Iranian people and in support of the daily struggles of Iranian workers for the right to survive.’
Centre for Socialist Theory and Movements – Glasgow University
Anti Imperialism and the true nature of political Islam. February 2006
Marxist Forum Scotland – June 2006 – Strathclyde University
Criticism of the antiwar coalition case of Iran
Speaker: Workers left Unity – Iran
Don’t attack Iran, Bring the Troops Home – Scottish Coalition Against the War
15 February : Speaker – Workers Left Unity – Iran
Students Against War – Feb 21
Speaker: Workers Left Unity – Iran
Achse der friede
Speaker: Nader Sadeh
Marxistische initiative
Speaker: Nader Sadeh
January 2009
Click here to download the leaflet in PDF format
Hands Off the People of Iran unreservedly condemns the massacre of Palestinians by Israeli military forces. Air raids on Gaza have killed over a thousand people and a land invasion with tanks and heavy weaponry has created hell for the inhabitants of Gaza. No words can express our horror at the barbaric actions of the utterly unscrupulous set of leaders in Israel using their soldiers to commit war crimes.
Clearly this operation is in line with US imperialist strategy in the region, part of the so-called ‘war on terror’. This is confirmed by the refusal of the current President and President elect, Obama, to condemn Israel or to support calls for a ceasefire.
The biased reporting of these events by sections of the Western media has given the impression that this is a war against Hamas and Islamic fundamentalism. The reality is that the victims of the onslaught are defenceless Palestinians who in a desperate search for any viable opposition to Israeli colonialism voted for Hamas in 2006.
The Palestininan people have the right to resist. But this does not mean that HOPI politically supports Hamas. We do not believe it offers a real alternative to imperialism. Its politics will lead to further disasters. However, we reject the lies about Hamas told by Israeli military spokespersons to justify their barbaric war.
Very few reporters have reminded their audience that it was Israeli forces that broke a four-month long ceasefire on November 4. Few have mentioned the fact that in the late 1980s, it was Israel that supported Hamas in order to weaken secular, leftist Palestinian groups. Few have reminded their audience that Israel actually encouraged the corrupt and pliant Fatah leadership to overthrow their religious political rivals and recapture power – a poisonous policy of divide and rule.
Aggressive American neo-con-servatives participated in the sinister plot to instigate a Palestinian civil war. (Avi Shlaim – The Guardian January 7 2009). The reactionary Arab regimes in the region have once again proved they have no intention of supporting the Palestinians beyond some tired rhetoric. Egypt has actually aided the Israeli blockade, closing the Gaza frontier both to humanitarian aid and to volunteers attempting to bring in medical aid.
As far as the Iranian government is concerned, after all the empty slogans and propaganda in defence of ‘Palestine’, its current near silence on Zionism’s atrocities speaks volumes.
Ahmadinejad’s posturing and provocations, whether over nuclear weapons or the decision to host neo-Nazis in Tehran, have only helped Israeli propaganda and the warmongers in Washington. Yet even in the field of diplomatic efforts, Iran’s response to the Gaza carnage is muted. At a time when Palestinians need regional help, the regime puts its own interests first and keeps its head down.
No one should put any trust in the Islamic regime in Tehran. It has actually helped the enemy sow sectarian division among the Palestinians in Lebanon and Iraq. Iranian-backed militias have ethnically cleansed thousands of Palestinian refugees from Iraq, under the eyes of the occupation regime. The Iranian rulers have traded oil and arms with Israel, and if they use the Palestinian people to serve their interests today, it would be as pawns, to be sacrificed tomorrow.
However the working people of Iran have a right and duty to aid the Palestinian people in any way they can; but not because of a shared religion. Instead, this should be offered as an expression of international working class solidarity. This tradition has deep roots in the history of the mass radical left forces in the region.
December 25 2008
Every year, the British television broadcaster Channel 4 produces an alternative to to the Queen’s Christmas speech. In previous years it has been delivered by a fully veiled Muslim woman and Genelle Guzman, a 9/11 survivor. This year, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke for seven minutes.
He used the speech to condemn Western leaders for their neglect of Jesus’ teachings, saying “Jesus, the Son of Mary, is the standard-bearer of justice, of love for our fellow human beings, of the fight against tyranny, discrimination and injustice”.
Hands Off the People of Iran (Hopi) does not believe Ahmadinejad is a responsible choice for the Christmas speech: he is a right-wing hardliner, whose regime persecutes women, LGBT people, ethnic minority groups, trade unionists and socialists, secularists and political dissenters. In addition, Ahmadinejad was a supporter of the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and is currently benefiting from these occupations.
Dorothy Byrne, head of news and current affairs at Channel 4, claimed the network had a responsibility to broadcast “alternative voices”. Hopi believes this decision was taken purely to court controversy and demands that Channel 4 issue a full apology. A far better choice for the alternative Christmas message would have been one of the many organisations and individuals fighting both for freedom in Iran and against the possibility of imperialist war on their country, such as the group “Students for Freedom and Equality”.