Trump\u2019s reckless drone assassination was a godsend for the reactionary theocratic regime in Tehran<\/strong><\/p>\nHands Off the People of Iran unequivocally condemns the United States assassination on January 3 of the commander-in-chief of the Revolutionary Guard\u2019s Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani. It is not enough, however, to simply denounce Trump\u2019s perilous manoeuvres in this volatile region. We must understand the underlying political dynamics of the face-off between two mismatched reactionary regimes – the US world hegemon and the Islamic State of Iran.<\/p>\n
In truth, the killing of Soleimani – and Trump\u2019s subsequent threat to bomb 52 targets in Iran – was a godsend for the rulers of the Islamic Republic. After the targeted strike, a mood of patriotism grew in Iran and rival factions within the government converged in the face of external threat. Even some outright opponents of the regime have rallied to \u2018defend the nation\u2019. More worryingly, the mood of cross-class outrage against the American attack will have a dampening effect on workers\u2019 struggle against the regime\u2019s neoliberal domestic economic policies.<\/p>\n
According to Trump, he ordered the killing to prevent more wars in the region. In stark contrast, most of the world\u2019s media predict an escalation of tension and military conflict as a result. Beyond Iran\u2019s borders, Trump\u2019s foolish raid has been a spectacular failure, strengthening Iran\u2019s position in Iraq and Lebanon. In the recent past, citizens of Shia Iraqi cities were setting fire to Iranian consulates; the demand for Iran to keep its hands off Iraq had been one of the main slogans of protestors in Baghdad and elsewhere. Last week Shia Iraqis were chanting the slogan often heard in Iran\u2019s Islamic Republic: \u201cDeath to America\u201d. Similar sentiments have been expressed in Lebanon, where Christian Maronite and Druze politicians are echoing Hezbollah\u2019s claims that it was Soleimani who saved the country from Islamic State.<\/p>\n
Hopi likewise condemns the \u2018revenge\u2019 exacted by the Iranian regime, which in any case was deliberately ineffectual – Iran having informed both Norway and Iraq, if not the US directly, that missiles were due to be fired. The effective state of war on both sides and the likelihood that missile launches would invite US retaliation meant that Tehran\u2019s air defences were on the highest alert, but the regime did not cancel civil air traffic. This resulted in the mistaken shooting down of a Ukrainian passenger jet and the death of all 176 people on board, including many Iranian dual nationals returning to Canada via Kiev.<\/p>\n
For three days the regime blamed the crash on a technical fault, and denied any missiles had been launched. Only when the mountain of evidence became insurmountable did they admit the truth; many in Iran have questioned whether an admission would ever have come, if foreign and dual nationals had not been involved. Within Iran at least, this avoidable catastrophe and subsequent attempt to escape blame has undermined the regime\u2019s narrative. Demonstrations, beginning at two of Tehran\u2019s historically most political universities, spread quickly around the country, participants chanting anti-regime slogans such as \u201cNo leader, no shah! Down with the Islamic Republic!\u201d<\/p>\n
The unstable nature of the period that has opened makes it difficult to formulate perspectives with any degree of certainty. However, there are points that all consistent democrats should be clear on:<\/p>\n
\uf0a7 The rationale that prompted the US attack is hard to understand – unless it is simply related to domestic politics and Trump\u2019s impeachment in a presidential election year. While the Iranian state is episodically drawn into conflict with the west, it is not an anti-imperialist force. There is nothing defensible about the nature of the regime and those political forces who attempt to sow illusions in it should be condemned.<\/p>\n
\uf0a7 If there is escalation and the threat of war between the USA and Iran becomes palpable, many on the left will automatically defend the Islamic Republic. Feeble arguments will be advanced for this; no doubt we would be treated to the poisonous logic of \u2018the enemy of my enemy must be a friend\u2019, also known as the anti-imperialism of fools. We have implacably rejected this in the past and we will stay loyal to internationalist principle.<\/p>\n
\uf0a7 The only consistent force for peace in Iran and the wider region is the working class. We condemn US imperialism\u2019s warmongering in Iran and the region, though we refuse to defend Iran\u2019s Islamic regime. We will continue to support the struggles of Iranian workers against the oppressive, neoliberal economic policies of the religious state that oppresses them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
E&L is reposting this statement from Hands off People of Iran on response to the US killing \u00a0of Qassem Soleimani FIGHT ON TWO FRONTS Trump\u2019s reckless drone assassination was a godsend for the reactionary theocratic regime in Tehran Hands Off the People of Iran unequivocally condemns the United States assassination on January…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1843,1845,1868,1870],"tags":[245],"class_list":["post-13625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-how-capitalists-organise","category-us-imperialism","category-against-imperialism","category-middle-east-and-north-africa","tag-author-hopi"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"views":1485,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13625"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13625\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13658,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13625\/revisions\/13658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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