On the 44th Anniversary of the 1979 Iranian Revolution: No to Islamic Fundamentalism—No to Imperialism and Its Wannabe Partners! Carry the Struggle in Iran Forward to Revolution and Overthrowing All Forms of Exploitation and Oppression!
Saturday, February 11, marked the 44th anniversary of the 1978-79 revolution overthrowing the Shah of Iran—a brutal absolute monarch and servant of U.S. imperialism.
From his return to the throne thanks to a CIA-led coup in 1953 until his overthrow in 1979, the Shah enforced the vicious exploitation and oppression of the Iranian people, and turned Iran into a bulwark for the U.S. in the Middle East and beyond. To do this, he used the torturers of Savak—the U.S.-trained secret police. (See Debating Iran’s Future: The Shah—Enlightened Modernizer or Fascist Butcher? revcom.us, January 30, 2023.)
The 1979 revolution overthrowing the Shah was righteous! It involved millions of Iranians, from all walks of life and a wide range of ideological and political views (including revolutionary communists). But it was hijacked by reactionary Islamic fundamentalist clerics who formed the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI).
In the 44 years since then, this fundamentalist theocracy has carried out enormous crimes against the Iranian people—suffocating and enslaving women, murdering, torturing and imprisoning opponents, crippling intellectual and cultural life, ruthlessly exploiting millions of Iranian workers and farmers and spreading reactionary fundamentalism across the Middle East and world.
Iran’s history—and the powerful uprising taking place now, underscore the urgency of breaking out of the trap of thinking the only choice is between one or the other of these reactionary outmoded forces and instead bringing forward another way—in direct opposition to and radically different from either one.
Lessons from Egypt and the Juncture in Iran Today
When the people of Egypt rose up in 2011 and forced out the hated imperialist-backed oppressor Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian people faced a crossroads, with the imperialist-forged Egyptian military and the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood both contending for power. Bob Avakian spoke deeply to this juncture:
The plans and designs of these oppressors and exploiters are NOT what the masses of people desperately want and need. Theirs is the cry of “freedom,” and the struggle must be carried forward until real freedom is achieved—freedom from the rule of the imperialists and their local henchmen and junior partners, freedom from all forms of oppression and exploitation. Freedom from both the outmoded forces which would enslave women, and the people as a whole, in medieval darkness and oppression—and from the outmoded forces who would enslave people in the name of “democracy”…”freedom”…and capitalist-imperialist exploitation marketed as “progress.”۱
The bitter experience of these past 70 years—first under the U.S. puppet Shah, then under the Islamic Republic—illustrates the profound truth of the revolutionary leader and author of the new communism Bob Avakian’s analysis:
What we see in contention here with Jihad [Islamic fundamentalism] on the one hand and McWorld/McCrusade [increasingly globalized western imperialism] on the other hand, are historically outmoded strata among colonized and oppressed humanity up against historically outmoded ruling strata of the imperialist system. These two reactionary poles reinforce each other, even while opposing each other. If you side with either of these “outmodeds,” you end up strengthening both.
While this is a very important formulation and is crucial to understanding much of the dynamics driving things in the world in this period, at the same time we do have to be clear about which of these “historically outmodeds” has done the greater damage and poses the greater threat to humanity: It is the historically outmoded ruling strata of the imperialist system, and in particular the U.S. imperialists.
The Iranian people, who have heroically risen up over the past five months against the hated Islamic Republic, face a similar juncture today.۲
Around the world, Iranians living abroad (the diaspora) marked this anniversary by rallies and protests demanding an end to the Islamic Republic, and there were outbreaks of protest in Iran as well.
This anniversary is also being marked by major moves by Reza Pahlavi, the son of the former Shah, and other pro-U.S. bourgeois forces in the Iranian diaspora to seize leadership of this uprising and to enlist the U.S. in their campaign to replace the Islamic Republic with a secular (non-religious) democracy aligned with the U.S. and the West.۳ In short, to keep the Iranian people trapped within reactionary, outmoded imperialism.
This began with an online petition campaign to name Pahlavi as the Iranian people’s representative to lead a transition from clerical rule and the formation of a “transitional council.” Over 450,000 people have signed.۴
February 10: A “Summit” of Imperialism and Reaction at Georgetown University
On February 10, the eve of the global protests and rallies marking the February 11 anniversary, Reza Pahlavi, his allies, and some other prominent anti-IRI figures held a major summit at Georgetown University’s Institute for Women, Peace and Security (a major imperialist institution with links to the U.S. government).۵
Titled “The Future of Iran’s Democracy Movement,” organizers billed it as, “For the first time since the uprisings began, eight of the Iranian democracy movement’s prominent diaspora leaders will share the stage to talk about the continued viability of the movement, their common vision for Iran’s future, and how democratic change in Iran can change the world.” Participants included Pahlavi, described as “Advocate for Secular Democratic Iran,” as well as pro-US activist, journalist and Voice of America employee Masih Alinejad, and actress and Amnesty International Ambassador Nazanin Boniadi.۶ It was broadcast to the world and into Iran on a number of U.S. and Iranian media channels.
A full analysis of this panel and Reza Pahlavi’s program is beyond the scope of this article. However, it was clear that the program being put forward would come nowhere near achieving the “Woman. Life. Freedom.” millions of Iranians are so courageously fighting for, much less their full emancipation. Instead, if “successful,” it would return Iran more directly into the clutches of U.S. imperialism with all the horrors that would entail. Equally damning were their efforts to quash—with calls for unity and respect—the substantive debate so urgently needed now about what it would actually take to defeat the Islamic Republic and dig up the economic, social, political and cultural roots of the terrible suffering the Iranian people have experienced.
The main spokespeople in this array, Pahlavi, Alinejad and Boniadi, envisioned Iran rejoining and contributing to the U.S.-dominated western imperialist world and its global crusade against “autocracy”—i.e., its escalating rivalry and conflict with Russia and China.
For instance, Boniadi talked of a transatlantic union and partnership with the U.S., the UK and Canada acting in concert, including cutting off Chinese financial support for the Islamic Republic. Referring to the Islamic Republic’s support for Russia against Ukraine, Alinejad argued that Iran was sending missiles into the heart of Europe, and that if the West didn’t fight the IRI now they would soon fight them in their own homes. Reza Pahlavi argued that a new Iran could provide energy for Europe (aiding western efforts against Russia).۷
Massive destruction in Yemen—the U.S.-backed Saudi war has killed an estimated 377,000 Yemeni people. Photo: ICRC/Karrar al-Moayyad
An Iran under their rule would again help maintain “peace and security”—i.e., U.S. dominance—in the Middle East. Speakers condemned Assad’s Syria, but not the Saudis or the U.S. for their barbaric war in Yemen. The violent ethnic cleansing of Palestinians was never mentioned, nor were Israel’s military attacks on Iran; instead Reza Pahlavi openly called for seeking out Israeli experts to help Iran rebuild.
There was no talk of digging up the roots of imperialism’s economic domination of Iran; instead, Pahlavi talked of seeking more foreign investment. Nor was there talk of transforming Iran’s oppressive social relations, such as its patriarchal suffocation of women.
All this was covered over with talk of “democracy” and maintaining unity (behind these forces) while this group writes a “Charter” for going forward (promised by the end of February) and the body of experts they’re assembling can come up with ‘real solutions’ to Iran’s problems.
They argued it was not the time to debate the exact form of government that should replace the IRI (Shirin Ebadi left open the question whether it should be a republic or a constitutional monarchy), and that this would be decided by a referendum after the fall of the IRI. Clearly, they envision a situation in which they would set the terms and parameters of any such “free and fair” election.
What Is the “Democracy” Being Advocated and What Does It Rest On?
It is revealing, but not surprising, that Reza Pahlavi and the other speakers at Georgetown spoke of “democracy” in Iran in one breath and in the next talked of allying their Iran with U.S. and western imperialism and their military campaigns to maintain their global dominance and stranglehold on the Middle East. Because in fact democracy in the West rests on ruthless global exploitation—including some 150 million enslaved child laborers working in conditions as bad as or worse than 19th century factories. This global exploitation is enforced and maintained by the U.S. military with its nearly 800 bases around the world, and America’s global network of allies—i.e., fascist regimes of torture and terror, regimes like that of the late Shah of Iran.
That parasitism and plunder is the basis for the stability and bourgeois democracy of the West, which is in essence a dictatorship of the capitalist-imperialist ruling class. And it was the basis, under the reign of the Shah, for a small sliver of Iranian society to take part in those spoils of empire and live a privileged, western lifestyle. Why would anyone with a heart for humanity aspire to or want to recreate that oppressive, planet-killing nightmare!
(SeeImperialist Parasitism and “Democracy”: Why So Many Liberals and Progressives Are Shameless Supporters of “Their” Imperialism, by Bob Avakian, revcom.us, updated November 21, 2022.۸
Setting Reactionary Terms, Then Quashing Debate
Making matters worse, they are trying to set terms and impose their program as the only legitimate program of the opposition, and recognized as such by the world’s major powers.
While they talked of welcoming all opinions out of one side of their mouths, out of the other they argued that anyone raising criticisms (e.g., of the Shah or the monarchy) or proposing other alternatives was breaking the unity of the Iranian people and opposing their struggle.
Before the February 11 protests, Reza Pahlavi tweeted that people should speak with one voice and “not insult or disrespect one another.” During the Georgetown panel discussion, Pahlavi called those who “hold onto hatreds and resist collaboration” part of the problem, basically ruling out analysis, exposure, and criticism of the former Shah’s regime. The actress and activist Golshifteh Farahani, who was one of the speakers, declared that criticizing the Transition Council, refusing to go along with it, or advocating for another form of government was a betrayal of the Iranian people and their sacrifices.۹
The U.S.: NOT a Force for Good in the World—NOT a Friend of the Iranian People
At this moment the U.S. is not openly pushing or organizing for regime change in Iran, even as the Biden administration and other ruling class figures have voiced support for the uprising in Iran.۱۰ Nor has the U.S. directly or officially backed or endorsed the efforts of Pahlavi and his transitional council.
However, it is clear that the contradictions and antagonisms between the U.S. and the Islamic Republic are sharpening—over Iran’s growing military aid to and ties with Russia, especially in relation to Ukraine, its ongoing nuclear development program, and its conflicts with U.S. allies and the U.S. agenda in the Middle East.
So while Reza Pahlavi and the forces allied with him are not openly calling for direct intervention or military action, calls by them and other more well-meaning people can create the political conditions for the U.S. to more readily do so, if they decide it’s in their interests.۱۱
This is why it’s crucial to oppose U.S. imperialist efforts to take advantage of the situation in Iran to advance their reactionary agendas, especially given the enormous suffering and death the U.S. has brought to Iran and the Middle East. As revcom.us has written,
The U.S. imperialists are not and will never be a force for good in the world! All calls for the U.S. to take action against Iran’s reactionary Islamic Republic or intervene in any way in Iran need to be opposed, whether they come from pro-U.S. lackeys like supporters of the former Shah (Mohammad Reza Pahlavi) or from liberal democratic forces. This is especially important now that the U.S. may be adopting a more hostile and confrontational stance against Iran due to its reported aid to Russia in the U.S.-Russia imperialist proxy war taking place in Ukraine.
This Juncture and the Great Importance of the Communist Party of Iran (Marxist-Leninist-Maoist)
The situation in Iran today, including this move by Pahlavi and his supporters, underscores the urgency of deep engagement and principled struggle over how to achieve real freedom, even as people unite broadly in opposition to the hated theocrats now ruling Iran.
In particular it is ever more urgent that many, many more people know about, engage, and connect with the Communist Party of Iran–MLM. The CPI-MLM bases itself on the new communism brought forward by Bob Avakian (BA) and is striving to maximize gains for a truly emancipating revolution out of this mass uprising. (See The Revolutionary Path Forward and the Great Significance of the Communist Party of Iran-MLM, revcom.us, January 2, 2023.)
As the CPI-MLM wrote in People of the World: Take up the Cry of Revolution from Iran as Your Own!:
To finally put an end to the seemingly endless suffering of Iran’s people requires a real revolution, made by millions of people and led by a revolutionary vanguard with the aim of overthrowing the Islamic theocratic fascist regime and liberating Iran out of the murderous fabric of the capitalist-imperialist system. This requires a communist revolution and establishing a “New Socialist Republic.”
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FOOTNOTES:
۱. EGYPT 2011: MILLIONS HAVE HEROICALLY STOOD UP…THE FUTURE REMAINS TO BE WRITTEN, A Statement By Bob Avakian, February 11, 2011. [back]
۲. These protests have been fueled by the heroic mass uprising in Iran against the IRI which was triggered by the regime’s September 16 murder of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini. [back]
۳. This campaign has been accompanied by lots of talk that life was better for people, especially women, when the late Shah was in power and there was greater freedom then as well. Monarchists and others have also argued that all of Iran’s problems spring from the 1978-79 revolution and the overthrow of the Shah. For exposure of these claims, see Atash/Fire, #۱۳۵, February 2023, Journal of the Communist Party of Iran Marxist-Leninist-Maoist: The Shah and the Supreme Leader: Twelve Reactionary Things They Have in Common and A “Project” Named Reza Pahlavi!: Manufacturing an Imperialist Alternative vs. Revolutionary Overthrow of the Islamic Republic!, revcom.us, February 6, 2023; Narges Bajoghli, A London Television Station Has Convinced Iran the Shah Was Great,” Foreign Policy, January 12, 2018. [back]
۴. The online petition reads: “Considering the revolution that is going on in Iran and considering that Prince Reza Pahlavi asked the people of Iran to give him power of attorney to lead this movement, this petition helps the people of Iran to express their opinion.” Campaign To Give Power Of Attorney To Iran’s Exiled Prince Gains Momentum, Iran International, January 18, 2023. [back]
۵. It was hosted by former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues Melanne Verveer. [back]
۶. In addition to Pahlavi, Alinejad, and Boniadi, participants included Dr. Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Laureate, Lawyer; Dr. Hamed Esmaeilion, Spokesman of the Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims; Golshifteh Farahani, Actress, Human Rights Activist; Ali Karimi, Former Captain of Iran’s National Soccer Team; Abdullah Mohtadi, Secretary-General of Komala Party, Iranian Kurdistan. [back]
۷. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was an act of naked imperialist aggression; the U.S. rulers’ actions preceding Russia’s invasion and their response to that invasion have also constituted naked imperialist aggression which has turned the war in Ukraine to a proxy war between Russia and the U.S., two reactionary imperialist powers. This war threatens to escalate to nuclear war and endanger all of humanity. For in-depth analyses see The War in Ukraine: A Resource Page at revcom.us. [back]
۸. See also, Shameless American Chauvinism: “Anti-Authoritarianism” as a “Cover” for Supporting U.S. Imperialism, by Bob Avakian, revcom.us, February 25, 2022. [back]
۹. See Reza Pahlavi tweet, February 4, 2023. [back]
۱۰. For instance, on February 1, Freedom House, which receives most of its funding from the U.S. government, issued “The Iranian Struggle for Freedom: A Call for Global Solidarity” which declares “The end of the Islamic Republic’s system of misogyny” would be global milestone for women’s rights and that “the triumph of freedom in Iran could renew the global tide of democratization,” and was signed by Hillary Clinton and other imperialist figures. First Lady Jill Biden attended the recent Grammys to present a new award for “Best Song for Social Change” to Iranian singer and songwriter Shervin Hajipour for his protest anthem “Baraye,” which she called a “powerful and poetic call for freedom and women’s rights.” And a resolution was recently introduced in Congress supporting a democratic, secular Iran. Draft Resolution In Congress Voices Support For Secular, Democratic Iran, Iran International, February 8, 2023. [back]
۱۱. And it also spreads illusions about the nature of the U.S. and contributes to its narrative of “democracy vs. autocracy” justifying threats against Russia and China, escalating danger of nuclear war. [back]
