In Iran, the process that began with the Bazaari actions in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar has turned into a nationwide uprising. While the regime’s countrywide internet shutdowns have lasted up to a week at this point—surpassing even the internet blackouts during the 2011 Egyptian revolution—it has become extremely difficult to obtain reliable information from the country, also due to the circulation of images manipulated by artificial intelligence. Nevertheless, it is clear that the scale of violence used against the protesters has reached a rarely seen level, and that the death toll is no longer counted in tens or even hundreds, but in the thousands. The Revolutionary Workers Party (DIP), which in Turkey is waging a struggle for bread and freedom against Erdoğan’s despotic rule, regards the Iranian people’s quest for freedom against the rule of the mullahs as legitimate and salutes it.
The Iranian people, who for years have taken to the streets at the cost of their lives in the name of freedom, must remain vigilant against the vultures now gathering at the top of this struggle. This is a duty of utmost importance, precisely to carry the fight for freedom to victory. Reza Pahlavi, the heir to Iran’s former monarchy and organically tied to imperialism and Zionism, is marketing himself as Iran’s new leader by resorting to various manipulations. The fact that the weight of the working class in the protests is much more limited than, for example, during the 2019 demonstrations makes it easier for these collaborationist enemies of the people to present themselves as an alternative leadership. The way to repel this menace is for the working class to take center stage in the struggle, through its own organizations and methods, and take the leadership of the nation into its own hands along an uncompromising anti-imperialist line.
Even more importantly, imperialism and Zionism themselves are trying to use these protests in order to win the war they have been waging against the Iranian state and people. U.S. imperialism, the principal enemy of the peoples of our region, has openly stated—through the mouth of U.S. President Donald Trump himself—that it could launch a military attack on Iran. The U.S. assault on January 3, which included the detention and abduction of Venezuela’s elected president, has further emboldened imperialism to attack Iran. Should such an attack begin, the struggle waged by all forces in Iran against the imperialist onslaught and its collaborators would become both just and necessary.
Israeli Zionism, for its part, is for now leaving the leadership of the process to the United States, hoping that at the end of this crisis, the Iranian people and state will be rendered incapable of resisting Israel. The statement made by Israel claiming that Mossad agents are present among the protesters is not merely an act of bragging; it is an attempt to provoke violence within Iran and even to increase the likelihood of a civil war. The brave people of Iran must not allow a reactionary, fratricidal civil war, in which Iran would be “Syrianized.” The repetition in Iran—whose population borders 100 million—of the tragedy experienced in Syria, with its population of 25 million, would lead to far more horrific disasters. The struggle in Iran against imperialist and Zionist provocations and against the “Syrianization” of Iran is an integral part of the quest for freedom. Victory over imperialism and Zionism is an indispensable condition for the peoples of our region to attain freedom.
Long live the Iranian people’s struggle for bread and freedom!
Down with U.S. imperialism!
Down with the Zionist state of Israel!