appeal for support from Iran Labour Council

Since we published our article on the Iran revolution, there have been some new developments:

26 year old shopkeeper Erfan Soltani: threatened with public hanging

CNN reports that “thousands” have been murdered by the regime and 18,000 have been imprisoned. The regime is also threatening to start public hangings, with 26 year old Erfan Soltani set to be the first victim. Soltani has even been denied legal council. And yet the revolution continues!

Trump is threatening to take some sort of military action against the regime. That might be welcomed by some in the movement there. Given what they are facing, that is understandable, but Trump would do this as a step towards installing Pahlevi as the new dictator there. The same is true for any actions that Netanyahu might take.

The most important support we can give from the outside is labor support. Here is Siyâvash Shahabi:

Dear friends,

If you are a member of a labor union or a network of children’s rights, women’s rights, transgender, students and the environment activists, and if you can take initiative to help organize demonstrations in support of protests in Iran and against top-to-bottom interference and authoritarianism, Reach out, contact Iran Labor Confederation – Abroad / کنفدراسیون کار ایران – خارج از کشور

+ Please refrain from sending individual messages.

++ Only get in touch if you are in a position to help with organizing.

+++ PLEASE SHARE THIS MESSAGE.

We must consider what concrete steps workers around the world can take. One thought: During the struggle against apartheid, an international boycott of South Africa was instituted, with the support of the movement there. This weakened the economy and caused additional economic hardships there, but the movement supported it anyway. We should look into a call for a similar step regarding Iran, especially against Iran’s oil industry. Yes, it might cause additional economic hardship for the Iranian people, but to the degree that it shut down the oil industry, to that same degree it would weaken the leaders of the counter revolution, the Revolutionary Guard. That’s because they basically control that industry and the Guard gets special privileges from the profit of that industry.

Note: If you are a union officer, or are active in a union, we suggest you try to get your union to pass a resolution supporting the revolution and also asking the Iran Labor Confederation their view on the call for an international labor boycott of Iran oil.

We conclude with what we wrote before: “the Iran revolution is the most important revolutionary development in the world today. What distinguishes it from every other mass movement in the region is that there is little chance for either religious/Islamacist groups nor Russian imperialism to influence this movement. Just the opposite, because the revolution is against a theocratic and Russian connected regime.” We add: A successful revolution there would weaken not only Russian imperialism; it would also weaken Netanyahu and Trump, who hide behind the Iranian regime to gain support in their own countries.

Victory to the Iranian revolution! 

Further update: from Siyavash Shahabi:
Reuters acording to three sources, who included a senior Iranian official and who all spoke on condition of anonymity, said Armed Kurdish separatist groups sought to cross the border into Iran from Iraq. Three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, in a sign of foreign entities potentially seeking to take advantage of instability after days of crackdown on protests against Tehran.

This is false news as far as we know:

None of the Kurdish opposition organizations has carried out any military operations or actions during this period. The seven parties that issued the call for a general strike in Kurdistan not only made no moves along the borders, but explicitly refrained from any armed action. In terms of on-the-ground reality and logistical capacity, the only force that could potentially have taken action is PJAK, and this is the key point: PJAK has not carried out any action either.

For that reason, the so-called “breaking news” now being circulated should be placed directly against the reports of the mass killing of civilians. In my view, the death toll could in fact be higher than what has been announced until now.

The purpose of the Reuters narrative, engineered by the Islamic Republic’s intelligence machine, is clear: to manufacture a security pretext that can justify large-scale military operations by Islamic fascism.

To be clear: during this entire period, none of the Kurdish parties has carried out any action anywhere. Any claim to the contrary is not a report of facts, but part of a security scenario designed to divert public attention, normalize repression, and prepare the ground for escalating state violence.

Also see Iran theocracy wobbling; what might replace it?

appeal for support from Iran Labour Council