Iranian Workers’ May Day Resolution
The present financial crisis and its destructive consequences for the working class around the world is yet to spread its ominous specter on the everyday life of the Iranian workers; But the injustices they suffer is nothing but the outcome of the rule of the Iranian capitalist class.Injustices such as: Wages that keep workers under the poverty line, Widespread layoffs, Withholding of workers’ wages for months, Imposition of temporary and blank contracts on workers by companies, Imprisonment and flogging of workers in order to inhibit disobedience and resistance, The absence of fair and legal contracts, are not problems which have emerged in Iran with the new wave of economic crisis. Such injustices have existed in Iran for many years and the crisis is increasingly deepening every year.
May first is the international day of solidarity among the working class and a day of workers’ struggle around the world against the oppressive rule of capitalism and the expression of their desire for a world free of oppression and exploitation.This year the working class is celebrating May Day while the world capitalist system is mired in an increasingly destructive economic crisis and is struggling to free itself from this quagmire by any means possible.
The present economic crisis has demonstrated the inability of the capitalist system to deal with its problems, having found no alternative but to transfer the brunt of the crisis onto the shoulders of the working class around the world. This bears witness to the fact that in the post Eastern Block era and the declaration of the end of history by the decadent capitalist world, there remains no other alternative for the working class and the civilized world but to free itself from the inhumane capitalist relations of production.
The present financial crisis and its destructive consequences for the working class around the world is yet to spread its ominous specter on the everyday life of the Iranian workers; But the injustices they suffer is nothing but the outcome of the rule of the Iranian capitalist class.The injustices imposed on the Iranian working class, such as:Wages that keep workers under the poverty line, Widespread layoffs, Withholding of workers’ wages for months, Imposition of temporary and blank contracts on workers by companies, Imprisonment and flogging of workers in order to inhibit disobedience and resistance, The absence of fair and legal contracts, are not problems which have emerged in Iran with the new wave of economic crisis. Such injustices have existed in Iran for many years and the crisis is increasingly deepening every year.
We shall not keep quiet in the face of such abhorring and inhumane practices, and will not allow them to infringe upon our rights any more than they already have. We are the principal producers of wealth in the society, and we deem it our lawful right to live according to the highest standards of living.We deserve a decent lifestyle and we will make sure we alleviate these problems by forming unions, which are independent of Government and company influence, and by our ongoing solidarity.
Therefore, our workers demand the following as their minimum program to take effect immediately:
1-Job security for all workers and the abolition of temporary, blank and newly-formulated contracts.
2-We consider the minimum wage set by the high council of labour as the imposition of gradual death on millions of working class families, and we insist on the immediate increase of the minimum wage on the basis of workers’ legitimate demands, conveyed by workers’ real representatives and their independent unions.
3-Formation of independent workers’ unions, the right to strike, protest, free gatherings and free speech are our legitimate rights, and these demands must be granted unconditionally and as the inalienable rights of all workers.
4-Workers’ unpaid wages must be reimbursed immediately and from now on, this exercise must be deemed a criminal act, prosecutable in the courts of law and the consequences enforced.
5-Firing of workers by using various excuses must stop and all of those sacked, or newly entering the job market, should benefit from employment insurance suitable to a decent living standard.
6-We demand equal rights for men and women in all aspects of economic and social life and we demand the abolition of all existing discriminatory laws.
7-We demand a decent pension plan for all retirees and we condemn any discriminatory practices in the payment of these pensions.
8-We firmly support all the demands put forth by teachers, nurses and all other hard-working white collar workers, and we consider ourselves their ally in their struggle. We also demand revocation of Farzad Kamangar’s death sentence.
9-As seasonal and construction workers are deprived of the necessary social insurance rights, we support their struggle to achieve their humanitarian rights and a decent living.
10-Capitalism is the driving force behind child labour. We demand that all children, irrespective of their gender, ethnicity and religion, be able to benefit from equal educational and health and hygiene opportunities.
11-We demand the release of all incarcerated workers from prison, including Mansour Osanloo and Ebrahim Madadi, and the revocation of all judgments rendered against them, and put a stop to the arrests and harassments of workers.
12-We hereby pronounce our support for all freedom-loving and equity seeking movements, such as the student movement and women’s movement, and we strongly condemn the arrest and imprisonment of their activists.
13-We are part of the international working class movement, and as such, we condemn the random sacking and the double exploitation and harassment of Afghan and other migrant workers in Iran.
14-While we are grateful for the international working class support for our struggles in Iran, we are their allies in solidarity with their struggles against the hardships imposed by the capitalist system.
15-May first must be declared a civic holiday in the Iranian calendar and any ban on May Day celebrations must be revoked and prohibited.
Long live May Day!
Long live the international solidarity of the working class!
May 1, 2009
The May first committee:
The Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Vahed Bus Company
The Syndicate of Workers of the Haft Tapeh Sugar Plantations
The Free Union of Workers in Iran
The Founding Committee of the Syndicate of Building 's Painters and Decoration's Workers
The Collaborative Council of Labour Organizations and Activists
The Coordinating Committee to Form Workers’ Organizations
The Committee to Pursue the Establishment of Free Workers’ Organizations
The Women’s Council
The Center for Workers’ Rights in Iran
Friday, May 15, 2009
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Iran: Many workers beaten and arrested at May Day rallies!
Iran: Many workers beaten and arrested at May Day rallies!
The May Day rally and celebration in Tehran, which was organized by independent Iranian labour organizations in Laleh Park, opn May 1st, 2009 at 5 PM, was attacked by security and intelligence forces at around 5:30 PM and many have been beaten and arrested. The security forces did not allow more than two thousands people who had come to the park to join the event and arrested tens of activists and organizers and shut down the event before it actually started. According to various reports, the arrested labour activists include: Ms. Maryam Mohseni, and Messrs Behrouz Khabaz, Jafar Azimzadeh,fayeq kayxosravi,Mansour Hayatqeybi,Maryam mohseni,Behzad Khabbaz,Gholamreza Khani,Fatemeh Shahnazari,Saeed Youzi,Mehdi Farahani shandiz,Laleh Mohammadi,Habib Sadeqi ,and Shahpour Ehsani-rad.
The intelligence forces brutally attacked the event’s participants including women and children, by baton and tear gas etc., and forced hundreds of people out of the park. At this time, 8 PM, the park is surrounded by hundreds of security forces and those arrested have been transferred to police stations in Tehran.
May Day rally in City of Sanandaj was also attacked by security forces and plain clothes officers and many were beaten and arrested.
Iran police arrested five labor union activists taking part in May Day demonstrations on May 1 in the majority Kurdish city of Sanandaj in the northwest of the country.
Labor unions have called for demonstrations in Tehran, Sanandaj, Kermanshah and several other cities in Iran to protest lack of goverment action to address economic problems.
Ten union activist were arrested in the East of Iran in Sanandaj. Some of the comrades arrested are Sediq Karimi, Sharif Saedpanah, Majid Hamidi, Xalid Hosayni and Jyan Sobhani and were arrested for celebrating Mayday. In Tehran’s Laleh Park 70 comrades have been arrested and 30 arrested in Tabriz.
More updates will be issued soon.
You can help by sending messages demanding his release and the release of all political prisoners to the Iranian consulate whose details are below:
Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran send edits
72 Mount Merrion Ave.
Blackrock Co.
Dublin, Ireland
Phone: (003531) 2885881
(003531) 2880252
Fax: (003531) 2834246
Email: IranianEmbassy@Ireland.com
The May Day Organizing Committee
komite.hamahangi@gmail.com
Iran: Delara Darabi, Juvenile Offender, Executed.
Iran: Delara Darabi, Juvenile Offender, Executed.
Execution shows hardliners reject widespread calls for change
Delara Darabi, who was charged at the age of 17 with murder, was executed today in Rasht. Darabi was 22 years old. Authorities did not inform her lawyer, Abdolsamad Khorramshahi, that her execution was being carried out. According to Iranian law, lawyers must be given 48 hours notice of impending executions. “The execution of Delara Darabi is an affront to human rights values and is in bold violation of Iran’s obligations with respect to international rights standards and covenants,” said Aaron Rhodes, a spokesperson for the Campaign. “What is more, her rights were trampled in an unfair trial.”
Darabi confessed to the murder of her father’s cousin to protect her friend, who assured her she would not be executed because she was a minor. Her trial and appeals have been riddled with complications and her case was sent back to Rasht by the Iranian Judiciary for review. Her father, in a taped interview, said that when he handed Delara over to police, he placed his trust in the judicial system. “I truly thought there would be some sort of justice,” he said.
Darabi’s execution was scheduled to be carried out on 20 April, but her lawyer was able to postpone it because relatives of the victim were not going to be present. It is not known whether family members were present today at her execution.
“The continuing barbarity of juvenile executions is a debasement of the rights of juveniles and all the people of Iran, and is an obstacle to Iran’s international relations,” added Rhodes. “The practice needs to be outlawed, in accordance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, of which Iran is a party.”
Juvenile executions have gained increased attention within Iran in recent weeks. The Defenders of Human Rights Center issued a national call to action to end juvenile executions on 20 April 2009, with the support of a wide range of religious scholars, human rights and political activists and members of civil society. Mehdi Karoubi, a candidate in the upcoming presidential elections, publicly called for an end to juvenile executions based on his education in Islamic law and the calls by human rights activists, in an article in Etemad Meli daily on 28 April. Kayhan, a newspaper controlled by the Islamic Republic, denounced Karoubi’s comments and accused him of propaganda against the system.
“The execution of Delara Darabi shows the hardliners’ oblivious reaction to calls raised throughout Iran by religious leaders, human rights activists, political activists and ordinary citizens,” said Rhodes.
The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran strongly condemns the execution of Delara Darabi and the continued execution of juvenile offenders in Iran.
aaronarhodes@iranhumanrights.org
Iranian Workers’ May Day Resolution
Iranian Workers’ May Day Resolution
The present financial crisis and its destructive consequences for the working class around the world is yet to spread its ominous specter on the everyday life of the Iranian workers; But the injustices they suffer is nothing but the outcome of the rule of the Iranian capitalist class.May first is the international day of solidarity among the working class and a day of workers’ struggle around the world against the oppressive rule of capitalism and the expression of their desire for a world free of oppression and exploitation.
Injustices such as: Wages that keep workers under the poverty line, Widespread layoffs, Withholding of workers’ wages for months, Imposition of temporary and blank contracts on workers by companies, Imprisonment and flogging of workers in order to inhibit disobedience and resistance, The absence of fair and legal contracts, are not problems which have emerged in Iran with the new wave of economic crisis. Such injustices have existed in Iran for many years and the crisis is increasingly deepening every year.
This year the working class is celebrating May Day while the world capitalist system is mired in an increasingly destructive economic crisis and is struggling to free itself from this quagmire by any means possible.
The present economic crisis has demonstrated the inability of the capitalist system to deal with its problems, having found no alternative but to transfer the brunt of the crisis onto the shoulders of the working class around the world. This bears witness to the fact that in the post Eastern Block era and the declaration of the end of history by the decadent capitalist world, there remains no other alternative for the working class and the civilized world but to free itself from the inhumane capitalist relations of production.
The present financial crisis and its destructive consequences for the working class around the world is yet to spread its ominous specter on the everyday life of the Iranian workers; But the injustices they suffer is nothing but the outcome of the rule of the Iranian capitalist class.
The injustices imposed on the Iranian working class, such as:
Wages that keep workers under the poverty line, Widespread layoffs, Withholding of workers’ wages for months, Imposition of temporary and blank contracts on workers by companies, Imprisonment and flogging of workers in order to inhibit disobedience and resistance, The absence of fair and legal contracts, are not problems which have emerged in Iran with the new wave of economic crisis. Such injustices have existed in Iran for many years and the crisis is increasingly deepening every year. We shall not keep quiet in the face of such abhorring and inhumane practices, and will not allow them to infringe upon our rights any more than they already have. We are the principal producers of wealth in the society, and we deem it our lawful right to live according to the highest standards of living.
We deserve a decent lifestyle and we will make sure we alleviate these problems by forming unions, which are independent of Government and company influence, and by our ongoing solidarity.
Therefore, our workers demand the following as their minimum program to take effect immediately:
1-Job security for all workers and the abolition of temporary, blank and newly-formulated contracts.
2-We consider the minimum wage set by the high council of labour as the imposition of gradual death on millions of working class families, and we insist on the immediate increase of the minimum wage on the basis of workers’ legitimate demands, conveyed by workers’ real representatives and their independent unions.
3-Formation of independent workers’ unions, the right to strike, protest, free gatherings and free speech are our legitimate rights, and these demands must be granted unconditionally and as the inalienable rights of all workers.
4-Workers’ unpaid wages must be reimbursed immediately and from now on, this exercise must be deemed a criminal act, prosecutable in the courts of law and the consequences enforced.
5-Firing of workers by using various excuses must stop and all of those sacked, or newly entering the job market, should benefit from employment insurance suitable to a decent living standard.
6-We demand equal rights for men and women in all aspects of economic and social life and we demand the abolition of all existing discriminatory laws.
7-We demand a decent pension plan for all retirees and we condemn any discriminatory practices in the payment of these pensions.
8-We firmly support all the demands put forth by teachers, nurses and all other hard-working white collar workers, and we consider ourselves their ally in their struggle. We also demand revocation of Farzad Kamangar’s death sentence.
9-As seasonal and construction workers are deprived of the necessary social insurance rights, we support their struggle to achieve their humanitarian rights and a decent living.
10-Capitalism is the driving force behind child labour. We demand that all children, irrespective of their gender, ethnicity and religion, be able to benefit from equal educational and health and hygiene opportunities.
11-We demand the release of all incarcerated workers from prison, including Mansour Osanloo and Ebrahim Madadi, and the revocation of all judgments rendered against them, and put a stop to the arrests and harassments of workers.
12-We hereby pronounce our support for all freedom-loving and equity seeking movements, such as the student movement and women’s movement, and we strongly condemn the arrest and imprisonment of their activists.
13-We are part of the international working class movement, and as such, we condemn the random sacking and the double exploitation and harassment of Afghan and other migrant workers in Iran.
14-While we are grateful for the international working class support for our struggles in Iran, we are their allies in solidarity with their struggles against the hardships imposed by the capitalist system.
15-May first must be declared a civic holiday in the Iranian calendar and any ban on May Day celebrations must be revoked and prohibited.
Long live May Day!
Long live the international solidarity of the working class!
May 1, 2009
The May first committee
The Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Vahed Bus Company
The Syndicate of Workers of the Haft Tapeh Sugar Plantations
The Free Union of Workers in Iran
The Founding Committee of the Syndicate of Building 's Painters and Decoration's Workers
The Collaborative Council of Labour Organizations and Activists
The Coordinating Committee to Form Workers’ Organizations
The Committee to Pursue the Establishment of Free Workers’ Organizations
The Women’s Council
The Center for Workers’ Rights in Iran
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Austerity and corruption
Austerity and corruption
Yassamine Mather calls on the left to boycott the presidential and parliamentary elections
On the fringes of the G20 and Nato meetings last week the thorny issue of US-Iran relations and the possibility of an Israeli military strike against Iran were once more discussed.
David Petraeus, commander of American forces in the Middle East, once more raised the prospect of an Israeli “pre-emptive” strike against Tehran: “The Israeli government may ultimately see itself so threatened by the prospect of an Iranian nuclear weapon that it would take pre-emptive military action to derail or delay it.” Meanwhile, US defence secretary Robert Gates claimed Israel will not attack Iran this year.
There were contradictory reports regarding the first official meeting between Iranian and US diplomats at a conference on Afghanistan in The Hague on March 31. Prior to the meeting there were rumours that Barack Obama’s special representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, and the head of Iran’s delegation, deputy foreign minister Mohammad Akhundzadeh, were to hold separate discussions. At the end of the conference, US secretary of state Hillary Clinton told reporters that such a meeting had in fact taken place
Iran’s account was different. Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Hassan Qashavi told the Mehr news agency: “There was no official or unofficial meeting or conversation between the representatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran and America on the sidelines of the conference, and the news about this has been dismissed.”
In the US itself, pro-Israel groups hoping to use Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons plans as a pretext to impose ‘regime change’ rallied some of the most powerful Democrats in the US Congress to their side. The Congressmen sent a letter to Obama urging stepped-up action against Iran. Signed by several key Democratic lawmakers, including Steny Hoyer, the House of Representatives majority leader, the letter backs the Obama administration’s pledge to pursue talks with Iran, but insists that engagement must be “serious and credible”, not “open-ended”. Talks should be launched “as soon as possible”, the letter states, and if they fail to produce results quickly, then Obama should use executive orders to implement various sanctions.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee was pleased: “This is an important letter and one that AIPAC applauds,” spokesman Josh Block said. “It expresses support for current efforts to create the opportunity for constructive engagement should Iran choose to comply with international demands, but … should that effort fail, the president must be prepared to impose crippling economic sanctions on Iran to create the leverage needed to change their behaviour.” Fearing success of a more ‘reformist’ candidate in Iran’s presidential elections in June, IPAC is keen that Iran-US discussions take place during Ahmadinejad’s presidency, hoping the failure of such talks will pave way for more sanctions.
Pro-IPAC Democrats have proposed: new sanctions against the Central Bank of Iran and international banks that continue to do business with Iranian banks; denying access to American ports to shipping companies whose vessels call in Iran; targeting companies that insure ships calling in Iranian ports or aircraft landing at Iranian airports; and applying measures against energy companies investing in Iran’s oil and gas sector.
Iran’s year of austerity
Last week during a visit to Iran, Hugo Chávez, the Venezuelan president, ridiculed the G20 summit and its attempts to ease the capitalist economic crisis. However, his hosts, who have embraced ‘Islamic’ capitalism with fervour, did not join in his condemnations of the IMF and international capital. Instead, Iran’s clerics concentrated on explaining ayatollah Khamenei’s message for the Iranian new year, during which he announced that cutting consumption should be the theme of the new year, as the country struggled to cope with the recession.
Every year our grand ayatollah announces the theme that the regime has decided should dominate the country’s ‘aims and objectives’. This year it is ‘austerity’ - clearly inspired by the IMF and in line with the G20 understanding that, in the words of leftwing academic professor Michael Hudson, the $1.1 trillion from the IMF has been made available to debtor countries “not to revive their own faltering economies, not to pursue counter-cyclical policies to restore market demand (that is only for creditor nations), but to pass on the IMF ‘aid’ to the banks that have made the irresponsible toxic loans”.1
In Iran the plan essentially means a reduction in subsidies, an increase in the price of energy and other utilities. Iran’s new year budget (March 2009-10) is based on the assumption that the oil price will remain around $37.50 per barrel. However, even this low price is now in doubt and revenue from oil may well fall further.
Iranians have been left wondering whether ‘austerity’ applies to everyone. No-one believes that the rich mullahs are about to give up on their Mercedes Benz or dispose of some of their many luxuries. No-one expects the rich to suffer - as always it will be the working class, the urban poor and the peasants who must tighten their belt in the new drive to “reform consumption in all spheres”.2
Khamenei, who presides over one of the most corrupt regimes on earth, called on Iranians to avoid “squandering” bread and water. “A third of our bread and one fifth of the nation’s water, with all the difficulty and trouble of getting it, is practically wasted.”3
He also threatened further prices increases in basic essentials. Clearly in the heat of the electoral battle between the factions of the Islamic regime, Iran’s supreme religious leader has lost his marbles. Waste in Iran has nothing to do with the poor, who can often afford only bread and water. How about the extortionate prices paid for nuclear enrichment equipment on the black market? Or the huge arms expenditure serving only to shore up and expand Iranian influence and that of Shia Islam? Then there is the money squandered by super-rich clerics and their bazaari merchant backers to maintain four households - one for each wife!
The regime could also target the money most Iranians have to spend every day on bribes to Islamic officials at every level. At one extreme this may be necessary to avoid a flogging for unIslamic behaviour (drinking alcohol, mixing with the opposite sex, failure to adhere to strict rules regarding the wearing of a hijab …). But on a more mundane level bureaucrats and state officials expect a ‘gift’ in exchange for providing documents necessary for survival in Iran - a country where such practice is endemic amongst the most powerful sections of the regime.
According to Abbas Palizdar, a corruption investigator inside Iran, leading politicians and clerics routinely pilfer state funds and try to obtain favourable business arrangements for their relatives. His targets have included the family of ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani, while the names of many powerful religious families and members of the regime’s inner circles are amongst those known to be accumulating wealth through corrupt means: the Khatamis, the Yazdis, the Shahroudis ...
Before every major election the factions of the regime vie with each other to expose their rivals’ corruption. After the laissez-faire period of Khatami, conservatives and some principlists (those wishing to return to the ‘principled’ ways of ayatollah Khomeini!) had claimed that their man, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, would clean up Iranian politics. Four years on, supporters of the new reformist candidate, Mir-Hossein Moussavi, claim corruption has reached unprecedented levels under his government. According to one of Moussavi’s allies, the director of the Centre for Religion and Economy, “The government accepts there were 2,000 financial irregularities in one year. If we think there are 200 working days in a year, this implies that every day of the year there were 10 financial irregularities.”
Iranians would be foolish to believe that a Moussavi government would be any different, however. But, as the elections approach, they can look forward to months of revelations by the rival factions of the regime. After all, June’s elections are not just about choosing the president: the faction that wins will benefit from all the trappings of power, including the 10%-20$ ‘commission’ on any contract or deal involving a government agency, from the complicated technology needed by the nuclear industry to basic goods imported or exported.
Although the elections are still three months away, all presidential candidates have now met with and obtained the blessing of the supreme leader, ayatollah Khamenei. In addition, the religious ‘Council of Experts’ will ensure that all candidates comply with the various rules governing Islamic behaviour.
In the meantime Iran’s ministry of the interior has published regulations governing websites, posters, meetings and gatherings associated with elections. These include:
* a total ban on campaigns that promote a boycott of the presidential poll
* no photos of women and young girls in electoral publicity
* no quoting from the leaflets or publications of “counterrevolutionary organisations”: ie, anyone who does not support the Islamic Republic
While the 2009 elections are likely to focus more international attention on Iran than previously, as far as Iranians are concerned, they will be no different from past presidential and parliamentary elections held during the 30-year rule of corrupt clerics. Only those who support or accept the Islamic state can participate either as candidates or voters. For the majority the choice will be between bad and worse candidates.
The left has no option but to expose this farce and campaign for a boycott of the presidential and parliamentary elections.
Notes
1. www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=13054
2. Khamenei speech, March 22: www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDevCqAbFJk
3. Khamenei speech: www.memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP229709
Yassamine Mather calls on the left to boycott the presidential and parliamentary elections
On the fringes of the G20 and Nato meetings last week the thorny issue of US-Iran relations and the possibility of an Israeli military strike against Iran were once more discussed.
David Petraeus, commander of American forces in the Middle East, once more raised the prospect of an Israeli “pre-emptive” strike against Tehran: “The Israeli government may ultimately see itself so threatened by the prospect of an Iranian nuclear weapon that it would take pre-emptive military action to derail or delay it.” Meanwhile, US defence secretary Robert Gates claimed Israel will not attack Iran this year.
There were contradictory reports regarding the first official meeting between Iranian and US diplomats at a conference on Afghanistan in The Hague on March 31. Prior to the meeting there were rumours that Barack Obama’s special representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, and the head of Iran’s delegation, deputy foreign minister Mohammad Akhundzadeh, were to hold separate discussions. At the end of the conference, US secretary of state Hillary Clinton told reporters that such a meeting had in fact taken place
Iran’s account was different. Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Hassan Qashavi told the Mehr news agency: “There was no official or unofficial meeting or conversation between the representatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran and America on the sidelines of the conference, and the news about this has been dismissed.”
In the US itself, pro-Israel groups hoping to use Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons plans as a pretext to impose ‘regime change’ rallied some of the most powerful Democrats in the US Congress to their side. The Congressmen sent a letter to Obama urging stepped-up action against Iran. Signed by several key Democratic lawmakers, including Steny Hoyer, the House of Representatives majority leader, the letter backs the Obama administration’s pledge to pursue talks with Iran, but insists that engagement must be “serious and credible”, not “open-ended”. Talks should be launched “as soon as possible”, the letter states, and if they fail to produce results quickly, then Obama should use executive orders to implement various sanctions.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee was pleased: “This is an important letter and one that AIPAC applauds,” spokesman Josh Block said. “It expresses support for current efforts to create the opportunity for constructive engagement should Iran choose to comply with international demands, but … should that effort fail, the president must be prepared to impose crippling economic sanctions on Iran to create the leverage needed to change their behaviour.” Fearing success of a more ‘reformist’ candidate in Iran’s presidential elections in June, IPAC is keen that Iran-US discussions take place during Ahmadinejad’s presidency, hoping the failure of such talks will pave way for more sanctions.
Pro-IPAC Democrats have proposed: new sanctions against the Central Bank of Iran and international banks that continue to do business with Iranian banks; denying access to American ports to shipping companies whose vessels call in Iran; targeting companies that insure ships calling in Iranian ports or aircraft landing at Iranian airports; and applying measures against energy companies investing in Iran’s oil and gas sector.
Iran’s year of austerity
Last week during a visit to Iran, Hugo Chávez, the Venezuelan president, ridiculed the G20 summit and its attempts to ease the capitalist economic crisis. However, his hosts, who have embraced ‘Islamic’ capitalism with fervour, did not join in his condemnations of the IMF and international capital. Instead, Iran’s clerics concentrated on explaining ayatollah Khamenei’s message for the Iranian new year, during which he announced that cutting consumption should be the theme of the new year, as the country struggled to cope with the recession.
Every year our grand ayatollah announces the theme that the regime has decided should dominate the country’s ‘aims and objectives’. This year it is ‘austerity’ - clearly inspired by the IMF and in line with the G20 understanding that, in the words of leftwing academic professor Michael Hudson, the $1.1 trillion from the IMF has been made available to debtor countries “not to revive their own faltering economies, not to pursue counter-cyclical policies to restore market demand (that is only for creditor nations), but to pass on the IMF ‘aid’ to the banks that have made the irresponsible toxic loans”.1
In Iran the plan essentially means a reduction in subsidies, an increase in the price of energy and other utilities. Iran’s new year budget (March 2009-10) is based on the assumption that the oil price will remain around $37.50 per barrel. However, even this low price is now in doubt and revenue from oil may well fall further.
Iranians have been left wondering whether ‘austerity’ applies to everyone. No-one believes that the rich mullahs are about to give up on their Mercedes Benz or dispose of some of their many luxuries. No-one expects the rich to suffer - as always it will be the working class, the urban poor and the peasants who must tighten their belt in the new drive to “reform consumption in all spheres”.2
Khamenei, who presides over one of the most corrupt regimes on earth, called on Iranians to avoid “squandering” bread and water. “A third of our bread and one fifth of the nation’s water, with all the difficulty and trouble of getting it, is practically wasted.”3
He also threatened further prices increases in basic essentials. Clearly in the heat of the electoral battle between the factions of the Islamic regime, Iran’s supreme religious leader has lost his marbles. Waste in Iran has nothing to do with the poor, who can often afford only bread and water. How about the extortionate prices paid for nuclear enrichment equipment on the black market? Or the huge arms expenditure serving only to shore up and expand Iranian influence and that of Shia Islam? Then there is the money squandered by super-rich clerics and their bazaari merchant backers to maintain four households - one for each wife!
The regime could also target the money most Iranians have to spend every day on bribes to Islamic officials at every level. At one extreme this may be necessary to avoid a flogging for unIslamic behaviour (drinking alcohol, mixing with the opposite sex, failure to adhere to strict rules regarding the wearing of a hijab …). But on a more mundane level bureaucrats and state officials expect a ‘gift’ in exchange for providing documents necessary for survival in Iran - a country where such practice is endemic amongst the most powerful sections of the regime.
According to Abbas Palizdar, a corruption investigator inside Iran, leading politicians and clerics routinely pilfer state funds and try to obtain favourable business arrangements for their relatives. His targets have included the family of ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani, while the names of many powerful religious families and members of the regime’s inner circles are amongst those known to be accumulating wealth through corrupt means: the Khatamis, the Yazdis, the Shahroudis ...
Before every major election the factions of the regime vie with each other to expose their rivals’ corruption. After the laissez-faire period of Khatami, conservatives and some principlists (those wishing to return to the ‘principled’ ways of ayatollah Khomeini!) had claimed that their man, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, would clean up Iranian politics. Four years on, supporters of the new reformist candidate, Mir-Hossein Moussavi, claim corruption has reached unprecedented levels under his government. According to one of Moussavi’s allies, the director of the Centre for Religion and Economy, “The government accepts there were 2,000 financial irregularities in one year. If we think there are 200 working days in a year, this implies that every day of the year there were 10 financial irregularities.”
Iranians would be foolish to believe that a Moussavi government would be any different, however. But, as the elections approach, they can look forward to months of revelations by the rival factions of the regime. After all, June’s elections are not just about choosing the president: the faction that wins will benefit from all the trappings of power, including the 10%-20$ ‘commission’ on any contract or deal involving a government agency, from the complicated technology needed by the nuclear industry to basic goods imported or exported.
Although the elections are still three months away, all presidential candidates have now met with and obtained the blessing of the supreme leader, ayatollah Khamenei. In addition, the religious ‘Council of Experts’ will ensure that all candidates comply with the various rules governing Islamic behaviour.
In the meantime Iran’s ministry of the interior has published regulations governing websites, posters, meetings and gatherings associated with elections. These include:
* a total ban on campaigns that promote a boycott of the presidential poll
* no photos of women and young girls in electoral publicity
* no quoting from the leaflets or publications of “counterrevolutionary organisations”: ie, anyone who does not support the Islamic Republic
While the 2009 elections are likely to focus more international attention on Iran than previously, as far as Iranians are concerned, they will be no different from past presidential and parliamentary elections held during the 30-year rule of corrupt clerics. Only those who support or accept the Islamic state can participate either as candidates or voters. For the majority the choice will be between bad and worse candidates.
The left has no option but to expose this farce and campaign for a boycott of the presidential and parliamentary elections.
Notes
1. www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=13054
2. Khamenei speech, March 22: www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDevCqAbFJk
3. Khamenei speech: www.memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP229709
Defend Iranian students’ movement
Defend Iranian students’ movement
Authorities in Iran are still attempting to crush the student movement that has been organising against the theocratic state, and against imperialist warmongering and sanctions. A leading member of the Students for Freedom and Equality group, the DAB (Daneshjouyan-e Azadi Khah va Beraber Talab), Peyman Piran, is facing deportation from Norway. Members of DAB have said that Peyman’s life would be in danger if he is returned to Iran after being subjected to ill-treatment and imprisoned for anti-regime activities going back to 1999. You can help Peyman by contacting the Norwegian consulate and the Refugee Council of Norway to demand that he is permitted to stay in Norway (details below).
Sanaz Allahyari and Amir Hossein Mohammadi, who were arrested on March 1, have been released with significant injuries after 18 days in prison. They were arrested for taking part in demonstrations held on February 23 at Noushirvan University in Babo. Protests had been banned after the burial of soldiers killed during the Iraq-Iran war as the authorities deem it disrespectful to the ‘martyrs’. Comrades Maryam Sheikh and Nasim Roshana’i remain in the notorious Evin prison. Their well-being is unknown, but it is standard practice to ill-treat and abuse dissidents in Iran.
DAB members are also extremely worried about Mohammad Pour Abdollah, a Tehran University student who was arrested on February 12 and spent over a month in solitary confinement at Evin prison before being moved to Qezel Hesar, just outside of Tehran. His parents have only seen him once after sitting in front of the prison during Iran’s Norouz (new year). During the visit they learned that their son was being tortured.
Students for Freedom and Equality spokesperson Alireza Davoudi was also arrested in Isfahan on February 12 and is still in prison.
Hands Off the People of Iran has previously organised actions and meetings in solidarity with students in Iran - the videos of a protest in Manchester, for example, can be found on the Hopi Britain website (http://www.hopoi.org).
With the continuing wave of repression, we are planning further actions and call on all internationalists to stand with the students of Iran - against imperialism, against the theocratic regime.
We demand the immediate and unconditional release of these comrades and all political prisoners held by the Islamic Republic and call on all communists to act in solidarity with these students. For us this is inseparable from opposing all imperialist sanctions, threats and attacks on Iran, which the regime uses to justify its continued repression.
Royal Norwegian Embassy: 34 Molesworth Street, Dublin Tel: 01 662 1800. Fax: 01 662 1890. emb.dublin@mfa.no
Norwegian Refugee Council: PO Box 6758, St Olavs plass, 0130 Oslo; +(47) 23 10 98 00; nrc@nrc.no
Authorities in Iran are still attempting to crush the student movement that has been organising against the theocratic state, and against imperialist warmongering and sanctions. A leading member of the Students for Freedom and Equality group, the DAB (Daneshjouyan-e Azadi Khah va Beraber Talab), Peyman Piran, is facing deportation from Norway. Members of DAB have said that Peyman’s life would be in danger if he is returned to Iran after being subjected to ill-treatment and imprisoned for anti-regime activities going back to 1999. You can help Peyman by contacting the Norwegian consulate and the Refugee Council of Norway to demand that he is permitted to stay in Norway (details below).
Sanaz Allahyari and Amir Hossein Mohammadi, who were arrested on March 1, have been released with significant injuries after 18 days in prison. They were arrested for taking part in demonstrations held on February 23 at Noushirvan University in Babo. Protests had been banned after the burial of soldiers killed during the Iraq-Iran war as the authorities deem it disrespectful to the ‘martyrs’. Comrades Maryam Sheikh and Nasim Roshana’i remain in the notorious Evin prison. Their well-being is unknown, but it is standard practice to ill-treat and abuse dissidents in Iran.
DAB members are also extremely worried about Mohammad Pour Abdollah, a Tehran University student who was arrested on February 12 and spent over a month in solitary confinement at Evin prison before being moved to Qezel Hesar, just outside of Tehran. His parents have only seen him once after sitting in front of the prison during Iran’s Norouz (new year). During the visit they learned that their son was being tortured.
Students for Freedom and Equality spokesperson Alireza Davoudi was also arrested in Isfahan on February 12 and is still in prison.
Hands Off the People of Iran has previously organised actions and meetings in solidarity with students in Iran - the videos of a protest in Manchester, for example, can be found on the Hopi Britain website (http://www.hopoi.org).
With the continuing wave of repression, we are planning further actions and call on all internationalists to stand with the students of Iran - against imperialism, against the theocratic regime.
We demand the immediate and unconditional release of these comrades and all political prisoners held by the Islamic Republic and call on all communists to act in solidarity with these students. For us this is inseparable from opposing all imperialist sanctions, threats and attacks on Iran, which the regime uses to justify its continued repression.
Royal Norwegian Embassy: 34 Molesworth Street, Dublin Tel: 01 662 1800. Fax: 01 662 1890. emb.dublin@mfa.no
Norwegian Refugee Council: PO Box 6758, St Olavs plass, 0130 Oslo; +(47) 23 10 98 00; nrc@nrc.no
Thursday, April 2, 2009
HOPI meeting on Iran Revolution
Hands off People of Iran presents:
Iranian Revolution – the hidden history
23 April Teachers Club, Parnell Square 8pm
The Iranian revolution is often portrayed as an uprising led by Islamic fundamentalists. This completely denies the reality of this immense social movement. The roots of 1979 lay in the mass democratic and secular struggle against the deeply discredited Shah. Women’s organisations, workers and students all took part in an uprising for freedom and democracy. This was a progressive movement that was hijacked by the Ayatollah and his supporters.
Torab Saleh took part in the movement of 1979. He will speak of his personal experiences of that time and the challenges it presented to him and others on the left. He will focus on the many exciting events of that year, including the coming together of a vibrant and confident women’s movement and the energy and determination of the working class.
Torab has written extensively on the subject and his articles can be found at www.hopi-Ireland.org.
Come along to listen and take part in an important discussion about one of the most exciting events of the 20th century.
Contact Anne at anne@hopoi.info or on 0862343238
Iranian Revolution – the hidden history
23 April Teachers Club, Parnell Square 8pm
The Iranian revolution is often portrayed as an uprising led by Islamic fundamentalists. This completely denies the reality of this immense social movement. The roots of 1979 lay in the mass democratic and secular struggle against the deeply discredited Shah. Women’s organisations, workers and students all took part in an uprising for freedom and democracy. This was a progressive movement that was hijacked by the Ayatollah and his supporters.
Torab Saleh took part in the movement of 1979. He will speak of his personal experiences of that time and the challenges it presented to him and others on the left. He will focus on the many exciting events of that year, including the coming together of a vibrant and confident women’s movement and the energy and determination of the working class.
Torab has written extensively on the subject and his articles can be found at www.hopi-Ireland.org.
Come along to listen and take part in an important discussion about one of the most exciting events of the 20th century.
Contact Anne at anne@hopoi.info or on 0862343238
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