TO THE militant and conscious folk; workers and all working people; heroic women; and brave youth and students of Iran!

The popular protest uprising, which began with protests and strikes in Tehran’s bazaar, has rapidly spread over the past 13 days to dozens of cities and towns across the country and now poses a major challenge to the ruling dictatorship.  

Contrary to the claims of the ruling dictator, this popular protest movement is not a creation of US imperialism or the genocidal Israeli regime, but rather the direct result of the disastrous economic policies of the ruling grand-capitalist system, and the widespread corruption, insecurity and sweeping oppression imposed upon the nation by the leaders of the regime and their collaborators.

Throughout Iran’s contemporary history — including during the more than half-century rule of the Pahlavi monarchy (1925-79) — we have borne witness to countless other examples of such oppression, corruption, plunder, as well as the eventual fate of the regimes responsible.

The heroic struggle of hundreds of thousands of people in dozens of cities across the country, despite the regime’s efforts to violently suppress it, is clear evidence that the overwhelming majority of the Iranian people do not want the continuation of the current corrupt and anti-popular government.

By implementing neoliberal policies and a so-called “economic surgery” (neoliberal shock therapy), this regime has pushed tens of millions of Iranians below the poverty line and has dragged the livelihoods of workers and other working people to such a dire condition that their wages and incomes no longer cover even the basic necessities of life.

This government has destroyed the country’s productive economy and, through its adventurous foreign policies aimed at “exporting the Islamic revolution,” has placed Iran increasingly at risk of foreign intervention and its catastrophic consequences.

Like the authors of the recent statement by “17 political and civic activists,” we also believe that “the only viable escape [from this predicament] is through the assertion of the people’s agency and their right to determine their own future … This path neither aligns with internal despots nor passes through war and dependence on foreign powers.”  

Only through active and effective co-operation and solidarity among all patriotic, freedom-loving, and progressive social forces, can this future be achieved and this aspiration, desired by the vast majority of the Iranian people, be realised.

The serious challenge facing the current popular uprising is, on the one hand; the absence of a coherent, progressive national leadership and, on the other hand; the extensive efforts of imperialist media outlets, such as the BBC, and the reactionary agents of imperialism on media platforms like Iran International, Manoto, and others, to artificially manufacture a leadership and false narrative regarding these developments.  

In recent days, we have witnessed widespread efforts by some of these media outlets to lend a hollow legitimacy to monarchists by manipulating protest videos, including the adding of audio overlays and splicing of footage in an attempt to misleadingly portray the restoration of the monarchy as the core demand of this popular uprising, and to promote and amplify this narrative thereafter.

The Tudeh Party of Iran believes that replacing the current political system, ie the theocratic-capitalist dictatorship, with a monarchical-capitalist system — which would involve the re-establishing of the repressive ancien regime (pre-1979), thereby once more turning Iran into a military base for imperialism in the region, as well as the plundering of Iran’s oil and other natural resources — cannot equate to the gaining of a free future liberated from despotism or a move towards genuine social justice. Currents and forces that invest their hopes in the quasi-fascist Trump administration and the genocidal Israeli government to “liberate Iran” cannot realistically be regarded as the harbingers of a free, independent, and prosperous Iran. The painful experiences of Iraq and Libya following direct imperialist interventions in their internal affairs must serve as a serious warning and alarm bell for all progressive and freedom-loving forces in the country.

Today, all of us must focus all our efforts and capacities on the continuation and expansion of this popular uprising until victory.  The direct presence and broad participation of workers and other working people, retirees, civil servants, intellectuals and patriotic segments of the middle strata of society in the ongoing popular movement are essential to strengthening its capacity. By building solidarity and unity in action among all progressive social forces in this struggle, we must strive to confront the ruling dictatorship and the threats of US imperialism simultaneously.  

Move towards the organising of a nationwide general strike to restrict and ultimately completely dismantle the Islamic Republic’s ability to continue ruling, as well as towards the establishment of a transitional national-popular government, with the holding of a free and democratic referendum to determine the future path of the country, are among the key strategies that must be pursued.

• Power to the people’s struggle against the regime of the Islamic Republic, against poverty, unemployment, discrimination and repression!
• Members of the military and security forces, you are part of this nation; join the people’s struggle against the authoritarian regime!
• End the bloody and violent repression of protesting people!
• Attacks on medical centres and hospitals are crimes against humanity — stop these attacks!
• All detainees of the current movement, all political prisoners, and all prisoners of conscience must be immediately and unconditionally released!
• Forwards towards the laying of the grounds for a nationwide general strike!

For the statements of the Tudeh Party of Iran and its analysis of major developments in Iran Please visit: www.tudehpartyiran.org.