Newly revealed documents reveal that MI5 taught Brazilian secret police the techniques deployed by the 1964-85 military dictatorship in horrific prisons like Rio de Janeiro’s House of Death. SARA VIVACQUA reports
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Presidents, pragmatism and power in the Middle East
Biden’s attitude towards the Middle East is beginning to take shape as Iran builds towards a presidential election of its own. STEVE BISHOP considers the issues facing the leadership in both countries
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (left) and (right) US President Joe Biden
CHRISTOPHE DOMEC speaks to the France Insoumise politician facing constant persecution from French authorities
It can be hard to discern conspiracy theory from reality and under the Trump regime the two might just be the same thing, writes Linda Pentz Gunter
ALAN SIMPSON says responses to the Golders Green attacks risk deepening divides across our country
Capturing the general strikes history is a vital part of our struggles today, posits HENRY FOWLER
On a tumultuous day in Welsh politics DAVID NICHOLSON looks at the key issues for progressives in Wales to grapple with the rise of the far right
IRAN’S national democratic revolution, which overthrew the dictatorship of the Shah in 1979, was a culmination of demands for democracy and progress that had been simmering in Iran since the MI6-inspired overthrow of the government of Mohammad Mossadegh in the 1953 coup.
That the revolution was subsequently hijacked by reactionary theocratic forces, resulting in the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran, is one of the modern-day tragedies of the politics of the Middle East.
The mission of the leaders of the Islamic Republic has, for much of the past 40 years, been reasonably clear. The Islamic Republic has been predicated on exporting Islamic revolution across the region based upon the Shia tendency within Islam, as opposed to the form of Sunni Islam supported by Saudi Arabia.
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Trump threatens war and punitive tariffs to recapture Iranian resources – just as in 1953, when the CIA overthrew Mossadegh and US corporations immediately seized 40% of the oil, says SEVIM DAGDELEN
Payam Solhtalab talks to GAWAIN LITTLE, general secretary of Codir, about the connection between the struggle for peace, against banking and economic sanctions, and the threat of a further military attack by the US/Israel axis on Iran
The US’s bid for regime change in the Islamic Republic has become more urgent as it seeks to encircle and contain a resurgent China, writes CARLOS MARTINEZ
In the second of two articles, STEVE BISHOP looks at how the 1979 revolution’s aims are obfuscated to create a picture where the monarchists are the opposition to the theocracy, not the burgeoning workers’ and women’s movement on the streets of Iran