Iranian state forces attack opposition rally in Tehran

by John Cornford Mon Feb 14, 2011 19:34

Heres an update from Mohsen Asgari BBC News, Tehran posted at 19.28

Riding on the back of a motorbike, holding my mobile to take video footage, I went to central Tehran on Monday afternoon. My driver skilfully found back alleys to reach Azadi (Freedom) Square, the Iranian counterpart of Egypt's Tahrir Square.

Thousands of people made their way amicably and silently towards the square, most of them young. Many wore trainers, suggesting they were anticipating having to run away from the security forces to escape arrest.

Riot police began to disperse the crowd before they even started the rally. Men on motorbikes belonging to the police and Republican Guards charged the protesters and beat them severely with batons. However, this merely emboldened them.

When the troops fired tear gas at the crowd, it became very difficult to breathe. Some girls and women fainted. Many of the protesters were also detained. Others set rubbish bins on fire to combat the effects of the gas.

My driver was hit by a paintball fired by a policeman and lightly injured, but he was still able to drive me back to the office. Once there, I was shocked to see that official and semi-official news agencies were saying everything was normal when for a couple of hours, there had been total chaos.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul, who is on a visit to Iran, earlier warned that "when leaders and heads of countries do not pay attention to the demands of their nations, the people themselves take action to achieve their demands".

Democracy will prevail in Iran.

by Joe Mon Feb 14, 2011 21:41

The day after the results of the Iranian general election were announced in 2009 , the HOPI group , which John Comford is a leading member of , issued a statement calling the election “a charade” and saying that Ahmadinejad's victory was the result of “blatant manipulation.” . The statement referred to the “level of cheating on display [that] seems crazy even by the standards of Iran's Islamic Republic regime”. HOPI even went so far as to state without offering any evidence that opinion polls taken in the run-up to the election - which accurately predicted the result - were “rigged”.

The unguarded words of Egyptian dictator Mubarak to the US and Israel last week as he struggled to maintain grip on power suggests that the 2009 election result was genuine . Mubarak’s desperate words spoken to his confidant ,the former Israeli cabinet minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, warned that any democratically-held election in the region would inevitably return Islamic governments similar to the one in Iran . A Reuters article last Friday reported Mubarak saying to Ben-Eliezer

"'They may be talking about democracy but they don't know what they're talking about and the result will be extremism and radical Islam,'" http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/11/us-egypt-isra...10211
Mubarak predicted that any concessions to democracy in Egypt would lead to a snowball of revolution that “wouldn't skip any Arab country in the Middle East and in the Gulf ” .
The same Reuters report let the truth about US attempts to subvert the democratic will of the people in the region and the level of support for Islamic parties in the Middle-East slip out in the same article saying :

“U.S. support for pro-democracy elements in Iran has not led to regime change in the Islamic Republic, and Hamas, a group Washington considers to be a terrorist organization, won a 2006 Palestinian election promoted by the United States.”

The US, which backed Mubarak for thirty years and all through the revolutionary events of the past two weeks, is “ clearly relishing the discomfort the uprising has created for Iran’s leaders, “ according to commentary in the New York Times today . In contrast to his support for "stability" in Egypt , US Vice -President Joseph R. Biden Jr. “ all but urged Iranians to go out onto Tehran’s streets, in a repeat of the June 2009 demonstrations” . The NYT quotes the vehemently pro-zionist Biden urging on the masses in Iran , “I say to our Iranian friends, Let your people march. Let your people speak. Release your people from jail. Let them have a voice.”

by opus diablos - the regressive hypocrite party Tue Feb 15, 2011 11:15

The bould Hillary ben Clinton wading in from the high moral ground to denounce the violence of Teheran. Funny she never seems to notice the human rights of Palestinians, Iraqis or Afghans to decide their own futures without patronising guidance from the whiteman.

America needs its own Tahrir Square. Till then, keep the powder dry.As they say at the coalface, the first hundred years are the hardest.

by John Cornford Tue Feb 15, 2011 12:49

Funny, some people believe in democracy in Egypt and Tunisia but they would deny the Iranian people the right to freedom. Why shouldn't the the Iranians have fair and free elections?

I repeat only innocents and charlatans would say that Iran is a democracy.

Ignore the weasel words of Clinton, what she wants is a regime in Iran which would be amenable to to US & Israeli interests.

Hands Off the People of Iran is opposed to all US Imperialist attacks on Iran including sanctions. Sanctions are just war by another means.

The people of Iran have a right to choose their own government but any change must come from within and from below.

by John Cornford Tue Feb 15, 2011 13:00

Here is an excerpt from the article 'Free Panahi! Free all political prisoners!' which also makes clear HOPIs opposition to Imperialism. Yassamine Mather who wrote the article fought against the Shah as well as against the mullahs. Full text at link.

Given the events in Tunisia and Egypt the campaign in support of iranian political prisoners has taken on a new urgency. So has the campaign for democracy in iran. iranians are just as entitled to freely choose their own leaders as Egyptians and Tunisians. Any change must come from within iran and from below. John McDonnell MP will launch a new campaign at the Hands Off the People of iran (GB) annual conference this coming Saturday (February 12).

The 'Free Panahi! Free all political prisoners!' initiative is expected to pick up significant international support. Renowned film director Jafar Panahi has had a savage six-year jail sentence imposed on him, plus a 20-year ban on making films and travelling abroad, for the 'crime' of planning to make a film about the mass movement for democracy that spilled onto the streets of major iranian cities in 2009.

The conference will also feature an important session on the latest imperialist threats against iran in the context of the global economic crisis and the dynamic situation across the whole Middle East. It will discuss solidarity with iranian workers and commemorate the 40th anniversary of a key act in the rebellion against the shah's regime.

According to information compiled by the International Campaign for Human Rights in iran, 121 individuals were hanged between December 20 2010 and January 31 2011. Amongst them were at least four political prisoners. We must do all we can to stop this wave of terror, and the campaign to end all executions and free all political prisoners will be a crucial part of Hopi's activities this year.

https://www.indymedia.ie/article/98898

by AI Tue Feb 15, 2011 13:25

Amnesty International has condemned the Iranian authorities for breaking up an apparently peaceful march held in Tehran in support of Egyptian and Tunisian protests. Protests were also reportedly held in other cities across Iran, such as Esfahan, Shiraz and Kermanshah.

“Iranians have a right to gather to peacefully express their support for the people of Egypt and Tunisia. While the authorities have a responsibility to maintain public order, this should be no excuse to ban and disperse protests by those who choose to exercise that right,” said Hassiba Hadj-Sahraoui, Amnesty International's Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

“This crackdown is the latest in a series of moves by the authorities aimed at blocking the work of activists and stifling dissent.”

by AI Tue Feb 15, 2011 13:32

Amnesty on the elections:

Ayatollah must retract Iran election comments

29 October 2009
Amnesty International is calling on Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to immediately retract his statement on Wednesday that criticising the outcome of June’s presidential election is a crime.

The Supreme Leader’s remark was carried by state television in a report from Khamenei's meeting with scientists in Tehran.

“The Ayatollah’s statement seeks to criminalise legitimate peaceful dissent and dissatisfaction with the political process,” said Malcolm Smart, Director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Programme.

“In dealing with the aftermath of the elections, the Iranian authorities are continuing to commit violation after violation after violation of fundamental human rights. They are trying to muzzle their own people and cow them into silence,”

The official result of the 12 June election was widely disputed and was followed by mass demonstrations throughout the country. Dozens were killed by the notorious Basij militia and other government forces; thousands were detained, many of whom are alleged to have been tortured and ill-treated; and scores – if not hundreds - have been put on trial. Amnesty International has condemned such “show trials” as a “mockery of justice”.

by TC Tue Feb 15, 2011 14:45

An SWP analysis of Iran. Much more at their site.

Iran is a country ravaged by corruption. Ordinary people have to pay bribes for services to policemen and state officials. Small businesses and traders have to pay hefty “bonuses” to officials for contracts. This corruption led many in the establishment to voice concerns over what was seen as the endemic mismanagement of the country.

Ayatollah Jalaleddin Taheri is a leading figure in the southern city of Isfahan. In 2002 he publicly denounced the “broken promises of the revolution” and resigned from his post as Friday prayer leader.

In his resignation speech Taheri said, “Some of the privileged progeny [clerics’ sons] and special people, some of whom even don cloaks and turbans, are competing amongst themselves to amass the most wealth and to achieve their own ends.

“The ones who are pillaging the nation’s wealth – yes, on behalf of the ones who think that Muslims’ public wealth belongs to them and consider the country to be their private, hereditary property, I am drenched in the sweat of shame.”

His biggest criticism was aimed at the pro-government militias.

He denounced them as “henchmen of tyranny and the mercenary, unrefined, mad club wielders, with their false ideas and cruel behaviour.”

This widespread unease forced the parliament to appoint Abbas Palizdar, a one-time ally of Ahmadinejad, to investigate senior officials. Palizdar’s inquiry exposed a network of kickbacks reaching into the heart of the establishment.

This included members of the powerful Council of Guardians, the head of special investigations, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards, the intelligence minister and even former president Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani. The biggest scandal involved some $100 million that went missing during the privatisation of Almakaseb, a large state-run trading company under the control of the son of a leading cleric.

Palizdar found the most corrupt institution to be the powerful Revolutionary Courts, which deal with dissent, drug smuggling and blasphemy. He found that those with money or influence had little to fear from the courts, even if the evidence against them was overwhelming.Those who could not pay were shown little mercy.

When Palizdar’s report was repressed he broke ranks and toured universities to expose the corrupt officials and their private projects.

He was arrested in June 2008 and has not been heard of since.

by People B4 Prophet Tue Feb 15, 2011 15:29

I'm sure that the fans of the Iranian Govt will be happy to justify this stuff.

Iranian chocolate thief faces hand amputation

An Iranian judge has sentenced a man convicted of robbing a confectionery shop to have one of his hands cut off, Iranian media report.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11559750

Khamenei urges Iranian youth to avoid music

IRAN’S SUPREME leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said yesterday that music was “not compatible” with the highest values of the Islamic republic, and it should not be practised or taught.

In some of the most extreme comments by a senior regime figure since the 1979 revolution, Ayatollah Khamenei said: “Although music is halal , promoting and teaching it is not compatible with the highest values of the sacred regime of the Islamic Republic.”
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2010/0803/122....html

Iran wages 'culture war' with haircuts

A new set of hairstyles has gone on display in Iran that aims to guide barbers and their customers away from the temptations of decadent western coiffures.

"We don't have a backward attitude. We are trying to present new hairstyles while preserving tradition and observing Iranian culture," said Jaleh Khodayar, secretary of the Hijab (Islamic dress) and Chastity Festival where the approved haircuts will go on display.

"This is how we will fight back against the Western cultural invasion," she said, according to the semi-official ILNA news agency.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/0707/....html

Vice to blame for looming quake, warn Tehran's clerics

TEHRAN – Iran’s influential Shia clerics have a warning: the country’s sprawling capital is about to be hit by a killer earthquake and millions will perish.

The reason for the coming apocalypse, the clerics say, is simple: vice has spread through Tehran and God intends to punish the sinners.

“Go on the streets and repent for your sins,” Ayatollah Aziz Khoshvaqt, a high-ranking cleric, told worshippers during a recent sermon in northern Tehran. “A holy torment is upon us. Leave town.”
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2010/0423/122....html

Iranian authorities close down production of Ibsen's 'Hedda Gabler'

TEHRAN – Iranian authorities have suspended a Tehran theatre’s production of Henrik Ibsen’s play Hedda Gabler and set up a body to police cultural affairs in a sign of a new crackdown on the arts.

Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, chief prosecutor in the Iranian capital, told the semi-official Fars news agency yesterday that he had summoned theatre company members to explain themselves and said a new office to police cultural affairs had been created.

“This play had some problems both conceptually and in the way it was performed,” Mr Dolatabadi said.

Fars, which described the play as “vulgar” and “hedonistic”, published photographs of the production in which a man and a woman appear to be on the verge of a kiss – an outrageous scene in Iran, where physical contact between unrelated men and women is banned.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2011/0113/122....html

by Joe Tue Feb 15, 2011 23:11

John Cornford asks : “Why shouldn't the Iranians have fair and free elections?”
Of course Iran should have free and fair elections and so should Britain and America. Iran doesn’t dedicate huge amounts of money to affect the result of elections in America and the UK , so why are the intelligence agencies of Britain and America so obsessed about the results of elections in Iran ? It’s because the government of Iran doesn’t allow either the US or Britain to steal Iran’s natural resources.

I really don’t think that John Cornford who is a committed Maoist should be giving lectures on democracy and freedom in this way while addressing those who question US involvement as hypocrites . It seems likely that this is an attempt on his behalf to justify the support given by his group and large section of the left in the West -along with Amnesty International and Bono - to the attempted coup orchestrated against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad two years ago .

The text that TC quoted was taken from a 2009 SWP article also written in support of that color-coded attempt to overturn the 2009 Iranian election result in favour of the defeated candidate , Mir-Hossein Mousavi ,who was the leader of the CIA and MI6 sponsored color-coded green "revolution ” . The coup attempt supported by John Conford , Yassamine Mather et al at the time failed in its aim of installing a regime that would be more amenable to the West with the butcher Mousavi at its head.

As prime minister from1981 to 1989 ,Mousavi had been responsible for the most terrible anti-leftist repression . During his premiership thousands of leftists were slaughtered “hung from cranes their bodies doused with disinfectant, packed in refrigerated trucks, and buried by night in mass graves.” This was the ghoul that the US and UK intelligence agencies and of course Mossad supported in 2009 and who John Conford and his friends insist was the real democratic choice of the Iranian electorate.

by joe Wed Feb 16, 2011 11:43

Yassamine Mather knows Mousavi’s bloody history very well of course, but for the 2009 election she regarded him as a preferable candidate to Ahmadinejad who she described as the worst of two evils. Even though Mather knew that Mousavi was the CIA /MI6/ Mossad - favoured candidate and that he had overseen the execution of thousands of people she claimed were her comrades, Ms Mather was able to write two days after the election:

“Iranians had to choose between the lesser of two evils – and when the worst was declared winner, they showed their contempt for the system by huge demonstrations culminating in the massive protests of June 13 2009.”
http://oxfordcommunists.wordpress.com/2009/06/17/yassam...iran/

Hopi and Yassamine Mather’s assessment at the time concurred with that of the think-tank of the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House, which concluded -on the basis of no independent research in the country - that there were grounds to suspect that the result of the Iranian election had been fraudulent.

But the result was hardly surprising . Ahmadinejad’s proposed anti- poverty measures won him the support of Iran’s poor masses, while the affluent minority opted for Mousavi’s pro-market monetarist policies. The result had been anticipated in polls conducted before the election by The Center for Public Opinion (CPO) -an organizations that was not in any way sympathetic to Ahmadinejad. Three weeks before the vote, the CPO poll showed Ahmadinejad leading Mousavi by a more than 2 to 1 margin - greater than Ahmadinejad’s eventual margin of victory. http://kenthink7.blogspot.com/2009/06/polls-before-iran....html

WorldPublicOpinion.org (WPO), a project of the Programme on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) of the University of Maryland, conducted research on Iranian attitudes four months after the election. In the WPO poll four out of five of the 1,003 Iranian respondents interviewed said they considered Ahmadinejad to be the legitimate president of Iran. Sixty-two percent of respondents said they had "a lot of confidence" in the declared election results. Three out of four respondents said Iran’s leader Ayatollah Khamenei had reacted correctly in his endorsement of Ahmadinejad’s victory. http://original.antiwar.com/lobe/2009/09/19/new-poll-fi...gime/

If Obama , Hilary Clinton , the Jerusalem Post , Yassamine Mather ,John Cornford , HOPI etc were seriously interested in democratic rights in Iran they would stop trying to overturn the results of the 2009 election.

by HOPI supporter Wed Feb 16, 2011 12:51

In reply to Joe,

If Obama , Hilary Clinton , the Jerusalem Post , Yassamine Mather ,John Cornford , HOPI etc were seriously interested in democratic rights in Iran they would stop trying to overturn the results of the 2009 election.”

“In 2009 the Guardian Council chose out of 446 presidential candidates (men and women) only four were selected and that included Mousavai nor can one question the selection process. HOPI believe that the control that the guardian clerics have over state is democratically unfair and also that of the selection of the candidates. The election results were returned with astonishing speed and 14 million ballot votes were missing. How on earth is that democratic and not to be questioned?
I would reiterate Yassamin’s state that, ‘Mousavai is certainly the lesser of two evils’and certainly so when compared to the barbaric dicatorship of Ahmajinedad.
Howvever HOPI want to see an overthrow of unrelenting clerical control over the state especially in regards to elections and government giving a wider, fairer and democratic decision-making to the people of Iran and not just only to the few parties in opposition who are threatened by Ahmajinedad

I would hope you can reach more realistic conclusions and stop implying that Yassamin, HOPI and other Iranian supporters approve of hangings and shootings. It certainly seems that your aims are the same as HOPI, blocking US imperalismand supporting democracy but neither are you looking at the reality of the process that exists leaving few visible members in opposition such as Mousavai and the Green Movement. We want democracy for all people in Iran, but unlike Joe, HOPI are realistic in our aims.

by John Cornford Wed Feb 16, 2011 13:46

First of all I am not a Maoist, I am a Democratic Socialist, I believe that Socialism will only come about through the majority of society backing a change in the existing system. I support the Maoists in Nepal who fought a liberation war which has changed the character of that country. In the last election they emerged as the single largest party. The process of change in Nepal is ongoing but thats for another article.

I didn't support Mousavi in the 2009 elections nor did HOPI. The "reformists" offer no real solution. See here for HOPIs position on reformists:

Iran: Green road to nowhere

Yassamine Mather analyses the development of the struggle in iran following the rigged presidential elections. She critiques the Green Movement and points to the for support of the iranian Left and the struggles of the iranian Working class. Yassamine also illustrates how ordinary iranians suffer most from Sanctions. Full text at link.

Every day for the last few weeks iranian workers have been protesting, at times in their thousands - at their workplaces, outside government offices and provincial offices complaining about job losses, non-payment of wages, privatisation ... Universities have been the scene of daily protests and ordinary people have used every opportunity, even football matches, to express their opposition to the regime. At the same time a new wave of exiles, including reporters, writers, professors of literature, are leaving the country, despairing of continued repression and the ineffective ‘reformist’ leaders. http://hopidisc.blogspot.com/2009/10/iran-green-road-to....html

Iran: Out of step with the masses

Yassamine Mather gives an update on the situation in iran and analyses how the supposed leaders of the opposition are failing to confront the iranian Regime. Full text at link.

Some of the founding ideologues of the Islamic Republic of iran are currently in exile, having fallen foul of the current leadership, and, together with royalists, they represent the most backward sections of the opposition. Yet they have been given unprecedented coverage by the international media, including, worst of all, sections of the Farsi-speaking media.

First we have Akbar Ganji, promoter of a New York hunger strike and a man portrayed in the US media as a “human rights activist” who talks of Islam and democracy. An ironic description for someone who founded, and was a commander of, the dreaded Pasdaran (Revolutionary Guards) and who played an active role in some of the worst mass executions of leftist and socialists under the Islamic regime. http://hopidisc.blogspot.com/2009/08/out-of-step-with-m....html

In this article published 31 May 2009 before the elections it is clear that HOPI was not supporting Mousavi or his ilk.

Mousavi is supposed to be the best placed candidate for the ‘reformist’ wing of the Islamic Republic. Ayatollah Khatami, the last ‘reformist’ president, withdrew from the elections in his favour.

Mousavi is a painter and architect who served as the fifth and last prime minister of Iran from 1981 until 1989, when the post was abolished. He is apparently in favour of the ‘free flow of information’ and is well ahead of other candidates in using ‘modern’ election tactics. He appeared with his wife, Zahra Rahnavard, holding hands at the election registration commission’s offices.

However, before anyone gets too excited about the prospect of a Mousavi presidency, it is worth remembering that he was prime minister during the worst period of repression when thousands of socialists and communists were slaughtered, between 1981 and 1988. It is therefore ironic that the man many look forward to putting on trial for the mass execution of communist political prisoners has chosen a Fedayeen song, Zemestoun, for his election campaign. Even some of the apologists of the regime agree that this a rather unfortunate choice. Mousavi’s campaign colour is Islamic green! http://www.cpgb.org.uk/article.php?article_id=1002072

by John Cornford Wed Feb 16, 2011 14:08

Heres an interesting piece from 42 Arab human rights groups give their supp ort to the Iranian People against the Iranian Regime. They make clear their solidarity with the iranian People and their opposition to the repression carried out by the iranian Regime. Full text at link.

Arab Human Rights Organisations Support the iranian People

We, the undersigned human rights organizations and advocates from the Arab region, express our condemnation of the brutal repression undertaken by the iranian authorities against the iranian people involved in peaceful demonstrations and protests against the course and outcome of the iranian presidential elections. The repressive acts led to the death of dozens and the detention of thousands, including members of political opposition, journalists, workers and human rights defenders. The detainees have been subject to maltreatment and torture intended to force them to make false confessions or to give statements to be broadcast by the state media to distort the image of the popular uprising. The iranian government has used the latter statements to support its fallacious claim that any dissonance or upheaval around the elections is merely the result of a foreign ploy to target iran.

We regret that the iranian people, who made enormous sacrifices to rid of themselves of the Shah, must once more suffer through the equally tyrannical rule of the Islamic Republic. The worst violations characterizing the previous dark era have been incessantly resumed through torture, arbitrary detentions, extra-judicial killing, and suppression of the political opposition, and social cultural freedoms - under the cloak of religious notions and authorities, which iran’s ruling clerical elites take shelter.

Immediate measures should be taken to defuse the current crisis.

• The government must release all detainees arrested since the post-election crisis began, and conduct fair investigations concerning claims of torture and ill-treatment. Perpetrators of such human rights violations must be prosecuted by iranian courts.

• The Basij militia, or plainclothes vigilantes, widely used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to terrorize and brutalize the population into submission must be dissolved.

• Independent investigations should be conducted concerning cases of likely extra-judicial murders and death sentences. International human rights missions should be allowed to enter the country as a first step to combat impunity with respect to crimes that have been committed.

• Journalists and human rights defenders must be allowed to carry out their work unhindered, and government-ordered interruptions and surveillance of phone and internet communications must be halted.

http://www.cihrs.org/English/NewsSystem/Articles/2432

by joe Wed Feb 16, 2011 14:29

“it is worth remembering that he was prime minister during the worst period of repression when thousands of socialists and communists were slaughtered, between 1981 and 1988.”

That was the point I made in my last comment . Despite his record of repression, HOPI regards the CIA / MI5- backed butcher Mousavi as the lesser of two evils over Ahmajinedad . That is on record at the link I gave to Mather’s quote . HOPI supporter reiterates the view in his comment above .

John Cornford says that he is not a Maoist , but he was a member of the Maoist WPRN in 2009
as can be seen at the link below which is to an anti- Ahmajinedad article of his on the Maoist group’s site . The by-line reads ,
“ by John Cornford, Member of WPRM (Ireland)”

see:http://www.wprmbritain.org/?paged=7

by John Cornford Wed Feb 16, 2011 15:09

Perhaps Joe would provide some evidence of CIA etc backing for Mousavi?

Does Joe think that Amnesty are not telling the truth about Iran? How about the 42 Arab human rights organisations? Is it only Joe that has it right?

I'm not a member of the WPRM, I posted that article on their behalf on Indymedia, I approved of the subject matter, the WPRM site linked to that and presumed I was a member in Ireland. I would be more of a Luxemburgist than a Leninist. If I was a Maoist I would say so.

But what about you Joe? What are your politics? Why do you support a Theocracy? All candidates for election to the Iranian parliament and presidency have to be approved by a Council of Islamic Guardians. Is that your idea of democracy?

Should candidates in Ireland be approved by Catholic Bishops?

by DublinHopi - DublinHopi Wed Feb 16, 2011 15:33 Dublinhopi at gmail dot com

In a situation like Iran where people cannot make free choice, HOPI believe with growing unrest and protest that it will be the people who will change Iran’s future. HOPI is not forcing people to make a choice between one politician and the other as you incorrectly insinuate but to choose freedom for the people and support them. It is unforunate that you think we are so single-minded on this issue or that you have not properly researched our views.

Note the link below to written by Yassaminr Mather, HOPI chairperson, and her own criticial article re Mousavi’s past.

http://hopoi.org/articles/elections%20June%202009.html

June 14 2009

"Support for the mass protests against Ahmadinejad’s re-election! But we should have no illusions that Massouvi would have been any better"

Yassamine Mather, chair of Hands Off the People of Iran, assesses the highly fluid situation in Iran:

It is no surprise that the highly contested results of the presidential elections in Iran have sparked unrest in Tehran and other cities across Iran. The level of cheating on display seems crazy even by the standards of Iran's Islamic Republic regime. Clearly, the results are the final proof that confirms that the whole electoral process is deeply undemocratic and rigged from top to bottom:
• Ahmadinejad was declared winner by the official media even before some polling stations had closed
• His final result was almost identical to what the (rigged) polls predicted all the way through the elections. This percentage did not ever vary by more than three percent
• Hundreds of candidates were barred from standing in the first place.
The main ‘reformist’ candidate Mir-Hossain Moussavi has declared the elections a “charade” and claimed Iran was moving towards tyranny. Thousands of protesters (not all of them backers of Moussavi) have taken to the streets to demonstrate against the re-election of Ahmadinejad.

Of course, Hopi condemns the arrest of over 900 demonstrators and 100 leading ‘reformists’, most of the latter ones supporters and collaborators of Moussavi.

But we should not forget that Moussavi does not consider the nine previous presidential elections in Iran's Islamic Republic – most of them with very dubious results - a “charade”. In the 2009 election, he did not bat an eyelid when the Council of Guardians disqualified over 400 candidates. He did not think the process was a “charade” when the supreme religious leader intervened time and time again to defend Ahmadinejad.

Even now, although he is furious about loosing the elections, he is not calling on the Iranian people to support him. Instead, he is addressing the 'Religious centres of Guidance' (elite shia Ayatollahs) to denounce the result. He is no fan of democracy and mass movements. Like his predecessor Mohammad Khatami, Moussavi is well aware that the survival of the 'Islamic order' is in his interests. That is why, even when he is clearly a victim of the supreme leader's lunacy, he cannot rock the boat.
Massouvi’s terrible past
After all, irrespective of the illusions of their supporters, Moussavi and the other reformist candidate, Mehdi Karroubi, are no radical opponents of the regime. For eight years, Moussavi served as prime minister of the Islamic republic - during some of the darkest days of this regime. He was deeply involved in the arms-for-hostages deals with the Reagan administration in the1980s, what came to be known as ‘Irangate’. He also played a prominent role in the brutal wave of repression in the 1980s that killed a generation of Iranian leftists. During this period, thousands of socialists and communists were jailed, with many of them executed while in prison.

Moussavi has attempted to refashion himself as a 'conservative reformer' or a 'reformist conservative' by expressing his allegiance to the supreme leader and by claiming to have initiated Iran’s nuclear programme, which he promised to continue. He also criticised the release of British navy personal in 2007 as “a humiliating surrender”. Defending his government's anti-Western credentials, Ahmadinejad claimed that “prime minister Tony Blair had sent a letter to apologise to Iran”. Within a few hours, the foreign office in London issued a stern denial that such a letter was ever sent. Moussavi tried to exploit this ‘weakness’.

But he clearly failed. The supreme leader could not tolerate his former protégé Moussavi. Although his politics are almost indistinguishable from those of Ahmadinejad, he was just a bit too ‘progressive’ on two points:
• He promised to be more liberal over women’s dress code and said he would expand women's rights –within the parameters proscribed by the religious state, of course
• He promised to use more diplomatic language and a more amenable attitude in dealings with the West, especially the USA. Despite this diplomatic ‘packaging’, however, he remains committed to defending Iran's nuclear program (including the right to enrich uranium)
Mass protests
These elections were a “charade” from the day they started. All four candidates are supporters of the existing system. All support the existing neo-liberal policies and privatisations. All four are in favour of Iran's nuclear programme.

But we should not underestimate the anger of the Iranian population against this blatant manipulation of the results. Iranians had to choose between the lesser of two evils - and when the worst was declared winner, they showed their contempt for the system by huge demonstrations culminating in the massive protests of June 13 2009.

Until early June, most Iranians had shown little interest in these elections, as they knew that neither candidate would lead to real change. But it was the live TV debates that changed the apathy. The debates betweeen Ahmadinejad - Moussavi and Ahmadinejad -Karroubi have been unique events in the history of the official media of the Islamic Republic. The debates confirmed what most Iranians know through their personal experiences – but which they have not yet heard on the official media:
• Ahmadinejad stated that Iran had been ruled for 24 years (up to his presidency) by a clique akin to an economic and political mafia. 'Elite' clerics such as the reformers Rafsanjani and Khatami had “forgotten their constituents” and were corrupt
• Moussavi stated that the economy has been in a terrible state, particularly in the last four years
The situation in Iran is very fluid. Over 900 protesters and 100 'reformist' leaders have been arrested, including the brother of former president Khatami. Moussavi and his wife have gone underground. There are signs of the beginning of an internal coup. Thirty years after the Iranian revolution, if Iran's supreme leader believes he can suppress the opposition, he will be making precisely the kind of mistake that led to the overthrow of the Shah's regime in 1979. The foundations of the Islamic Republic regime are shaking.

The protests of June 13 were the largest demonstrations since 1979. After the euphoria of the last two weeks, when Iranians participated in their millions in demonstrations and political meetings, no state - however brutal - will be able to control the situation. The events of the last few weeks show that there is real hope that the Iranian people can get rid of this regime - be it in the guise of Ahmadinejad or the no less undemocratic and corrupt ‘reformists’.

by Anne - Hopi Wed Feb 16, 2011 21:39

Joe refuses to support the masses in Iran - I don't know whether he is equally dismissive of the movements In Egypt, Libya and throughout the middle east. Of course we need to have our own revolution in the west but clearly that does not stop us supporting the revolutions there. In fact the solidarity of the working class is vital if these movements are to succeed.

Joe in vain tries to distort the politics of Hopi by taking a sentence out of context - shame on him. Good job that democrats and the people of the middle east take no notice of his tired old defence of one of the middle east's most prominent dictators - who will I hope fall victim to the massive movement which has been given confidence by the success of the movements in Egypt and Tunisia.

Of course there are dangers in the form of repression, army coups and sell-outs. And of course there can be no support for Mousavi and other reformist dictators - they too must be condemned. We in Hopi have made that clear time and time again.

I am for a revolutionary party in Iran and accross the middle east. I am for the greatest possible unity of the working class in this region. The problem is that left in Iran, and the middle east, like elsewhere in the world is very small and weak.

The politcs of support for so called anti-imperialist dictators is a call for the massacre of the movement of the working class in Iran and elsewhere. It is not the politcs of anybody remotely progressive or pro-working class.

by rk Thu Feb 17, 2011 18:32

From the British Socialist Worker. Viv Smith supports the Iranian masses against the Iranian Government repression. But also highlight Western hypocrisy. The way forward for Iran is through an Anti-Capitalist and Anti-Imperialist Revolution.

Iran’s protests show up the hypocrisy of the West

by Viv Smith

Protests for change have erupted in Iran—and are facing government repression.

Riot police killed a protester when they opened fire on thousands of protesters in Tehran, the capital, on Monday.

Protesters are vowing to stay on the streets.

A key chant is, “Death to the dictator”—referring to Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei and president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The protests have exposed the West’s hypocrisy.

US secretary of state Hillary Clinton praised the “courage” and “aspirations” of protesters, calling on them to follow Egypt. Britain’s foreign secretary William Hague has done the same.

These are the same rulers who wrung their hands and mumbled about democracy as millions of Egyptians took to the streets against Mubarak—a key ally of the West in the Middle East.

Clinton supports the the Egyptian military as they clamp down on strikes and protests.

She wants Iran to be a “colour” revolution like those the US aided in the Ukraine and Lebanon. She wants a Western-friendly regime, not an anti-US one.

The US does not want a popular revolution from below. But millions in Iran do not trust the US, as it backed Iran’s former dictator, the Shah.

Egypt has inspired people in Iran.

Their movement can go forward in an anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist direction.

by Bazr - Bazr Thu Feb 17, 2011 18:40

Here is a report from the Bazr student group of Iran. You can get the full article at the url.

"The Arab spring has reached Tehran. It is the morning of February 14 and crowds are already gathering. People are exchanging smiles even if they don’t know each other. Security forces are trying to stop shopkeepers shutting their businesses, but most don’t pay any attention.

Vassl Square: I am on a bus travelling towards Eman Hossein square. However, the main street is blocked and traffic is at standstill, so I get off the bus at Vassl. A young girl is shouting at plain-clothes police and crowds gather around to defend her. The bassiji move away, scared of the crowd.

Tehran University: The presence of large crowds has rattled the regime. A club-wielding plain-clothes policeman tries to attack a young woman who is protesting by showing the victory sign. Passengers get off a bus to ward off the bassij. He is forced to retreat. Slogans are chanted: “Death to dictator, free all political prisoners.”

At the top of Ghodss Street it is clear that security forces have used tear gas. Crowds help each other to recover, shopkeepers allow passers-by into their premises to escape the fumes. The bassiji are attacking the crowd again and the university janitors, who are supposed to keep people off the campus, are on the side of the protestors, allowing people to take refuge in the university gardens. No-one seems to be with the security forces any more."