Iran on the Brink

Shora Esmailian, Andreas Malm

Description

While the world keeps its eyes riveted on Iran's nuclear programme, the Islamic Republic has gone through a crisis of its own. This book shows how soaring unemployment and poverty has given way to social protest. A new labour movement has come to the fore. Although strikes are banned, workers are beginning to organise and underground networks are challenging the rule of the mullahs from within.



The authors offer a unique portrait of the social upheaval, why it is happening and where it may take the country. Following the fall of reformism, the rise of Ahmadinejad and the recent outbursts of ethnic violence, this book provides rare insights into the inner contradictions of the Islamic Republic.



The second part of the book deals with the international issues facing Iran - in particular the nuclear question, Iran's oil reserves and the serious threat of invasion. It is a sobering account of the realities of life in Iran, and the threat that war poses to the democratic aspirations of the Iranian people.
Preface 

Acknowledgements

I

1. May Day in Children’s Park

2. Springs interrupted

3. The sword that chopped off America’s hand

4. Millionaire mullah bonanza

5. The Islamic Republic of Dust

6. Outcry

7. Intifada of the provinces

8. Obituary of a reformism

9. A meek president and his assertive subjects  

II.

10. Behind those high walls: Overtures of war

11. Terror at the theatre

12. The matter with the bomb

13. A waterfall out of reach

14. A fighter dog emasculated

15. Real men on their way to Tehran

16. A people caught in crossfire

17. Theses on a country of contradictions

Glossary

Timetable

System of the IRI

Index

Sujets

• Political Freedom
• Political Science

Informations

• Publié par: Pluto Press
• Date de parution: 20 février 2007
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781849643436
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Iran on the Brink Rising Workers and Threats of War

ANDREAS MALM and SHORA ESMAILIAN

P Pluto Press LONDON • ANN ARBOR, MI

First published 2007 by Pluto Press 345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA and 839 Greene Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48106

www.plutobooks.com

Copyright © Andreas Malm and Shora Esmailian 2007

The right of Andreas Malm and Shora Esmailian to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

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Paperback ISBN-13 ISBN-10

978 0 7453 2604 7 0 7453 2604 8

978 0 7453 2603 0 0 7453 2603 X

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data applied for

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

Designed and produced for Pluto Press by Chase Publishing Services Ltd, Fortescue, Sidmouth, EX10 9QG, England Typeset from disk by Stanford DTP Services, Northampton, England Printed and bound in the European Union by Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham and Eastbourne, England

s

Chronology Glossary Preface Acknowledgements

e

Cont

nt

May Day in the Children’s Park After Spring Comes Winter The Sword that Chopped Off America’s Hand The Millionaire Mullah Bonanza The Islamic Republic of Dust Outcry The Intifada of the Provinces Reformism’s Obituary The “Humble” President: A Man of the People? “Inside Those High Walls”: Overtures of War

Workers in Iran

ix xii xvi xix

Part I

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

137 139 152 174 185 191 207

Terror at the Theatre Truth or Dare?: Iran’s Nuclear Programme Who Commands the Waterfall? Grooming the Attack Dog Real Men Go to Tehran A People Caught in the Crossfire Thoughts on a Country of Contradictions

Iran in the World

Part II

Afterword Notes Bibliography Index

11 12 13 14 15 16 17

215 220 249 254

3 5 25 40 54 71 91 100 110 124

vi Iran on the Brink

LIST OF FIGURES

1. Map of Iran 2. The genealogy of the Iranian Left: a selection 3. The oil reserves of Iran (2004) 4. The next battlefield?

viii 18 157 187

“If we cannot reduce economic polarisation and the inequalities between the rich and the poor, and if consequently people become disappointed with Islam, nothing can prevent the resulting explosion; and we will all be destroyed.” Ayatollah Khomeini speaking in 1983, quoted in Parsa (1989), p. 257.

“Today, the hungry powers, in the name of civilisation, humanity, and concern, stretch their violent hands towards Iran. Tomorrow, with cruelty and malevolence, they will capture the whole of the East in their claws of imprisonment and contempt, and will aim for the total extermination and obliteration of these nations.” Abd alRashid Iffindi speaking in 1910 at the “Conference of Muslims” in Istanbul, quoted in Afary, p. 306.

Map of Iran

Figure 1

Chronology

1906 The Shah is forced to accept the formation of a parliament, Majles, entitled to write a new constitution for Iran. The Constitutional Revolution unleashes a wave of democratic movements in the country. In cities, towns, and villages, so called “anjumans”, or councils, assume power. 1907 Britain and Russia carve up Iran in one British zone of influence in the south, one Russian in the north. Their agreement is known as the AngloRussian Convention, and fiercely resisted by the revolutionary forces in the country. 1908 The Shah stages a coup and counterrevolution against the Majles and the anjumans. There ensues a civil war. In the same year, a British entrepreneur discovers oil in Khuzestan. 1911 The Constitutional Revolution is brought to an end when Russian forces march on Tehran and massacre revolutionaries in the northern parts of the country. 1920 The jangalists proclaim a Soviet Socialist Republic in the province of Gilan. 1921 Cossack commander Reza Khan rises to power, supported by the British, soon calling himself Shah Reza Pahlavi. During his decades on the throne, no opposition activities are allowed in Iran. 1941 Reza Shah is deposed by incoming allied forces. Iran is occupied, but basic democratic liberties allow trade unions and newspapers to flourish. The communist party Tudeh is formed. 1946 A general strike among the oil workers in Khuzestan manifests the power of Tudeh and the labour movement. 1951 Democratically elected liberal prime minister Muhammad Mossadeq nationalises oil in Iran, previously owned and controlled by the British. A tense confrontation with Britain ensues. 1953 CIA stages a coup d’État against Mossadeq. He is replaced by the son of Reza Shah, Mohammed Reza Shah. Absolute dictatorship is reinstated, relying on American military and financial support. Tudeh is exiled, and all opposition activities are severely repressed.

ix

x Iran on the Brink

1963 The ulama, among them Ayatollah Khomeini, lead an uprising against the Shah’s policies. Khomeini is expelled from the country. 1971 Fedaiyan, a Marxist guerrilla, launches a campaign of armed struggle against the Shah’s regime. 1978 The Shah’s regime starts crumbling. Bazaari and ulama take to the streets, are massacred by royal troops in great numbers, and are soon joined by workers. In the autumn, a wave of strikes overflows Iran, while millions of people demonstrate against the monarchy. At the end of the year, the economy is paralysed by an allencompassing general strike. 1979 On 16 January, the Shah leaves Iran, never to return. On 11 February, his Immortal Guards are defeated by the Fedaiyan. The monarchy collapses. Ayatollah Khomeini rises to power and creates an Islamic Republic, while in the workplaces, councils or “shoras” take control over the means of production. In practice, they run the economy for most of the year. On 4 November, the US embassy is seized by Islamist students; the American diplomats are taken hostages. The revolution enters a new, purely Islamic phase. 1980 Iraq unilaterally sends its army into Iran. It is the start of the longest conventional war in the twentieth century. Fedaiyan splits in two, the Majority and the Minority. Strikes are banned and Pasdaran mobilised to rout the shoras. 1982 The shora movement is essentially quashed. The US starts giving financial aid to Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, in a first major escalation of the American engagement on Iraq’s side in the war. Iran reconquers all lost territory and is offered a truce by Iraq, but Khomeini chooses to continue the war. 1983 Khomeini crushes Tudeh and Fedaiyan Majority. With the exception of the Kurdish guerrillas, no substantial opposition to the Islamic Republic is alive. 1988 The IranIraq war ends without any changes in the border. Thousands of political prisoners of the Left are executed in the Evin prison. 1989 Ayatollah Khomeini dies. He is succeeded in the post as faqih, or Supreme Leader, by Ayatollah Khamene’i, while Hashemi Rafsanjani is elected president. Rafsanjani soon announces a programme of economic liberalisation, but it is essentially stalled.

Chronology xi

1997 Mohammad Khatami is elected president on a programme of political reform. It is the beginning of a shortlived thaw in the Islamic Republic. The reformist movement, led by Khatami, opens up spaces for some political debate. However, at the point of production, nothing changes, as Khatami has no idea about trade union rights, nor any economic agenda. 1999 A major student uprising in Tehran is brutally repressed by Pasdaran. Khatami condemns the students. 2002 With the continued rise of the oil price, the great millionaire mullah bonanza sets in. The existence of a secret nuclear plant at Natanz is revealed. American president George W. Bush includes Iran in the “axis of evil”. 2003 Iraq is occupied by USled “coalition forces”. Iran voluntarily suspends its programme for enrichment of uranium and enters into cooperation and negotiations with IAEA and EU. Reports of Israel planning military strikes against nuclear installations in Iran surface in the media.Reading Lolita in Tehranis published. 2004 Massacre at the copper plant in Khatonabad, teachers’ strike, May Day demonstrations, workers’ control in Gilan. Birth of a new labour movement. In the Majles elections in February, the reformists are banned from running. It is the end of the reform project. Iran revises its oil reserves upwards. American drones are seen in the sky in northern Iran. 2005 Major civil uprisings in Kurdistan and Khuzestan, followed by armed campaigns in both provinces. Rising strike wave, new initiatives for organising workers independently of the state, radicalisation of the women’s movement. In June, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is elected new president of Iran. Iran resumes enrichment of uranium, entering into a period of escalating confrontation with the West.

Glossary

Anjuman –Persian for “association”, “council”. The term used for the local councils during the Constitutional Revolution, 1906–1911. Ayatollah –“Sign of Allah”. A highranking Shiite cleric. Basiji –Paramilitary, plainclothes streetgangs of Pasdaran, connected to local mosques. Bazaari– A social segment comprised of the various professions active in the bazaar, primarily merchants, retailers, artisans, and moneylenders.

Bonyad– “Foundation”. The bonyads are religious, quasi governmental holding companies with some philanthropic functions besides their businesses. Chador –“Tent”. A black cloth covering all of the woman’s body, except for the face. The preferred dress for all women, in the eyes of the Islamic Republic. Evin –Infamous prison in Tehran, with a huge section for political prisoners. Faqih– “Jurisprudent”. An Islamic cleric versed in jurisprudence and interpretation of the Koran and the Sunna. AlFaqih signifies the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, that is, the ayatollah leading the state apparatus. Fatwa –An Islamic decree; a legal pronouncement based on inter pretation of sharia. Hadith– Thecollected traditions of the sayings and deeds of the prophet Muhammad. Halal –Permissible, approved, according to Islam. Haram –Prohibited, sinful, according to Islam. Hijab –“Barrier, screen”. Veil, scarf carried by women in Islamic countries; mandatory for all women in public in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Hezbollahi– A person committed to the politics of Ayatollah Khomeini and the leadership of the Islamic Republic, ready to be mobilised by basiji or Pasdaran.

xii