been paralysed, not so much by the real economic and military threats posed by imperialism, as by the vicious and bloody attacks which have been taking against the left and the Kurds.
The Kurdish fighters been facing the army Islamic militias in battles.
The dispute with Iraq brutal mass expulsion Shi'ite community by the country's Ba'athist regime has used by the Iranian government to justify a military build-up Western borders, around Kurdistan.
Several villages have flattened. Hundreds of civilians have been massacred on the grounds that they were providing sanctuary •counter-revolutionary armed groups' communist and nationalist groups in Kurdistan.
On Friday 18 April, President Bani-Sadr gave a three-day ultimatum political groups to evacuate their university headquarters. He said they were free to have headquarters outside. campus, DuL necessary to end all ideological battles order 'protect freedom.' Bani-Sadr forgot to mention that all the 'outside' headquarters of left political. groups had already ransacked, burnt and closed down August. The headquarters were, in fact, the very last 'sanctuaries' of the left.
The following day, before BaniSadr's three-day period had run out, groups of Islamic fanatics, the well. known 'followers of the line of the Socialist Challenge 1 May 1980 Page 4 place internal deteriorating. have numerous of the Iraqi been skilfully on its headquarters, casualtes been provincial universities, dozen reported killed. all LO campuses. anti-Islamic a reference to Swift personally victory, declaring Islamic nationalism clearly academic 'the great on the left minorities.
On Thursday been groups, mainly university marched through Tehran. They implacable The left-wing CARTER's bungled attempt to release the Tehran embassy hostages took place at a time when the situation Halt was A massive witch-hunt against the left was combined with a fierce military assault against the Kurdish minority.
Socialists in the West are thus confronted with a complex and contradictory situation.
Imam', began to attack the left causing hundreds of Tehran and the with several Bonfires were literature his On Monday, 21 April, Bani-Sadr marched to Tehran university at the head of a crowd of ten thousand to celebrate their swift that similar operation was needed in Kurdistan.
was not satisfied with the confrontation with and Satan; American imperialism'. It had also declared war « and the national It would, however, be wrong to think that the left has been smashed.
April tens of was thousands of supporters of the left the Fedayeen, the streets made clear their hatred American imperialism, but defended their right to organise, and attacked the regime the for unleashing a war against the left.
demonstration was rapidly At the attacked by 'supporters Imam's line' armed with knives and bricks, but they defended themselves.
The continuing instability in Iran reflects the failure of Khomeini and clerical parties and institutions to stabilise the Islamic project. It 1S that demagogy still capable mobilising sections oI the Indeed it would be surprising if it were not given the role of the Mosques in the overthrow of the Shah.
But these mobilisations do not consulaire in themselves political project for the Iranian ruling class, which is now hopelessly divided Blacks a strong instrument repression — the Iranian army has still to be reconstructed Armoury Mass anti-imperialist sentiment also important part Khomeini's armoury and it was an important factor maintaining public. support. However even that has not been totally successful. The fact that 40 per cent of the voting population refused to participate in Presidential demonstrated very sharply divisions within the masses. same time we defend the Iranian regime against Iranian socialists are fighting for their lives in Tehran.
Our tasks are clear. We must direct our fire against imperialism and its plans to bring Iran to its knees while simultaneously making it clear that we do not defend in any way the repressive measures being carried out against the Iranian left and national minorities.
A political line which could unite the masses in a set of concrete anti-imperialist measures is clearly what is needed, but an essential prerequisite for that is freedom for the left and the national minorities.
There can be little doubt that in Islamic the eventuality of a military invasion (which seems unlikely) the left would illasses. fight the hardest against American In China, the occupying Japanese had a clear atitude to forces confronting stable nationalists (Chiang regarded as a 'disease' which could be cured, but Mao Tse Tung's partisans of were to be treated as a 'cancer' which had to be rooted out of the body politic.
The roughly analogous Khomeini and the forces of the left.
Project
of However the Khomeini's project comes today from embattled Iran. The Kurds. represent a nation that stretches into Irag and Turkey and numbers several the millions.
In Iran itself there are two major for autonomy federation.
Toilers Revolutionary have Imam line' clerics oversulale which pre-revolutionary goverment.' different class them The Kai-shek) were certain Department has to main threat Iran, Kurdish fighters in whole, Iranian solidarise assistance.
groupings. The Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran (KDP) is a multi-class alliance and the major base of the Communist Party. Its main leader is Sheikh Hoseini, who fights forcefully within an Iranian The second major force is the Organisation Kurdish Toilers (KOMALA), which is explicitly Marxist and is strong in the Southern portion of Kurdistan. Both substantial number of peshmarga ('those who face death') guerillas in their ranks and it is they who are resisting the 'soldiers of the KDP leader stated at the beginning of the month: "There are the government who their own strength, believing in a military solution to the Kurdish problem. It is a grave error could prove lalal lo ine It is true that the left and the Kurds have suffered heavy casualties, -but they are fighting back and the outcome of that battle is by no means at the present Socialists in the West must defend Iran against imperialism, but in no circumstances should they give up the task of solidarity with the victims of government repression.
To imperialism we say: hands off stop the economic sanctions That is our main task in the West. To socialists and the national minorities we say: brothers and sisters totally your struggle and will render all necessary