Groucho Marxism

Anti-government protests have been going on in Iran for the past two weeks. The protests were sparked by rampant inflation and the collapse of the Iranian currency, but have since spread across the country and morphed into more general protests against the Iranian regime, with people in more than 100 cities participating in the demonstrations. Although largely leaderless, many demonstrators have been demanding the return of the exiled Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran, who has called for a peaceful transition and a referendum to decide Iran’s future political system. Indeed, the protests escalated following calls from Pahlavi to intensify them. The demonstrations have drawn international attention with solidarity demonstrations being held in major cities around the world.

Iran is widely considered a theocracy because its government and legal system are directed by a powerful, clerically-appointed Supreme Leader and various religious bodies. I am personally against theocracy and would like to see reform in Iran, as I’m sure many others on the left would. However, there is good reason for us not to give our support to the current demonstrations. In particular, we must understand that Pahlavi, the figurehead of these protests, is strongly pro-Zionist and views Israel as a crucial strategic partner for Iran’s future. He has advocated for renewed ties between the two countries and expressed admiration for Israel’s strength. Pahlavi even visited Israel in 2023, meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu and praying at the Western Wall.

And it goes deeper. Investigations by several news sources (though none in the West of course) have exposed coordinated Israeli-backed digital operation in Iran. It appears that hundreds of fake Iranian digital accounts have been created pushing AI content, deep fakes, and staged content, all to create the impression that Iranians want to elevate Pahlavi as Iran’s next leader. Of course this isn’t to suggest that Iranians are not frustrated with the existing regime; clearly many of them are, and I’m sure with good reason. But it seems equally clear that this anger is being hijacked by Israel, a hostile foreign power, so that they can install a puppet pro-Zionist leader. What we have here is a case of synchronized information warfare.

The Israel and the US are clearly trying to bring about regime change in Iran, ostensibly in the name of freedom and democracy, but in reality to install a puppet monarchy run by the son of a dictator known for brutal political repression. They are doing this because Iran represents the main bulwark against complete US-Israeli domination of the region. The US has imposed grotesque economic terrorism on Iran for decades, the aim of which has been to break the collective will of the Iranian people to the point that either the regime is forced to acquiesce to the US’s demands, or there is an internal uprising. The regime has not done the former, so now it is facing the latter. People in Iran are angry, poor and hungry; but who was it that created these conditions?

What isn’t being reported in the West is that along with anti-government protests, massive pro-government protests are also going on across the country right now. It seems that Ayatollah Ali Khomeini and his government aren’t as unpopular as the Western media would have us believe. Maybe the people of Iran don’t want a pro-Zionist puppet as their leader after all. Meanwhile, we in the West are being told that the Iranian government is on the brink of collapse! The only explanation for this is a coordinated psychological operation aimed at the Western public to make us think that regime change in Iran is an inevitability, rather than something that is being deliberately instigated by the US and Israel to further their own interests.

Western governments have all been falling in line to support the ant-government protests in Iran, apparently because they care so much about freedom and democracy. Yet these same governments are more than happy to support similarly authoritarian regimes in Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, the UAE, Qatar, and so on. It must be remembered that the US and UK overthrew democracy in Iran in order to protect their oil interests in the country (sound familiar?). Under the Shah, who was installed as leader by the US, Americans were free to do anything they wanted in the country and the Iranian government had no right to prosecute them for any crimes committed. This is the level of imperialism that Ruhollah Khomeini, the first Ayatollah, was fighting against.

Ultimately the future of Iran must be decided by the Iranian people, not by the US, Israel, or any other foreign power. The same goes for Venezuela, Colombia, Cuba, Greenland, Sudan, and any other country or region the US and its allies are either meddling or threatening to meddle in. We must stand up against imperialist intervention in all its forms as a matter of principle, regardless of the nature of the regimes that are being intervened with. And in doing so, we must be clear that we are not supporting these regimes per se but the broader principle of self-determination. This principle is central to modern international law and is enshrined in the UN Charter, but the US and Israel are making a mockery of it with their actions in Iran and elsewhere around the world.