Uprising in Iran
Jun 15 2009 11:36
From the ICC's press in Turkey:
Mass Demonstrations in Iran: "Tanks, bullets, guards, nothing can stop us!"
Al-Jazerra has loudly proclaimed that the protests in Iran are the “biggest unrest since the 1979 revolution”. Protests began in Tehran on Saturday 13th, and as the results from the election started to come out, the protests started to turn increasingly violent. Demonstrations at three Tehran universities turned violent, and protesters attacked police and revolutionary guards. The police have sealed off important sites and in turn protesters have attacked shops, government offices, police stations, police vehicles, gas stations and banks. Rumours coming out of Tehran suggest that four or more people have already died in the protests. The state has also reacted by arresting prominent ‘anti-government figures’, and more importantly disrupting the internet telecommunications network, which had been used via SMS messages and websites to organise protests. Western journalists have said that ‘Tehran almost looks like a war zone already’.
That people are dissatisfied with what society has to offer them, and that there is an increasing willingness to struggle is very clear, not only from these events, but also from the recent struggles in Greece, as well as last years struggles in places such as Egypt and France. Just turning to the pages of the newspapers shows that the working class is recovering its will to struggle despite the fears caused by the return of open crisis.
However, it is not enough for communists to merely cheer on struggles from afar. It is necessary to analyse and explain and to put forward a perspective. At the moment, this movement is of a very different character from that of 1979. In the struggles leading up to the ‘Islamic revolution’, the working class played a huge role. For all the talk of people in the streets overthrowing the regime, what was clear in 1979 was that the strikes of the Iranian workers were the major, political element leading to the overthrow of the Shah's regime. Despite the mass mobilisations, when the ‘popular' movement - regrouping almost all the oppressed strata in Iran - began to exhaust itself, the entry into the struggle of the Iranian proletariat at the beginning of October 1978, most notably in the oil sector, not only refuelled the agitation, but posed a virtually insolvable problem for the national capital, in the absence of a replacement being found for the old governmental team. Repression was enough to cause the retreat of the small merchants, the students and those without work, but it proved a powerless weapon of the bourgeoisie when confronted with the economic paralysis provoked by the strikes of the workers.
This is not to say that the current movement can not develop and can not draw the working class as a class into struggle. The working class struggle in Iran has been especially militant in the past few years, especially with the 100,000 strong unofficial teachers strike which took place in March 2007, which thousands of factory workers joined in solidarity. 1,000 were arrested during this strike. This was the largest recorded workers’ struggle in Iran since 1979. The strike was followed in the next months by struggles involving thousands of workers in sugar-cane, tyre, automotive and textile industries. As for now, of course there are workers on the streets today, but they are engaged, at the moment, in the struggle as individuals and not as a collective force. It is important to stress though that the movement can not progress without this, collective force of the working class. A one day national strike has been called for Tuesday. This may give an indication of the level of support within the working class.
Recently the bourgeois media has been full of talk of various so-called revolutions named after various colours or plants. There have been ‘orange’ revolutions, ‘rose’ revolutions, ‘tulip’ revolutions and ‘cedar’ revolutions, and all the while the media have bleated like sheep about the ‘struggle’ for democracy.
This movement started as a protest about cheating in the elections and protesters were originally mobilised in support of Mousavi. However, the slogans quickly became more radicalised. There is a huge difference between Mousavi’s feeble protests to the supreme leader about the ‘unfairness’ of the elections, and the crowd’s chants of “death to the dictator and the regime”. Of course the Mousavi clique is now panicking and has cancelled a demonstration set for Monday. Whether people respect this decision remains to be seen. On the other hand, Mousavi’s calls for calm so far have also been met with slogans against him.
In contrast to these sort of coloured ‘revolutions’, communism poses the possibility of a completely different type of revolution, and a completely different type of system. What we advocate is not simply a change of management of society with new ‘democratic’ bosses performing exactly the same role as the old ‘dictatorial’ bosses, but a society of free and equal producers created by the working class itself and based on the needs of humanity and not on the needs of profit, where classes, exploitation and political oppression are done away with.
Sabri
admin - thread titled changed to reflect more general nature of what the thread has become
Jun 15 2009 18:46
#2
Is there a revolutionary way of intervening in this from abroad, though? Currently it seems that there is naught to do until things settle down and the media blackout is dropped.
Jun 15 2009 19:57
#3
Well there are a lot of people outside of Iran (more tech savvy than I am), apparently working to provide internet proxies to people inside Iran, so that they can share information and operate outside of the government's reach.
I don't think the media blackout is as complete as the Iranian government would like people to think.
Jun 15 2009 20:01
#4
Oh and apparently Mousavi is calling for a general strike tomorrow.
Jun 16 2009 00:03
#5
While the development in Iran today is a welcome development for revolutionaries around the world, we sholud be cautious of the danger that the working class will succumb to the factional infightings between the two major factions of the ruling class in Iran and in the mystifications of democracy and "clean" elections. As of now, the main character of the protest movements in Iran is inter-classist and very much influence with democratic mystifications.
However, the report from the ICC's section in Turkey is very informative.
Our intervention as internationationalists should focus on helping the Iranian proletariat to act and decide their struggles independent from the control or influence of any factions of the Iranian capitalist class -- administration or opposition. In other words, Iranian proletariat should launch independent movements there and as much as possible relate to the proletariat outside Iran especially in Western Europe where the proletarian struggles are relatively strong and widespread..
Jun 16 2009 09:58
#6
I think that the point about not getting involved in a faction fight between two different parts of the ruling class is a very important one. It is a real danger for the working class. That doesn't mean that it is not impossible for the working class to assert itself and to move the struggle beyond this. It is always a danger though.
Devrim
Jun 16 2009 09:58
#7
Jun 16 2009 12:08
#8
Devrim wrote:
http://riseoftheiranianpeople.wordpress.com/Could become an interesting site.
Devrim
thx
Jun 16 2009 12:49
#9
According to eyewitnesses on the BBC this morning there was a demonstration by medical workers outside the hospital where the wounded (and dead?) were taken yesterday, against the security forces.
When asked on Newsnight last night whether just the "middle classes" were involved, the reporter managed to mention everyone else except the working class. Very little news, on the mainstream media, so far about the working class.
There were reports last night of unrest spreading to other major towns.
Jun 16 2009 14:20
#10
Iranian state press have announced seven deaths after an 'attack on a military facility' which was some kind of training camp connected to the revolutionary guard. Considering that their members have been attacked in the street and turned out of demos this is hardly surprising.
Jun 16 2009 18:36
#11
Huh? Who attacked the military facility? What members are you talking about? I dont get it...
Jun 16 2009 19:00
#12
The above article is now on our English language site.
http://en.internationalism.org/icconline/2009/6/iran
Comments welcome...
Jun 16 2009 20:04
#13
The Basij militia, loyal to the government, have been on the streets attacking demonstrators with wooden staves and iron bars.
I think what Jef is talking about is the peaceful demonstration in front of a compound linked to the Revolutionary Guard, when the latter opened fire, first in the air and then into the crowd when it threw stones back. The BBC reported the event in the correct sequence but Iranian TV showed the crowd throwing stones and the guard apparantly responding with gunfire. Ironic really, because the BBC developed the "reverse sequence" trick during the miners' strike.
Just an interesting aside: The Guardian reports today that two US thinktanks said that the result was consistent with their polling weeks before the election. In the Washington Post they wrote: "While western news reports from Tehran in the days leading up to the voting portrayed an Iranian public enthusiastic about ... Mir Hossein Mousavi, our scientific sampling from across all 30 of Iran's provinces showed Ahmadinejad well ahead".
There seems to be weighty criticism from the demonstrators towards Mousavi but democracy remains a danger opening up the way for widescale repression, which is already underway at this level.
Jun 16 2009 20:30
#14
Wasn't only stones; the building was set on fire, and a Molotov cocktail was thrown.
Jun 16 2009 21:32
#15
A piece by Azadi Omid. For the couple of readers here who can understand Polish 
)))
http://cia.bzzz.net/wybory_w_iranie
Jun 16 2009 22:15
#16
Anyone got any better sources than those associated with the ICC mentals?
Jun 17 2009 06:34
#17
Quote:
Anyone got any better sources than those associated with the ICC mentals?
This kind of sectarianism seems especially unfortunate when we experiencing something of a real movement (not to minimize that this is certainly starting as a middle class movement),
Jun 17 2009 06:52
#18
vanilla.ice.baby wrote:
Anyone got any better sources than those associated with the ICC mentals?
Could you tell us what seems particulary 'mental' about this article?
Devrim
Jun 17 2009 07:44
#19
I haven't read it, because it's by the ICC, and they are bonkers and pointless. God forbid anyone should be sectarian towards the ICC...
Jun 17 2009 07:49
#20
I've been getting dispatches from a comrade-of-a-comrade (meaning I don't exactly know their political perspective) in Tehran. They're having a hard time sending them with the government randomly shutting down various means of telecommunication.
The dispatch in the a.m. hours on Sunday, June 14th, said this:
Quote:
"Today there is a call for a general strike."
I read elsewhere that a one-day work stoppage was called for today (Tuesday), but haven't heard anything subsequently. Has anyone heard any news?
For International Solidarity,
Hieronymous
PS I know this account is pretty dated, given the fluidity of the situation there. It seems like all means of communication have been blacked out for the last 1 1/2 days.
____________________________________________________________
Here's the report from Sunday evening:
First of all, thanks so much for your messages! We share them with friends here, and it gives us strength and morale to know we are not alone!
I know these dispatches are long, but please circulate wherever you think helpful, even if you don't have time to read. It was too dangerous to take photos or video today, but i'm sure there are plenty of images being spread over the net. I don't do Facebook, and it has been officially blocked here, but some are able to access it through proxies. It is a good minute to minute update, and somewhere we have been sending our images.
b
-------------------
TEHRAN, June 14, midnight---The streets of Tehran are under siege. After this coup d'etat, people are remaining in the streets, although today there was severe repression and riot police everywhere. The word revolution is in everyone's mouths, and people are refusing to stay indoors, as the regime and police are asking them to. The fascist apparatus is coming on full force. Riot police are accompanied by Bassiji militants, huge men with beards, dressed in emblematic khaki pants and white button up shirts, with one-meter long wooden batons in hand, and colt pistols. These men, usually hidden on a 'normal' day in the streets to monitor behavior and the dress code, are now working at full force with the police, especially at night.
Today we mostly stayed indoors, although there were some gatherings further into the city. Because Ahmadinejad was holding an official victory rally, where thousands had gathered (although as usual, many were probably brought in by bus from the outskirts of the city), people in opposition were encouraged to stay away. This is mostly because meeting face to face with these people would lead to violent clashes, and more deaths. Although there are no official figures, there have been some deaths. We have heard that 11 were killed yesterday, but there is no way to know.
This is not an explosion or a spontaneous riot. This is not a show of anger or rage. Something bigger is happening, and we can feel that people are preparing for it. Although there is severe repression and fear, people are maintaining their presence in the streets. This is not just an angry reaction to election fraud, but a real movement that is bubbling. The slogans on the street now are mainly 'Death to Dictatorship', and people are not afraid to cry this out.
Again, through some accessible weblogs (or others we get through to with filters), and phone calls to others around the city, we gather information. Internet has been virtually cut, although a slow dialup service allows us to send a few emails or read feeds every few hours.
A short list of today's news: Moussavi is still under house arrest; his wife gave a talk today at Tehran University announcing that tomorrow there will be a massive demonstration (for which they will have asked for a permit, which is not sure to be granted); a large number of reformist leaders were arrested, threatened not to make any radical moves or declarations, and then released; SMS services are still deactivated, as are any wave using internet services; Ayatollah Sanei (a reformist, elderly cleric) took to the streets of Qom in protest, wearing a shroud that Muslims are wrapped in when they die; weblogs called for people to stay in the streets and to walk calmly; Tehran and Isfahan Universities were attacked by Bassij militia who severely beat students.
As night fell on Tehran, we went up on the rooftop and along with hundreds of other people began yelling "Death to Dictatorship". You could hear the voices in the dark across the city. Friends who live in other parts of the city reported that in their parts the same was happening. People were also yelling, "Allah Akbar" (which I personally have an extremely hard time saying, but it is a tactical move for people: they need to keep the support of figures like Moussavi, Rafsanjani, Ayatollah Sanei, and others important within the political sphere if their movement is to build and go forward with force). During the 1979 revolution, the movements were leftist, but what is happening today is first and foremost a fight for social and political freedom.
Officially it is illegal to gather, meaning that groups of 3 or 4 people standing together in the street are threatened and hit with batons if they don't move. So the quiet walking continues tonight.
In our street, Bassiji militants have attacked people and beaten their wooden batons onto our doors, insulting us and telling us to get back in the house. They are trying to create fear and hysteria, but people continue to go outside, to walk in the streets, to drive their cars and honk. This will only grow.
But the situation is severe, and the police have been given orders to kill. That said, we are all seeing a clip today of a number of protesters protecting a policeman after he was beaten by a group of protesters, pleading with each other that we are all the same people, that we are all in this country together. Today, I witnessed a few occasions where people were discussing with young policemen in riot gear. At one point a few friends and I conversed with a policeman in his twenties. He was ashamed, and told us that they have been told to shoot to kill, but that they are
'trying hard to keep the situation calm'. He said that he considers us like his brothers and sisters; we told him to drop his weapons and join our ranks. This will hopefully happen soon.
The main problem for us is the plainclothes police, Bassijis, and secret service that are stationed all over the place; on each street corner, as well as around the major squares of the city.
Something is happening, slowly but surely, and the force of the people will only grow each day. Tehran, Isfahan, Mashad, Ahvaz, Shiraz, Zahedan are [sic], and probably more cities in the coming days and weeks.
What we want may take a long time, but it is happening. The walls are covered with "Death to Dictatorship", and it will come to an end.
Latest news:
• Helicopter police have opened fire on a crowd in Haft Tir Square (in central Tehran). We heard that this was with plastic coated bullets, but this is to be confirmed.
• Tehran University is under severe attack; this is the first time that the army has actually entered the university grounds in 44 years.
• The above mentioned, Ayatollah Sanei has come to Tehran from Qom and is maintaining a sit in in Khomeini's home, asking others of the Ulema to join him. This is extremely important; a remnant action from the Constitutional Revolution of 1906.
Jun 17 2009 11:50
#21
Well done Vanilla - very succinct summing up of many of the anti-ICC elements shown on here.
I think that the basij police are the loathed religious police distinct from the Revolutionary Guards and other repressive elements, as far as I can make out. The report directly above is interesting for its elements of fraternisation. Some elements of the army were on the streets last night, but appeared to be only cadets, according to the BBC.
BBC world news reports this morning that the "bazaarists", ie, the merchants have threatened a strike, and this would, it says, scare the regime because of their pivotal role in 1979. As far as I can tell there has been no mention of the working class on the mainstream media and the BBC, for all its resources and reporters, seems unable to utter the word or anything like it so far.
Jun 18 2009 00:26
#22
A first-hand update from earlier today, Wednesday, June 17th (Note: I don't agree with the reformist implications of this dispatch, but forward it for important on-the-ground information):
(plainclothes police, militia, or paid hitmen?)
TEHRAN, June 17, 02h00---Today brought thousands to the streets again, although protesters changed the initial location of the protest because Ahmadinejad supporters were supposed to gather at the same site. Official state television was calling all peoples of all opinions to gather there, which in Islamic Republic code means: go and fight it out; we will provide the armed militias, and you will provide the targets.
So the peaceful crowd changed their location, making their way from Vanak Square towards Tajrish, in the north of Tehran. Like each day, the protests are illegal, and people afraid of repercussions, but this has not kept them indoors. The government has announced that it will re-count votes, although what has happened to the votes is a mystery. Many have resigned from the Ministry of Interior and most likely the paper ballots we all hand-wrote have either been trashed or tampered with. In any case, it matters little. This is not about the elections, but about a people being mocked and disgraced over and over again by a fascist regime--YES...FASCIST... (with big capital letters, for all those who think otherwise!).
I took the day off from the rally to rest...and to move across the city to hide my video tapes, get internet access at a friend's house, and to converse and exchange ideas about what has happened and what will happen in the next days, weeks, months, and maybe years. We all think that this is a beginning of the formation of a movement towards major systemic change. The last decade, starting with the student movement of 1999, brought about a demand for a REFERENDUM. Yes or No to Velayat-e-Faqih, supreme and divine law as administered by the chosen Ayatollah. This will come with due time - people want a peaceful, yet determined transition, one that will mean change brought about through a long-term people's struggle. Our only hope is that this movement is not stolen or undermined as the 1906 Constitutional Revolution was, as the coup d'etat in 1953 brought an end to Mossadegh's fight, and as the 1979 Revolution turned from a people's (mainly leftist) revolution to an Islamic one.
We are hopeful; people know what they want and are no longer afraid of each other. They have proven that the regime has ultimately failed at crushing our deep-set solidarity. But there is work to be done; there are many cleavages and gaps (both economic and cultural) in Iranian society, and too much trauma to just step nonchalantly towards something new. There are echoes of the past at every corner, and the strength of this time, I believe, is that we all have some memory, a collective memory, of what Iranians have been through together. Even those university students that I met last week, so adamantly calling for equality between men and women, carry some imprint of the aftermath of the revolution or the Iran-Iraq war, even if they were not yet born. People are learning their own history and making use of it.
But there is a lot of work to do. Right now we continue to stay in the streets, in defiance, in opposition, in solidarity, and to show who has power. The immediate demands may be for a cancellation of this election and a revote, but what has surfaced starting during the election campaign is a need for major change, or outright revolt. What people want is not Moussavi, Karroubi, or whoever else. What people want is freedom of expression and speech; freedom to gather; an end to censorship of press, art, film, theatre, and basically everything else you can name; and the right to choose how to live in private and in public, together.
Despite yesterday's killings, and violence in other parts of the country today (and most definitely cases in Tehran that we have not yet heard of), I feel very optimistic and energized today. Even the Bassijis had to stand silently on the sidewalks, having shocked the world with their brutal killings yesterday.
That said the list of repressive actions and events continue. University students are still under attack: two students were thrown off the roof of a building today at Tehran University; the director of Shiraz University resigned; at least 50 reformist leaders have been arrested; police still have an order to kill; SMS messaging, and also cell phone communications are shut down; internet is sporadically closed or slowed with parasites; the spokesperson of the Ministry of the Interior was arrested, most likely because he would have let out some unpleasant information.
These events will accumulate, the country, as we know it, is falling apart, and things are happening.
Two bits of information, one funny and one with exciting prospects:
1) State television continued to publish its phone number at the bottom of the screen, and read SMS messages that they apparently received today; although ALL SMS has been shut down since Saturday!! An oversight or just plain stupidity. Doesn't matter, we had a laugh. This gives you a sense of how the country is run with lies.
2) Sixteen members of the Revolutionary Guard were arrested today for trying to give arms to people within the opposition. Three of these men were veterans of the Iran-Iraq war.
On a not so gay note, please look at this photo: plainclothes police, militia, or paid hitmen. This is what we are up against.
Tomorrow, a massive gathering is planned - to meet at 4 pm at Haft-e-Tir Square. Hopefully I'll have internet access in the late evening to report.
b
Jun 18 2009 01:46
#23
cheers Hieronymous for these very revealing reports.
Quote:
Sixteen members of the Revolutionary Guard were arrested today for trying to give arms to people within the opposition.
that is interesting. Perhaps the first signs of a soon-to-follow coup? Let's hope it doesn't all end with a junto-run "emergency government" that will make Ahmedinejad look like Michael Foot.
Jun 18 2009 08:49
#24
I think that comrade sabri's article is misleading. The basic problem is that Iranian situation is not similar to that of Greece, Egypt, Bagladesh or Chinese situations in which workers are the main force. In Iranian case however supporting the movement might have very dangerous consequences. I think one should be able to show the expressions of autonomous actions of working class before arguing for a potential working class orientation in that kind of processes. Otherwise islamic dictatorship versus secular democraticsm or combinations of these can be found in every inter-burgeoisie political clashes in middle east in which only working class suffers.
Jun 18 2009 10:24
#25
I don't think that the article is misleading at all. I think that it quite clearly stresses that this is not a revolt of the working class, and that if the working class does not start to assert itself the revolt has no future without the working class intervening as an autonomus force in it's own intrests. It also stresses that this is not happening at the moment and in my personal opinion unless the working class can do that their is a possibility that it will end in a bloodbath. Seven people have been killed already and unconfirmed reports coming out of Iran suggest that the number is even higher.
However, that doesn't mean that it is impossible for the working class to assert itself, nor does it mean automatically that it will and even if it does it does not mean that it will not get dragged into taking sides in a fight between what are clearly two different factions of the ruling class. These dangers are very real as canbe seen from the process observer in last year's general strike in Lebanon and the public sector strike in Palestine. Both struggles incidentaly which did start amongst the working class.
The struggles in Greece, on the other hand, didn't. They started amongst the youth when a young boy was murdered by policemen. That doesn't mean that they weren't able to draw in sectors of the working class. It is also clear that their weakness was determined by the fact that they were unable to generalize that process. This will be the case here.
The fact that students and workers are willing to come out onto thevstreets and struggle is, in my opiinion, a positive thing and reflects very much the change in period and the development of a will to struggle.
This does not mean that there is a 'revolution' happening in Iran today or even that the working class will be able to intervene and play a decisive role in this struggle. Nor does it mean though that it is impossible, it unlikely for this to happen. I believe that the article reflects both these dangers and possibilities well.
Devrim
Jun 18 2009 11:38
#26
Quote:
I think that it quite clearly stresses that this is not a revolt of the working class, and that if the working class does not start to assert itself the revolt has no future without the working class intervening as an autonomus force in it's own intrests.
Yes devrim ok. But what you did say was to equate Greece ot Egypt to Iran in terms of "people's dissatisfaction". As I have tried to explain, both cases were proletarian struggles. And second was from the beggining a worker's action.
One more thing you seem to not understand about students is that unlike musavi in iran they are either part of proletariat (most of the students might be working) or they are going to be a part of it ("600 euro generation" is what Greek students are called since this is the general wage they earn after graduation). So I propose you to not reduce two different thing to one.
and;
Quote:
This does not mean that there is a 'revolution' happening in Iran today or even that the working class will be able to intervene and play a decisive role in this struggle. Nor does it mean though that it is impossible, it unlikely for this to happen. I believe that the article reflects both these dangers and possibilities well.
Personally I do not believe that for Iran working class there is a possibility to break with burgeoisie alternatives in this situation. and the reasons should have been obvious;
1- Political violence caused by a fight between two burgeoisie fractions itself is never something beneficial for working class to advence its otonomous struggle. On the contrary in most cases oppression is legitimised in that way. History of middle eastern capitalist states is a clear indication of that.
2- In Iran political minorities of the class are either too weak and small -that we even are not sure they exist-. Moreover the groups such as Iranian Communist Worker's Party are sources of confusion.
In that sense the article fails to develop, "necessary analysis and explanation and putting forward a perspective". It is misleading because it is not clearly showing the dangers. I do not think that it is written on the basis of a patient observation. Rather than that the writer seems to be excited with the news coming from stalinist articles and mainstream media and tv's.
Jun 18 2009 11:42
#27
one last thing;
In greece and egypt working class interests were at least expressed clearly in the strugle. However "down to the dictatorshinp" and "Allahu ekber" slogans do not seem to show the working class alternative to me...
Jun 18 2009 12:51
#28
website of the pirate bay / anonymous project to help the iran opposition to circumvent the draconian media control in iran. a really good initiative.
Jun 18 2009 14:43
#29
mikail firtinaci wrote:
But what you did say was to equate Greece ot Egypt to Iran in terms of "people's dissatisfaction". As I have tried to explain, both cases were proletarian struggles. And second was from the beggining a worker's action.
Egypt was a mix of both proletarian and liberal struggles. The current round of "people's dissatisfaction" expressed publicly started with solidarity for Palestine and Iraq, developed into the liberal middle-class Kefaye and it was not until they were insignificant that workers' struggles became the centre of opposition. The strike movement has in turn inspired lots of other liberal groups to start opposing the regime. The situation and history of the struggles in Egypt is a bit more complex than you give impression of.
And there have been lots of proletarian struggles in Iran since at least 2002 (several strikes, repression from the state etc.).
Jun 18 2009 19:01
#30
I agree with the statement, which of course carries an element of speculation about the role of the working class but there's nothing wrong with this. Khawaga above points to the struggles of the working class - and Iran has a relatively strong working class - since 2002 and these have continued until recently. The question for the latter is the development of the crisis, unemployment and the general decomposition and repression affecting this country and themselves. From news bulletins it seems clear that workers are taking part in the demonstrations but this is as individuals with the danger that they will be subsumed into the faction fight that appears to be going on. What's important is the class enters the struggle with its own demands and fights on its own grounds. No news of it so far though.
Obama has been praised for "playing it cool" over events in Iran. But there is an imperialist aspect to these events - even if in the background - and a certain amount of truth in the claim from the ruling faction of "western interference". It's clear that the USA and Britain have for years being trying to destabilise certain areas of Iran up to using Kurdish terrorist groupings to do so. This again shows the need for an independent working class movement without overestimating its present capability.
Channel 4 news is calling it another 'revolution' (although their reporter there said 'maybe it's too early to call it that'...). It's clear that they're trying to make a lot of this, and no doubt the US etc will try and make some gains through these events. It seems as though the US is currently holding off directly criticising events, just saying they're 'very concerned' about events, not that they condemn them or anything..