NAR: About the social explosion in Iran

ANNOUNCEMENT of the NAR on Communist Liberation

The state murder of the 22-year-old Mahsa Amini by the Morality Police in Iran, while she was brought in for "reformation and education" because she was not wearing her hijab properly, has caused a social explosion that deserves our international solidarity.

For days, thousands of women in Iran have been leading an uprising against the oppressive Islamic Law that was implemented after theocratic forces prevailed and the communist forces were massacred by them during the anti-monarchist, anti-imperialist revolution of 1979 (it is no coincidence that the current president of Iran, Ibrahim Reishi was a protagonist, as Deputy Prosecutor, of the mass execution of political prisoners (mainly communists) during the 1988 massacre).

The burning of hijabs, the public appearance without them, the symbolic cutting of hair in public view and the organization of large demonstrations are brave acts of emancipation of the female gender that prove once again that the cause of female emancipation and liberation carries within it revolutionary elements . The uprising started in the Kurdish regions of Iran (place of origin of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini) but soon spread to Tehran and the Iranian south, essentially acquiring a nationwide character. Along with the women, men and students also mobilized, while some strikes took place in workplaces. In this sense, the movement acquires pan-social characteristics and expresses the wider popular indignation.

It is the right of women and people as a whole to dress as they wish, to form relationships freely, to have equal rights to education and work. The oppression of women and overall gender discrimination are particular aspects of the more general oppressive and exploitative character of many societies, but they also have an independent and dynamic character. This is precisely why there has always been a self-sufficient women's movement. The position of women serves as a basic criterion for the culture of a society. The same applies to the truly liberating character of every movement, revolution. The position of women in society is not yet another, "secondary" issue, but a key qualitative indicator for the case of social emancipation. The Iranian women who are rebelling today and the Iranians who support them are completely right on their side and deserve our undivided solidarity.

Along with the issue of women's oppression, the indignation of the rising people is also fueled by poverty, unemployment and wider oppression, characteristics that are not original to Iranian society but appear there with particular intensity in recent years. Of course, the US embargo that condemns millions of Iranians to poverty is largely responsible for Iran's economic situation, but at the same time, the Iranian bourgeoisie, its political personnel and the Islamic priesthood are responsible for the existence of an oppressive and exploitative regime.

The hypocritical outrage of the US-E.U. and all of the Western governments that are supposedly fighting for women's rights cannot hide their aspirations for exploitation and political patronage of the rebellion, for political and economic control of Iran, which has been their declared goal for decades. These are the same regimes that in many cases outlaw abortions (USA, Poland, etc.), commoditize the female body, maintain inequalities in the labor sector, take away rights from mothers, etc. These are the same states (along with Greece) that have no problem with the even worse oppression of women in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf monarchies. It goes without saying that we do not identify anywhere with the "cultural lessons" of their state and media propaganda and their wider geopolitical pursuits around Iran. Especially the Greek state is so "solidary" with the Iranian women's demonstrations that it beat and threw tear gas to the protesting women at the Iranian embassy in Athens, last Thursday. The Greek state "supports" women's rights in Iran while offering protection to rapists and abusers of women in Greece. Hypocrisy abounds…

The uprising of a large part of Iranian society against women's oppression, police brutality, the totalitarianism of modern capitalism and poverty gives us hope that through the wars, the intra-capitalist antagonisms and sharpened inter-state rivalries, the voice of the social majority can emerge! A voice that calls for freedom, dignity and equality. This is the voice of social liberation that we are called to bring here also against our own government and our own state, for women's rights in Greece, for the social issue in Greece. This will be the best greeting and the most complete sign of solidarity with the insurgent Iranians!

NAR for the Communist Liberation, Greece, 24/9/2022