INTERNATIONAL LABOUR-IRAN:

INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY DAY WITH THE WORKERS OF IRAN:

Tomorrow, June 26, is the day that has been long planned for by opposition unionists in Iran and their supporters worldwide, a day when international labour, 170 million strong, says enough to the seemingly endless repression of workers' rights in Iran. no doubt the significance of this day has seemingly been overshadowed by recent events in Iran, but its importance should not be underestimated. Through three decades of theocratic oppression the ideal of indpendent workers' organization has been kept alive in Iran, and, in the end, if the present ruling class of that country is ever to be overtrown or even forced to compromise it will not be by easily repressible street demonstrations but rather by indusrial action on the part of the ordinary Iranian. Here, from the website of the International Transport Workers' Federation, is the announcement of the international Day of Action.

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Worldwide Iran protests tomorrow:
25 June 2009
Protests for freedom in Iran will be held worldwide tomorrow, 26 June, organised by four global union organisations and their members, representing over 170 million workers.

Demonstrations will be held at Iranian embassies/consulates in Ankara, Bangkok, Brussels, Canberra, Geneva, Jakarta, London, Madrid, New Delhi, Oslo, The Hague, Tokyo, Toronto and Wellington. Alongside those events trade unions in other countries are also holding various support actions (See Worldwide Update at http://www.justiceforiranianworkers.org/ for more details).

The ITUC (International Trade Union Confederation), EI (Education International), ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation) and IUF (International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations) called the worldwide action day to demand justice and to protest against the denial of rights within Iran. Amnesty International has backed this campaign.

Guy Ryder, ITUC General Secretary, commented: “We have exhausted all avenues of reasonable dialogue to persuade the Iranian government to allow basic human and trade union rights. Their answer has been repression and arrests. Given this failure we must protest publicly against what is happening in Iran.”

Fred van Leeuwen, EI General Secretary, added: “Trade unions across the world are mobilising to express their repugnance for what is being done and what has been done to crush the aspirations of ordinary Iranians. We invite everyone who is concerned at those abuses to join us.”

David Cockroft, ITF General Secretary, said: “Tomorrow we all get the chance to show the government of Iran how discredited it has become and how the whole world feels about the repression and violence it is creating. We intend to raise a worldwide clamour for reform that will force the regime to listen and understand that the time for change has come.”

Ron Oswald, IUF General Secretary, concluded: “As trade unions we have long campaigned for the rights of Iranian workers, and that campaign continues. Tomorrow’s events are one facet of a continuing struggle that will not go away until those rights are respected.”

At time of sending the latest update of events (more will be posted at http://www.justiceforiranianworkers.org/ as they are confirmed) is:
In Australia, the ACTU Congress adopted a motion in support of the campaign. Unions and community organisations will rally outside the Iranian embassy in Canberra at midday on June 26. The MUA also plans events in Sydney and Melbourne.

In Austria, VIDA will use the Danube Island Festival in Vienna from 26 to 28 June to inform visitors about the Iran campaign. The union will distribute flyers, stickers and organise a collection of signatures. The congress of ÖGB (Austrian Trade Union Federation) on 30 June to 2 July in Vienna will also be used to distribute information. Teachers union, GÖD will be joining these activities.

Belgium. Demonstration to be held in Brussels beginning 13:00, with ITUC, EI, ETF, FGTB, CSC, CGSLB, BTB all taking part, along with Amnesty International. BTB is also encouraging every regional section to organise an event on 26 June.

Canada. Demonstrations planned in Ottawa and Toronto (commencing at 18:00 in Mel Lastman Square, Toronto (North York Subway Station).

France. On 26 June, French unions the CFDT, CGT, FO, CFTC and UNSA will submit a letter to the Ambassador demanding the release of trade unions and respect of union rights. At 12:30, there will be a rally in front of the Iranian Embassy in Paris.

HKCTU and HKPTU in Hong Kong have confirmed their participation in the action day.
In India the All India Railwaymen’s Federation will organise rallies, marches and demonstrations.

ITF unions in Indonesia organised a protest action in May after the mass arrests in Tehran on International Workers’ Day. Transport unions KPI, JICT, TPK-KOJA, IKAGI and SPKA, together with the teachers union, PGRI, will hold a rally in Jakarta and conduct a prayer meeting in the port of Tanjung Priok.

In Iran the ITF-affiliated Tehran Bus Workers Union (Syndicate Vahed) has called on unions around the world “to include the human rights agenda for all the Iranians” in the June 26 global solidarity action day.

Iraq. The General Union of Iraq Port Workers will meet at the union’s HQ then demonstrate.

Italy. 19:30 sit-in in front of Iranian Embassy, Rome.

Japan. Japanese affiliates of the IUF and ITF, together with the national centre, Rengo, will host a mass meeting on 24 June to adopt a motion in support of the campaign. Representatives of the unions will then present this at the Iranian Embassy in Tokyo on June 26.

Unions attending the Asia/Pacific Regional Conference of the ITF in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia unanimously adopted a resolution to reaffirm their participation in the action day. EI affiliate NUTP will be collecting signatures and sending protest letters.

Mexico. Events TBC.

Rail workers of the UMT in Morocco will organise a solidarity meeting in Casablanca on 26 June.

Nepal. No Iranian embassy in the country so protest to Iran government will be made via the Nepalese Foreign Ministry.

In Wellington, New Zealand, the unions plan to bring “a brass band, lots of signs, drums and a street play depicting locked up Iranian Unionists” to the Embassy.

Aviation union, ATSSAN in Nigeria will hold a solidarity rally at Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos.

In Norway, Fagforbundet (Norwegian Union of Municipal and General Employees) and Norsk Transportarbeiderforbund (Norwegian Transport Workers’ Union) will organise a demonstration in front of the Iranian Embassy in Oslo.

In The Netherlands, the FNV has requested a meeting at the Embassy of Iran. Gatherings of the AOB teachers’ union and FNV Bondgenoten on 26 June will reflect the Justice for Iranian workers campaign.

Turkey. Turkish transport unions, BTS, HAVA-IS and TUMTIS confirm that they will organise a protest action in Ankara in front of the Iranian embassy. They are inviting fellow trade unionists, human rights groups and students to take part. Further action is also planned in Istanbul.

Spain. CCOO and UGT organising demonstration in front of Iranian Embassy, Madrid, commencing 10:00.

Switzerland. The ITUC’s Geneva office have requested a meeting with the Iranian labour attaché to the UN on 26 June. The International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM) has announced its support for the campaign.

In Sweden LARARFORBUNDET is discussing joint activities with the Swedish Confederation of Trade Unions.

Thailand. In Bangkok, the ITF-Thai committee, together with the national labour centre, SERC, will organise a demonstration at the Embassy and submit a letter to the Ambassador. They will also visit the ILO Office to raise the violation of workers’ rights in Iran.

In London, United Kingdom, a demonstration will be held at the Iranian Embassy, 16 Prince’s Gate, London SW7 1PTF from 12:30 to 13:30.

USA. NEA has written to the US State Department on violation of workers’ rights in Iran. AFT is also planning an activity. The Teamsters Union has written to Secretary of State Clinton.
ENDS
For more details please contact
ITF. Press officer Sam Dawson.

Tel: +44 (0)20 7940 9260.

Email: Dawson_sam@itf.org.uk
ITUC. Press Officer Mathieu Debroux.

Tel: +32(0)2 22 40 204.

Email: mathieu.debroux@ituc-csi.org
EI. Nancy Knickerbocker.

Tel: +32 (0)2 22 40 611.

Email: Nancy.knickerbocker@ei-ie.org
IUF. Peter Rossman.

Email: iuf@iuf.org
International Transport Workers' Federation -

ITF:HEAD OFFICE

ITF House, 49 - 60 Borough Road, London SE1 1DS

Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7403 2733

Fax: + 44 (0) 20 7375 7871

Email: mail@itf.org.uk

Web: http://www.itfglobal.org/

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A WORKING CLASS UNITED ?:

This is is direct contrast to the title of a previous post on this subject ie 'A Ruling Class Divided'. While the ruling class in Iran scrambles to settle their internal feuds and, at the same time, repress challenges to their rule, the international working class, in its tens of millions are moving to offer solidarity to their Iranian fellow workers. the following from the Justice for Iranian Workers website is the "hand across the divide" from workers in Iran and their organizations. Molly has expressed her opinion in one of the polls on our sister site Molly's Polls that the present ruling clique in Iran will achieve a "tempoorary victory" over the present protests but thatg the opposition will take the present events and deepen their resistance over the long term. An important, perhaps the most important , aspect of this resistance will be the spread and consolidation of independent working clasds orgnaizations in Iran. Here is their statement at teh present time.

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Joint message by 26 workers’ groups in Iran on Action Day:
The Solidarity Message from Iranian Workers for the Day of Action
Four international trade union organisations (ITUC, ITF, IUF and EI) have declared 26 June as the international day of solidarity with Iranian workers to support their struggle for their basic rights. Members of these confederations around the world will organize practical support towards workers in Iran on this day.

This declaration of international solidarity with Iranian workers is a significant historical moment in the struggles of the international workers’ movement to achieve human rights for workers around world. It would certainly play a significant role in advancing the struggles of the workers in Iran. Moreover this action would further deepen the international unity and solidarity of the working class throughout the world.

We the undersigned wholeheartedly support this international unity initiative. We would like to express our deepest appreciation and gratitude to the organizers of the action day and wish to warmly shake hands with you. We send our sincere greetings to the workers of the world in each and every unions.
Long live international solidarity,25 June 2009
Union of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Vahed Bus Company

Union of Workers of Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Workers

Free Union of Iranian Workers

The Collaborative Council of Labour Organizations and Activists

Kermanshah Electricity and Metal Society

Khameneh Textile Workers;

Workers of Sanandaj Par-Ris Factory;

Workers of Rugs West Factory

Kurdestan Textile Workers

Sanandaj Shin-Baaft Textile Factory;

Workers of Shahoo Companies

Kurdistan Textile Gharb-Baaft [Textile Company];

Pak Ara Milk

Workers Brick Shell Company

Sama Gunnysack Makers Fajr Flour

Niroo Raksh [Power Company]

Service Workers of Sanandaj Tohid Hospital;

Group of Sanandaj retirees;

Workers of Westrmanshah Carpet Company;

Group of Kian Tyre (Alborz) Workers;

Group of workers and activists in Marivan city

Group of workers and activists in Kamyaran city

Group of workers and activists in Mashhad

Workers of Car Glass

Group of workers of Metal factories

Workers of Yarag Alam Ghom Company

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS-IRAN:

A TRIBUTE TO NEDA:

'Neda' was the name of the young woman who was murdered by the Iranian security forces a few days ago, and her name and story have become legend for the Iranian opposition. the following is a poetic tribute from the Iranian.Com website. Molly also wants to recommend the Anonymous Iran website for continued updates of the events in Iran in both English and Farsi.

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Neda's Song
by Tina Ehrami

21-Jun-2009
Her name was Neda, she was only 16

She was a young girl who got caught in between

A bullet and her flesh and some place serene

And now Iran will never be as it’s been

...
Her name was Neda and she wanted to show

That fear of death wouldn’t keep her below

And now all of you will come to know

How far Iran’s people are willing to go

...
She’d been shouting and running, days on end

She didn’t go to school or work, days on end

She called out for justice, days on end

But in the end for her it was just the end

...
She did what she could to get back what she lost

She wanted her vote back that someone’d tossed

But it’s a damn shame that this is what it cost!

It’s a damn shame, but if we must, we must

...
Her name was Neda, she was only 16

There was still so much that she should’ve seen

But she’d seen enough, even as a teen

She was so tired of things as they had been

...
Her name was Neda and she was taken too soon

She was a beautiful child, her parent’s full moon

But from now that moon will glow red and maroon

So that people will start singing in a different tune

...
She took that bullet in her heart, for you and for me

She wanted a better tomorrow, for you and for me

Her name means ‘sign’ and this’s one for you to see

That freedom’s worth dying for, so fight to be free!

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS-IRAN:
A RULING CLASS DIVIDED ?:

For a revolution of any sort to be successful it's almost a requirement that the ruling class that the rebels oppose be divided. On rung one of the "ladder of revolt" it is always the existing state that holds all the cards of force. The dance that is performed between the "forces of order" and the opposition involves, from the point of view of the state, applying just enough force to suppress the opposition, neither too little that gives the opposition the confidence of success, nor too much that might create widespread public revulsion, a mood that may spread even into the armed forces of the state itself.







Ruling groups that appear monolithic always have disagreements festering amongst them. From the lowest squabbles about personal power and reward to the highest disagreements about policy such differences can become acute when actors from outside the ruling class appear on the public stage. if the state has been either too lax or too overbearing in its handling of protest then various actors within the ruling class may seize the chance to either "settle old scores", may adopt a more or less neutral position (as the actual army seems to have done in Iran these last few days) awaiting the winners or may even decide to favour the opposition if they are perceived as the winning side.







Without at least a "wait and see" attitude on the part of armed agents of the state, without also at least a partial defection of some of them to the other side most rebellions fail to become revolutions. The chances for an actual overthrow of a system are also enhanced if various factions of the ruling class take the opportunity to revenge themselves on their own colleagues or initiate a struggle for power because they think they see their chance.







Is the present Iranian ruling class divided enough or hesitant enough that the theocracy will crumble ? There are some indications of this, for instance the apparent absence of the actual army (a conscript force) in repression of the demonstrators as opposed to the police and militia (a volunteer group that bear the marks of a corrupt mercenary force)-with the Revolutionary Guard lurking in the background. But even what seems to be one of the most reliable forces on the government's side may be shakier than it looks. Here's an interest recent item from the International Business Times about possible dissent within the Revolutionary Guards.
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Revolutionary Guards commander defies Khamenei's orders to use force on protestors:
A commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards has been arrested for refusing to obey Iran's Supreme Leader, according to reports from the Balatarin website.





General Ali Fazli, who was recently appointed as a commander of the Revolutionary Guards in the province of Tehran, is reported to have been arrested after he refused to carry out orders from the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei to use force on people protesting the controversial re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
For full coverage of the Iranian election protests click here
Fazli, a veteran of the devastating Iran-Iraq war is also believed to have been sacked and taken to an unknown location.





The Revolutionary Guards is a separate body to the mainstream armed forces in Iran and is seen as one of the main and most powerful bodies responsible for protecting the Islamic theocratic regime.





Earlier today the Revolutionary Guards issued a warning on its website threatening to come down hard on Iranians who continue protesting against what many in the country see as rigged elections.
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There may also be dissent within the ruling class itself. The mullahs that rule (terrorize) Iran are not all of one mind. The recent elections actually featured only candidates whose loyalty to the regime was certain. I reprint the following, also from the International Business Times, with the caveat that trying to read the entrails of the beast in the city of Qom might make the old 'Kremlin watching' seem clear and straightforward by comparison. For what it is worth here is one unverifiable speculation. No doubt some clerics would dearly love to see a new direction for the Iranian state, but are "some" a majority ?

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Reports: Iran's clerics considering removal of Khamenei and Ahmadinejad:
Iran's clerical establishment is considering scrapping the position of the Supreme Leader, currently held by Ayatollah Khamenei and forcing out President Ahmadinejad according to reports. ("reports" ?-Molly)





The country's Expediency Council and the Assembly of Experts is reported to be considering the formation of a collective leadership to replace the position of supreme leader, according to Al Arabiya, citing sources in the holy city of Qom.
For full coverage of the Iranian election protests click here
Both groups are headed by former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a key rival to Ayatollah Khamenei and a strong supporter of defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi.





On Saturday five members of Rafsanjani's family were arrested for taking part in demonstrations against the controversial re-election of President Ahmadinejad. They have subsequently been released.





The Assembly of Experts, a body of Islamic clerics, is responsible for overseeing the Supreme Leader and can even remove the Supreme Leader should they decide to. The Expediency Council is responsible for mediating disputes between the parliament elected by the people and the unelected Guardian Council.





Members of the Assembly of Experts are reported to be considering making changes to the Iranian system of government that would be the biggest since Ayatollah Khomeini set up the Islamic system in the revolution of 1979, by removing the position of the supreme leader.




Secret meetings are said to have taken place in Qom and included a representative of Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the most prominent Shiite leader in Iraq.





Clerical leaders are also said to be considering forcing the resignation of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad following over a week of unrest since he was elected in what senior opposition leaders claim was a fraudulent election.
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Events over the next few days will tell if the Iranian ruling class is indeed divided enough for it to make a difference. What seems to be apparent (at least so far) is that the rumours of a general strike to be called in Iran today were just that...rumours. There is no news of any such events, and it would seem to be unlikely that the independent unions who have been preparing worldwide events (and no doubt events in Iran itself) for June 26 would push their preparations ahead, particularly as the soundings for the strike that was supposed to occur today seem to have been coming mostly from the Mousavi forces who have little (no ?) connection to the long standing labour struggles in that country.




Here are a couple of websites that carry more or less updated news in English about the protests from a labour perspective.
***Hands Off the People of Iran
***Justice for Iranian Workers
***Labour Start (Iranian news section)




Also stay tuned to a blog called "Iranian Riots" for updated general news about the protests. They have recently carried video of some mullahs participating in the protests ie throwing in their lot with the opposition. Also the story about how Iranian soccer players who wore the green armbands of the opposition during the World Cup qualifiers have been banned from the game by the authorities. I find it hard to imagine anything so arrogant and so likely to turn non-political Iranians against the regime as this gratuitous piece of repression. Also, please go over to our sister site Mollymew Polls to express your opinion about 'What Will Be the Outcome of the Present Events in Iran ?'.

INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS-IRAN:

MESSING WITH THE MULLAH'S MINDS:

Here's an interesting suggestion for possible help for the insurgent people in Iran. This comes from the Anarchist Black Cat discussion board. Whether this sort of thing would actually work and whether it would be of assistance is hard for Molly to say. What is interesting is the large role that Twitter has taken in this revolt. If the recent Greek rebellion could be said to have run on text messaging this Iranian rebellion seems to be running on Twitter. If the suggestion below were to actually become popular I can foresee one potential difficulty...the vast majority of the Twitter posts would be in English or Spanish. Seems like an easy one to filter out. But, there again, there may be something that I don't know. The paradigm behind the idea is actually quite valid. If you want to tie a secret police force in knots feed it an overwhelming amount of useless and trivial information. Recipes for hamburger anyone ? Paying the employees of spy agencies overtime can only go so far. Eventually they do little but count grains of sand on the beach and never get to do anything else. It's actually an old tried and trusted tactic has been used in a different context in syndicalist free speech fights and other civil disobedience ie "clog the courts and the jails" rather than the information gathering apparatus. Sometimes it works.

Would it work in this case, at least temporarily ? Who knows. See what you think. Here's the suggestion...

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From friends in Iran :

Dear all:

Set your twitter time and location to Tehran. Makes it harder for the Iranian secret service to track people down in Tehran.

We need your help. Thank you.

Please repost widely!

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS-IRAN"

CONTINUING UNREST IN IRAN:

The following anarchist comment on the recent events in Iran is from the Irish Workers' Solidarity Movement. This is one anarchist view of the recent events following the election in Iran. The following is, to my mind, realistic, but perhaps a little too pessimistic. Like most revolutions the present unrest in Iran has been precipitated by what may seem to be a very minor affair (at least as revolutions go) ie the allegations of fraud in the recent elections.









For what it is worth Molly is of the opinion that there was indeed fraud in this election. I am also, unfortunately, of the opinion that Mahmoud Ahmedinjad would have won the election without the fraud. All this goes to show that, inevitably, religious holders of power are never content to leave the results of any initiative to "Allah" (or any other god for that matter). From their point of view what does it matter of their are a few 'irregularities. What they want is at least the appearance of massive public support. Why do I believe this ? Simply because, in my reading, that Ahmedinjah made more than a few populist noises well in advance of the election. This would give him a certain credibility amongst the ordinary people of Iran, even if a small percentage of the population recognized that he had been making the same noises for 30 years...and nothing has come of it.









Is Iran at the point of 'revolution" ? Personally I don't think it is. I think that the demonstrations will eventually fizzle out after a due amount of time. Not that I don't admire what the young people in Iran are doing today. Somehow I cannot see the installation of a so-called "reformist" (the goal of the Iranian protesters) as anything even remotely "revolutionary". But there again matters may change and I'd have to change my opinion alongside with the bureaucrats in Iran who pretend to justice and equality.









But maybe not. Revolutions are, by their nature, unpredictable. Looking over the situation in Iran say 6 months ago one would have never guessed that there would be mass opposition to the Iranian state. But here it is now. Personally I take heart from seeing that Islamic fascist dictatorships are not invulnerable-even if I think the oppositionists will fail. This is despite the best efforts of their propaganda machine. But, as I have argued before on this blog, the idea that a fundamental change in social arrangements merely by the force of advocacy is unrealistic. The necessary "link" to people outside of the "opposition" has not been built in Iran. Those sort of links are an absolutely necessary if the unrest in Iran is to be more than street rioting. Not that street rioting is undesirably in this context (unlike some other cases-the majority- in North America).









But who knows how the present challenge to the theocrats who rull Iran wil go ? That can't be predicted, especially for someone like Molly who has a totally different view of the class alignments in Iran, but whose insight is severely limited by distance. Make no mistake about it. The present events in Iran partake not of some abstract struggle over "rights" and "democracy". They are very much class struggles, and the interests of classes who support either the rulers or the oppositionists are often quite clear. On the one side are the theocrats, whose numbers, power and ability to distort the economy make them indeed a "class". As for their numbers the best indication one can get about this is the description of the city of Qom as "the city of 100,000 mullahs. Once having tasted power, and the resulting material wealth, I seriously doubt that the mullahs would go back to a situation where they were dependent clients of either a state or of private benefactors.



On the other side are large numbers of quite educated young people whose lives are frustrated in a state where economic common sense is close to being a dirty word. Many of these young people are either unemployed or underemployed, and their discontent with this situation will be lasting, no matter what the outcome of the present events. Having large numbers of educated young people who, at the same time, have few outlets for their talents and ambitions is a deadly mixture for any ruling class. The only solution is the one found by Saudi Arabia ie "degrade the educational system by turning it over to the theocrats". The resulting class of unemployed youth will be the same, but they simply won't be educated. No matter how much of the Koran (or Bible in the USA) that they have memorized. A ruling class such as that of the Saudi state can easily keep any rebellion in check-and also avoid antagonizing potential rivals to power amongst the mullahs- by "buying off" the potential theocratic competition while at the same time producing an unemployed youth who simply don't have the mental tools to rise to being an opposition.



In Iran the question of "who will win" is very much dependent upon who can best appeal to the ordinary Iranian who is neither a theocrat nor a frustrated manager/professional. From my own reading of the situation the theocrats seem to have the advantage as they can promise the sky to the working class, artisans and rural producers. Their real ability to follow through on such promises is, of course, limited, especially in present economic conditions. The big question is: "can they lie once more and have people believe their promises ?" I don't know. In any case, here is the article.

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The Iranian Election a ‘Legacy of Martyred Flowers’:
international repression individual opinion Wednesday June 17, 2009 18:58 by Farah - Jack White branch (personal capacity)
The Iranian government’s campaign to mold ‘model’ Islamic citizens has not only fashioned a profound crisis of loyalty to the religious ‘ideals of the revolution’, it has nurtured action that many have silently prayed for - as the public sphere, the last bastion of the religious elites grip on power, was shot open by their own guns Sunday.
"Legacy of martyred flowers committed me to life,
Legacy of martyred flowers,
Don’t you see?"
--Forough Farokhzad, Only the Sound Will Last
Since the close of polling late Friday, and the hasty confirmation of Mahmoud Ahmedinejad’s second term in office, protests have broken out across Iran. Many Iranians, who consider the landslide victory for Ahmadinejad a symbol of their country’s deeply corrupt political system, have endeavoured to force the government to nullify the results and hold another election.




In what can only be considered a classic case of state-repression, police and Revolutionary Guards have soaked the streets in blood; shooting into crowds of peaceful protestors, arresting scores of demonstrators, and targeting constituencies known for their criticism of the government. Just yesterday, the Guardian conservatively reported that as many as twelve students from universities throughout the country lost their lives as they courageously and openly opposed state forces.




In a brash attempt to validate the legitimacy of the political structure in Iran, those in the Guardian Council and Ministry of Interior (its civic counterpart) confirmed Ahmadinejad’s ‘win’ and congratulated ‘democracy’. Ahmadinejad seized the opportunity to describe his ‘election’ as a ‘mandate from the people’, before the people unequivocally mandated a recount!




The Western-language media would have us believe that the crucial issue concerning the recent election ‘results’ in Iran centers on the question of whether or not the election was rigged. While general curiosity and speculation around this issue is a healthy aspect of the debate, it cannot moderate the far more profound lessons to be learned from the mass protests throughout the country.




Were the elections rigged? Probably. It is more than likely that the higher voter turn-out for this election came in favor of change. This was not true in the 9th Presidential Elections, four years ago, where an unknown, conservative, Tehrani mayor, Ahmadinejad, was ‘challenged’ by the highly controversial cleric-turned-businessman, Rafsanjani. The election was mostly boycotted or dismissed by many reformists minded voters, and the aspect of its ‘rigged results’ by way of the candidates having been hand-picked the Guardian Council (as is policy), was ignored in Western-language press.




This new eruption of protest over the still hotly contested election outcome has animated the already decades long debates within Iranian politics over civil and political rights, participation and inclusion. Just like many other countries, specific issues and rights in Iran are held like hostages to particular names on the ballot.




For example, a vote for Mousavi is a vote for greater freedoms for women. A vote for Ahmedinejad is a vote against the liberalization (privatization) of Iran’s economy. Though many Iranians remain sceptical of all the candidates that were allowed to participate in this highly contested and unusual style of electoral engineering, the elections are not entirely hollow, as the protests demonstrate. Iranians, like many of their counterparts throughout the world, were made to choose between issues and candidates that did not represent the broad spectrum of their politics, concerns, or aspirations.




However, it is not the engineered outcome of Iranian elections that is at the heart of the protests, though this is certainly a concern. These protests, dissimilar to the swell of similar outpouring in the late 1990’s, are made up Iranians from many different backgrounds, and varied political, religious and social opinions. This is precisely the reason the executive levels of the Iranian government have, with its decades of training in repression of domestic discontent, met the protesters with the full force of state power.




Though the validity of the elections is disputed, what protesters, Ahmadinejad and the Guardian Council seem to all recognize is that the immediate future of the Islamic Republic of Iran remains insecure. The ‘democratic dilemma’ that the state has ensured through its dubious electoral processes is kindling increased opposition not just among the ‘parents of the Revolution’, but most pronouncedly in those twenty-somethings born after 1979 who represent the manifest ‘success’ of the Islamic Revolution.




It appears clear the government’s campaign to mold ‘model’ Islamic citizens has not only fashioned a profound crisis of loyalty to the religious ‘ideals of the revolution’, it has nurtured action that many have silently prayed for - as the public sphere, the last bastion of the religious elites grip on power, was shot open by their own guns Sunday.




This is not to make the mistake that Iran is moving towards, or desirous of, a secular revolution, very much the opposite! However, the iron-clad grip on power that many of the religious elites have enjoyed since the Iran-Iraq war is gradually unravelling at all ends.




Today, reformist-minded voters in and outside of Iran, who watched as their political aspirations were dashed time and again by during Khatami’s tenure, vigilantly braved the vast, violent and manipulative forces of the state and dared not be silent once again in the ballot box. Those who bravely opposed the regime objected to the misuse of religion for political ends – and so the protests continue.




In the thirty years since the fall of the Shah and the gradual instillation of an Islamic theocratic government in Iran, opposition movements have bravely attempted to reclaim spaces in the political landscape of the country. These movements have nurtured democratic ideals in an attempt to assert the human and political rights of the poor, ethnic minorities, and women amongst others.




Over the past two years Iran’s women’s movement most commonly known as the One Million Signatures Campaign has sought to amplify the disparities felt by women on every level of Iranian society. Prior to the Saturday protests, this campaign was the largest and most vocal dissident movement in Iran.




For those of us concerned over securing some notion of ‘the truth’ about what happened in Friday’s elections, or who continue to be confused over the myriad of political mud-slinging in the media over ‘what the protests are really about’, we can be assured no easy answers.




Iran is a country struggling to sustain vast differences of opinion over political allegiances, social policies, and the fine lines that govern the ‘morals’ of their state system. Do not mistake the events currently taking place in Iran as a fight for democracy, or even a ‘better representation’ of the will of the people. What is happening in Iran is a fight for a slightly fairer electoral process. If political pundits, Western-language journalists and solidarity activists wish to support Iranians in their fight for freedom, they should take notice of the few who have been executed and exiled, whose lives have committed the many you see in the streets today to life.
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