The Tudeh Party of Iran: Iran on the brink of potentially devastating transformations.
It must be stated clearly once again that the outbreak of the current protest uprising and its expansion over the past 15 days are rooted directly in the rapid spread of poverty, inequality, and blatant injustice, as well as corruption and the wealth amassing of a small minority as a result of the regime’s economic policies over the past three decades, not in the demand for return of monarchy or the restoration of monarchist rule.
Moreover, in addition to the heroic struggle of hundreds of thousands of people against despotism and class oppression, it is evident that certain organised elements and groups, through acts of sabotage and violence, are attempting to pave the way for direct intervention by the United States and its allies in the course of the current protests.
Thus, the catastrophic consequences of the domestic policies of the ruling theocratic regime, combined with the devastating impact of U.S. sanctions on people’s lives and livelihoods, have placed the country today in an extremely difficult situation.
Imperialist media outlets, once again relying on their vast resources and capabilities, have launched propaganda campaigns and disseminated fabricated narratives aimed at restoring the monarchy. They are attempting to ride the wave of the people’s legitimate protests and divert the anti-dictatorship movement from its true path. On the one hand, these media provide an excuse for the regime leaders to label the people’s protest uprising as the plan of the United States and Israel; on the other hand, by exaggerating monarchist currents, they seek to create obstacles in the process of building unity and coordination in action among progressive and patriotic forces.
Developments at home and abroad over the past few days demonstrate that the manufactured and foreign-dependent current formed around the slogan “return of the monarchy” not only lacks a broad social base and a serious program for democratic changes, but is also incapable of achieving anything without U.S. and Israeli intervention and threats, except for sabotaging the anti-dictatorship movement and popular protests. Reza Pahlavi’s shameful request to Trump on January 9, under the pretext of “helping the people of Iran,” in which he stated, “You have proven and I know that you are a man of peace and true to your word; please be ready to intervene to help the people of Iran,” is a clear example of the anti-national behaviour of this current. In reality, such appeals have given the leaders of the Islamic Republic and its repression apparatus the opportunity and pretext they needed- citing Khamenei’s order labelling protesters as “rioters” and “foreign agents” and warning that the government would show them no leniency and by falsely accusing the people, through figures such as Pezeshkian, of being “terrorists,” “instigators,” and mercenaries of the “enemy”- to violently suppress the entire protest movement. Given Trump’s threats of intervention in Iran, the actions of Reza Pahlavi and the leaders of the Islamic Republic together could create conditions that pave the path for a U.S. attack on Iran.
Over the past few days, major Western media outlets and some Western politicians, by exaggerating the monarchist current and steering public opinion toward portraying the collapse of the Islamic Republic as inevitable and direct “Western” intervention under Trump’s leadership as necessary, have been pursuing and guiding an “alternative-manufacturing project” for Iran. For example, since last Friday night, BBC radio and television networks in the UK have aired videos produced by the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK), conducted interviews with John Bolton, and broadcast similar programs. These outlets and major media in France and the United States are attempting to create an atmosphere and context for intervention in Iran’s domestic developments. The British government, a longstanding accomplice of the
United States in advancing imperialist policies, also announced on Sunday, January 11, that it seeks a “peaceful transfer of power in Iran.”
Additionally, we are witnessing deplorable actions by some well-known Iranian figures. Among them are Shirin Ebadi, lawyer and Nobel Peace Prize laureate; Mohsen Makhmalbaf, writer and filmmaker; and Abdullah Mohtadi, Secretary-General of the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan. In alignment with Reza Pahlavi, they wrote a letter to Trump calling for his intervention in Iran’s affairs that would include military action. Is Shirin Ebadi unaware of the fascistic views, reactionary anti-woman and racist ideology, and aggressive, hegemonic policies of a figure like Trump and his war-criminal accomplice, Netanyahu?
Within the framework of the plans of the United States and its allies for our country and the region, such appeals and resorting to foreign intervention in Iran’s internal affairs serve in fact as tools to contain and neutralise any possibility of organising a popular movement and forming an Iranian force capable of rescuing the country from the current ruling dictatorship and guiding it toward national-democratic revolutionary transformations. These imperialist interventionist policies have been repeated many times in Iran over the past century. The Pahlavis played a central role in implementing these policies, benefited from them, and in return granted major concessions to the intervening powers, against national interests, including during the August 19, 1953 coup against the national government of Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh, following the nationalisation of the oil industry.
After the overthrow of the foreign-dependent dictatorship of the Pahlavi family more than four decades ago in the popular revolution of 1979, the theocratic dictatorship quickly abandoned the ideals of the revolution and, to preserve the dominance of “political Islam” and protect the astronomical wealth of power-connected elites, positioned itself against the working people and national interests. For years, this regime has been an obstacle to fundamental national-democratic changes. The situation has now deteriorated to such an extent that society sees all avenues for justice-seeking, equality, and freedom blocked, and- despite repression- has reached an explosive stage of widespread street protests to reclaim its rights. Under such grave conditions, with a weak, corrupt, and repressive government in place, Iran once again faces dangerous threats from the United States, Israel, and their infiltrating agents.
Following successive popular protests in Iran over the past couple of decades, it is clear that the theocratic regime has now lost the ability to contain or balance against the legitimate protest uprisings of the majority of society and is no longer capable of even partially repairing or managing the deep rift between the people and the state. The remarks made last Sunday night by Masoud Pezeshkian [the President] in his so-called “frank and friendly televised dialogue with the people” on the economic and livelihood crisis and the elimination of subsidized exchange rates were nothing more than a repetition of previous boring and fruitless rhetoric and will bring no real change for the people. His ineffective “talk therapy” acknowledging the economic roots of recent protests, without offering any effective remedy, will have no impact on public opinion. The working people feel these issues with their own flesh and blood and have learned through experience that the regime officials and authorities lack the will and capacity to resolve them.
On the same day, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, the Speaker of Parliament, had nothing to say beyond repeating dangerous and reckless bravado that can clearly be interpreted as beating the drums of war. He said: “In the event of a military attack, Iran, within the framework of legitimate defence, will consider Israel and U.S. military and shipping centres to be legitimate targets.” Ebrahim Azizi, a brigadier general in the IRGC and head of Parliament’s National Security Commission, went even further with such foolish and dangerous posturing, stating with reference to the recent protests that “In the future, the Islamic Republic will consider any action against the United States and Israel legitimate because of these events.” Meanwhile, according to Trump’s latest claim, the Islamic Republic has requested the start of negotiations, and Abbas Araghchi also announced on Monday, January 12, that “the Islamic Republic is ready both for war and for negotiations.”
The reality is that both the powerful forces and factions within the structure of the ruling dictatorship and the forces dependent on Trump’s America seek the continuation of some form of dictatorship in Iran. The first group pursues this goal either through preserving the existing structure centred on the absolute rule of the Supreme Leader- though its lifespan is rapidly approaching its end- or through limited changes aimed at safeguarding grand-capital interests at any cost, while maintaining the current political economy within a neoliberal framework. The second group advances this approach within the strategic plans of Trump’s domineering and coercive administration, in coordination with the warmongering Netanyahu, to redraw the region’s geopolitical map. Today, Iran stands at the centre of these changes in its weakest and most fragile political, economic, and social condition.
Over the past century, this is yet another instance in which our country, due to the recklessness of its rulers and their disregard for the lives and livelihoods of working people, has fallen into unrest and entered a path of pivotal changes. Unfortunately, this time, as during the 1979 revolution, progressive and patriotic political forces lack the necessary preparedness for effective and practical unity around a joint minimum program, making the future of current developments deeply concerning. Once again, certain circles are attempting to impose a “leader” on the movement from outside. The fragmentation of progressive forces is such that until just a few weeks ago, some organizations and individuals rather than focusing on constructive dialogue, coordination of actions, and mutual support (including and especially support for prominent forces and figures inside the country such as Mir-Hossein Mousavi or Tajzadeh and 17 civil activists who declared that “transition from the Islamic Republic is the only way to save Iran”), were instead preoccupied with abstract interviews and writings disconnected from the country’s realities and external threats, redefining “the left” and settling scores with progressive forces, while the left movement and the Tudeh Party of Iran were under pressure and attack from the regime’s security-media apparatus and media linked to the Pahlavi camp and foreign powers. It is clear that this fragmentation, divisiveness, and inaction effectively serve the interests of the theocratic dictatorship and monarchist currents.
The Tudeh Party of Iran, through its calls, official documents, articles in Nameh Mardom, and direct contacts with other progressive and patriotic forces, has repeatedly emphasised the necessity of constructive dialogue and cooperation in action around a minimum program in the struggle against the ruling authoritarian regime. Progressive forces need to formulate a joint program that can be presented to the people and prepare the movement to deal with the current critical situation. With such a tool, there is hope that developments can be directed toward serving national interests and popular demands. Unfortunately, thus far, this opportunity has not been utilised to organise a united and effective struggle against dictatorship.
Nevertheless, despite the harsh conditions prevailing in the country and the inability of progressive patriotic forces to effectively shape the course of events, we believe that the anti-dictatorship struggle and the defence of peace and national sovereignty will continue for objective and real reasons. From the perspective of the Tudeh Party of Iran, a joint framework for dialogue and agreement among progressive left and nationalist forces at the current stage of struggle may include the following fundamental objectives:
· Moving toward the establishment of a national-democratic government, with the complete separation of religion from the state, including all governmental and executive institutions, legislation, the judiciary, and all aspects of social planning
· A complete halt to neoliberal economic programs in the core sectors of the national economy
· Defence of peace, national sovereignty, commitment to Iran’s territorial integrity, and opposition to any form of foreign intervention in Iran’s internal affairs
· Freedom for all prisoners of conscience, and labour and political prisoners
The urgency of the moment demands that, to save the country from dictatorship, we must immediately join hands and act without delay.
From “Nameh Mardom”, Central Organ of the Tudeh Party of Iran, Issue No. 1251, 12 January 2026.
For the statements of the Tudeh Party of Iran and its analysis of major developments in Iran, please visit: www.tudehpartyiran.org
The views expressed in the articles published on this website do not necessarily represent those of Liberation
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