For a Transition from the Islamic Republic to a Secular and Democratic Iranian Republic

Policy Document Ratified by theFirst Congress of the Left Party of Iran (People's Fadaian)- Abridged Translation:

For a Transition from the Islamic Republic to a Secular and Democratic Iranian Republic

Free Elections for a Constituent Assembly to Draft New Constitution!

The abridged document below sets out the views of the Left Party of Iran (People’s Fadaian)
– LPI(PF) – on the political situation in Iran together with the party’s own aims and positions.

Executive Summary/Abstract:

Today Iran is faced with mounting, profound and intertwined challenges in every sphere, from political, economic and social to environmental and international. The increasing concentration of power in the office of the Supreme Leader, the regime’s narrow social base, and its loss of legitimacy make the Islamic Republic increasingly reliant upon its extensive security networks and repressive forces. As internal opposition to the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) develops to a new level, the responses of competing factions within the regime to US hostile manoeuvres further aggravate tensions with the US and its allies abroad.

Even amongst significant elements of the regime’s reformist factions, many have concluded that the regime is incapable of meaningful reform. Our strategy is to help build and unite the many diverse movements and struggles of the Iranian people to bring about a transition to a secular and democratic republic through non-violent struggle and mobilization of broad social movements.

Political conditions

The political structure of the Islamic Republic is based on the concentration of power in the hands of the Vali-Faghih (Supreme Leader[1]), and groups and institutions under his control, in particular, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Over time, this power has become ever more concentrated. Both the parliament and the government have resigned themselves to minimal operations, declining influence and subordination to the Supreme Leader’s rule while the Guardian Council and Expediency Council[2] have consistently and conspicuously been elevated to both policy makers and law makers. Individuals and institutions under the Supreme Leader’s command, from the IRGC to the far-right forces that have either come to believe in or find it expedient for their own purposes to support him, regard any change or reform as weakening their position, so block them by whatever means necessary. The regime’s limited but well-organized social base, a layer of mostly rentier capitalists, commercial brokers and corrupt networks inside the ring of power, are the beneficiaries.

However, as this concentration of power advances, society is moving in the opposite direction. Since the January 2017 wave of protests in over 70 towns and cities across Iran, dissatisfaction with the regime and its policies has taken profound root within the heart of society. Grassroots strikes and protests erupt spontaneously across the country, particularly beyond the major cities, rooted in the everyday anger and desperation of workers & labourers, teachers, farmers, large numbers of bazaar merchants, pensioners, women, national and religious minorities, students and other social groups. Economic demands are inextricably intertwined with demands for political and social freedoms and calls for justice. Increasingly, the Supreme Leader himself is a focus of their anger.

Over the past two years, these protests have moved from the streets into work places, turning them into arenas of struggle against the regime’s policies, and mobilizing the public in support of the protesters’ demands. Despite arrest, torture and imprisonment, workers’ and teachers’ daring strikes and protests continue, fuelled by the staggering mismatch between income and the cost of living, and wanton disregard for even the most basic workers’ rights. Social injustices, discrimination and the regime’s continued focus upon foreign adventures at the cost of increased deprivation at home constantly add fuel to these fires.

The increased level of protests and challenges to the whole IRI system also has accelerated the growing rift within the regime’s reformist wing, who are in the process of disintegrating as a force. A growing number have joined ranks with those who are walking away from the Islamic Republic. Although still a minority of the sector, they are operating in concert with Iran’s social base, alongside those who have lost any hope of reforming the current regime. Supporting the democratic faction is in the interests of the democratic movement.

Meanwhile, the majority of the reformist bloc continues to calibrate their strategies in line with changes and shifts within the current system. With their eyes fixated on the powers above or fluctuating between the Supreme Leader and the people, their continued hope for free elections under the umbrella of the current totalitarian regime, and their fear of social upheaval, reflect their position in the fight between the people and the government.

The economic crisis

Even before Trump’s escalation of sanctions, the Islamic Republic faced enormous economic challenges, principally of its own making. Within the structure of the national economy, essential elements of the production, distribution and service sectors are dominated by security institutions and a broad range of unaccountable foundations. The enormous state bureaucracy generates a chronic budget deficit. Unorthodox economic programs, serving narrow interests, are implemented with little regard for their knock-on effects. As a result, Iran suffers from extraordinary levels of corruption, persistent structural deadlock and chronic inflation. Banking and pension fund bankruptcies are common. Crippling sanctions have plagued the economy for decades.

Over the past forty years, this state of affairs has delivered unimaginable wealth to a thin layer of parasitic and predatory capitalists who tenaciously defend the regime. Simultaneously, amongst the vast majority, poverty and deprivation have reached unprecedented levels, especially among the working poor and the destitute, while the middle class is disintegrating into lower economic strata.

The ever-increasing wealth gap has created the objective conditions for broad unity, rooted in general economic misery, at the heart of society. The Islamic Republic is incapable of extracting the country from this monstrous economic crisis, which has become a nightmare for the regime itself and can serve as an important factor in the regime’s collapse.
 

International pressures

International pressures have increased dramatically over the past few months, with both the US and Iran moving along dangerous paths. By withdrawing from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and restoring crippling sanctions against Iran, the US government, with its foreign policy based on coercion, has intensified the crisis between the two countries. Ultimately the Supreme Leader’s "pivotal enemy" policy, founded in the Islamic Republic’s decades-old slogan "Death to America" largely has found its response in the current US administration’s belligerence.

Similarly, by making its hostile policy towards Israel one of the cornerstones of its identity, the Islamic Republic not only has served to massively strengthen ultra-right currents in Israel and complicate regional issues at the expense of the Palestinians. This policy also has turned the cold war between the two countries into the current flash point in the Middle East, with the hostile Trump, Netanyahu and bin Salman coalition against the Islamic Republic posing a dangerous threat against Iran.

The IRI’s disastrous policy of "strategic depth", implemented by the "Quds Force" in the "Shiite Crescent",[3] for all practical purposes has embroiled our country in most regional conflicts, and in counter-productive competition with Arab countries in the region. The regime’s policy has and will continue to have, many serious military, political, economic and social consequences for Iran. Struggle to force the Islamic Republic to retreat from its tension-provoking, expansionist foreign policy has become a fight against one of the main pillars of its strength and existence. This political reality is expressed in the popular Iranian protest slogan, "Our enemy is Right Here", reflecting both the people’s growing political understanding and their opposition to both sides of these conflicts.

The hegemonic policies of the US and its allies have created chaos in the Middle East with permanent hostilities, proxy wars and a fertile ground for extremist forces such as the “Islamic State” (ISIS). We condemn Trump's administration’s decision to leave the JCPOA. At the same time, a departure by Iran from the same agreement may push EU policy back in line with the Trump administration.

LPI (PF)’s positions on International Issues & Relations

The Left Party of Iran (People’s Fadaian) demands the withdrawal of all Islamic Republic military personnel from Syria and an end to its military interventions in regional conflicts in Iraq and Yemen. We oppose Iran’s formation of militias in regional countries and its "strategic depth" policy beyond Iran's borders, calling instead for the adoption of a policy of de-escalation in Iran's relations with all countries. We also support the withdrawal of foreign troops from Syria under the auspices of the United Nations and the holding of free elections in this country. We condemn the destructive role and actions of Saudi Arabia and its allies in escalating the war in Yemen, and call for an immediate cease fire to prevent further destructions and deaths there.

Israel's existence in the Middle East is a fact. Any policy that denies this is contrary to the interests of the people of the Middle East, including the Palestinians. Nevertheless, we condemn the continued occupation of the Palestinian territories and view Israeli policies as opposed to peace and peaceful coexistence. Israel must return to its 1967 borders. We support the two-state solution to resolve the Palestinian issue and to create a just peace in the region. We condemn the violation of UN resolutions on the occupied territories, the annexation of other parts of the Palestinian Territories and the Golan Heights, and Israeli discrimination against Palestinians. We condemn the US government's support for Israel’s ‘expansionism’ policies. We believe any changes in these cases must be made in the context of international law and regulation.

Allowing the existing tensions between the US government and the Islamic Republic to continue increases the risk of military conflict. We call for an end to the cycle of threats against one another, negotiations without preconditions, withdrawal of troops from the Persian Gulf, and both de-nuclearization and de-militarization of the region.

Our Political Strategy for Transition from the Islamic Republic:

Our country is prone to changes. To achieve positive political, economic and social transformation, our country needs to emancipate itself from the Islamic Republic. New partnerships and alliances are emerging among various sectors of the democratic republican opposition forces. Although this fact is an indication of hope for change and increases the positive impact of the opposition forces on society, it does not yet mean that opposition forces have a decisive role in the political process of the country. These developments are just the beginning of a process.

Internal factors from below impacting this process of transition include the level and depth of protests, their coherence and interconnections between them. Internal factors from above include government repression, infighting and schisms within the ruling factions and the regime’s resistance to, or compromise with, the Trump government.

To effect the transition from the Islamic Republic, the Left Party of Iran (People's Fadaian) strongly advocates peaceful struggle and mobilization of broad social movements. Our party reiterates that the rights of association, assembly, freedom of expression and the right to strike are legitimate rights of all social and civil groups. We believe in non-violent struggle and support people’s peaceful struggle under all circumstances.

Our strategy focuses on collaborating to form a left bloc for organizing workers and labourers’ political and class struggles on the one hand, and on shaping the secular democratic republican core within Iran’s political environment on the other.

The cooperation and unification of the secular democratic republican forces is an essential step towards transition to democracy and the establishment of a secular and democratic republic in Iran. The Left Party of Iran (People’s Fadaian) declare our readiness to negotiate and work with all forces in order to create a thriving secular and democratic republican force. At the same time, we welcome dialogue with other opposition forces.

However, we oppose any form of authoritarian, monarchic, hereditary or theocratic regime in Iran. To guarantee the independence of a secular, democratic republic, we oppose foreign governments’ ‘alternatives’ and interference, relying instead solely on the Iranian people to make political changes in Iran.

Collaboration across the Left spectrum, including both organized entities and individuals, is the most important step to strengthen and to defend the interests and demands of the workers and the poor, and to transform them into an influential force in the country's political developments. To that end, we strive to form a Left Bloc and a unified struggle for freedom, social justice, democracy and socialism.

The transition we envisage is possible only through an inclusive national social mobilization and the collaboration of freedom-loving political forces: social movements, civil society organizations, the women's movement, ethnic and national democratic movements and mobilization of the social base of the left -- workers, labourers, wage-earners and salaried employees, culture workers and academics. We believe in people’s right to independently organize their activities.

Our activities should primarily focus on empowering the working class, teachers, other wage and salary earners and students as the main driving force of the civil protests, together with attracting the urban middle class and their articulation with activities of other strata of the society. Creation of entities, such as national committees of solidarity with the protests and associations for the defence of political prisoners, to interconnect different branches of the protest movement is an effective way of building the protest movement.

Despite the widespread repression of leftist forces in the 1980s, we have witnessed the emergence of leftist trends in the decades that followed in the universities and among industrial workers as well as in various fields including theoretical work, translation of classical leftist writings and new work of emerging leftist intellectuals. Threatened by the rise of the Left, the state has arrested and imprisoned dozens of leftist students in recent years. In a speech, Ali Khamenei expressed his concern about the activism of the Left Marxist movement in the universities. For years, some publications have used any pretext to lash out at the history, system of thought and existence of the Left. We condemn the repressive actions of the regime and support the intellectual and practical efforts of left activists to spread the values and ideals of the Left.

LPI (PF)’s positions on internal issues within Iran

On labour issues, we champion the rights to:

• Form independent trade unions, and to strike
• Pay rates proportionate to the cost of living
• Prompt and regular payment of wages and earnings
• Unemployment insurance
• Release of all imprisoned trade unionists
• Education and freedom from exploitation for all child labourers, and a ban on child labour
• Equality on the basis of gender, nationality, religious belief and sexual orientation in the work place
• An end to all privatisations, including in the industrial and manufacturing sectors as well as in education and all other public services

Human rights violations are used by the Islamic Republic of Iran as a means to crush resistance against the totalitarian state. Although the number of executions has declined in the past year, the Islamic Republic is still one of the world's record holders of executions. We recognize and endorse the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of December 9, 1948, oppose capital punishment and demand the release of all political prisoners.

Although our country is facing a major environmental crisis, environmental activists, too, are subject to human rights abuses. Several environmental activists have been arrested on charges of espionage and forced to make false confessions. In some cases, they have been executed but their cause of death was declared “suicide". We demand the immediate release of environmental activists, freedom of action by environmentalists, development of essential programs and regulations, and effective measures to prevent air pollution, destruction of forests and pastures, unregulated dam construction, and the squandering and desiccation of wetlands, lakes, underground aquafers and water channels. We condemn actions that lead to the destruction of the environment, emphasize the need to make optimal use of energy and reduce the spread of pollutants, and call on the IRI to follow international conventions and guidelines on the environment and the prevention of global warming. We support all international efforts to protect the environment.

Social problems in our country have skyrocketed, with disastrous effects on social solidarity and the foundations and values of society. These problems manifest themselves in the form of an accumulated fifteen million lawsuits, 1.5 million drug addicts, 13 million living in shanty towns, widespread poverty, homelessness, child abuse, prostitution, and much more. Social problems cannot be prevented by force. They need the participation of people, NGOs and the application of social knowledge in psychology and sociology, without which the measures needed to tackle social harm cannot be provided.

Women's struggle for equal rights is Iran’s single most established social movement and forms the basis of the democratic movement against the Islamic Republic. The Left Party of Iran (People’s Fadaian) advocates women's equality and supports women's struggle against patriarchy, mandatory hijab and gender discrimination and for equality in all spheres, including inheritance, the right to custody, divorce and traveling alone.

We support the demands of teachers for higher salaries, sufficient insurance coverage, the right to organise their own associations & unions and a halt to privatization of the education system.

We support the freedom of action of writers, artists, journalists and filmmakers, and demand an end to censorship and prosecution of writers, journalists, and movie directors. We support the creation of artists' unions and their access to health insurance and social security.

On Iran’s university campuses, security forces maintain a noticeable presence and impose a quasi-military atmosphere. Interrogation of students has become routine. The independence of universities and the freedom of trade union and political activities for both academics and students must be guaranteed. No student should be excluded from education because of his or her beliefs, religion, or trade union or political activity. We support the free expression of ideas in campus environments free from the restrictive presence of security forces.

Corruption and abuse of power has deep roots in the structure of the Islamic Republic. Today, the fight against government corruption is linked to the fight against tyranny. We demand transparency in economic activities, free media, and the freedom and ability of journalists, trade unions and NGOs to monitor the economic activities of the government and its officials.

Our Party fully supports the equal rights of all citizens, regardless of nationality, ethnicity, mother tongue, religion and individual lifestyles. We believe in decentralization of power, the need for the affairs of each region to be administered by its residents. and the right to education in the local language. We condemn racism and discriminatory policies.

Our strategic slogan:
For a Transition from the Islamic Republic to a Secular and Democratic Iranian Republic!
Free Elections for a Constituent Assembly to Draft New Constitution!

[1] The Supreme Leader is, by definition, meant to be the top Shiite Muslim religious authority in Iran. Just two individuals have held this post since the Islamic Republic was founded 40 years ago: Ayatollah Khomeini and Ali Khamenei. While Khomeini was recognised as amongst the top Islamic experts in Iran, Khamenei’s right to the title has been disputed and judged by many to have been awarded for political reasons rather than on the basis of his religious expertise.

[2] Both of the latter institutions are comprised solely of senior Shiite clerics and jurists.

[3] Encompassing Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, the eastern region of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Yemen