November 20, 2022
For more than two months, the revolutionary movement, despite the killing of hundreds of protesters, including young people, teenagers and children, and the arrest of nearly 17,000 people, has bravely stood up to the repressive apparatus of the Islamic Republic, challenging the armed to the teeth government, and it has transformed the country's political sphere, immersed the support of millions of Iranians inside and abroad, and has aroused unprecedented global solidarity. This movement has shown its stability and resistance against oppression and the helplessness of the oppressors.
"Woman, Life, Freedom" movement is an uprising against discrimination, humiliation and trampling of human dignity, especially the dignity of women. It is fighting for a lifestyle other than the one dictated by the Islamic regime. It is fighting against the mandatory hijab. By imposing compulsory hijab and controlling women, the government has imprisoned the entire society and people's lifestyle. The centrality of women in the movement confirms the statement that "the freedom of a society is meaningless without the freedom of its women."
People's protests are the result of many accumulated and unresolved issues such as chronic crises, super economic crisis, average economic growth of 0%, doubling of poverty in the last 5 years, inflation above 40%, double digit unemployment, deep class gap, concentration of wealth in the hands of a thin layer of the society, drop in per capita income, bankruptcy of production units, structural corruption, wave of human migration abroad and depletion of the country's economic field from expert labor, destructive exploitation of the nature, accumulation of environmental crises, limiting and controlling the virtual world and closing some social networks and worrying about the future of the country.
This movement is not only for the transition from the Islamic Republic and replacing it with a democratic government, but it is also against the inhibiting "values" and "norms". It aims at the changing family, the relationship between society and government, the relationship between social groups and the relationship of Iran with the world. The revolutionary movement has risen for a value and political transformation.
"Woman, Life, Freedom" is a secular movement and it is the first social movement in Iran in which the clergy not only has no role in it, but it is also a movement against the clergy and political Islam. The destructive performance of the clergy, especially in the last 4 decades, is one of the effective factors in setting the stage for the establishment of a secular government instead of the rule of religious figures.
The uprisings of January 2018 and November 2019 and the past demand movements were the protest of certain groups of the society or had a local and regional nature. But the current revolutionary movement, due to its geographical extent, protests in a large number of cities, participation of various social groups: women, youth, students, workers, teachers, lawyers, doctors, ethnic regions - Kurds, Turks, Baluchs, Arabs - groups of business and market and Iranians abroad, prominent figures in sports, art and literature, is a conterminous and nationwide movement that includes small social movements.
The revolutionary movement has caused the growth of national solidarity among the people of the ethnic regions and all over the country, central and border regions, and it is manifested in the slogans such as "Kurdistan is the eye and light of Iran", "Azerbaijan is awake and supporter of Kurdistan" and "From Zahedan to Tehran, long live Iran." The regime's maneuver to create a gap between them has failed.
Universities are one of the main centers of the struggle against the government. In the past years, the student movement faced stagnation due to various reasons, including the dominance of the security forces but the students came to the streets right from the beginning of the uprising and turned the universities across the country, into a stage of standing against the tyranny with the slogans of "Woman, Life, Freedom", "Freedom, Freedom" and "Death to the Dictator".
The younger generations are the main driving force of the movement. They are at the forefront of protests in the streets, universities and schools, and most of the dead and arrested belong to these generations. They want to live with human dignity, experience the colorful pleasures of the world in their lives, and not have the regimedictate them how to live.
Achievements of the Revolutionary Movement
The movement has targeted the head of the regime, Ali Khamenei, and wants to transition from the Islamic Republic.
The movement has brought millions of young people and students to the field of struggle.
The balance of power and specifically the "balance of soft power" between the regime and the movement, i.e. the ability to advance the discourse and conquer the social space has been completely changed in favor of the movement and to the detriment of the regime, and in addition, a huge force has been formed that demands the removal of the Islamic Republic.
Unprecedented solidarity between different social groups and between Iranians inside and outside the border has been created.
Iranians abroad have come to the field in large numbers and have stood up to support the revolutionary movement.
The "Woman, Life, Freedom" movement has gained wide support worldwide. No social movement in Iran has been able to enjoy such global support.
The movement has produced lasting works of art and literature.
The movement has been able to change the relations between Western governments and the Islamic Republic. These governments are now aware that advancing the JCPOA negotiations, without taking into account the human rights situation in Iran will put them in a difficult domestic situation. Apart from this, they have combined their policy with more pressure on the Islamic Republic.
The Revolutionary Movement and its Situation
The "Woman, Life, Freedom" is a revolutionary movement against the Islamic Republic. With the formation of the revolutionary movement, the country has entered the revolutionary period. With the continuation and progress of the movement, the political situation of the country will not return to the past.
Despite the efficiency crisis, the legitimacy crisis, the economic crisis, the dissatisfaction of the majority of the Iranian people and the continuation of the revolutionary movement, the government is still able to continue functioning. Despite the rebellions and hesitations among the repression forces, the government's will to suppress has not weakened. The government forces still shoot at protesters, arrests them and fill prisons with protesters. Repression in the ethnic regions such as the provinces of Baluchistan and Kurdistan is more intense than in other regions. However, the reality has shown that the repression was not effective and it led to the flare-up of the movement.
Some components of a transitional or revolutionary situation have been developed and some of its components have not yet been developed. The majority of Iranian people do not want to live like the past, but the Islamic Republic can still exercise its political dominance. In the continuation and expansion of the movement and the formation of its components, a transition or a revolutionary situation can be achieved and the transition from the Islamic Republic can be realized.
Currently, the regime is not able to control the movement and the movement is still not able to remove the regime. But it is clear that the revolutionary movement has a high potential and in its continuation and expansion, it can change the existing balance in its favor. Regarding dealing with the movement, differences within the power bloc have appeared, but it has not yet progressed to a gap that would lead to the creation of different factions within the regime.
The four factors: economic crisis, political mobilization, international pressure and divisions within the government are the determining factors in the collapse of authoritarian governments. The Islamic Republic is facing economic crisis, political mobilization and international pressure.
Challenges and Policies
With the beginning of the protests, the process of decline in the regime's social base has accelerated, however, the regime still has a limited social base. During the last four decades, the regime has built many layers of security and military organs. In this regime, ideology, politics and economy are intermingled. Classes and layers of power have already been formed and they have gained astronomical wealth and their interests are tied to the life of the Islamic Republic. The formed classes will defend their interests. The IRGC has grasped many fields, especially the country's economy, and it will not simply be willing to let go of its economic situation and position and hand over the power. At the same time, it should be noted that the regime has become highly corrupt, the power-wealth mafia has gripped the economy, chronic and complex crises, especially the economic crisis, have engulfed the regime, and its unification has increased its inefficiency.
In order to overthrow the regime, it is necessary for the movement to continue, the protests to spread, the university to maintain its focal role, other population groups to join the protestors, indifferent groups to be attracted to the movement and by advancing the peaceful struggle, the conditions for participation of groups supporting the movement in the protests to beprovided, groups of defenders of the regime to be in a neutral position, the process of wearing down the regime and especially the repression forces to continue, and a gap and factions to be formed within the power bloc, and some groups of the power block torealize the futility of repression.
For the continuation and stability of the revolutionary movement, it is necessary to form general and nationwide strikes. It is absolutely necessary that street protests are joined by strikes in large production units and oil companies, teachers, government workers, shops and markets, bus drivers, truck drivers and truck owners, taxi drivers, etc. We should try to plan the necessity of general and nationwide strikes and create the groundwork for it.
Groups of workers have joined the revolutionary movement and it is increasing, which can be seen in strikes and in workers' neighborhoods. But parts of the "poor middle class" and workers as one class have not yet joined the movement. Their joining largely depends on to what extent the demands of workers and other wage and salary earners are raised and supported in the movement. Currently, what is possible is to raise union demands and the issue of workers' organization and try to link workers' demands with the demands of the revolutionary movement. In the continuation of the revolutionary movement, trade union strikes can lead to nationwide strikes. This issue is true in relation to teachers and other wage-earning groups, especially in other government sectors. Teachers along with students play a role in advancing the movement.
The Islamic Republic uses exposed violence against the movement. It does not even spare children. The revolutionary movement is profoundly peaceful and the slogan "Woman, Life and Freedom" is based on non-violence foundation. The protesters empty-handed face the government's brutal repression. Avoiding violence has created moral values for it and the movement has been effective in attracting international support. In various ways, the government attempts to impose violence as a means of struggle on the movement. It is necessary to neutralize the efforts of the government to impose violence on the movement. However, self-defense against oppression is accepted and people have the right to defend themselves against oppression.
The government has killed more than four hundred people and it has arrested nearly 17,000 people. It is necessary to strengthen the efforts that are being made inside and outside the country and in international forums against repression, killing, execution and the release of detainees and political prisoners.
Internet and social networks have led to the formation and emergence of new social movements, the most important feature of which is self-leadership. The current revolutionary movement is one of this kind of movements. These movements have a high ability to continue protests. The regime is not faced with a single leader who can silence the protests by arresting the leaders. Now the local youth organizations are part of the movement and play a role in guiding and continuing the movement. The formation of new movements does not negate the necessity of political parties, trade unions and democratic organizations. Their connection can increase the strength and capability of the movement.
In the continuation of the movement, it is necessary to form a political leadership that will guide the transition period and manage the country affairs until the formation of the Constituent Assembly. At present, in the ranks of the opposition and civil society, we are facing many blocs, political parties and organizationsand trade unions, leading figures inside and outside the country. It is necessary to coordinate the activities of them against the Islamic Republic. We emphasize the dialogue to form the coordinating center of the democratic forces. Democratic forces can naturally be present with their blocks in this process. The unification of the left forces and creating the center of gravity of the republican forces is the priority of our alliance policy. The formation of such a center does not depend on this priority in terms of time.
The Revolutionary Movement does not Stand Still
Simultaneous protests in more than 70 large and small cities, demonstrations in a large number of universities in the country, students coming to the streets in a number of cities, strikes by iron smelting workers and a number of production units, joining shops and markets to protests in different cities on the anniversary of the uprising of November 2019 showed that the revolutionary movement is still advancing and has no intention of standing still. The movement is in an offensive position and the government is in a defensive position.
Hoping for the day when the people of Iran will be freed from the hellish oppression of the Islamic Republic and achieve their historical desires: Freedom, Social Justice and Democracy.
The Central Council of the Left Party of Iran (People’s Fadaian)
November 20, 2022
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