Communists for the imam’s line

international | anti-war / imperialism | other press Friday June 20, 2008 18:48 by pat c

Yassamine Mather continues her analysis of Political Islam. Here she illustrates how the left both in Iran and Internationally had illusions in the Tehran government. Full text at link.

The defenders of Iran’s islamic regime, including those on the international left who maintain illusions in the radicalism of political islam, refer to Iran’s foreign policy, especially in the first decade of its existence after the 1979 uprising, as a sign of anti-imperialism within the islamic movement. But they are silent about Iran’s foreign policy during Irangate or in support of US policy during the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq.

It is therefore necessary to examine the ‘anti-imperialist’ credentials of the islamic regime in the early 1980s, even though no-one associated with the Iranian regime has ever claimed to be anti-imperialist, using instead terms such as ‘anti-west’ or ‘anti-foreigner’.