A reply to a proponent of “Iranian Islamic socialism”
The struggle against imperialism and for workers’ power in Iran—Part 3
By
Keith Jones
16 February 2018
This is the conclusion of a three-part series in reply to Iran Press TV journalist Ramin Mazaheri’s criticisms of the WSWS’s coverage of, and support for, the recent explosion of working-class anger against Iran’s bourgeois-clerical regime. Part 1 was posted February 14 and Part 2 February 15.
The Islamic Republic and Imperialism
Mazaheri takes great exception to our insistence that Iran’s foreign policy is not anti-imperialist. Tehran, in keeping with the class nature of the Islamic Republic, pursues a nationalist foreign policy, directed at expanding the strategic influence and wealth of the Iranian bourgeoisie and, in particular, at realizing its regional-power ambitions.
In our previous reply, we noted, “from the beginning,” the aim of the Islamic Republic’s rulers, “has been to establish greater freedom of action for the Iranian bourgeoisie within world capitalism, including by seeking closer economic ties to European and Japanese imperialism.”
“To be sure, over the past four decades, American imperialism has mounted a relentless drive against Iran, under Democratic and Republican administrations alike, imposing punishing economic sanctions and exerting massive military pressure. But the leaders of the Islamic Republic have made repeated overtures to Washington—far too many to document here.”
In response, Mazaheri declines to offer any serious analysis of the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic. He merely points to the long record of imperialist hostility toward Iran and says our characterization of Iran’s foreign policy does not conform with how the Islamic Republic is…