Iranian Labourers in Revolt, Mullah Regime is Shaken!

Iran has for days been witnessing the transformation of the protests, which began on 28 December, into a revolt of the working masses spreading across the entire country. Triggered by the dramatic depreciation of the Iranian rial against the dollar and the subsequent mobilisation of bazaar merchants in Tehran, the demonstrations swiftly expanded into a broader social movement, voiced through slogans directly targeting the regime. Dozens of people have lost their lives and thousands have been detained as a result of assaults by regime forces. Yet the brutal repression of the mullah regime has failed to quell the revolt. Within ten days, the revolt has spread to all 31 provinces, intensifying not only in the streets but also through shuttered bazaars, workers’ strikes, and actions across dozens of universities. In many localities, police forces have retreated without resistance in the face of crowds storming police stations and seizing weapons, while in some areas they have even sided with the people. Reports indicate that in Kurdistan certain cities have been entirely taken over. And now, mass demonstrations are unfolding in Tehran itself. All of this points to the unfolding, once again, of a revolutionary situation in Iran.

Since the outbreak of the Jina Mahsa Amini protests in September 2022, the Iranian regime has been confronted with the most massive popular movement to date. Mahsa’s killing by the morality police, for the mere fact that strands of her hair were visible beneath her headscarf, three years ago turned into the cry of revolt of millions of Iranian working people. Millions of workers –Persians, Kurds, Azeris, Baluchis, Lors–united around slogans such as “Death to the Dictator”, “Death to Khamenei”, and “Down with the Islamic State”, directly targeting the regime.

At that time, we noted that the events demonstrated the foundations of the regime in Iran were being shaken, and made the following assessment: “… Iran is facing a popular revolt which, both in scale and in character, differs from the various actions of recent years, and a revolutionary situation is unfolding. This does not, of course, mean that the revolutionary revolt which has begun will swiftly turn into a revolution overthrowing the mullah regime. Yet it is now evident that the genie has come out of the bottle, and that it cannot be forced back in.”[1]

Indeed, the working people who rose up did not overthrow the mullah regime, but the regime, as we noted at the time, could not force the genie back into the bottle. In fact, three years later Iranian workers, youth, and women once again rose up with similar slogans: “Death to All Tyrants”, “Death to Khamenei”, “Do Not Fear, We Are All Together”, “Freedom, Freedom”… Following the 2022 revolt, the Islamic regime executed thousands of opponents. Opposition youth, and especially Kurds, became the direct targets of these massacres. Through this wave of terror, the mullah regime sought to paralyse the masses by instilling fear. Yet it failed to achieve its aim. Moreover, it is evident that the mullahs have significantly lost the historical support of the Bazaari (bazaar merchants). In 2022, once the revolt had reached a certain level of maturity, this stratum had closed their shops in solidarity with the movement. But this time, it was the Bazaari themselves who ignited the spark of the movement.

As we have previously noted, “The Bazaari merchants, the fundamental pillar of the Islamist regime, have stood out as its most conservative and reactionary stratum. Yet it is now evident that the economic devastation, having reached an unbearable point, has also generated profound discontent within this layer. Nor is this all: like every other section of society, they too are affected by the social crisis produced by the theocratic mullah regime, which has multiplied the contradictions of capitalism severalfold. The children of these families live within the same society, and in this respect they share the discontent and anger felt by the youth as a whole. As the fascist Islamist regime, whose foundations have been steadily eroded, sees its social networks unravel, the ground upon which it stands is itself shaking.”[2]

The mullah regime, which emerged under Iran’s specific historical and political conditions, has managed to survive as a monstrosity for 47 years, yet during this period its contradictions with society have steadily deepened. The aspirations, worldview, and visions of life and future held by the overwhelming majority of the working people can no longer fit within, nor be forced into, the narrow moulds of the decayed fascist regime.[3]

The mullah regime, which emerged under Iran’s specific historical and political conditions, has managed to survive as an aberration for 47 years, yet during this period its contradictions with society have steadily deepened. The aspirations, worldview, and visions of life and future held by the overwhelming majority of the working people can no longer fit within, nor be forced into, the narrow moulds of the decrepit fascist regime.

The deadly response of Israel to the Hamas attack in October 2023, followed immediately by the targeting of Hezbollah in Lebanon and the heavy losses inflicted upon it, the assaults against the Houthis in Yemen, and finally the overthrow of the Assad regime in December 2024, dealt severe defeats to what Iran calls the “Axis of Resistance” in all its parts. The Israeli bombardments of June 2025, in which Iran itself was directly targeted, confronted the regime with an even more disastrous situation. In these bombardments, military facilities, nuclear installations, refineries, and airports were struck, while the Chief of General Staff along with the highest-ranking military leaders and nuclear experts were assassinated.[4] All of this has not only gravely weakened the decaying mullah regime, but has also greatly widened the fissures within it.

To expect this regime to “recognise the seriousness of the situation and embark upon a path of democratisation” is sheer folly, for it runs counter to its very nature. In another article during the 2022 revolt, we emphasised this reality as follows: “… As seen in many historical examples, despotic regimes cannot bend or be reformed like ordinary bourgeois regimes. The extremely closed nature of such regimes to change, the ideological framework and mentality that determine their mode of action and reflexes, in most cases render even the simplest concessions to the masses impossible. Owing to its specific historical and political background, this is all the more true for Iran. So much so that the regime is not even in a position to carry out a proper reform regarding the headscarf. For if it were to do so, it would no longer remain the same regime.”[5]

The mullah regime, founded upon theocratic fascism, has in the present conjuncture become profoundly weakened. Above all, the Middle East war has entered a new phase under the drive of the US–Israel alliance. After Syria, the focus has now shifted directly to the Iranian Islamic state. This entire process must first of all be understood within the framework of the imperialist war of redivision that is unfolding as the Third World War. One pole of this war is constituted by the US-Israel-Europe axis, while the other is led by China and Russia. For the working class, grasping this reality is an indispensable condition for adopting an appropriate revolutionary stance. At present, as a new military assault by the US-Israel alliance against Iran appears likely, this stance acquires an even greater urgency for the world working class, and especially for that of the region. For while US imperialist banditry against Venezuela has come to the forefront of the agenda, while Zionist Israel’s plans to annex Gaza advance step by step, and while Trump’s threats are mounting, we can anticipate that the voices of those claiming that Iran must be defended in the name of anti‑imperialism will grow louder. Yet such an approach, particularly at a time when workers and the working people of Iran have risen against the regime, can mean nothing other than providing a blood transfusion to the fascist mullah regime. For this reason, the points we underlined in the aftermath of the June assault are now valid with even greater urgency:

“It is absolutely true that US imperialism represents the aggressive party in the broader imperialist world war – just as together with Israeli Zionism it serves as the offensive side in this specific Israel-Iran front. There is also no question that Israel stands as one of the most reactionary forces in the region and globally, that it is an indispensable ally of US and Western imperialism, and that it strives to destroy the Palestinian people. Consequently, it is of paramount importance that the working class in these most powerful and wealthy imperialist countries makes their own governments and Israel primary targets of struggle. This holds true for countries like Turkey as well. However, this does not mean we must automatically defend Iran against these aggressors. Iran is no «oppressed» or «small» nation, but rather a major regional power pursuing its own imperial policies. If Israel is a reactionary regional power, we cannot forget that Iran too is a reactionary regional force with nuclear capabilities and ballistic missiles. Just as Israel serves as a partner to the US and other Western imperialist powers, Iran functions as a regional partner of major imperialist powers like China and Russia – and this war is fundamentally being waged between these two camps. Moreover, we cannot ignore the fact that Iran’s fascist Mullah regime systematically oppresses Iran’s working class, socialists, progressives, democrats, women, and minority peoples – particularly the Kurds. As Lenin emphasized, from the working-class perspective, it matters little which side «started» the war or who appears as the «aggressor» – we are not bourgeois strategists who view events through their lens, but rather through the interests of the working class.

“From a working-class perspective, it is clear that no stance siding with either Iran or Israel can be justified. The phrase “standing with the Iranian people” may sound positive in distinguishing support from the regime, but it remains ambiguous. Moreover, this approach overlooks the oppressed populations living under the yoke of the Mullah regime’s repression. Our position is this: We stand for the revolutionary struggle of Iran’s working class against Zionist Israel, the Western imperialist powers behind it, and the masters of Iran’s fascist Mullah regime. The heroic Iranian proletariat –which has waged courageous struggles and paid heavy prices– owes nothing to the Mullah regime and shares no common interests with it. The Mullah government, already weakened by mass struggles in recent years and the crushing burden of its imperialist policies, has lost working-class support. Should it exploit this war to rally workers behind it and regain strength, a new wave of devastation would await the working class. As Parisian workers demonstrated during the 1871 Franco-Prussian War, the correct path for Iranian workers is to refuse support to the Mullah regime against Israeli aggression and transform the war into a class war against both external aggressors and their domestic class enemy. A working class taking this path would win the sympathy and support of the global proletariat and oppressed masses. Even now, Western workers remain largely unconvinced to support a war against Iran, which is proof that this perspective is far from groundless.”[6]

The rising wave of revolt in Iran has begun to draw in the most active sections of the working class. At this stage, workers from various sectors who have kept the flame of struggle alive for years –represented by the Iranian Oil Workers’ Organising Council, the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Workers’ Union, the Iranian Teachers’ Trade Union Coordination Council, and the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company Workers’ Union– have issued statements calling upon all workers to strike and take to the streets. In the declaration of the Bus Workers’ Union, the following points are emphasised:

“The path to the liberation of workers and working people does not lie in creating a single leader for the people, in relying on foreign powers, or in groups within the ruling order, but only in unity, solidarity, and the formation of independent organisations in workplaces, living spaces, and across the country. Once again, we must not allow ourselves to be sacrificed to the power plays and the interests of the ruling classes. Past experiences have shown that the Western hegemonic states have contributed nothing to the freedom, livelihood, and rights of the Iranian people, and have in fact acted against them. The remedy for the working people is unity and organisation. Long live freedom, equality, and class solidarity!”

Women who have left their mark on the movement since 2022 with the slogan “Jin, Jiyan, Azadi” have likewise spoken out in a statement issued on behalf of six women’s organisations:

“History has shown that despotic regimes do not collapse easily, yet neither can they survive through sheer violence. Freedom, though its price may be high, lies in the collective will of a people who no longer consent to silence and submission, and will be won through continuous and steadfast struggle. A free and democratic future takes shape in the womb of conscious resistance, social solidarity, and the struggle for equality and justice. (…) We declare in the clearest terms that neither the Islamic Republic nor monarchy, in whatever guise or form it imposes itself, represents the liberation of the Iranian people, and especially of women. Both rest upon the denial of free choice, the suppression of protest, and the elimination of independent voices. The present movement in Iran is not a movement of return to the past; it is a movement to transcend all forms of despotism.”[7]

These developments indicate that the objective conditions for the implementation of the conception of struggle we have outlined above have matured. Although the same cannot unfortunately be said with regard to the subjective factor –that is, the level of class consciousness and organisation– the current situation nonetheless appears favourable in terms of the potentials for advancing the movement to higher stages.

Greetings to the workers, toilers, youth, and women bravely struggling in Iran!

Down with the Mullah regime, down with capitalism!