Iran: Shah's Empire of Repression, published by the Committee Against Repression in Iran (30p). This is a brief introductory account of economic and political developments in Iran. The pamphlet provides a useful account of the nature of the Shah's regime by examining its historical formation, its social base, its role within the imperialist system and in particular its British connection. It concludes by outlining a programme of action to fight this regime in Britain.
The fact is that an active and organised defence campaign, similar in scope and aim to the campaigns against the fascist or racist regimes of Spain, Chile, or South Africa, does not exist in the case of the Shah's regime. This is notwithstanding the fact that the Shah's rule, if at all comparable, is even more barbaric and bloody than any of these regimes. It is sufficient to remark that Iran has the highest rate of execution of political prisoners in the world, that all the basic democratic rights such as the right to strike, freedom of speech and association, etc., are denied to the Iranian masses, and that the use of 'advanced' methods of torture has become the only thing the Shah can boast of.
Despite this impressive record in various domains of repression, there has been little reaction in Britain against the role of terror in Iran. One reason, no doubt, is the illusion created by the Shah's big propaganda machine, and perpetuated by the flow of vast oil revenues into the pockets of the Shah, that Iran is after all in the process of becoming an industrial giant, bringing wealth to the hitherto poor people of the country. Another no less important reason is the cordial relationship which the Labour Government has shamelessly maintained with the Iranian regime. These factors partially mask the true character of the Iranian regime in the eyes of the politically less conscious, but they surely cannot account for the inadequate attention paid to it by the left, including the far left.
Indeed, the objective need for a campaign against repression in Iran is generally viewed by the left purely as a task for the Iranian opposition in exile. Such a short-sighted attitude is particularly unsound when one considers the overall aspects of such a campaign in relation to the class struggle in Europe itself.
The huge arms orders received each year from Iran by Britain and other imperialist powers symbolise one aspect of the interrelationship. Needless to say, the production of these arms, later to be used against the liberation forces of Dhofar or Baluchistan, provides a unique and safe source of capitalist profit for the shaky British economy by stimulating idle capital in heavy industry (although it is highly inflationary as regards its benefits for working people as a whole). In fact, the stability and survival of Western capitalism is nowadays conditioned by these regular arms orders. On top of all this, the Shah, who is no longer merely a lackey of the imperialists but also their active supporter on a global scale, has helped the Labour Government with large loans in order to prevent the downfall of the bankrupt British economy.
The immediate and long-term interests of the British working class clearly call for an immediate break-up of all British-Iranian links. But how does the Labour Government, on behalf of the British ruling class, express its solidarity with the Iranian regime in return for all the services that the Shah so faithfully provides?
The Shah's regime, brought to power by the CIA-engineered coup of 1953, has never enjoyed any popular support amongst the Iranian masses. In fact, the regime has been able to maintain its reactionary rule only through the most vicious forms of coercion. The Iranian economy, totally dependent on Western technology, has no infrastructural foundations and is easily prone to crises. The last few years have seen the failure of the so-called 'White Revolution' — which has turned Iran from a net exporter of foodstuffs into a leading importer — together with increasing problems such as food shortages, rampant inflation, and corruption in high official and business circles. In response, the regime has had to step up its repression by suspending the two pro-regime parties, declaring a one-party system, and banning 95 per cent the semi-official press in Iran. As the crisis of the regime deepens (particularly with the drop in the export of oil) and as the struggle of the oppressed masses of Iran broadens, the regime will have to resort to more and more repression as the only remedy. It is here that the Western powers come into the picture. In order to keep the regime in power, they supply it with arms and the most advanced means of repression. Through their experts in the field of espionage and repression they teach the SAVAK secret police how to suppress the slightest murmur of opposition.
And open collaboration with SAVAK extends beyond the borders of Iran. The regime is particularly sensitive to the struggle of Iranian students and intellectuals abroad, which can neutralise the effect of the Shah's propaganda machine and unmask the real face of the regime to the public in the West. Through its informers in student circles and its agents disguised as diplomats in the Iranian embassies, SAVAK spies on all those abroad in opposition to the regime, including Labour MPs. SAVAK operations are carried out with the knowledge and, in some cases, the active collaboration of Western governments. Furthermore, with a view to consolidating their trade and political relations with Iran, these governments directly unleash a campaign of harassment against the organised forces of the Iran opposition. In Britain this was manifested with the conspiracy charges against 21 Iranians who had peacefully occupied the Iranian embassy in protest against the execution of nine political prisoners in Iran. Such attacks should in no way be considered as isolated incidents devoid of any bearing on the class struggle in Europe itself. At a time when capitalism has entered its deepest crisis since the Second World War, the bourgeoisie can no longer tolerate the democratic rights of the working people, and are using their arsenal of repressive laws and instruments against 'extremist' minorities, preparing the ground for massive repression against the workers movement as a whole. In this respect the Iranian opposition has been a most suitable target for intimidation and harassment. The recent attacks by the French and German police on the Iranian student organisations testify to this fact. Thus one can see how the problems of the Iranian opposition are so tightly interlinked with the economic crisis and the threats to democratic rights of the working class in the West.
The Committee Against Repression in Iran (CARI) has been set up with the aim of organising long-term campaigns in Britain for the defence of Iranian political prisoners, for the establishment of basic democratic rights in Iran, and against the activities of SAVAK in Britain. It will also demand that the Labour Government reconsider its political and trade links with Iran. So far, the CISNU, the IMG and SWP, the Gulf Committee, and many student unions and committed individuals all over Britain have affiliated to CARI and are active in pursuit of its aims. For further information, write to: CARI, Box 4, 182 Upper Street, London N1.