Yossi Schwartz ISL (RCIT section in Israel/Occupied (Palestine) 13.01.2026
On January 12, 2026 Esaias Yavari wrote an article in Defense of Marxism under the name: “Imperialists and Pahlavis – hands off Iran”!
Many of the arguments in this article are correct, including the brutal repression of the protests. Correctly he wrote:
” The western imperialist vultures are circling the Iranian regime. Donald Trump has already threatened to intervene in Iran three times since the protests began. Meanwhile, the Israeli state has sent ominous messages through Mossad’s Farsi X account, including: “Let’s come out to the streets together. The time has come. We are with you. Not just…”
…”The regime’s disconnection of the internet shows its clear decision to turn to deadly suppression and to eliminate any witnesses. HRANA has confirmed 544 dead – although the real figure is most likely much higher. These figures are based on reports from hospital workers and are credible. Meanwhile, over 10,681 have been arrested. Prior to the internet being turned off, only a few dozen had been killed. Now there is a report that in Tehran alone, 200 people have been killed. While it’s difficult to verify at this time, this is a rapid escalation and would make it the deadliest repression since the wave of uprisings, strikes, and protests began in 2018″
…” Meanwhile, as the Iranian masses bleed and sacrifice their lives, the western imperialists smell an opportunity to weaken or even destroy their rival in the Middle East. Nearly every major western bourgeois politician has declared their solidarity with the Iranian masses. This is sickening hypocrisy. US-led sanctions are, alongside the exploitation of the regime, responsible for the economic misery of the masses”
“ The Iranian masses have repeatedly made it clear that they want nothing to do with Reza Pahlavi or the imperialists. Most recently, the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Workers’ Union, a militant trade union which led a struggle for workers’ control and has consistently supported every uprising, wrote the following in a statement:
“The Pahlavis can count on capitalism, but the workers and people who want freedom and equality cannot. The Shah worshippers, Imam worshippers, and idol worshippers can go and lie and spread fake news in rented media, they insult the intelligence of the people and blur the line between truth and lies. But the world is not faked, only the liars who have no reputation will increase.”
The Workers’ Union of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company write the following:
“We have said many times and we repeat it again: the path to the liberation of workers and toilers does not lie in the path of a leader carved from above the people, nor in reliance on foreign powers, nor through factions within the government, but rather in the path of unity, solidarity, and the creation of independent organizations in the workplace and on a national level. We must not allow ourselves to be victims of the power games and interests of the ruling classes once again.
The Syndicate also strongly condemns any propaganda, justification, or support for military intervention by foreign governments, including the United States and Israel. Such interventions not only lead to the destruction of civil society and the killing of people, but also provide another excuse for the continuation of violence and repression by the government. Past experiences have shown that Western domineering governments do not place the slightest value on the freedom, livelihood, and rights of the Iranian people.”
“ The working class in the cities are not participating en masse in the same way that we see in the provinces and smaller towns. They are fearful, despite their hatred of the regime, because they see no clear revolutionary alternative, only the threat of imperialist intervention”.
“ There is also the possibility that the Iranian masses will rally to defend the nation against a foreign invasion. There is a powerful, deep-rooted hatred of western imperialism in Iran, tracing back through more than a century of struggle”[i]
So far it is a good article, and yet it is wrong to put the regime on the same level as the imperialists with the slogan: “Hands off Iran! Death to tyrants – be it the Shah or mullahs!” In case of an imperialist war on Iran it will be necessary to advance the revolutionary defeat for the imperialists and revolutionary defense of Iran without giving the regime any political support. This essential strategic goal is missing in the article in spite of the recognition that if the US will attack Iran the masses will defend the regime. Clearly the difference between a semi colony and imperialism is lost on Alan Woods.
Trotsky said:”I will take the most simple and obvious example. In Brazil there now reigns a semifascist regime that every revolutionary can only view with hatred. Let us assume, however, that on the morrow England enters into a military conflict with Brazil. I ask you on whose side of the conflict will the working class be? I will answer for myself personally—in this case I will be on the side of “fascist” Brazil against “democratic” Great Britain. Why? Because in the conflict between them it will not be a question of democracy or fascism. If England should be victorious, she will put another fascist in Rio de Janeiro and will place double chains on Brazil. If Brazil on the contrary should be victorious, it will give a mighty impulse to the national and democratic consciousness of the country and will lead to the overthrow of the Vargas dictatorship. The defeat of England will at the same time deliver a blow to British imperialism and will give an impulse to the revolutionary movement of the British proletariat. Truly, one must have an empty head to reduce world antagonisms and military conflicts to the struggle between fascism and democracy. Under all masks one must know how to distinguish exploiters, slave-owners, and robbers![ii]
It is clear that Woods has not learned anything since his ghastly position during the Malvinas war when he defended British imperialism against Argentina ruled by the Junta.
One of the demands if the Western imperialists attack Iran will be to arm the workers under democratically elected leadership. Once the imperialists will lose the war it will be the time to bring down the Ayatollah’s regime.
In addition he has a crystal ball instead of Marxist scientific analysis, as he is sure that in spite of the facts that the royalists are a small minority and the working class is not involved in the protest ”Irrespective of how exactly events develop, it is clear that the Islamic Republic’s days are numbered. The situation has been unsustainable since 2018, with constant strikes and economic protests and violent youth uprisings, with hundreds killed and thousands arrested every other year. But the imperialist threat and lack of a clear revolutionary alternative has not only turned the overthrow of the regime into a bloody affair, but now threatens the dismemberment of Iran as a nation, the plunder of the country, and other horrors.”
In the real world it is more likely that the protest will die unless the working class will lead it. In addition, the RCI does not call for a united front of all who oppose the Imperialist attack on Iran. Woods is too afraid that his members will meet real revolutionaries.
Endnotes:
[i] https://marxist.com/imperialists-and-pahlavis-hands-off-iran.htm
[ii] Leon Trotsky Anti-Imperialist Struggle Is Key to Liberation An Interview with Mateo Fossa
(September 1938)