By Michael Pröbsting, Revolutionary Communist International Tendency (RCIT), 1 October 2024, www.thecommunists.net
Note of the Author: This article was already written and published when Iran initiated a counter-strike against Israel with about 200 missiles. It goes without saying that given the unspeakable series of crimes of the Zionist army – its genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza for nearly a year, now its brutal attacks against Lebanon and also its attacks against Iran itself – such a strike is the minimum of retaliation. However, it does not alter the fact, as we outline in the article below, that the Iranian regime only reacts to Israel’s efforts to “reshape the Middle East”, i.e. to expel the Palestinian people and to smash all resistance forces, as late and as little as possible and only if is absolutely forced to do under the pressure of the masses and/or their enemies. (01.10.2024, UTC: 18.30)
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It is the duty of revolutionaries to soberly assess the conditions of the liberation struggle as they are and not to lend themselves to illusions. It is clear that the Lebanese resistance has suffered serious setbacks. According to the Institute for the Study of War, Israel has managed to kill 21 of 25 Hezbollah top leaders, including its historic leader Hassan Nasrallah, within a few weeks. [1]
There is no doubt that the movement has a serious problem with infiltration and security. Of course, they know this themselves and we are not in a position to say more on this issue. Let us hope that they can solve this issue as soon as possible.
However, the liberation struggle against the Zionist monster faces much more fundamental problems – problems of policy, principles and strategy. In the following article we want to briefly elaborate on these issues without pretending to be exhaustive.
Don’t trust the Mullah regime of Iran!
The first lesson of the last few weeks and months is that the Mullah regime of Iran must not be trusted in any way. It pretends to lead the “Axis of Resistance” but in fact, for the regime this axis is not an instrument to fight Israel and U.S. imperialism but rather an instrument to defend itself in case Iran gets attacked. When others – like Hamas in Gaza or Hezbollah in Lebanon – need Iran’s military strength to help them against the Zionist aggression, the Mullahs claim that “the timing isn’t right.” [2] Likewise, Teheran has pressured allied militias in Iraq to stop attacking U.S. military bases to avoid escalating tensions.
Why is the regime doing this? Because its basic interests are a) to stay in power and b) to expand its influence within the imperialist order in the Middle East.
To understand this, it is necessary to correctly assess the nature of the regime. It is a capitalist dictatorship on the basis of theocratical rule and Persian chauvinism. In the decades since the Mullahs came to power – after defeating the revolutionary workers and students who heroically overthrew the Shah in 1979 – a new elite has enriched itself. Tens of thousands of revolutionaries were executed in the 1980s. Under the Mullah regime, the workers continue to be exploited, the Arab, Kurdish and Azeri minorities are oppressed, and women’s rights are trampled. [3]
The goal of Teheran is to find its place as a regional power within the existing order of states in the Middle East which are all capitalist and, in one form or another, dependent on imperialist powers. The regime does not desire to overthrow the Arab tyrants but rather to force them to accept Iran as a key co-player in the region.
True, it faces violent opposition from Israel and U.S. imperialism because Iran’s expansion of influence would weaken the position of the former. This is even more the case because historically, Iran has been able to expand its prestige and influence on the basis of opposing Israel and the U.S. Furthermore, Teheran has built close links with Russia – a thorn in Washington’s side in a period of inter-imperialist Cold War.
But this does not make the Mullah regime anti-imperialist or progressive. See their brutal suppression of popular protests after the brutal murder of Mahsa Amini, [4] their shameful support for the Assad tyranny when he slaughtered the Syrian people [5] or their military aid for Putin’s imperialist war against the Ukraine. [6]
It is because of such interests as a capitalist power that the Mullah regime subordinates the defence of its allies in Lebanon and Gaza to its own goals. Teheran concept of “strategic patience” is, in reality, a concept of “strategic retreat”! The regime will only join the struggle against the Zionist state if it comes under massive pressure of the masses or if it is forced to do so because of escalating Israeli attacks.
Does this mean that the Palestinian and Lebanese resistance should not seek military aid from Iran? Of course not! Every liberation movement has the right to get weapons and aid from wherever possible. This was the case in the past (e.g. during the two World Wars) and this is the case today (e.g. forces fighting against Israel and pro-Western regimes get weapons from Russia and the Ukraine gets such from the U.S.). But such aid must not result in political subordination, i.e. praising such imperialist powers or accepting their dictates!
As the RCIT said repeatedly, the way forward is to support the liberation struggle of the workers and oppressed against all capitalist regimes and imperialist powers. Hence, we advocate the overthrow of the Mullah regime by an uprising of the masses and its replacement by a workers and popular government based on councils and militias of the masses.
Nevertheless, one must side with Iran in a war with Israel or the U.S.
We have said that Iran follows its own capitalist interests and wants to expand its influence in the Middle East. Does this mean that revolutionaries should not side with Iran in a war with Israel or U.S. imperialism? No, it is imperative to side with Iran in any such confrontation! Why? Not because we endorse the regime’s goals but because of what Iran is and which role it objectively plays in the current period.
First and foremost, Iran is a capitalist semi-colony, i.e. a country which is dependent on the capitalist world economy, and which does not play a dominating role in the imperialist world order. Despite its desire to expand its influence, it is far from becoming an imperialist power. In contrast, Israel and the U.S. are imperialist powers, and the former is also a reactionary settler state occupying historic Arab and Muslim land.
Related to this is the fact that the resistance of the Palestinian and Arab people against Israel is one of the most important issues of the international liberation struggle. If Iran opposes the perpetrators of the genocide in Gaza, even if they do so for their own narrow interests, it is a welcome opportunity to weaken and defeat the Zionist monster. Hence, in a conflict of such powers with Iran, socialists will always side with the latter. [7]
Fight the tyrants – don’t support them!
Many Arabs did not shed tears when Nasrallah was killed. In Syria, many even cheered. Why? Because they support Israel? Certainly not! They did so because Hezbollah played a reactionary role in supporting the Assad dictatorship in Syria. It did not only politically side with the tyrant but even sent thousands of fighters to aid him in crushing the Syrian Revolution and killing hundreds of thousands of people.
In doing so, Hezbollah alienated the masses not only in Syria but in the whole Arab world. Furthermore, it deepened the sectarian tensions within Lebanon itself – a highly diverse country with one third each of Shia Muslims, Sunni Muslims and Christians (which again are divided in many different currents) as well as other religious groups.
No to sectarianism – for an inclusive movement based on democracy and secularism
This brings us to the next point. Hezbollah’s strength in fighting against Israel has always been hampered by the fact that while it is deeply rooted among the country’s Shia Muslims, it is also feared – or at least distrusted – by many others among the Lebanese people.
It has been said that Hezbollah was reluctant to intensify the struggle against Israel because it feared to provoke Israel to escalate its attacks on Lebanon which would alienate non-Shia groups in the country. This shows how self-defeating it is to build a resistance movement on the basis of religious faith instead of political goals.
A truly national movement must not be based on a sectarian basis which can not but divide the popular forces. A movement to defend Lebanon against the Zionist aggression must include all religious (and non-religious) currents. To do so, it must be based on democracy and secularism. No sectarian current must dominate, everyone must be respected.
The basis for unity is not a specific religious faith but a platform of political goals. It should be a program including the freedom from Zionist and imperialist domination, an end to the tyranny of global financial institutions and monopolies, the elimination of the rule by a small capitalist elite and its replacement by a workers and popular government on the basis of a nationalized and planned economy.
Hezbollah’s leadership has not followed such a strategy and could not do so because its concept is completely different. Its goal has been to have one foot in the resistance and, at the same time, to have another foot in the bourgeois state. In fact, Hezbollah has built a state within the state and participates since years in capitalist governments as part of coalitions with bourgeois parties. Currently, is has two ministers in the government. A policy of popular mobilisation and organisation, of appealing to the masses in the Arab world would undermine and endanger such a policy of participating in bourgeois coalitions.
The armed struggle is indispensable but neither the only nor the most important form of struggle!
The armed struggle against the Zionist terror state and its allies is an indispensable part of the liberation struggle. It is currently the most important form of struggle in Gaza and, as the Israeli army has now started its invasion in South Lebanon, it will be likewise there. However, it is absolutely wrong to imagine that the struggle for liberation would be primarily a military issue.
There are several reasons for this. First, Israel and the U.S. are clearly superior in terms of military technologies and size of armoury. If the oppressed limit their struggle to the military field, they will lose. However, the imperialist lords of wars are dependent on global economic supply. Israel could not continue its colonial domination without the support of the U.S. and other allies.
The Houthis did already impose a kind of blockade against Israel. While this is a great achievement, it is limited to the Red Sea. At the same time, Israel continues to have trade relations with several Arab and Muslim states (most importantly Egypt and the United Arab Emirates). Furthermore, Azerbaijan contributes 40% of Israel’s annual oil consumption which is transported via Türkiye. If Ankara would close down the export of such oil, it would create huge problems for the Zionist state! [8]
In addition, Israel is strongly dependent on trade relations and military aid from American and European imperialism.
Hence, the liberation struggle must have a focus on enforcing a regional and global boycott of Israel. The masses must force the Arab and Muslim regimes to terminate their trade with the Zionist state. The so-called Abraham Accord must be destroyed.
In Western imperialist countries the workers and popular organisations must organise an effective economic and cultural boycott of Israel. This, in turn, requires a decisive struggle against the pro-Zionist leaderships in most of these parties, trade unions and other organisations. Hence, by its very nature, a struggle in solidarity with the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples must be not only Anti-Zionist but also anti-imperialist, i.e. against the ruling class in their own countries and their lackeys in the labour movement. [9]
Fight the U.S. in order to fight Israel
As we just said, Israel could not survive without the continuous and comprehensive support it receives from Western imperialist powers. However, the struggle against U.S. imperialism is crucial also from another, related point of view. Washington was prepared, until now, to back Israel – even if they are strongly isolated in the UN – because it considered the political costs of such support as acceptable.
Hence, the forces supporting the Palestinian liberation struggle must increase the costs for the U.S. The Mullah’s concept of “strategic patience” is self-defeating. It only emboldens the Zionists and the American imperialists. Look at the terrible costs which Hezbollah has to pay for such restraint. It has not seriously attacked Israel until now and, meanwhile, the Zionist army killed nearly its whole leadership and hundreds of fighters and destroyed significant parts of its armoury.
In the current situation, the U.S. Administration – and American politics in general – is totally focused on the incoming elections in November. Netanyahu knows this and exploits this fully to his advantage. Why is the resistance not doing the same? How likely is it that Washington would like to send troops now to the battlefields in the Middle East? How likely is it that the U.S. would risk one of its warships in the Persian Gulf? The courageous Houthis have attempted to strike U.S. warships. Iran is much better equipped but instead of taking any actions – or at least threatening to do so – it preaches “patience”, i.e. retreat!
The Arab tyrants are the decisive obstacle!
This brings us to the last point. As the we did explain on various occasions, the masses in the Arab countries strongly support the cause of their brothers and sisters in Gaza but the rulers limit themselves to verbal support, official declarations and empty appeals to the “international community”.
Clearly, the Arab tyrants have no intention at all to confront the Zionist monster. Worse, they try to suppress any mass mobilisation in support of the Palestinian people. They fear such mobilisations because these could easily transform from anti-Israel into anti-regime demonstrations as the masses hate the corrupted and pro-Western rulers.
A telling example for this is Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He claims to stand in solidarity with the people in Gaza but, in fact, his regime brutally suppresses any attempt to demonstrate in solidarity with Palestine. He would like to “normalise” relations with Israel but he faces huge popular opposition against such a move. Polls show that over 90% of Saudis believed that Arab states should cut ties with Israel.
According to the well-informed U.S. publication The Atlantic Salman openly admitted to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken that he fears his own people who strongly support the Palestinian cause. When Blinken pushed him to sign a deal with Israel and to “normalize” relations, the Crown Prince cautioned. “Seventy percent of my population is younger than me,” the crown prince explained to Blinken. “For most of them, they never really knew much about the Palestinian issue. And so they’re being introduced to it for the first time through this conflict [the current genocide in Gaza, Ed.]. It’s a huge problem. Do I care personally about the Palestinian issue? I don’t, but my people do, so I need to make sure this is meaningful.” Salman added that he fears to share the fate of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, who was assassinated in 1981, three years after signing a peace accord with Israel. “Half my advisers say that the deal is not worth the risk. I could end up getting killed because of this deal.” [10]
The same with General Sisi, the military dictator of Egypt. He has helped Israel controlling the border to Gaza and destroyed many tunnels via which the Palestinians in Gaza tried to circumvent the brutal blockade which the Zionist state had imposed since 2007.
The Arab tyrants are the decisive obstacle for the masses to come to aid of the Palestinian people! They must be brought down by a revolutionary insurrection and replaced by workers and fellahin governments. Such governments could actively join the struggle against the Zionist monster and the imperialist powers and liberate the region from colonialism, tyranny and super-exploitation. [11]
The Arab Revolution which began in 2011 did show the huge potential of popular mobilisations. But they did not finish the job and suffered a series of setbacks. Now is the time to restart this revolutionary process and to make it better!
We said above that while the armed struggle is indispensable, it is neither the only nor the most important form of struggle. In fact, the decisive task is to mobilise, organise and arm the masses. While the ruling class and the imperialist powers primarily rest on economic and military power, the strength of the oppressed are primarily the mobilisation of the masses and their enthusiasm.
The leadership of Hezbollah, Hamas and similar forces don’t share such a program. To advance the liberation struggle, the masses need a new, revolutionary leadership, i.e. a party – nationally and internationally – which is armed with a program of permanent revolution and rooted in the working class and the oppressed masses. The RCIT is committed to the task of building such a party.
[1] Institute for the Study of War: Iran Update, September 28, 2024, https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/iran-update-september-28-2024
[2] In our latest statement, we pointed to Iran’s refusal to support Hezbollah when it asked for help in the last weeks. See RCIT: The War on Lebanon Following the Killing of Nasrallah, 30.09.2024, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/the-war-on-lebanon-following-the-killing-of-nasrallah/
[3] See on this e.g. RCIT: Iranian Missile Strikes in Syria, Iraq and Pakistan: A Reactionary Aggression, 18 January 2024, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/iranian-missile-strikes-in-syria-iraq-and-pakistan/; RCIT: Action Program: For the Iranian Revolution! Down with the capitalist Mullah dictatorship! Down with Imperialism! For a working-class revolution in Iran! February 2017, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/iran-platform/.
[4] See the compilation of RCIT articles about the mass protests against the Mullah regime in autumn 2022, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/mass-protests-against-reactionary-regime-in-iran/
[5] The RCIT has published a number of booklets, statements and articles on the Syrian Revolution which can be read on a special sub-section on our website: https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/collection-of-articles-on-the-syrian-revolution/
[6] We refer readers to a special page on our website where all RCIT documents on the Ukraine War and the current NATO-Russia conflict are compiled: https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/global/compilation-of-documents-on-nato-russia-conflict/.
[7] See on this e.g. Michael Pröbsting: Where Should Socialists Stand in the Looming War between Israel and Iran? (Questions & Answers), 18 April 2024, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/q-a-where-should-socialists-stand-in-looming-war-between-israel-and-iran/
[8] See on this e.g. Michael Pröbsting: Why Do Several Middle East Countries Refuse to Boycott Israel? Pro-Palestine solidarity and capitalist double-speak, 5 February 2024, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/why-do-several-middle-east-countries-refuse-to-boycott-israel/
[9] See on this e.g. RCIT: On International Tactics in Solidarity with the Palestinian Liberation Struggle, 27 October 2023, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/on-international-tactics-in-solidarity-with-the-palestinian-liberation-struggle/; Adam Keller (for Gush Shalom) and Yossi Schwartz (for the ISL, RCIT Section in Israel / Occupied Palestine): Israeli Anti-War Activists Call International Trade Unions to Boycott Arms Deliveries to Israel, 03.03.2024, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/israeli-anti-war-activists-call-international-trade-unions-to-boycott-arms-deliveries-to-israel/; Michael Pröbsting: War and Revolution in the Middle East. The transformation of the Zionist War on Gaza into an Israeli-American war against Arab peoples brings the region as well as the world closer to revolutionary explosions, 1 February 2024, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/war-and-revolution-in-the-middle-east/
[10] Franklin Foer: The War That Would Not End. Inside the year-long American effort to release the hostages, end the fighting in Gaza, and bring peace to the Middle East, The Atlantic, September 25, 2024 https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2024/09/israel-gaza-war-biden-netanyahu-peace-negotiations/679581/
[11] See on this e.g. Michael Pröbsting: The Liberation of Palestine and the Arab Revolution. The only way forward is a strategy which integrates the struggles of the oppressed masses into a joint Intifada in the whole Middle East, 15 November 2023, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/liberation-of-palestine-and-arab-revolution/