The devastating consequences of a foreign policy based on “Islamic Chauvinism” and the dangerous position of our homeland

With the addition of John Bolton and Mike Pompeo to Donald Trump’s cabinet, a whole range of threats by the US against our country are set to intensify. John Bolton is a warmongering right-wing hawk who during the past two decades has continually advocated military action against Iran with the aim of implementing “regime change”.  John Bolton’s job as the National Security Advisor will be to assess and provide political and military options to the US President. He was one of the chief architects of the attack on and invasion of Iraq during the presidency of George W. Bush and his neo-conservative administration.

This unpopular, hated even, figure still defends that catastrophic crime in which hundreds of thousands of innocent people were sacrificed and which left Iraq a devastated country with a huge range of human, social and economic problems to contend with, even fifteen years on from the so-called “shock and awe”.

Mike Pompeo, the nomination for US Secretary of State, following the dismissal of Rex Tillerson, also belongs to the reactionary and right-wing “tea party” faction within the Republican Party and also subscribes to the notion that military confrontation is always the preferable option in the advancing of US interests Both Bolton and Pompeo, along with Trump and the leaders of Israel and Saudi Arabia, believe in the cancellation of the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA), the intensifying of tensions and the imposition of further sanctions. Increases in military spending and the production of a new generation of weapons, such as supposedly “smart” missiles and “more usable” small nuclear bombs, rank among the decisions taken by Trump’s government to increase America’s offensive power by specifically relying on the notion of pre-emptive nuclear attack.

The intentions of this dangerous group in the White House towards our country are undoubtedly the further degradation of the national economy, the upping of sanctions along with military threats, as well as the applying of maximum pressure on the ruling regime by inflicting hardship on ordinary people’s livelihoods and destabilising Iran’s territorial integrity. In other words; a powerful coalition of forces and politicians with very dangerous designs and schemes for Iran, within the scope of “regime change”, is being formed around Donald Trump. Its agenda is to exert crippling pressures on the Iranian people and the country’s national security and sovereignty. What makes the situation particularly risky and heightens the threat against our country is that Trump’s presidency has become the pivotal point for the gathering of far-right ideologues and dangerous political currents.

Importantly, certain influential political currents within the Republican Party – powerful, right-wing and super-rich, along with military industrialists and dominant sections of the mass media in the US – remain ardent supporters of Trump and his policies. Therefore, contrary to the expectations of some analysts hoping for the early collapse of Trump’s government, the evidence suggests that the far-right currents within the Republican Party and the reactionary nationalist tendencies within the US’ ruling circles will not be removed from positions whereby they affect and shape policy making anytime soon. It should be noted that US Vice President, Mike Pence, another of those with influential religious reactionary viewpoints, also hails from the ultra-right “tea party”. With the 12 May 2018 fast approaching, the role of the aforementioned grouping around Donald Trump in relation to our country is set to enter a far more alarming phase. Trump has given the European signatories of the JCPOA until this date to amend the agreement so as to exert more pressure on our country by through the imposition of further and heavier sanctions, otherwise the US will withdraw from the agreement entirely and shall then resume the regime of US sanctions against Iran as prior to 2015.

 The circles close to Trump are uninterested in the continuation or stability of the international agreements predating their tenure and wider diplomatic norms. In fact, their expressed views and actions, under the banner of “America first”, quite visibly and deliberately seek to sew ambiguity and instability in order to tear down the existing structures. The efforts of this grouping around Trump are aimed at “saving capitalism” and “western civilisation” by moving away from the existing political and socioeconomic order in the US and replacing it with another in which ultra-nationalism and reactionary social conservatism will form its main pillars. In this context, the use of violence, racial division, destroying peace and igniting the flames of war are all among the methods to be deployed in implementing the fundamental ideas of these right-wing forces, their think tanks and politicians that spew forth a range of reactionary populist propaganda and religious justifications.

 The election of Donald Trump into office was the instrument by which far-right notions could be into all key areas of policy making in the US. It can be stated without exaggeration that peace, security and the future of the humanity are all imperilled by Trump and his supporters, the influential think tanks and big capital. And now, in order to perpetuate America’s economic and military hegemony, its imperialist policies – with new and even more dangerous dimensions – are set to target our country. Unfortunately, at this sensitive and decisive juncture in human history – while with every passing day the US ruling circles take step after step towards a far-right and proto-fascist ideological standpoint with the likes of Trump, Pence, Bolton, Pompeo and James Mattis (Defence Secretary) at the helm – our country is devoid of a state supported by its people. In the face of these grave dangers and the threat posed by the US and its regional partners, the ruling theocratic regime – and, at its head, Ali Khamenei (Spiritual Leader) – continues to organise Iran’s foreign policy on the basis of “Islamic chauvinism”. Over the past almost four decades, the core foreign policy of the theocratic regime, particularly in relation to the Middle East, has been devised and executed on the basis of “exporting the Islamic Revolution”. Ali Khamenei and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) have played a key role in this policy which has since its inception been wholly contrary to Iran’s national interests. In order to promote the “Islamic Movement” and “Islamic Revolution”, under the banner of fighting “Arrogance and Zionism”, a diverse spectrum of reactionary Shi’a bands in the Middle East have been transformed into extraterritorial paramilitary forces and placed under the command of Guards Corps (IRGC) and the Supreme Leader.

 Contrary to the regime’s propaganda and the claims of Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the “Quds Force” (extraterritorial wing of the IRGC), their military and economic operations outside Iran not only fail to protect the country’s security but in fact mean that Iran is faced with many grave dangers. The extraterritorial military and economic activities of IRGC, in line with the other adventurous policies of the ruling theocratic regime, are all geared to ultimately ensuring the survival of the regime. However, it is the oppressed people that suffer the consequences of these actions. In the past few months the regime’s situation and its standing amidst growing popular protests, has become increasingly precarious. Almost three decades of implementing neoliberal economic programs combined with factional rivalries over the amassing of astronomical private wealth, Iran’s [import oriented] economy is totally dependent on the dollar and solely reliant on oil export. With a devastated ecological system to boot, Iran’s national economy is in major crisis. The Achilles heel of the ruling regime is the economic crisis which is constantly heightening the irreconcilable contradiction that exists between the immediate needs and interests of the Iranian people and the theocratic regime.  Meanwhile, the Rouhani government’s macro-economic programs have reached an impasse and resulted in a further decline in national production and a deterioration in the living conditions of the working class and various strata of the country’s waged and salaried workers. Ali Khamenei and associated factions within the regime have no solution or economic plan to solve the current situation. From the economic perspective, the regime has put our country in a very fragile and vulnerable position which will undoubtedly serve as powerful leverage in the hands of Trump.

 Importantly, in this dangerous situation, those that hold the levers of power within Iran in order to protect the ruling theocracy could in various ways push our country and the future of the people into a devastatingly catastrophic situation. In the next few months Trump’s government, under the banner of fighting “Islamic terrorism” in the Middle East, could confront our country with a very difficult and dangerous situation. The Tudeh Party of Iran believes that through the mobilising of public opinion and exerting pressure from within the society, the theocratic regime must be restrained from providing any excuse that could lead to a catastrophic military confrontation or conflict, and this includes stopping its adventurous and interfering policy in the region  a policy based on “Islamic chauvinism” and “exporting revolution” – as well as an end to its irresponsible and bogus boasting. The majority of the people in our country, while strongly opposing the rule of the theocratic regime, want peace and our national sovereignty to be respected. The painful experience of the imperialist instigated Iran-Iraq war and its destruction it wrought is still visible across the country and still haunts the people – an experience the repeat of which must be avoided. Therefore, it is imperative and of paramount importance that the demand for defending peace resonates as the main slogan across the society and that the regime’s reckless and adventurous policy in the region be challenged at every turn. Any kind of excuses or boasting in relation to the increasing spectre of military conflict between Iran and the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia – whether as direct or proxy wars – must be countered and nullified with the importance of “maintaining peace” and the “preserving national sovereignty” stressed and unequivocally defended above all else.     

 In the international arena [we] must strive to expose the dangerous schemes being pursued by the grouping around Donald Trump and the coalition formed by the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia against our country and its people. By organising effective campaigns [we] must work towards preserving peace as well as solidarity with the interests of the Iranian people. The Tudeh Party of Iran emphasises that in the present circumstances and in the absence of an organised mass movement capable of shaping a progressive alternative, the worsening living conditions of the people and the stoking of an atmosphere of fear, desperation and frustration across society could easily result in an even more bleak and regressive future for our country. The necessity of the present moment requires that the likelihood of military confrontation be countered and prevented in any way possible and that the imposition of further sanctions against our country’s economy be stopped. Furthermore, it requires that the people and progressive forces can step-by-step purposefully elevate the struggle of the popular movement for the transition of our country from dictatorship to a system based on the essential economic, political and social demands of the people. Should the eruption of high tension or outbreak of war take place and more crippling sanctions be imposed on the shoulders of the masses, with an intensification of repression and heightened security atmosphere in the country, then Trump along with his allies – and the dangerous elements both inside the theocratic regime and out – will be in a position to use economy, war and fear with the people’s sense of desperation as the means to shape the future events in our country in line with their heinous objectives. We believe the only way to prevent this outcome is by means of planned action through a united front made up of the national and democratic forces of our country to defend peace, democracy and social justice.

From “Nameh Mardom”, Central Organ of the Tudeh Party of Iran No. 1048, 2 April 2018.