Iran Besieged by Three Crises: Imperialist Military Aggression and Economic War, the Collapse of People’s Livelihoods, and Intensifying Repression
Editorial of Nameh-ye Mardom Central Organ of the Tudeh Party of Iran, No. 1267, August 24, 2026
August 19, 2026, marked the seventy-third anniversary of the infamous coup carried out by U.S. and British imperialism against the national government of Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh and the restoration of the subservient Pahlavi regime in Iran. The coup of August 19, 1953, was the first instance in the world of the implementation of the imperialist policy of “regime change,” and it had profoundly damaging consequences for subsequent developments in our homeland. In that infamous coup, monarchist forces and the reactionary clergy led by Kashani joined hands and deprived Iranian society, for more than seven decades, of popular, national, and democratic progress.
It is regrettable that seventy-three years after that coup, our homeland continues to face the military and economic aggression of U.S. imperialism and its conspiracies to prevent the Iranian people from advancing toward national and democratic change and taking control of their own destiny. Although the military aggression against Iran by U.S. imperialism and Netanyahu’s criminal regime ended in military failure, it nevertheless inflicted extensive damage on the country. Contrary to the boasts of the government’s propaganda apparatus, the failure of the U.S.-Israeli war machine to create chaos in society and impose “regime change” through the use of affiliated forces was due to the people’s refusal to go along with this conspiracy and their vigilant resistance to it. This failure is by no means a victory for the political system of the velayat-e faqih regime. Rather, the continuation of the Islamic government’s destructive policies, the persistence of the current state of uncertainty and limbo of “neither war nor peace,” accompanied by constant attrition, and confrontational tensions in the Strait of Hormuz have placed the country’s society and economy on an extremely dangerous and destructive downward trajectory.
Developments in recent days indicate that the confrontation between the United States and the Islamic Republic has entered a new phase. Although military pressure has not been entirely removed from the agenda, it is increasingly giving way to broader U.S. efforts to economically encircle Iran and completely cripple the country’s economy. At the same time, the domestic economic crisis has deepened, and instead of offering solutions to people’s livelihood problems, the ruling regime has increasingly turned toward strengthening the military and security apparatus and restricting the space available for social activity. In recent days, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaking at a gathering of Iranian and Iraqi business figures in Baghdad, referred to the importance of economic strength alongside military capability and stressed: “No matter how much military power we have, if the people are hungry and we do not have financial circulation and economic growth, we will not survive.”
According to a report by the Parliament Research Center, the absolute poverty rate, which stood at around 15 percent of the country’s population in 2006, had risen to approximately 30 percent by 2021. Given this upward trend, the same center estimates that poverty has reached 41 percent of the population in 2026, and that if the current trend continues, it will reach 45.5 percent by 2028—meaning that nearly half of Iran’s population will be living below the poverty line. Furthermore, in the winter of 2025–26, members of parliament put the poverty line for a three-person household in Tehran at around 40 million tomans per month. Some economists and labor activists estimate that figure at between 50 and 60 million tomans for 2026. Meanwhile, the Statistical Center reported year-on-year inflation for June 2026 at 135 percent in rural areas and 85 percent in urban areas.
It is amid such an economic crisis and the extremely dire living conditions facing the majority of the population, particularly working people, that U.S. President Donald Trump announced the beginning of the most severe economic war against Iran and threatened countries and companies that continued trading with the Islamic Republic with grave economic consequences. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent likewise spoke of expanding pressure on financial and commercial networks connected with Iran and employing secondary sanctions. According to him, the objective is clear: to further restrict Iran’s ability to sell oil, transfer money, and gain access to global trade networks, thereby creating the conditions for the complete capitulation or overthrow of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Thus, after months of conflict and military pressure, the U.S. government is now seeking to shift the main battlefield from the air and sea to banks, the oil market, financial networks, and foreign trade. Despite the boasts of pro-velayat forces, it cannot be denied that, given the country’s extremely weak economic foundations and its economic crisis, Iran faces enormous difficulties in resisting the Trump administration’s economic war.
The Islamic Republic has therefore entered a new phase in its effort to “preserve the system.” Sections of the government remain under the illusion that by enduring the current situation and “keeping the Strait of Hormuz closed,” they can both defeat the United States and contain and suppress popular protests against the collapse of the country’s economy. Yet the latest assessments of the situation in the Strait of Hormuz indicate, first, that the U.S. fleet’s naval blockade of Iran has had highly destructive effects on the country’s economic situation and, second, that U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) is opening alternative passage routes through the Strait of Hormuz, which could play an important role in neutralizing the current policy of Iran’s Islamic regime.
In recent weeks, we have witnessed the emergence and gradual consolidation of a “new Leader’s Office,” which, through the appointment of Mohsen Rezaei and a despised criminal such as Hossein Taeb, and by continuing the wave of repression and executions, is preparing itself for the new circumstances and for widespread popular protests.
In this context, the Islamic Consultative Assembly’s passage of the highly reactionary bill titled “Countering the Infiltration of Foreign Intelligence Services and Governments or Institutions in the Country” is a clear example of the ruling power’s hard core seeking to strengthen and consolidate its absolute control over major political and economic decision-making. Rather than addressing the “security breaches” at the highest levels of government, the authors of this bill have targeted the basic rights of the people, social and civil activists, writers and artists, academics, independent journalists, and the country’s cultural activities.
In another sign of the consolidation of the “new Leader’s Office,” Ahmad Vahidi, the newly appointed commander of the Revolutionary Guards, issued a statement firmly supporting the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB). IRIB had faced severe criticism from government supporters because of its fierce attacks on the signing of the Islamabad “memorandum of understanding” and its direct attacks on Pezeshkian, Ghalibaf, and Araghchi. Addressing the head of IRIB, Vahidi stated:
“The national broadcaster, through its effective and intelligent presence in this arena, played a worthy role in narrating the epic of the combatants, reflecting the presence and solidarity of the people, explaining national strength and cohesion, safeguarding the truth, and strengthening the spirit of dignity, hope, and resistance. In recording and preserving this epic in the memory of public opinion, it made a valuable contribution to strengthening the media front of the Islamic Revolution… I pray for honor and success for you and all the esteemed managers and colleagues of the national broadcaster, and I wish that organization ever-increasing success under the grace of His Holiness the Lord of the Age (may God hasten his reappearance) and the wise guidance of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Grand Ayatollah Imam Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei (may his exalted shadow endure).”
Under such circumstances, national forces and those concerned with a peaceful and prosperous future for the country—from national-religious forces to nationalist and left-wing forces—cannot adopt a passive position and simply watch events unfold. Organized resistance to the regime’s reactionary policies, aimed at forcing it to retreat, does not mean that we harbor doubts about the regime’s inability to reform. Rather, it reflects our realistic understanding of the specific conditions that currently exist and our sense of responsibility toward our homeland. We continue to believe that without fundamental and structural changes—above all, the rejection and complete abolition of the absolute rule of velayat-e faqih—and without the government retreating in the face of the urgent demands of the people, particularly working people in the cities and countryside, for freedom, justice, and a dignified life, no path toward a bright and sustainable future for the country can be opened.
Under these circumstances, another question assumes vital importance: What should Iran’s national, progressive, democratic, and freedom-seeking forces do?
In recent months, and following the aggression against Iran by U.S. imperialism and Israel’s criminal regime, the Tudeh Party of Iran has pointed out that opposition to and struggle against the anti-people government of the Islamic Republic does not mean supporting war and sanctions that cripple people’s lives, nor does it mean entrusting Iran’s future to foreign powers. Likewise, opposition to military attack and U.S. policies cannot and must not serve as a pretext for remaining silent in the face of repression, executions, and imprisonment, or for supporting the authoritarian government of the Islamic Republic.
More than ever, progressive forces need to create a broad social coalition around clear and comprehensible demands. These include the release of political prisoners; an end to executions; freedom of expression and association; equal rights for women; protection of the rights of workers and working people; defense of the rights of nationalities and minorities; and the separation of religion and government.
Social justice must stand at the center of such a program. When millions of Iranians are under the pressure of inflation and poverty, the progressive opposition cannot speak only about the form and structure of a future political system. It must also explain what answers and solutions it offers to issues such as wages, housing, healthcare, education, pensions, and people’s economic security. Without social justice, democracy will remain an abstract concept for a large part of society.
The struggles of workers and teachers, protests by pensioners, the student movement, the struggle against executions, and the resistance of political prisoners each represent the efforts of sections of a society that has fought for years for fundamental, people-centered change. The task of national and democratic forces should be to connect these struggles with one another, rather than imposing leadership upon them from above.
Supporting these demands and turning them into a focus for solidarity and joint action can provide a basis for bringing different forces closer together and for forming a broad popular front in defense of freedom, justice, and the fundamental rights of the people of our homeland. The experience of the Iranian opposition has demonstrated that historical, ideological, and personal differences have repeatedly prevented the formation of lasting cooperation. What is essential is agreement on a minimum common political and economic program to save the country from the extremely dangerous crises it currently faces.
No political party or current today is in a position to organize and lead the movement of the masses who have been pushed to the limit. This can only be achieved through cooperation, mutual understanding, and interaction among all the country’s progressive, national, and freedom-seeking forces. The difficult task facing all of us is to present a democratic, independent, inclusive, and justice-oriented alternative in which people can see their own future.
If such a coalition and social and political force does not emerge, another important historical opportunity may be lost, and—as in the period following the catastrophe of the August 19, 1953 coup—Iran’s future may once again remain trapped in the grip of domestic authoritarianism and foreign intervention.
Editorial of Nameh-ye Mardom Central Organ of the Tudeh Party of Iran, No. 1267, August 24, 2026
