Fighting for peace; Iranian Communist Parties Against War in Ukraine

As fascism has been a dominant force in Iran since their attack on the 1979 revolution, it has outlawed communist party activities and prevented them from asserting their social existence, but these parties are continuing their resistance through underground battles and international contacts.

In this period, the Islamic Republic’s record can be summarized in the deepening and more intertwined crises of the country. Over the past several years, the economy of the country has deteriorated, the lives of the majority of the population have become more miserable, poverty and unemployment have increased, the gap between poverty and wealth has widened, the crisis of inefficiency within the regime has deepened, and public dissatisfaction has increased. In addition, the regime has intensified its suppression of protests, arrested, convicted, executed, and killed political and civil activists, restricted public access to the international Internet and social networks, as well as purging its own ranks. This period was characterized by the criminal strategy of the regime, especially Ali Khamenei, to counter the Corona pandemic, to advance destructive plans in the environmental field, to continue expensive nuclear policies, to continue the policy of tension in the region, to support militant groups, and to foster enmity. The Islamic regime viewing war as a sacred gift from God, with the help of which it strengthened its reign. In the Iran-Iraq war, Khomeini said the war was a divine blessing.

Iran’s corrupt and repressive Islamic government supports Russia’s provocative policy, but communist parties in the country have condemned it by analyzing imperialism conflicts and class struggle. Here are some statements from Iranian communist and leftist parties. The parties are illegal in Iran, but they continue to operate as secret organizations. They are all based overseas.

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Communist Party of Iran

Vladimir Putin, as the epitome of an authoritarian and reviving tradition of the Russian imperial tradition that relies on the support of state capitalism and the private sector and government control over the military and oil and gas industries and the support of Russian nationalism, thanks to the rising oil and gas prices from the beginning of this century, and the revival of its economy, turned to military intervention abroad to expand its areas of influence. Russia’s military intervention in Georgia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Syria, and sub-Saharan Africa clearly demonstrates Russia’s expansionist imperialist policies.

Recognition of the independence of the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic and the Russian military invasion of Ukraine is a logical continuation of the expansionist policy of Putin and the Russian government. Therefore, the claim of Putin and the Russian government that the military invasion of Ukraine was a response to the military threat of Ukraine and NATO’s provocative threats is nothing but a lie and hypocrisy. On the other hand, the claims of Joe Biden and the US government and other NATO member states that they are committed to defending the territorial integrity and freedom of Ukraine, to defending human rights and to the security and well-being of the people of the region are equally deceptive and hypocritical. The people of the world have not forgotten the painful and catastrophic situation the United States and its allies have inflicted on the people in Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq by invading these countries, and by waging proxy wars in Syria, Libya and Yemen.

Meanwhile, the ruling governments in Ukraine, which came to power after misleading the 2014 uprising known as the Maidan Revolution, were practically serving Ukrainian corrupt warlords during the eight years of the civil war and acted against the interests of the Ukrainian people, by not providing any democratic peace solution for the people of eastern Ukraine, and thus saw the continuation of the war and the influx of aid from European governments in their favor. The Zelensky government, which came to power three years ago, brought the possibility of a peaceful solution with the people of Donetsk and the people of Luhansk and the possibility of their voluntary reunification with Ukraine to a deadlock by collaborating with extremist nationalists and even with the Nazi currents, as well as by pressuring the Russian-speaking people, and practically served the plans of the Russian-affiliated groups that ruled in these areas. Read more…

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Tudeh Party of Iran

The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, launched a dangerous new military conflict by ordering a military strike on Ukraine, which could seriously threaten world peace. Russia’s declared objectives in this military offensive are to support the independence and security of Russia and the republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in Eastern Ukraine; to prevent Ukraine from joining the NATO military alliance; and to divert its future political course away from militarism and the activities of fascist forces.

The Tudeh Party of Iran condemns Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine and is deeply concerned over the catastrophic consequences of this decision by the Russian government. We recognise and affirm that respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all UN member states, as well as non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries, constitute the main cornerstones of the UN Charter and [the basis for] peaceful coexistence which must be observed.

It is no secret that the record of aggressive interventions by NATO, Imperialist, and regional powers, is one soaked in blood. We have already witnessed their contempt and disregard for international laws, including the UN Charter, in their arbitrary and bloody invasions of Yugoslavia, Iraq (twice), Afghanistan, Syria, Mali, Somalia, Libya, Haiti, and other countries. This disregard for international laws, as well as bullying tactics and aggression in international relations, creates an atmosphere in which a government like that of the Russian oligarchs can take advantage by using its military and economic capabilities in the face of certain nationalist provocations.

The refusal of the Ukrainian government to implement the Minsk II Agreement (2015) and declining to recognise self-rule for the two ethnically-Russian regions of Donbass within the framework of the unified state of Ukraine; the Ukrainian government’s complete disregard for the plight of the ethnic Russians harassed and persecuted by extremist and neo-Nazi forces; random attacks by Ukraine’s military on the “Autonomous Republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk over recent months and days, confirmed by Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) observers; as well as the adding of fuel to this fire by the US and UK, have all contributed to the tensions and laying the ground for a full-scale war. Read more…

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Hekmatist Party (Official Line)

Global security, polarization and military plots between NATO and Russia-China and on political alignment of other countries, and, finally, growing militarism and war propaganda worldwide. Only, two days into the campaign, we saw how a dangerous arms race began. The bourgeois states’ military budgets grew by tenfold, and the pursuit of nuclear weapons became a priority for bourgeois countries like Belarus.

The world’s rivaling poles are trying to make the most out of the pain and hell they have inflicted on the Ukrainian people. By subjugating pro-American Eastern European countries through the current military effort and NATO’s reluctance to intervene in the situation, Russia has reaped the largest advantage. While USA tries to resurrect NATO’s relevance, which was becoming obsolete for a long time, by raising the “nuclear danger of Russia”, it aims first and foremost, to keep military control over the European Union. The growing of Russian, American, European, and Ukrainian nationalism, which is reflected in the media, will have a negative impact on the world’s political and social atmosphere.

The working class and freedom loving masses of the world today, angry at war, militarism, and the brutality of world powers, strongly reject this war and militarization of the world. As Worker-communist parties in the Middle East, we stand shoulder to shoulder with the global working class to put an end to the encroachments by the reactionary forces on human life, forces represented by countries so heavily armed that they can wipe out in the blink of an eye the lives of millions of people. A world without these forces, which are the source of insecurity and untold number of crimes against human race, is a safer and more humane one. Read more…

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the Left Party of Iran (People’s Fadaian)

The war that Russia has waged against Ukraine is a blatant aggression against an independent state and, therefore, should be unequivocally condemned. Given the negative and provocative pre-war trends in NATO expansion and the development of the West and the United States in Eastern Europe, we believe that Russia’s war decision was neither inevitable nor that NATO expansion justifies an attack on an independent state. From the point of view of international law, Russia had no right to dictate its intentions to the government of another country simply by claiming to feel insecure on its western borders. Russia could, in a political manner, take advantage of real gaps in the ranks of the “West” to secure minimum security guarantees.

Recognizing this war as aggression, we emphasize the cessation of it and the immediate establishment of a ceasefire and the beginning of a process of dialogue for peace and an agreement between the parties. We recognize the Putin administration as an aggressor, condemn the “West,” especially the United States, for pursuing an expansionist policy and for maintaining and expanding NATO. We see the only way to peace is to end the war, establish an immediate ceasefire and start a dialogue.

In our view, the denial of the existence of Ukraine as a state propagated by Putin and the ideologues of the Russian government is unjustifiable, and a war that lacks any explanation on the basis of international standards is illegitimate. No power has the right to attack another country from the ground and air and kill its people. This kind of argument is nothing but legitimizing military intervention in other countries and enforcing jungle law in international relations. In this regard, we consider Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, despite any breach of promise and conspiracy against Russia, to be a gross violation of the rules of the global peace. Read more…

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Worker-communist Party of Iran

Politically, the Russian government’s invasion of Ukraine is a continuation of the reactionary policies that are completely against the interests of the people of Ukraine, Russia and the world. This war is a continuation of the regional confrontation and rivalries between the two blocs of Russia-China and the United States-Europe. On the one hand, the Western bloc seeks to expand its influence in Eastern Europe and specifically admit Ukraine to NATO. On the other hand, the Russian government wants to limit NATO to Western Europe and in particular stop its expansion to its neighbouring countries, such as Finland and Belarus, and especially Ukraine. The fire of this war has in fact been ignited by the conflict between NATO and Russia over the expansion of Western influence in Russia’s neighbouring countries. In other words, the current war is a continuation of the reactionary conflict between governments over the expansion and consolidation of their sphere of influence in the East of Europe; a war that is not only criminal from a humanitarian point of view, but also politically, from both sides completely against the interests of the people.

It is clear that people make up a third bloc against the two Western and Eastern blocs; a bloc that not only opposes this war and wants it to end immediately, but also wants to put an end to the domination of corrupt governments, whether of the Zelensky type or Putin type, and take control of its own political destiny. The freedom-loving people of the world and the left and progressive forces everywhere must also come out in support of the Ukrainian people, against the military aggression of the Russian government, and against the two reactionary blocs, whose rivalry for power has brought about the current war. Read more…

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My journey in creating this space was deeply inspired by James Baldwin’s powerful work,
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