Is the Iranian regime about to collapse? Protests in every major city suggest it’s possible and if so, not before time. For nearly fifty years the population has been crushed by a medieval theocratic dictatorship which has executed tens of thousands of political prisoners and Muslim ‘apostates’ (non-believers). All this in the wake of a revolution which rejected the hated western-backed shah, together with other western-associated concepts like freedom of thought and women’s equality.
Now, because the regime has been printing excess money, the rial/dollar rate has gone from 42,000 in December to over 900,000 in mid-January. The biggest irony? Far from abolishing capitalism, some of the protesters are demanding the return of the shah’s son as ruler!/
The protests in Iran highlight the deep anger at decades of repression, but the real issue is not just the theocratic regime. Capitalism itself remains intact — wage labour, commodity production, and exploitation continue under every ruling elite, whether monarchic, religious, or secular. The fact that some demonstrators call for the return of the Shah’s son shows the danger of thinking any ruling class can deliver liberation. True freedom comes only when the working class takes control of society, abolishing class ownership and producing for need rather than profit. Until then, crises and oppression will continue, whatever the government.
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