In Honor of,

29th Anniversary of the 1979 Uprising and 39th Anniversary of the Siahkal Epic

39 years ago the Organization of Iranian People’s Fedaii Guerrillas (OIPFG) with strong determination and resolute launched its non-conciliatory fighting campaign against the dictatorial regime of the royal kingdom. Courageous attack on Siahkal gendarmerie in Feb. 9th 1971 by members of the OIPFG helped to intensify the workers and masses fight against the ruling dictatorship. From that point on, Iran was no longer an “island of stability” for the regime and it imperial supporters. From February 1971 till February 1979 that finally the 2500 years of monarchism was ended, the revolutionary forces went under sever crackdown and endured brutal tortures and executions. Throughout those years prisons were filled with revolutionaries and freedom fighters. Regime’s savagery and hawkish policies at the end had lost its effectiveness and the Shah in the final days of its kingdom caved in saying, “I heard the voice of your revolution”.

Finally in Feb 22th 1979 people in millions took to the streets and put an end to the kingdom ruling. The regime of the Shah was toppled and its government structures soon collapsed, but it didn’t take long that a much brutal and repressive regime under the name of Islamic Republic took its place. The new regime which from its inception has shown deep animosity against any form of science and progress, soon moved quickly to impose antiquated superstitions by painting them as pure religious teachings of Prophet Mohammed.

From the moment that the new regime took over, people’s living conditions quickly started to deteriorate. The day that the former regime was brought down, educational standards and people’s social standings were relatively in much better shape than are today. Contrary to what the royal kingdom in those days wanted, and aside from its control apparatus and dreadful secret police SAVAK, people’s social status and level of education especially among the young generation had an upward trend. The new Islamic regime went in an opposite direction by promoting and establishing religious schools and religious centers throughout the nation. If during the former regime the religious schools were gradually converted to public schools and universities, the new regime did the opposite. The new reactionary regime opposes any form of cultural and social progress with the pretext that these changes are part of the “Western cultural attack”. The educated elite of the society for its economic survival needs to pass religious entrance exams to get a job. If during the years of the former regime, art, theater, and artists in general had their social respect, and many artistes were drawn to support the populous revolutionary causes, today the Islamic Republic’s “Guidance Department” promotes only those who can imitate and who can be part of the Passion-Plays of the regime. Regime only can accept those who can pass through its multi-layer censorship filters. Today, we can say with confidence that the budget allocated for building and maintaining religious schools and religious centers is higher than the budget allocated for building colleges and universities. Every day we witness that with a decree issued by some Ayatollah somewhere in the country a new religious school is erected.

Women’s equal rights which has been recognized in may of the developed countries for so many years, is officially considered half of men’s rights in Iran. Under the former regime, young girls were encouraged to become engaged in social activities and move away from religious schools by receiving their formal education from official public schools. Today the government encourages them to get married in very early ages, sometimes as young as 9 years old. Temporary marriages called “Sigheh”, which is officially recognized, is promoted by the government in such a magnitude and scale that has forced young girls to change their temporary “husbands” so often and eventually end up on the streets to become prostitutes. A very dark and regrettable scene which has engulfed the whole society.

In the government’s interpretation unemployment, which stems from the economic conditions of the society, is not considered an economic issue! In the government’s analysis unemployment, poverty, and many other social problems are under the control of the divine God. People are bombarded with these types of propagandas in order to further alienate and belittle the people aspirations. Working conditions and life for the working class is harsh and intolerable. Even though the regime denies the slavery conditions of the working class, but in reality the conditions and the control structure that is imposed on them is no less than slavery. Workers in Iran, have no right to organize their own independent unions or have their own organizations. They have no right to assembly unless the purpose of the gathering is to participate in some sort of government-sponsored religious parade. Or unless the gathering is for some sort of religious mourning or is to pay respect to some dead or alive leader of the regime. If the workers decide to go on strike to receive their unpaid wages, which sometime is delayed for months, they easily end up in prisons or undergo brutal tortures. If slaves didn’t have to worry about their housing payments and with shackles on their feet could get some sleep through the night, today in Iran, the chains created by the regime weighs heavily on the shoulders of the workers. Now, the fear of unpaid rent and facing the landlord prevents the workers from spending the night in their own rental shelters.

The ethnic minorities in Iran, from Kurdistan to Balochestan, from Azerbaijan to Turkaman-Sahra and Khuzestan, none of them have the minimum right to freedom and autonomy. Working masses throughout the nation are under extreme poverty, where the official government economic data shows that the regime’s income from oil sale in the last 8 months of the year alone has passed the 48 billion dollars threshold. How and where all this money is funneled, no one really knows?

Despite all the noise created by the regime regarding the nuclear issue and its claims for victories in the international front, the situation of the regime is very similar to the situation of the regime in Iraq when it was put under sanction two years before the invasion. International situation is such that many countries all over the world are involved in some sort of nuclear race. NATO’s military deployment in Afghanistan, direct and indirect intervention of the Western powers in other countries’ affairs throughout the world is an undeniable indication of this economic and military race. The reason that China and Russia are supporting Iran in the UN Security Council in reality is the continuation of this race in a different front. This support is not because the regime in Iran or its actions are legitimized. Anytime if the US, China, and Russia decide to reach a compromise over Iran, both Chinese and Russians will pursue a similar policy that they did towards Iraq before the invasion. All the propaganda launched by the regime in this regard and claim for its victory in the diplomatic front is for domestic consumption among the most illiterate sectors of the society. Otherwise no one with some basic understanding of the situation is going to be deceived by all these hooplas and commotions.

Collapse of the UN conferences and meetings regarding the full implementation of the sanctions stems from the unresolved differences between Europeans and the US on dividing the Iran’s lucrative market. Regime in Iran by disregarding these realities is pretending that has become the new “superpower” of the region and cannot be challenged and undermined by anyone. The ruling regime in Iran is not ashamed to purchase more than 7 billions worth of weaponry from Russia, 10s of billions from China, and other countries, only to display them as domestic products. Deceiving people has become so routine for the rulers of the regime that after 29 years of buying weaponry from China and Russia, Ahmadinejat in a speech after a missile launch goes to claim that, “with the kindness of our everlasting 12th Imam, now, the aeronautical industries of the Islamic Republic are self-sufficient and able to build such weapons”.

Fellow Citizens,

It is now for so many years that the regime by riding over the wave of disarray among the opposition forces has managed to hold on to power. With no doubt as long as the revolutionary and progressive forces are unable to unite over a common platform focused on toppling the regime, situation will continues to get worse. The current situation more than ever is demanding a need for a united movement against the regime. Past experiences shows that only in the absence of unity and solidarity among the revolutionaries and progressive forces, or when there is no strong alternative, the dictatorial and authoritative regimes such as Islamic Republic can continue to rule.

Down with Islamic Republic of Iran,
Long live People’s Democratic Republic,
Long live memory of the martyrs of Siahkal and 79 uprising,
Long live Socialism.

Organization of Iranian People’s Fedaiie Guerillas (OIPFG)