When I talk about how important it is for anti-imperialists to share the Ayatollah’s commitment towards resistance, my intent is to address anti-imperialists everywhere. This includes those in the core of imperialism, where I live. Nobody can define how the liberation struggle goes in countries besides their own, and those within the core must be especially conscientious in avoiding chauvinistic hubris. It’s the United States government that’s at the center of the aggressions towards nations like Iran, and the primary job of U.S. citizens is to combat our government. This does not mean, though, that we can’t be critical of the foreign political elements which obstruct the anti-imperialist struggle. And such obstruction is occurring right now in Iran, where the U.S.-friendly Pezeshkian faction is hindering Khamenei’s resistance efforts during a crucial juncture.
In early September of this year, when Iran’s president Pezeshkian was holding Khamenei’s faction back from retaliating for Haniyeh’s assassination, Khamenei made a befitting statement. He didn’t say he had Pezeshkian in mind while he was making it, but he repudiated the Pezeshkian camp’s argument that Iran’s enemies are too strong for the nation to fight back. When Khamenei got blocked from responding to the Haniyeh killing, he found himself limited by actors who didn’t want Iran to handle the U.S./Zionist threat; who sought to induce a collective state of paralysis. That’s what Khamenei helped combat through this effort to assure Iranians of their own fortitude:
In the political field, exaggerating the enemy’s power causes people to feel isolated, weak, and incapable of handling the situation. The outcome of this is that they will surrender to the enemy’s demands. When instructed to “do this,” they comply, and when told “don’t do that,” they readily agree as well. As we see today, there are various types of governments with both large and small nations that act in this manner. They say “yes” to whatever they are told and have no will of their own. Now, at the diplomatic table and in diplomatic negotiations, there are definitely certain protocols and conditions. That “yes” can be expressed in various forms. However, the truth is that it’s the same “yes” that you see. But if those same individuals rely on their own people and domestic capabilities, if they recognize the true nature of their enemy, and if they understand that the enemy isn’t as powerful as they portray themselves to be, they can refrain from saying “yes.” But they don’t pay attention to this and say “yes.” That is the situation in the field of politics.
It took the assassination of Nasrallah—an event that Pezeshkian’s false promises of “peace” directly led to—for Khamenei to gain the political momentum he needed. And though we then saw an Iranian counter-attack, as well as a legislative effort for Iran to create an atomic weapon, the reformers continue to impede progress. When it was revealed that the “Israeli” aggressor attacked an Iranian nuclear facility on October 25, an action that was supposed to constitute Iran’s red line, this essentially confirmed that interference from Pezeshkian continues to happen. Even though many Iranians mobilized against Pezeshkian’s pacifist activities following the Nasrallah killing, and the reformers had to retreat for a time, they’re still able to obstruct the resistance.
As I’ve said, we in the United States aren’t capable of driving the struggle within any other country, nor should we try to. Our task is to build a movement within the USA that can mobilize the country’s masses towards overthrowing the imperial state; which means obstructing our government’s war efforts. And to do this, we must understand that the reformers and their allies within the U.S. media are setting a trap for us.
They want us to solely look at what’s happening on the surface—where Iran’s president is seeking friendship with the Trump team—and uncritically support this. The reality is that if the Trump White House establishes a partnership with Iran, it will only happen through further disempowering the anti-imperialists. It’s a scheme to turn Iran into a neo-colony; or to at least keep its military operations perpetually hindered, letting Washington do as much damage as possible to the Axis of Resistance countries.
The propaganda that our media has been using to sell this deception is quite bizarre, because it involves liberal outlets rooting for Trump to succeed. In one AP/PBS article—which draws from reporting within Iran’s enemy the UAE—Trump is essentially framed as an advocate of reason and peace. And Khamenei is painted as the fanatical villain who’s trying to stop him:
On Thursday, Pezeshkian appeared to remain open to talks with Washington — even in the wake of Trump’s victory — saying that “it doesn’t matter who has won the U.S elections.” “We will in no way have a closed and limited approach in the expansion of ties with other countries,” he said, according to the state-run IRNA news agency. That leaves open the possibility for negotiations…“Because Trump is a showman he might announce that he wants to talk to Pezeshkian in person,” said Zeidabadi, the analyst. “Unfortunately, the problem is that (the government) can’t accept that. Even if some people in the government are interested in doing that, the majority of hard-liners won’t let that happen and this can make Trump more angry too.” Still, some feel Iran already is at its breaking point. “I think Iran has no choice but to make peace with Trump, considering the situation of the dollar (exchange rate) and the livelihoods of people and the high prices,” said Sina Khaledian, a 32-year-old nurse. “There is lack of medicine and health care. They have to do this. I think the country’s capacity to endure has been exhausted.”
That last statement is a clear instance of the exaggeration Khamenei warned about, where the enemy convinces its victims that it can’t be beaten. Making a deal with Trump to end the sanctions is not Iran’s only path towards improving its living standards, because there’s a factor within Iran that’s been greatly worsening the effects of these sanctions: neoliberal policies, implemented by the reformers. These opportunistic forces have been taking away the gains from Iran’s revolution, enacting privatization and ending price controls. This has both amplified the damage from the sanctions; and prevented Iran from having a war economy which could handle full confrontation with its enemies.
With the decision by “Israel” to immediately break the Lebanon ceasefire deal, the reformers and their global allies have experienced a narrative defeat. Earlier this month, Pezeshkian said that a ceasefire deal between Lebanon and “Israel” would make Iran retaliate in a milder way; which was his tactic for justifying a permanent delay of counter-action. Now the Zionist entity has demonstrated the futility of trying to negotiate with it, leaving the world disgusted. Of course, a scenario like this one has happened thousands of times already; “Israel” lying and committing crimes is the rule. I believe, though, that we’ve entered a stage in the anti-colonial fight where these acts come to have more of an impact every time. The pressure to resist this genocide can now only keep growing, in Iran and everywhere else.
All of Palestine will become free, and imperialism will meet its final defeat; but these things will only happen through the will of those who share Khamenei’s ideas. Every day, more lives are lost because the USA and “Israel” are allowed to continue operating. And every day, the philosophy of self-defense gets further vindicated. The forces are building for justice to be exacted, and for the globe to be freed from the imperial order. How much more harm our enemies get to do depends on which actions we all take.
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