The blows Israeli forces have dealt to the capitalist rulers in Tehran and its “axis of resistance” have provoked unprecedented open debate and discussion in Iran, accelerated by the fall of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. Working people increasingly oppose the regime’s military adventures and its fomenting of armed attacks on Israel.
This takes place amid a deepening economic crisis, an increase in the regime’s use of the death penalty, and more frequent power outages. Wages don’t keep up with rising prices and bosses’ disdain for safety and workers’ lives is reflected in dangerous smog in Tehran. There are weekly protests by retirees and oil workers and strikes by nurses, truck drivers, municipal workers and others.
Bartharinha, a Tehran-based news site, posted part of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s most recent address to the people of Iran where he says, “Women, Life, Freedom. That is the future of Iran. That is the future of peace.” In the past, censors would have shut down the site. But not this time.
“A group of people gathered in a corner of this polluted and frozen city to demand an order to attack Israel,” Khabar Online noted Dec. 16, making fun of a small demonstration in Tehran. “We don’t know what fate awaits the people of this land … but we do know that in the 21st century, our homes should not have electricity cut off every two hours.”
There is also widespread discussion and opposition to a new law aimed at increasing enforcement of the reactionary dress code for women. Etemad printed a letter from Mohammad Dadkan, the well-known former president of Iran’s Football Federation, after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian blamed budget shortfalls for many of the economic problems facing working people.
Dadkan noted that large amounts of money have been budgeted for centers for convincing women to wear hijab. Meanwhile, he said, a widely publicized photo shows “a 5-year-old girl wearing a headscarf but with bare feet. Consider the meaning of this photo.”