No War On Iran!
A statement by the S.T.A.T.U.S. coalition, which brings together community-based organizations in the Vancouver area belonging to movements and struggles of the people of the Global South (Asia, Africa, Central and South America, Middle East,the Caribbean region) and the struggles of such migrant communities in Canada.
Today it is our duty to speak out against any potential foreign invasionof Iran. The justification for such an intervention is given as the threat of the Iranian nuclear program. These reports recall the "Weapons of Mass Destruction" hysteria leading up to the invasion of Iraq. Just as in the case of Iraq, none of the claims made by the U.S. government about Iran stand up to scrutiny. Iran has submitted to the most intrusive and humiliating inspections, beyond what is required by the Nuclear Weapons Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). None of the inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency have found any evidence that Iran is developing a nuclear weapons program. In fact, according to the CIA, Iran is at least 10 years away from developing a nuclear bomb, which itself falsifies US accusations. Israel is the only nuclear power in the Middle East and the real nuclear threat to global society is the United States-the only government that has used nuclear weapons against civilian populations and has the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction on the planet.
The history of US involvement in Iran and in other countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Columbia, Panama, Vietnam demonstrates that the United States has always supported the most dictatorial and repressive forces in its self-serving covert and overt operations. For over half a century, the US has intervened and sabotaged all progressive movements within Iran in the process of securing its own economic and political interests. For example, Iran suffered greatly when the U.S overthrew the government in1953 and returned Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi (“the Shah”) in what was considered the CIA's first successful overthrow of a foreign government. For 25 years the Shah ruled Iran with an iron fist for the benefit of U.S. oil corporations.
Furthermore, contrary to the argument put forward by the U.S in order to legitimize its illegal actions, US military action against Iran will not liberate the Iranian people from the current regime or improve the situation for human rights. Only an uprising of the Iranian people can produce genuine democracy within Iran. The recent efforts and protests of the Vahed Bus Company drivers and workers, which saw over 800 union activists arrested and/or laid-off, was an inspirational moment for workers around the world. The Iranian people have a rich and long historyof struggling for democracy and independence since the early 20th century.These relentless struggles have taken place in the face of British colonial interests, US imperialism, and oppressive internal regimes. Aside from all the bloodshed and devastation of an imperialist war, a US invasion would give the Iranian dictatorship, against which the Iranian people have struggled for decades, an excuse to repress and imprison political dissidents in Iran.
The crimes of the current regime in its 27 years of existence include executions, stonings, flogging, throwing dissidents to jail, torture, stripping people of their rights, and violence against women. However, the main reason for the opposition of the governments of the West towards Iran has never been the atrocities of this regime against the people of Iran; in fact the US government has actively suppressed leftist forces in Iran. The alignment of the US with the Iranian clerical regime in order to combat leftist revolutionary forces was revealed in the Tower Commission, according to which "in 1983, the United States helped bring to the attention of Teheran the threat inherent in the extensive infiltration ofthe government by the communist Tudeh Party and Soviet or pro-Soviet cadres in the country. Using this information, the Khomeini government took measures, including mass executions, that virtually eliminated the pro-Soviet infrastructure in Iran." It is also imperative to recall that in a complicated swap deal in the 1980’s, Israel and other intermediaries sold US-origin TOW and Hawk missiles to the Iranian regime in return for cash and for the release of hostages in the Lebanese hostage crisis. The money was used by the US to finance their covert operations against the Sandinista government of Nicaragua, until the Iran-Contra affair were publicly exposed at the end of 1986.
The racism so deeply entrenched against Arabs and those constructed to be Muslims replicates itself in the West including Canada, where hundreds of Iranian refugees, readily deemed ‘terrorists’ or ‘fanatics’, are increasingly facing deportation. Our struggle against deportations of Iranian refugees continues within the context of a larger movement of immigrants and refugees throughout Canada, who are standing up to the exclusionary policies of Citizenship and Immigration Canada. We call upon all peace-loving people opposing war, militarization and racism to stand up for the rights of Iranian people in Iran and in Canada. We demand an end to deportations and detentions of Iranian refugees from Canada and regularization of status for all Iranian refugees. We also stand in support of the Iranian people who continue to fight for genuine democracy and self-determination for all Iranian people.
Today it is our duty to speak out against any potential foreign invasionof Iran. The justification for such an intervention is given as the threat of the Iranian nuclear program. These reports recall the "Weapons of Mass Destruction" hysteria leading up to the invasion of Iraq. Just as in the case of Iraq, none of the claims made by the U.S. government about Iran stand up to scrutiny. Iran has submitted to the most intrusive and humiliating inspections, beyond what is required by the Nuclear Weapons Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). None of the inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency have found any evidence that Iran is developing a nuclear weapons program. In fact, according to the CIA, Iran is at least 10 years away from developing a nuclear bomb, which itself falsifies US accusations. Israel is the only nuclear power in the Middle East and the real nuclear threat to global society is the United States-the only government that has used nuclear weapons against civilian populations and has the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction on the planet.
The history of US involvement in Iran and in other countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Columbia, Panama, Vietnam demonstrates that the United States has always supported the most dictatorial and repressive forces in its self-serving covert and overt operations. For over half a century, the US has intervened and sabotaged all progressive movements within Iran in the process of securing its own economic and political interests. For example, Iran suffered greatly when the U.S overthrew the government in1953 and returned Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi (“the Shah”) in what was considered the CIA's first successful overthrow of a foreign government. For 25 years the Shah ruled Iran with an iron fist for the benefit of U.S. oil corporations.
Furthermore, contrary to the argument put forward by the U.S in order to legitimize its illegal actions, US military action against Iran will not liberate the Iranian people from the current regime or improve the situation for human rights. Only an uprising of the Iranian people can produce genuine democracy within Iran. The recent efforts and protests of the Vahed Bus Company drivers and workers, which saw over 800 union activists arrested and/or laid-off, was an inspirational moment for workers around the world. The Iranian people have a rich and long historyof struggling for democracy and independence since the early 20th century.These relentless struggles have taken place in the face of British colonial interests, US imperialism, and oppressive internal regimes. Aside from all the bloodshed and devastation of an imperialist war, a US invasion would give the Iranian dictatorship, against which the Iranian people have struggled for decades, an excuse to repress and imprison political dissidents in Iran.
The crimes of the current regime in its 27 years of existence include executions, stonings, flogging, throwing dissidents to jail, torture, stripping people of their rights, and violence against women. However, the main reason for the opposition of the governments of the West towards Iran has never been the atrocities of this regime against the people of Iran; in fact the US government has actively suppressed leftist forces in Iran. The alignment of the US with the Iranian clerical regime in order to combat leftist revolutionary forces was revealed in the Tower Commission, according to which "in 1983, the United States helped bring to the attention of Teheran the threat inherent in the extensive infiltration ofthe government by the communist Tudeh Party and Soviet or pro-Soviet cadres in the country. Using this information, the Khomeini government took measures, including mass executions, that virtually eliminated the pro-Soviet infrastructure in Iran." It is also imperative to recall that in a complicated swap deal in the 1980’s, Israel and other intermediaries sold US-origin TOW and Hawk missiles to the Iranian regime in return for cash and for the release of hostages in the Lebanese hostage crisis. The money was used by the US to finance their covert operations against the Sandinista government of Nicaragua, until the Iran-Contra affair were publicly exposed at the end of 1986.
The racism so deeply entrenched against Arabs and those constructed to be Muslims replicates itself in the West including Canada, where hundreds of Iranian refugees, readily deemed ‘terrorists’ or ‘fanatics’, are increasingly facing deportation. Our struggle against deportations of Iranian refugees continues within the context of a larger movement of immigrants and refugees throughout Canada, who are standing up to the exclusionary policies of Citizenship and Immigration Canada. We call upon all peace-loving people opposing war, militarization and racism to stand up for the rights of Iranian people in Iran and in Canada. We demand an end to deportations and detentions of Iranian refugees from Canada and regularization of status for all Iranian refugees. We also stand in support of the Iranian people who continue to fight for genuine democracy and self-determination for all Iranian people.
posted by burgers and durians at
10:22 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home