One year on from the imperialists’ murder of General Qasem Soleimani
All progressives must support the right of Iran to defend itself against relentless imperialist aggression.
Our party, which upholds steadfast support for the right of nations to follow their own paths of development without oppression and interference from parasitic, imperialist powers, has long recognised and supported the positive role which the Islamic Republic of Iran has provided to the struggle of oppressed nations against imperial domination, particularly in the context of the global political landscape following the collapse of the USSR.
The loss of General Qasem Soleimani a year ago was a tragic setback for the anti-imperialist united front, for it was Soleimani’s guidance that had helped Syria and Iraq fight off the jihadist mercenaries of Isis and al-Nusra; it was Soleimani’s guidance that had helped keep militant anti-imperialism alive and vibrant in Lebanon; and it was Soleimani’s guidance that had helped the Iraqi resistance do what they could to defend their country from the Nato occupiers.
General Soleimani was a true veteran of the anti-imperialist resistance and an Iranian patriot of the highest order. The scale of the mourning across the middle east showed how much he was loved and valued by the people there, and tributes, along with condemnations of his murder, flooded social media feeds from anti-imperialists across the globe.
US president Donald Trump did not just kill an Iranian general, he martyred a man who was widely loved across the region; a hero of anti-imperialist resistance. On hearing the news, Iranian demonstrators held up his portrait with the words “Soleimani may have, with his death, already have achieved the greatest revenge of all.” Let his fine example inspire us to strengthen and temper ourselves to wage a real war against terrorism and imperialism.
Attempting to justify Soleimani’s murder, the Pentagon stated: “At the direction of the president, the US military has taken decisive defensive action to protect US personnel abroad by killing Qasem Soleimani,” adding that “The United States will continue to take all necessary action to protect our people and our interests wherever they are around the world.”
Such words can only confirm that which we already know to be true: that the US imperialists and their servants will continue to act with callous arrogance in pursuit of total global hegemony, and that they will continue arrogantly to abrogate to themselves the right to dictate to other nations.
Imperialism provided the world with yet another example of the desperate lengths it will go to in its efforts to stunt and hinder Iran’s peaceful development when, on 27 November 2020, its zionist lackeys murdered the renowned nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in Tehran.
As long ago as 2018, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in the course of making baseless claims about Iran’s nuclear programme, singled out Mr Fakhrizadeh for special opprobrium, brazenly warning: “Remember that name, Fakhrizadeh.”
We can be sure it is a name that Iranians will always remember with pride, as a national hero who dedicated all his scientific and military expertise to the service of his country – as a soldier, as a teacher, as a scientist and as a patriot.
At the time of his murder, while serving in the defence ministry and running the Organisation of Defensive Innovation and Research, Mr Fakhrizadeh had recently provided services to his countrymen through his work in developing Iran’s first coronavirus testing kit and in leading one of the country’s vaccine projects against the pandemic.
In light of the persistent threats, attacks, economic sanctions and sabotage against Iran carried out by the imperialists and their stooges, our job here in Britain must be to refute the belligerent and lying rhetoric of our own rulers that emanates from the corporate press of the British political establishment.
This establishment, serving the interests of British imperialism rather than those of the British working class, remains obsequiously deferential to the frenzied desires of its senior partner in crime, US imperialism.
Our party will continue to promote an anti-imperialist understanding among the ranks of Britain’s class-conscious workers, and, while opposing unjust and aggressive wars, we stand by Iran’s right to defend itself from imperialist attack by any means necessary.
In Britain, the working-class movement has historically been led by the pro-imperialist opportunists of the Labour party. It is our belief that the day is finally dawning when the masses of British workers will make a break with this party that serves the bosses, and the best among them will turn their energies towards creating a truly socialist, anti-imperialist movement – one that is ready to stand shoulder to shoulder with all our brothers and sisters around the world.
This movement is sorely needed if we are to overturn the current status quo in the fields of economics, society, industry and foreign policy – a status quo that has led to millions of British families becoming destitute in 2020 even as the super-rich have become richer still; a status quo that has led thousands of British youths to feel they have no option but to become cannon fodder in Britain’s unjust aggressive wars against workers in other countries.
Only when the imperialists are overthrown and their system has been dismantled will Britain be free to chart a path that puts the interest and wellbeing of her working people first, and discard our rulers’ present addiction to the violent and destructive absurdities demanded by the need to preserve imperialist profits.
Red salute to the axis of resistance and to the patriotic hero General Qasem Soleimani! Imperialism out of the middle east!
