Iran capitalists divided on way forward

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The squabbling between various sections of the religious and capitalist would-be ruling groups in Iran reflects the fact that they cannot rule.

And essentially they cannot rule because of the continued, and in places growing, mobilis. ation of the masses.

In the last few days Karim Sanjabi (Foreign Minister and leader of the bourgeois National Front) resigned from Bazargan's His stated reason-that he couldn't accept the uncontroited activities of the Islamic committees and revolutionary courts-was almost certainly of secondary importance.

Outflanking

Worse for Sanjabi was the fact that the opportunist "left" face of Iranian bourgeois nationalism, the National Democratic Front (run by the grandson of former President Mossadeq) has. been completely outflanking the National Front from outside the Sanjabi has left After he Baghdad summit, held to discuss ways of crippling the political leadership for its cooperation with the Zionist leadership of Sanjabi to reassemble some of his disappearing political support among the petty bourgeoisie.

Meanwhile the fake "progressive" Ayatollah, Taleghani, said he had resigned from politics altogether after two of his children were kidnapped by fanatical followers of Ayatollah Khomeini.

Taleghani later went to see Khomeini and they staged a dramatic public reconciliation.

Taleghani pledged his loyalty and Khomeini made a ritual declaration about "curbing excesses"

Within the supposedly ruling Revolutionary Council (whose membership is a secret but is known to include a number of Ayatollahs and : selected members of Bazargan's administration) the divisions are so great that government has been virtuaily paralysed.

The announcement of the proposed new constitution of the "Islamic republic" • was not made on the scheduled day (April 20); and the proposed elections to a Constituent Assembly have been postponed indefinitely.

But the would-be rulers are not only showing themselves to be enemies of the democratic aspirations which led the masses to topple the Shah's bloody tyranny, they also offer no solution to the near catastrophic economic plight of millions of workers.

Though there are no official figures, observers say that infla. tion is raging; and most estimates now put the number New dictator Bazargan of unemployed at around 4 million-40% of the Iranian labour force!

This estimate conforms to Bazargan's statement last week that only 50% of industrial and commercial firms in the country are operating in spite of the "back-to-work" campaign.

Occupied

In response to this situation and often with the support of the left-wing Islamic m or "Marxist-Leninist" guerrillas (mojahedin and fedayin), the unemployed are mobilising themselves and have occupied some government buildings including the Ministry of Justice.

The government announced that it had no policy to deal with unemployment, since it had run out of money and could undertake no new investment.

Many of the country's factories-those operating as well as those paralysed-are still occupied by workers' committees which are either running them or resisting the new capitalist bosses and managers which Bazargan is trying to force on them.

In the Abadan oilfields last week workers' demands were reported to have provoked the resignation of virtually the entirety of the top management.

Developments such as these a frightening reminder to the Ayatollah: and ministers that s control ve ry little.

They must alarmed by the Kurdistan . and oppressed nations borders.

A virtual state of civil war is reported to exist in Kurdistan, Fighting is between pro-imperialist sections of the Kurdish national movement alongside the reactionary proKhomeini Islamic committees, and, on the other side, anti-imperialist nationalists supported by the mojahedin and the fedayin.

The central government could only make the hollow threat to send in its (decomposed) army, which not even mass unemployment is making deserted soldiers return to.

The construction of a Marxist party in Iran to take forward the struggle for democratic rights and for socialist measures to resolve the immense material problems faced by the workers and. peasants remains the burning task of the hour.

*For a constituent assembly!

*For a workers' and peasants' government! .!

*In the factories and oilfields: expropriate the capital. ists and occupy!

*In the countryside: expropriate the landowners and occupy!

*In the army: refuse to obey the officers!. Join the workers in setting up militias!

Bazargan's far they be equally news from the other within the