Bazargan speaks out against

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The popular agitation against the would-be Islamic capitalist dictatorship in Iran, is still growing.

It is coming now not only from the unemployed the working class and the oppressed nationalities but also from members of the Islamic popular committees themselves.

Though, under the guidance of Ayatollah Khomeini and other reactionary religious leaders, these committees have indulged in counter-revolution ary acts against democratic and workers' rights, their power nonetheless remains a threat to the restoration of an authori tative capitalist state in Iran.

Main aim Such a restoration, however, is the main aim of Prime Minister Bazargan's central And it is an aim which it strives for in a spirit of growing desperation-as was shown by two remarkably frank interviews given a week ago by Bazargan and his deputy. Entezam to a visiting correspondent of the French paper Le Monde.

Bazargan made his counterrevolutionary aims as clear as possible.

Referring to the Iranian masses he lamented:

Khomeini "Their demands have reached such a point that they are tending to paralyse us"

Entezam spelled out the tiresome details:

"Just see for yourself what we have to put up with.

"We get thousands of letters and countless telephone calls from people protesting against a sub secretary of state, or a head of department, or an army or police officer, a simple engineer or even the lowest official, on the pretext that they served the Shah.

"But who hasn't done that in the public or private sector during i the 57 years of the imperial regime?

"This strong popular resisiance deprives the government of skills and much-needed help, thus clearly reducing its efficiency.

•That is why Mr Bazargan has issued an appeal for tolerance to the people"

Unemployment

What he means is in fact that the government would like the people to remain tolerant of the 40% • unemployment rate, rocketing inflation, food shortages and the continued denial of elementary democratic rights.

Bazargan, who declared that the Shah's last puppet premier, Bakhtiar, shared his objective of they are now having to prepare in advance for such events-and not without signs of nervousness.

There are other signs that the regime can no longer slow change, went on to make it clear that he wanted heip from the repressive apparatus of the old tyranny to restore the order that capitalism needs in Iran. meeting, attended by Pinochet, a loyal union leader from the copper mines was strongly critical of the regime's economic stoles "We inherited a state largely run by Shah supporters and we don't have the people to replace them ... The army and the police still have to be rebuilt. It is not easy to go back to square one ...

"Subversives"

The other reactionary theme of Bazargan's interview was its witch-hunting tone towards "marxist subversives"

"They do everything they can to put obstacles in our way. Wherever problems arise or troubles break out, we find the hand of the communists: student demonstrations, workers' strikes, armed conflicts in the provinces: all aimed to stop us reconstructing the state"

He accused the "marxists" of making common cause with imperialism and Zionism.

Bazargan thus openly reveals his contempt for the democratic and material aspirations of the masses which he hypocritically claims to represent.

No to the reconstruction of the Shah's state apparatus!

Down with the Bazargan regime!

Free elections uent Assembly!

Build workers' councils!

For a workers' Build revc lutionary socialist party in Iran!

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