No end to Iran politica crisis

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The crisis of authority of the Islamic government in Iran has continued.

The mullahs have been organising further mass demonstrations which have convened initially on the basis of the slogan: "death to the three traitors-Carter, Sadat, Begin".

But this slogan has been converted during the demonstration into blood curdling paranoid cries of "death to the three traitors-monafegh • Islamic traitors), democrats and fedayin'.

So, fearful of their own authority, the Islamic right wing is stirring up the conditions for an attack on the more left-wing mass organisations.

These preparations follow statements two weeks ago from the top of the Islamic hierarchy that a legal ban was to be imposed on the Mojahedin and Fedayin.

Bloodbath

Clearly the only way in which such a ban could be imposed is through a vast expansion of the barbaric bloodbath already being imposed daily against enemies of the regime under the guise of a "purification" campaign against drug tratickers, sexual. "abnormalities" , "westernised" women and university students.

Every day in recent weeks a number of people have been stoned to death as adulterers, prostitutes, homosexuals or supporters of Kurdish nationalism.

If this kind of repression were now to be unleashed against the l Mojahedin and Fedayin-tens of thousands of whose militants are armed -then it could only be through the most bloody civil strife.

It still appears that the religious authorities are hesitating before going as far as this.

This must be through uncertainty about their power to impose their reactionary authority; otherwise they would not have allowed the threatened organisations time to prepare themselves against the holocaust.