Jim Chrystie: Shah’s Exit – the Beginning of Revolution

[Militant, No. 439, 19 January 1979, p 16]

The Shah’s flight into exile does not mark the end of the Iranian revolution – it is just the beginning.

The most graphic illustration of the mood in Iran has been the fraternisation of the people with the army. In gestures reminiscent of 1974 in Portugal, soldiers placed red carnations in their rifles.

It was the recognition that the army was far from being totally reliable which prompted the US leaders to dissuade hard-line generals from staging a coup two weeks ago.

Months of mass agitation had begun to infect the troops. Mutinies broke out and in some cases officers shot cadets who wished to join in the demonstrations.

With the Shah’s repressive regime crumbling, a new approach was needed. Having ditched the Shah, US imperialism hoped that, at least for the time being, they could rely on Prime Minister Bakhtiar to salvage their position.

But Bakhtiar is a man in the middle of a polarised country. He represents the liberal capitalist wing and will not be able, to avoid a conflict with the workers and peasants.

The only common point of the opposition has been the ending of the Shah’s rule.

Khomeini, the exiled Moslem religious leader, failed in his attempts to win control of the oil workers strike. The workers refused to resume production sufficient for Iran’s needs.

The economic and social grievances and demands which underly the Iranian revolution will undermine Khomeini’s hopes for a theocratic Islamic papacy. His credibility, at present high, will be destroyed as the masses continue their struggle for civilised conditions.

In this situation. the opportunities for a Marxist movement to grow are tremendous. The workers have become aware of their power: they have forced the Shah to flee! All the tanks, all the police, all the vicious torturers of the SAVAK were to no avail when masses of workers took to the streets.

Bakhtiar’s government can only be a government of transition. Nor will Khomeini if he achieves direct influence through the widely proposed Islamic Revolutionary Council, be able to provide permanent stability.

Arrogant and impatient colonels are undoubtedly biding their time in the wings. This week a mysterious ‚Imperial emissary‘ warned that unless Khomeini co-operated there would be a coup and „initially the army would have to kill two or three million people. There would be mass murder.“ For the moment, the colonels are hamstrung.

But if the workers movement does not organise for a socialist transformation of society there will be a real danger of reaction later, of the return of the Shah or an even worse dictatorship.

Democracy in Iran can be guaranteed only by the workers taking complete control of industry and the State.