Long live the revolutionary movement in Iran:
Manifesto of the leftist solidarity movement in Austria
Since the brutal murder of Jina (Mahsa) Amini by the so-called morality police in Iran, a broad movement has spread across the country that has shaken up one of the most repressive regimes in the world. It is no exaggeration to speak of a revolutionary movement, led by women, students, youth. Scenes of women and men burning hijabs together, students fearlessly throwing representatives of the regime out of their schools, workers going on strike, students staging daily rallies, have all deeply inspired us.
The regime has responded with extreme brutality. The average age of those arrested is 15 years old. Political prisoners were in serious danger in the Evin Prison fire. Students have "disappeared”. School students are being arrested in their classrooms. From Kurdistan to Baluchesten, the regime has carried out massacres that have turned hundreds more Jinas into symbols of the movements. In spite of all this, the masses have not been stopped. This movement has the potential not only to bring down the Iranian regime, but also to spread throughout the region. We see this in an impressive way in Afghanistan, where there have been ongoing protests by women and girls against the Taliban for months. The movements will increasingly inspire each other and in turn encourage others.
This movement hits the regime at key pillars: The oppression of women & LGBTQI+ people, discrimination against all ethnic, religious and national minorities. The struggle for women's rights, democratic rights, the right to self-determination and bodily autonomy is at the heart of a movement that is directed against the entire dictatorial, repressive regime and system. Mandatory wearing of hijabs was one of the first measures introduced by the mullahs' regime - women have protested it from the beginning. They took to the streets in numbers on International Women's Day in 1979 against the threat of the mullahs taking power and curtailing their rights.
For decades, the regime has used its reactionary ideology to control women and LGBTQI+ people and their bodies, pushing them into family isolation, brutally exploiting them, dividing the population, and thus stabilizing the regime’s power. This ideology has been falling apart for a long time, and now this process has reached a new quality. An entire generation is radically turning away from religious institutions and are no longer tolerating the deep-seated misogyny, the violence and the all-encompassing oppression.
It is about much more than the abolition of misogynistic dress codes: it is about equal rights, full autonomy over one's own body, access to jobs, health care and an independent life. It is about abolishing all repression and the security apparatus - from the morality police to the Revolutionary Guards. From the corrupt mullahs to the violent police.