Solidarity with the Iranian people – CP statement

CPB EXECUTIVE STATEMENT ON IRAN  27th September 2022  The Executive Committee of the Communist Party of Britain unequivocally condemns the arrest in Tehran of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini by the theocratic regime’s ‘morality police’ on 14th September and her subsequent brutal treatment and murder while in their custody.  We also unreservedly condemn the response of the dictatorial regime and its police, military, and security apparatus to the massive demonstrations under the banner ‘Women, Life, Freedom’ that have taken place in Iran’s capital and more than 80 other towns and cities across the country. We demand a cessation of all harassment, intimidation and humiliation of women in Iran.  The vicious attempts to silence the voices of the thousands who have bravely come into the public arena and clear them from the streets has so far led to the deaths of more than fifty people, with hundreds injured and thousands arrested.  What began as an expression of outrage against the killing of Mahsa Amini, and the endemic medieval control and suppression of Iranian women in every aspect of their lives, has gathered strength and momentum to become what is now a political and social protest movement, unprecedented in recent times, demanding an end to the regime that has brought poverty and suffering for more than forty years.  This is a growing movement, despite and because of the escalating and relentless violence unleashed against it and the closing down of internet and other communication networks, in an attempt to frustrate the people’s organisation and prevent them from recording shocking evidence of the regime’s criminal acts against them.  The Communist Party of Britain calls for the immediate cessation of all violent, intimidatory, and suppressive measures against the protesting peoples of Iran and for the release of all those arrested and their safe return to their families.  The CP stands in solidarity with the people of Iran and their struggle and calls on all progressive forces in Britain and around the world to support the protests of the Iranian masses and their demands for a free, democratic, and independent country. We reiterate that the future of Iran is for the people of Iran and they alone to decide – without interference or intervention, direct or indirect, by foreign powers on any pretext.  We join the international communist movement in expressing our solidarity with our comrades of the Tudeh Party of Iran, which for more than 80 years has been at the heart of the struggle for justice and peace in Iran and across the wider Middle East region. We stand with you at this critical time.  Robert Griffiths 
General Secretary  Carol Stavris Women’s Organiser  Kevan Nelson International Secretary  On behalf of the Executive Committee of the Communist Party of Britain