WE, THE undersigned Communist and Workers’ Parties which have supported the struggle of Iranian people for peace, sovereignty, human and democratic rights, social justice and against threats of imperialist attack are watching with grave concern the current developments in the country.

We have received detailed reports, published by the fraternal Tudeh Party of Iran, regarding the circumstances surrounding the protest demonstrations that began on December 28 in Tehran. According to all reports, the brutal mass crackdown waged by the authorities of the Islamic Republic was unleashed in response to the legitimate protests of people against the catastrophic collapse of the country’s national currency and the acutely deteriorating living conditions being endured by the population at large.

We note that the protests that began on December 28 in Iran, initially of the Tehran bazaar (merchants) against the collapse of the national currency, which soon spread to other cities in Iran, were about mass dissatisfaction with deep-rooted structural corruption; decades of neoliberal economic policies, which have pushed millions of Iranians into crushing poverty; suppression of democratic freedoms and rights; and decades of imperialist sanctions which have massively impacted upon the ordinary people of Iran.

We have been horrified by the scenes of brutal killings and devastation reported in the capital Tehran and other cities in Iran since January 8, in which large numbers of people have been killed.  

According to Ali Khamenei, supreme religious leader of the regime, thousands have been killed. Among those killed are a significant number of young people as well as members of the security forces.  

The regime in Tehran has imposed a near-total shutdown of the internet in order to gain complete control and prevent the extent of violence and casualties being reported.

We are also aware that US imperialism and the criminal government of Benjamin Netanyahu have tried in various ways to push the peaceful people’s demonstrations towards violence, to use the mass protest for their own interests, and to prepare the ground for direct intervention in Iran. Imperialist-backed media have tried to promote a false discourse that the Iranian people call for the return of the monarchy and Reza Pahlavi.

We, the undersigned Communist and Workers’ Parties, strongly condemn threats by the US and the Israeli criminal government of a new imperialist military attack on Iran.

We stand firmly in solidarity with the struggle of the Iranian people, the Tudeh Party of Iran and the country’s left and progressive forces.

We stress that the future course of developments in Iran is the sole preserve of its people and must remain so.

SolidNet Parties signing the joint statement:

PADS, Algeria
Communist Party of Australia
Communist Party of Austria
Party of Labour Austria
Democratic Progressive Tribune, Bahrain
Communist Party of Bangladesh
Workers’ Party of Belgium
Brazilian Communist Party
Communist Party of Britain
Communist Party of Canada
AKEL of Cyprus
Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia 
Communist Party of Denmark
Egyptian Communist Party
French Communist Party
Communist Party of Greece (KKE)
Communist Party of India
Tudeh Party of Iran
Iraqi Communist Party
The Workers’ Party of Ireland (Official)
Workers Party of Ireland
Communist Party of India (Marxist)
Communist Party of Israel
Italian Communist Party
Communist Refoundation, Italy
Communist Party of Mexico
New Communist Party of the Netherlands
Communist Party of Norway
Communist Party of Pakistan
Palestinian Communist Party
Palestinian People’s Party
Paraguayan Communist Party
Philippines Communist Party [PKP 1930]
Communists of Serbia
New Communist Party of Yugoslavia
Communist Party of the Workers of Spain
Communists of Catalonia
Sudanese Communist Party
Communist Party of Sweden
Swiss Communist Party
Syrian Communist Party
Syrian Communist Party  (Unified)
Communist Party of Turkey
Communist Party of Ukraine
Communist Party USA
Communist Party of Venezuela