The Freedom Socialist Party takes great inspiration from the thrilling 1978-1979 Iranian revolution, which took down the last Shah, but ultimately resulted in a right-wing fundamentalist counterrevolution. From the beginning, we have taken special note of the role of Iranian women and their demonstrated and potential political leadership. As they rise up once again, here is a sampling of the extensive reporting and analysis of developments in Iran from the pages of the Freedom Socialist.
• From 1978, the story of the about-to-be-successful overthrow of the Iran monarchy, represented by Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, defender of Persian Gulf oil reserves for the U.S. and Western imperialism.
Ousting the Shah in Iran
• Spring 1979: With the ousting of the Shah came a struggle for power between religious fundamentalists on one hand and a Shah-approved “civilian” government on the other. Meanwhile, workers, women, and peasants were fighting for their own place in determining the country’s future.
The Iranian Revolution and women’s rights
• Also spring 1979: An in-depth, one-of-a-kind discussion of the conditions and role of women in Iran and the relationship of female leadership to revolutionary change.
Iranian Women—Vanguard of the World Revolution
• From summer 1979, an article by Murry Weiss, one of the most important U.S. Trotskyists of the 1900s, about his national tour addressing the Iranian revolution.
“My incomparable national tour on Iran”
• Winter 1979: As the revolution continues to unfold, Iranian militants justly demanding the extradition of the Shah from the U.S. take hostages at the U.S. embassy in Tehran.
Hostage Hysteria in the United States of Shah-ocracy
• Meet some of the contemporary women defying the Iranian police state today. From 2019.
Renewed feminist and labor resistance forces the hand of the Iranian police state
