Socialist Appeal
The British section of the International Marxist Tendency
In the past week, Iran has seen the most widespread protests since the 1979 Revolution. While it is still smaller in size than the 2009 Green movement, it has spread far beyond the mainly urban areas of the big cities to which that movement was mainly confined. This is a sea-change and it has shaken the regime to its foundations.
The Russians and Iranians have declared the successful end of the war on the Islamic State. But the war against ISIS in the Middle East has fundamentally changed the balance of forces in the Middle East. The influence of Moscow and Tehran has grown, whilst that of US imperialism and its Saudi ally has been greatly diminished. For the masses, life in the region remains a nightmare.
Last Wednesday, US President Donald Trump declared that he would officially recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. This reveals the real nature of the so-called peace talks - the fact that the Western imperialists have never supported the oppressed Palestinian people. On a capitalist basis, Hamid Alizadeh notes, there will never be an agreement in Israel and Palestine.
For the last month the Gulf state of Qatar has been blockaded by its neighbours Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, who along with Egypt have severed all diplomatic ties with the country. These events have opened up a crisis situation in the Gulf region, which is being viewed with trepidation by the major powers on the world stage.
The defeat of Isis is imminent: their last pocket in Mosul is about to be wiped out, Raqqa is being encircled and even Deir ez-Zor is under pressure. As Niklas Albin Svensson discusses, however, the end of Isis in Iraq and Syria has begun a struggle amongst the imperialists and the various regional powers to carve out spheres of influence in the aftermath.