Benjamin Klein interviewed Mahsa, an Iranian supporter of Hands Off the People of Iran who is currently living in Italy

There are some people on the anti-war left in Britain who are saying that the students protesting in Iran are actually in favour of military intervention.

The left student movement in Iran has always struggled against the policies of the USA and capitalism in general on the one hand and against the theocracy and fundamentalism in Iran on the other.

We very much appreciate the anti-war movement in Britain and other countries. It is good to see people still feel responsible, even when the propaganda of the ruling class media tries to make us believe they want to bring democracy. However, we should maintain our distance from pacifist views and analyse war and the threat of war from a class perspective.

What do you think of the March 6 protests, which were organised by union organisations like the ITF and ITUC? They called for the immediate release of union activists, but did not mention the war threat and the sanctions against Iran. A major political problem, in our view.

I think any kind of political support for people who are in danger and who are undergoing torture, are kept in jails and are forbidden from forming unions can be helpful. I do not know if those unions have had or they are planning to have any other campaign on Iran’s situation and sanctions, which affects the workers’ lives. But I hope they do not wait for bombs to fall before they say something on the danger of war.

Can you describe the effects that the war threat and the sanctions are having on Iranian society?

We all know what war will bring for normal people. In Iran, we had eight years of destructive war and two decades later you can still see the results in the cities, in the families who were bereaved, in lots of disabled and injured soldiers, who need permanent medical care and most of whom are not financially supported and can’t afford to pay for their living expenses.

Sanctions have had harmful effects as well, mostly on industries, which directly affect workers’ lives. The increase of brokerage in industries to buy materials and technologies has been really harmful. Possible sanctions on medicines and the predicted shortages of food will seriously affect the life of the working class. And we also have a severe petrol shortage.

Ironically, the Iranian government, which presides over a deep economic crisis, uses the threat of war to distract from this crisis. It actually suits the regime, as it helps to rally people behind them.

Do you think that sanctions are actually used to prepare for a military strike? They have been used so in the past – for example, in Iraq.

I don’t think we can compare the two, as the situation is completely different. Iran’s role in the region varies from that of Iraq before the war. Also, there are different internal and external pressures on the US today than there were before they started the war on Iraq. In the media, the US and Iran are displayed as each other’s biggest enemies, but they may still reach some kind of ‘understanding’, depending on the benefits for both governments. But this does not mean that we should stop the struggle against war and sanctions.

Although the regime has now released a handful of students, even more are currently being arrested. Could you try and explain what is happening here? Is the regime focusing on arresting all of the leaders?

Although the oppression has certainly intensified, I do not think that the students are less active now – quite the opposite. Currently, there is another protest in Shiraz University against the vice-chancellor because of his repressive policies in the university – evicting students from university accommodation and intervening in the student union elections, for example. The policy of suppression has never been successful, but we are still learning how to confront it effectively.

Activists in Iran and abroad must do their utmost to fight for the release of the arrested students. There have been protests in different universities, especially in Europe and Canada. A good number of foreign organisations have publicly supported the students – which is not without its own problems: one of the charges brought against them is that they are in contact with foreign opposition groups. But most of us have tried to publish the news in any medium available.

Are you saying that student demonstrations themselves are not enough?

In my opinion we must do more, training ourselves in all political and social questions. We must connect with other, currently passive, students and other social movements in Iran. Unless we are united, we cannot overcome the current oppression. But this is not achieved easily.

What is the relationship between the students’ movement and those of workers and women in Iran? Have they been able to link their struggles?

Of course, left activists in Iran emphasise solidarity with the social movements. We are trying to maintain contacts with workers’ groups and have been publishing news about them in our journals. We also attend workers’ protests, such as those on May Day. But this is not easy, because Iranian workers do not have the right to form independent trade unions. And many, many people are unemployed, which is another struggle that the workers’ movement is engaged in.

A lot of student activists are also involved in the women’s movement – they are members of many different groups: liberals, reformists and lefts. For example, many leftwingers have worked with women’s groups in the ‘One million signature’ campaign to change the discriminative laws against women. In contrast, there are other leftists who have boycotted this campaign due to its reformist, liberal outlook and because it seemed to emphasise the demands of the richer women. Moreover, in its campaigns and demonstrations it did not challenge the prevalence of religion in Iran.

The Iranian student movement is by no means merely composed of socialists. There are also groups that attack left demonstrations. Could you tell us about them and their views?

To describe the whole picture briefly, there are socialists, liberals, and reformists – and even in these main categories there are different attitudes. It is true that some of the liberals and reformists attack the Marxists, but we have to be self-critical, too: we have certainly had some weaknesses and were engaged in wrong actions like insulting other groups and other beliefs, which can be seen on demonstrations, articles, blogs, etc. Although this does not mean that I agree with their attacks, I think we have to be careful in how we go about these things if we are to gain more support.

However, there are also some groups influenced by the liberals who – despite their talk of democracy and human rights – did not do anything or even publish the news about the arrests in their media. In my opinion, Marxists must defend all the students who are in jail, no matter whether they are lefts, liberals or reformists.

What are the political points that divide the different left groups in the student movement?

The Iranian left still suffers from some bad habits. Unfortunately, sectarianism is rife. But there are also some political points which divide them. There are differences on what attitude to take over democratic political actions and demonstrations, how to work with non-left groups (for example, the women’s campaign), how to connect with the workers’ movement, if we should use propaganda, and how we confront Iran’s islamic regime. And, last but not least, there is of course the question of religion. These are all points of contention, with many different attitudes.