Tudeh Party of Iran on the death of Ali Khamenei and the right of the Iranian people to decide their future

In a new statement, the Tudeh Party of Iran stresses out: 

"Dear compatriots,

Following the aggressive attacks by Netanyahu’s criminal regime and U.S. imperialism on Iranian soil, Ali Khamenei—the regime’s Supreme Leader and a dictator who over the past thirty-seven years, through destructive policies and the reactionary ideology of “political Islam,” drove the country to the brink of war and destruction—along with a number of his family members and close associates, as well as some commanders of the Revolutionary Guard and repressors of the people, have been killed.

Over the past thirty-seven years, as the absolute Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei determined the country’s major economic policies and political direction and was the principal figure responsible for the bloody and violent suppression of any protest against the destructive policies of the Islamic Republic. By implementing economic policies aimed at securing the interests of big capital, he drove tens of millions of Iranians into poverty and deprivation. His family and close associates also plundered the nation’s wealth and resources. The death of the regime’s Supreme Leader can mark the beginning of developments that open a path toward the people’s rule over their own destiny and lives and the dawning of freedom and justice in the country.

At the same time, we know that U.S. imperialism and its regional allies—especially Netanyahu’s racist government—and their Iranian agents such as Reza Pahlavi, harbor sinister plans to destroy the country and its capabilities, to turn Iran into a U.S. semi-colony in the region, or to entangle Iran in prolonged ethnic-religious civil wars (as in Libya or Syria), with the aim of completely destroying national sovereignty and fragmenting Iran. 

A people who for years have mourned loved ones under the rule of the Islamic Republic, struggled with poverty, suffered from environmental destruction and air pollution, and faced illness, despair, and a lack of clear prospects for the future—workers, toilers, retirees, teachers, women, aware and fighting youth and students who have continued their struggle and protest while bearing heavy costs—in other words, this great, long-suffering nation, possesses the necessary maturity and awareness to determine the country’s future leaders and path. They have no need for leaders imposed or appointed by foreign aggressors and plunderers or their Iranian agents—whether abroad or inside the country.

Dear compatriots,

In the current critical conditions, the continuation of war and savage bombardment aimed at destroying the country’s key infrastructure—accompanied by the killing of ordinary people, including in the city of Minab, which led to the massacre of more than one hundred schoolgirls—cannot serve the national interest nor open the way for fulfilling the people’s and the country’s national and progressive forces’ aspirations for freedom and justice and a complete transition away from the ruling authoritarian political system. 

The fate of nations in countries such as Libya, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, and Iraq bears witness to this claim. For this reason, all national and international efforts must be mobilized to establish a ceasefire and impose peace upon the American-Israeli aggressors and the Islamic Republic’s warmongers, who speak of widespread “revenge.”

Contrary to the claims of the remaining leaders of the Islamic Republic, who are busy appointing a future leadership council for the Islamic regime, and given the people’s deep hatred and disgust toward the existing authoritarian structure and its imposed policies, the continuation of the current political system is not possible. Its continuation could push Iran toward the dangerous abyss of national disintegration and cause devastating damage to society. In our view, however, the regime’s remaining leaders, in order to preserve this system and their own interests, are prepared to accept any deal with Trump and Netanyahu to maintain their shaky hold on power and to put Iran, the country’s national interests, and the working people up for a historic auction.

Today, the demand of the majority of our people is the complete transformation of the political system founded on the reactionary institution of the Guardianship of the Jurist (Velayat-e Faqih), the full separation of religion from government, and movement toward establishing a system based on freedom and democratic, elective structures chosen by the people to realize democratic rights, freedoms, and social justice. With the continuation of the current decayed and anti-people structure, and by replacing one dictator with another, or by preserving a dictatorial structure under the title of a “council,” the people’s demands will not be fulfilled. 

The implementation of such a scenario would be a catastrophe that could once again trap Iran for decades in backwardness, suppression of freedoms and democratic rights, poverty, deprivation of the majority of society, and the plundering of the country’s wealth by a limited number of big capitalists.

Dear compatriots, national and freedom-loving forces of the country,

At a time when the criminal bombardments of the United States and Israel continue, and while a leadership vacuum has emerged within the structure of the Islamic Republic, we must, using all available means and resources, united in voice and step, first impose peace upon internal warmongers and foreign aggressors, and then create the conditions for a transition toward a free Iran liberated from despotism and injustice.

The people of Iran are the ones who will decide Iran’s future!

Freedom for all political, ideological, and civil prisoners!

Long live peace, firm be national sovereignty, forward toward the establishment of a national and democratic government!"

tudehpartyiran.org