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    No War on Iran!
    "About Us: The Public Call"



    By Dr. Naser Zarafshan
    “War, Business and Robbery are inseparable” Goethe

    Iranians, peace-loving people of the world;

    The ugly devil of war has captivated the Middle East, and is tightening its grip on the people of this region. Iraq has been sinking in bloodshed for about four years. Now the spectre of war is haunting Iran. Among our people, however, the reality of this danger has not been completely understood. Our society has not yet adopted a clear and precise picture of what the consequences of this impending war on Iran will be.

    Many followers and believers of the United States’ foreign policy propagate that the war on Iran will truly only target the Islamic Republic regime. They also believe that this war will ultimately result in Iran being governed by those people who support US foreign policies in Iran and in the region. They believe that the war on Iran will be a smooth and well planned project with a foreseeable outcome with a bright and rational conclusion. Afterwards, these people promote the unfounded perspective that this coming war is a path to democracy in Iran. They covertly, and overtly, support the war on Iran under the premises of supporting democracy. Their assumptions, however, are all imaginative and unreal. If war breaks out, Iran will be under attack and the Iranian people will be under the rubble of pain and suffering. This will be a war with an unpredictable final result. As well, in essence, democracy is an internal development of a society and must be achieved by the struggle of the Iranian people themselves. The natural developments and changes that take place within any phenomenon or occurrence are the products of its internal process and contradictions.

    Democracy is therefore the result of social and economic changes within society itself, and like any other reality it must come from the social contradictions of that society. It must be the result of the struggle of the masses against the ruling class. There has never been one intellectual or political trend since the constitutional revolution [of 1906] that naively and immaturely believed that democracy could be imported to Iran like a car or cosmetic goods for the purpose of consumption. To have the expectation and hope of importing democracy, especially through war and military occupation, is truly irresponsible. Those people who advocate this way of thinking do not want to take the difficult road, to take charge and to make the commitment to build democracy. In fact, they do not want to pay the price that is required to bring democracy.

    The foundation of this illusion among these wishful thinkers is simply that they have demoralized and given up. They feel hopeless and incompetent to bring about any change to our society. However, contrary to their perspective, our society has a great capacity for change. Masses of people in Iran, although currently inactive, are waiting and seeking opportunities within this widespread crisis that is accelerating day-to-day. They will use their own method, and consequently, this deepening crisis will get them involved in the struggle for change. The basis of the US war drive against Iran stems from the fact that all strategies for colorful, backdoor “revolutions” have been unsuccessful. However, if a war by the United States and the Islamic Republic is imposed on our people, it will not result in democracy, rather it will worsen the suppression of the Iranian people by the government, and further limit political space within the society. Ultimately it will re-enforce the consolidation of the regime. For those who sabotage the effort and struggle against war by hiding themselves behind “democracy”; either their interest is the same as the United States, or they have bought the US lies and propaganda and therefore have developed illusions.

    The struggle against war is part of the struggle of the Iranian people for democracy. These two - the struggle against war and the struggle for democracy – in essence are interconnected and they also develop within the same process. Those political tendencies, who try to separate these struggles from each other and try to campaign on these two components of the same process in two different unconnected political motions, are weakening the struggle against war. They are setting the ground for the manipulation of public opinion to welcome a US military attack against the people of Iran. This is a political deception that is insinuated and propagated by the Untied States. Indeed defeatism and seeking salvation through a foreign aggressor is not a new story in our history. The most tyrannical and despotic regimes, out of weakness and from fear of mass pressure and mass movements, have appealed to foreign powers to seek solutions. However, those foreign powers have never brought any good or any better life for our people.

    It is equally true that there are people who believe in the propaganda of the Islamic regime that the US is not in a strong position to launch a military attack on Iran because of the their heavy involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as the internal differences within the US ruling class. These wishful thinkers are indeed underestimating the US imperialist military might and the danger of an attack on Iran. One must say that this way of thinking is unfounded because the plans and interests of imperialism in the Middle East are serious and it’s indeed a matter of life and death for the survival of the imperialist system. Under no circumstances does war have any fruitful outcome for the people. Only the ruling elites who initiate it get benefits out of it. People’s share of war is nothing but death, destruction, suffering and dread. War brings nothing but the destruction of the wealth of the entire society, wealth which has been produced and maintained by generations of working people. With imposing war on Iran, the United States government is seeking complete control over the region’s natural resources, especially oil and gas, to maintain and reinforce its strategic position, and to secure the defense of Israel in the Middle East. The Islamic Republic regime will benefit from this war by using more repression and further consolidating its position. At the same time, local and domestic capitalists and the rich, especially hoarders, will take advantage of the shortage of goods and resources in wartime to turn this miserable situation, which brings suffering, anxiety and shortages, into a money making business.

    Surprisingly, in the United States – the country that will start this military aggression – people are more sensitive to this impending war. The attitude of the antiwar movement in the US is more serious and antiwar sentiment is more widespread than in Iran, the country who will be the victim of the impending war. Historical experience has shown that people who don’t care about their fate, and are not prepared, sensitive or alert to this critical situation, will become indifferent and will later suffer from a heavy price in damage and causalities. Do we really have to hear the sound of bombs and rockets in order to realize that a war has in fact begun? Isn’t it true that at that time it will be too late to stop the war? Isn’t it true that we need to anticipate the problem and think in advance for a solution?

    However, the progressive and independent efforts to stop the war require an organized force and collective activity. Many independent and human-loving forces have warned about the possible US war on Iran and the necessity of confronting it and suggested different forms of resistance. Yet, these efforts and warnings have been sporadic, separated, isolated and therefore have remained on the level of cautionary alerts.

    In order to connect and to coordinate all these efforts, I extend my arms to all Iranians and all progressive, peace-loving people of the world. I invite them to present their ideas and plans, to together arm ourselves with an action program to educate the public about the immediate danger of this war. We need the participation and involvement of every individual to organize an opposition to war against Iran.

    For the sake of connections, coordination and networking, and for the purpose of exchanging our ideas and suggestions so that we can come up with practical collective activities everywhere, we have created a website www.nowaroniran.org and email address info@nowaroniran.org for you to communicate with us. Your people and all Iranians against war are waiting to receive your ideas and suggestions through these addresses. Iran is in danger, we must do something about it.

    Nasser Zarafshan
    November 2007
    Tehran, Iran




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