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Frankly I think Cole has lost his head. The current mass uprising in Iran are just "crowd protests" like in 1953. Right ... Yes, in both cases there is a US blockade, but the similarity ends there. The uprising today - which has rapidly spread to dozens of towns and cities and began in the Arabic Ahwaz region, is part of the revolutionary wave that includes Lebanon and Iraq, in both cases uprisings that are also confronting Iranian-backed regimes, while popular uprising continues in Idlib, Deir ezzor and has now been reignited in Daraa, and a month or so ago was also in Egypt (not so much an Iranian ally, but definitely an Assad all). Context matters. Iran in 1953 was in the midst of a revolutionary situation and the blockade aimed at bringing back the Shah, via the state organs that still existed in Iran. Iran today is run by a 40-year theocratic tyranny; people don't need fuel hikes to want to destroy the regime that has oppressed them for decades, they are a mere spark. Louis' last point - It is not even clear what sort of regime the USA is pinning its hopes on - underlines another key difference - all the organs of the capitalist state are fully under the control of the mullah regime and have been for decades. The most that could occur would be an internal coup within the regime, but for what purpose is unclear. Worth remembering that the mainstream of the US capitalist class supported the nuclear deal and was opposed to Trump ripping it up and re-imposing sanctions. Sure, Bolton was a dolt leftover from a previous era, but he's gone, and it was Trump that made him gone. Frankly I doubt there's more to it than Trump wanting a new deal he can pretend is "better" but under his name. On Tue, Nov 19, 2019 at 12:01 AM Louis Proyect via Marxism < marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote: > ******************** POSTING RULES & NOTES ******************** > #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. > #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. > #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. > ***************************************************************** > > Juan Cole's points are well taken but if Iran is to survive this > economic warfare, it will only be a result of ending the clerical > dictatorship and allowing ordinary working people to have control of > their destiny, just as was the goal in Syria in 2011. It is not even > clear what sort of regime the USA is pinning its hopes on. A return to > the Shah? > > https://www.juancole.com/2019/11/economic-blockade-protests.html > _________________________________________________________ > Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm > Set your options at: > https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/mkaradjis%40gmail.com > _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
