TEN MEMBERS section of the Fourth International, the Socialist Workers Party [HKS], were freed from Karoun jail in Ahwaz last week after being held since June.
Reports reaching Socialist Challenge at the weekend indicated that the ten had been released on bail. more HKS members are held.
Iwelve of the 14 were sentenced to death in August, but an international defence campaign forced the Iranian authorities to revoke the une dento sece cenencen o ne imprisonment.
The identities of those released are not yet known. of the Iranian Four still being popular ratification sentence. referendum.
remained empty. THE ballot boxes were wheeled out in Iran last week Tor tae unira ume this year as Ayatollah Khomeini called for of his Islamic Constitution in a two-day Tabriz, capital of Azerbaijan proyince, polling stations Massive 41.Khomeini demonstrations took over the radio stations and the offices of the province's governor-general, and demanded greater local control over Members of the armed forces joined with supporters of the Moslem People's Republican Party [MPRP], Iran's largest opposition grouping, to organise a general strike in the city;
people occupied airport and refused landing permission to a planeload of Islamic Guards - Khomeini's 'hitmen', fresh from their campaign of violence against the Kurdish provinces themselves, ballot boxes were stolen and burnt; while in Baluchistan, the governor-general was reported to be demonstrations protesting against the constitution. Even in the Persian-speaking areas. the turnout for the referendum was low. After two days of voting it was polling stations would remain open overnight ensure 'that everyone had had an events around the US produced consensus which Khomeini must have Popular though the demand for the Shah's extradition might be, it does not override the more pressing issues facing Iranians As the temperature drops, there is a visible response to pious of Khomeini's imperialist rhetoric, he is unable to make a single constructive proposal for rebuilding a social and economic order which can genuinely challenge parasitic grip. The unveiling Constitution shows that there is no KHOMEINI and enthusiasts automatic equation Khomeini's religious mumbo jumbo and the consciousness of the masses has taken place Azerbaijan holds particular dangels for the Khomeini regime. The people Tabriz are no newcomers SUELEIC. The Azeris constitute the largest national grouping in Iran after the Persians, actouiling Iol quarter of the total population.
As far back as 1906, during the constitutional movement against the old Qajar dynasty, Azeris provided many of the leaders of the left faction. between 1 Tabriz followed the example of the soviets of workers in Russia, setting up councils or anjomans which took over the functions of the central state. Direct intervention by armies of the Russian Czar was required to defeat this movement.
The Bolshevik revolution inspired a new wave of struggle against Tehran over a in which the Azeris again provided many of the leading cadre. This time it was the armies of British imperialism city of Qom. particular, Ayatollah clergy oppositional monitoring Bazaar A strong amongst 'ICaSOL of the The maintain workers in the trying to The choose Shariat-Madari Kurdish war.
to prevent Already within the clerical movement in the Shariat-Madari is the recognised leader of the Azerbaijani people, the second ranking Ayatollah in Iran after Khomeini himself, and the head of the MPRP.
In August he led a widespread boycott of the elections to the Council of Experts which was to amend the constitution, and he has continued to opposition LO Khomeini's attempts to place the reins of the country in the hands of the clergy. In has criticised for claiming such prominent position at the head of the state itself, and his self-appointment Shariat-Madari argues that should play an essentially role to government, secular authority ensure respect and obedience to Islam rather than actually wielding it.
Azerbaijani presence the bazaar merchants Tehran, however, is a more material for the positions ShariatMadari puts forward. His criticisms government s economic policies reflect a growing impatience among the petty bourgeoisie for the economy to get going again withoul clerical interference government's inability to discipline anule the factories, to stop inflation or to re-establish trade or any stable basis is one of the most important long-term factors working against Khomeini. In the meantime Shariat-Madari's MPRP acts as growing focus of opposition for the disoriented bourgeois secular forces maintain their religious demonstrations in Tabriz inject a more urgent dynamic to this power struggle. Clearly, for workers and the oppressed, there is little to OCLWECT Khomeini and But in the short term, Shariat-Madari's intransigence ties Khomeini's hands in any strike against the Azeris on the lines of the Khomeini has been
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Ten trotskyists released