The Fédération Anarchiste gives it support to the men and women of Iran in rebellion against a ruling power that, in order to maintain its authority, is not afraid to use any and all means of repression.

Presidential elections, be they in the United States, Iran, or in France, accustom people to put their destiny into the hands of a single person who then holds an extravagant amount of power. Anarchists are convinced that the main goal of elections is to deprive individuals of their right to live and organise as they want to.

In Iran, power is detained by a religious clique who selects candidates that conform to its canons and organises massive fraud to ensure the victory of its most servile protégé. But this electoral masquerade above all revealed the Iranian population’s thirst for freedom; they no longer want to live under the yoke of the mullahs.

Let us be clear: with Ahmadinejad, Khamenei, et the Guardians of the Revolution, the country is submerged in obscurantism and fanaticism, but under no circumstances would the election of Moussavi, Khomeini's former Prime Minister, have meant the emancipation of Iranian men, and even less so of Iranian women.

The Fédération Anarchiste does not believe for a minute all of the virtuous and media-covered protest from Western governments talking about democracy and women’s rights: their complacency towards China, “pacified” Iraq, or relations with Saudi Arabia are proof enough that such grand principles are only show and do not mean much compared to economic interests or at least subservience to the interests of imperial power.

Anarchists will not, however, ever support the Iranian government on the pretext that it is opposed to American imperialism. The enemies of our enemies are not necessarily our friends and the daily oppression of the Iranian population by its leaders cannot be underestimated or forgiven.

What the Iranian population is currently expressing in the streets, after an electoral farce like we have seen elsewhere, is above all a thirst for freedom, equality, and emancipation that no government in power will ever be able to provide.

In response to this wave of freedom in which students and young people are extremely active, the authorities have applied a policy of terror using arrests, violence, and the assassination of demonstrators, media control inside the country, and have blocked any real information from reaching the outside world.

Let us hope that the mobilised Iranian population will emerge victorious from this struggle, without forgetting that real freedom does not mean choosing the "right" politician or the "right" religious leader, but rather regaining control over our power of decision and self organising!

No gods, no masters, no states, no mullahs! Here’s to the emancipation of Iranian men and women!

The Secretary for International Relations
Fédération Anarchiste Francophone