Bahram Soroush
July 5 , 2005

Robert Tait describes Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the newly 'elected' president of the Islamic regime of Iran, as a 'devout working class hero' (The Guardian, Tues June 21st, 2005). An interview with a stallholder around a religious shrine in South Tehran seems to have bolstered this astonishing claim. Had he chosen to speak to workers themselves in the industries nearby, I'm sure he would have arrived at a different conclusion.

Ultra-conservative Ahmadinejad is a former commander of the regime's paramilitary force (Pasdaran) and an ex-leader of the vigilante Baseej militia, responsible for the brutal suppression of political dissidents, students and labour activists. He is also wanted for terrorist activities abroad. Not surprisingly, he was the favoured candidate of Iran's paramilitary forces and Baseej militias.

Workers in Iran stayed away from these so-called elections in their millions. They were right not to have faith in a show masqueraded as elections, where only Muslim males faithful to the regime can run, while opposition political parties and candidates are all suppressed.

They rightly despise a regime that has imposed unimaginable poverty on them, smashed labour organisations, banned strikes, persecuted workers' leaders and enforced brutal repression on the whole of society. Mr Ahmadinejad is a top executive of such a regime.

To call such a reviled figure a hero of Iranian working class beggars belief; it is a monumental insult to Iranian workers.

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