Iran Overlooked: Why the Left Doesn’t Care

Written by Roxanna Brealey, Editor-in-Chief, BA History & Politics 

I listened as my friend read out the confirmed names of Iranians whom the regime had executed since the beginning of the recent crackdown. It was disturbing, but things only grew darker from there. One of the deadliest massacres in human history ensued between the 8th and 9th January. According to Iran International, 36,500 Iranians were murdered in cold blood, with injured civilians being shot in ambulances and hospital beds. As I write this, the death toll of this crackdown is only growing and Tehran is now cloaked with thick, black, hazardous smog due to Israel’s decision to bomb fuel depots in the city. 

I know plenty of Iranians who are glued to their phones or the television all day, looking for updates on the current war, trying desperately to rationalise all the possible and unpredictable routes their country could go down. But another common belief, I think, is a sense of absolute confusion as to how the political left has reacted to the situation. As a student at SOAS University, I have witnessed these grotesque contradictions firsthand. 

At SOAS, we subscribe to a very anti-Western version of leftism, one that prides itself on  condemning oppressive governments that murder citizens, repress freedoms, and undermine systems of international human rights legislation. But I am afraid that, in the case of Iran, we have fallen short and not done enough. Our leftism orbits a particular anti-American and anti-Israel stance, which is important for countering neo-colonial conquests. However, it also leaves our eyes almost shut to crimes not committed by Western Imperialist powers. 

So why is that? Simply put, it just does not fit the narrative. The narrative suggests that America and Israel are the root of all evil and wrongdoing in this world, and therefore, their actions require our utmost attention. Meanwhile, crimes committed by non-Western powers are seemingly less important. Don’t get me wrong, I am aware that the protests started as a result of the dire economic situation in Iran, exacerbated by the USA’s intense sanctions, but there are other elements to it as well. The fundamental principle behind the protests was regime change.

Leftists' inability to condemn the Islamic Regime’s crimes is disturbing because, in no leftist utopia would the crimes they have committed be remotely acceptable. This includes the execution of dissidents, women not adhering to the hijab, LGBTQ + people, and the Kurdish population. ‘Moharebeh’ (محاربه), which translates into the phrase ‘fighting God’, is the main foundation for capital punishment in Iran. So anyone the Regime deems as going against religion can be executed. 

So, do the Western left just not see the Iranian people? Iran is the second-largest country in the Middle East and has a population of 90 million, with millions living in the diaspora. They cannot be ignored. So, the general lack of attention and condemnation is less accidental and more intentional. The situation shatters the narrative, and the demand for Iranian liberation from their Islamic oppressors becomes an inconvenient truth that many cannot handle. 

Many British Leftist ‘icons’ like Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana have failed the Iranian people. Whilst they briefly addressed the massacre, neglecting a formal condemnation of the regime means their solidarity remains misplaced. Unsurprisingly, the most nuance and discourse they have contributed to the Iran conversation came the moment the USA and Israel decided to invade. Of course, an Imperialist invasion is wrong and risky, I don’t need to remind you of that, but if you only join the conversation when the USA and Israel return to their villain status, you have neglected the 40,000+ lives that the regime callously took. 

For most of the left, that seemed to be when it actually began to matter. Within hours of the Israeli-USA invasion, my social media feed was flooded with hundreds of infographics condemning their actions. Yet, in the months prior, it felt like I was waiting in a silent waiting room. As soon as the invasion occurred, ‘anti-Imperialists’, who deem themselves to be on the right side of history, showed up en masse to protest. Accessorised with flags from the Islamic Regime, handing out pamphlets stating that Ayatollah Khamenei was a ‘wise leader’ and holding large placards of his face with the words ‘Choose The Right Side Of History’ is probably one of the most bizarre things I have seen. Clearly people are misled, but it's offensive to deem a man who orchestrated such violence and brutality as the ‘Right Side Of History.’

Of course, the installation of a new Iranian government by a joint American-Israel invasion has impure intentions, but you don’t have to support them or the Islamic regime. Two truths can be held at the same time, but the most certain truth is that the Iranian people deserve peace and liberation.

I think the core problem here is that we need to deconstruct the narrative we find ourselves in, where Israel and America are bad, and those that challenge their hegemony should automatically fall into the category of ‘good’. The loathing of certain regimes can lead to the glorification of other oppressive and authoritarian regimes that challenge their power. The issue here is that their crimes against humanity are cleansed by leftists in order to support their bigger picture. And if this ‘bigger picture’ has ignored the lives of Iranians, I don’t want to have any part in it.