IRAN launched its first satellite into space powered by its own rocket system, Safir-2, on Monday night. The research and telecommunication satellite was put into orbit as part of the celebrations to mark the 30th anniversary of the Iranian Revolution of 1979.
Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinezhad’s spokesman said: ‘On the 30th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution of Iran, Omid (Hope) national satellite was sent into orbit successfully. (It) was sent by Safir-2 rocket to space and was set into orbit successfully on the second day of Dahe-ye-Fajr (10 days).’
The 10 days of celebrations began on February 1st, the anniversary of Ayatollah Khomeini’s return to Tehran after his 15-year exile in Paris, and culminate on February 11 with Islamic Revolution Victory Day.
Iranian television declared that the launch was ‘another achievement for Iranian scientists under sanctions’, referring to the fact that American-sponsored United Nations sanctions have been imposed on Iran to stop it acquiring modern technology for its defence.
While there were celebrations in Tehran over the satellite launch, there was a grudging acknowledgement of this achievement in Washington and London, which is only to be expected.
The government and the masses of Iran are celebrating the fact that the revolution in Iran removed the pro-imperialist, US-backed regime of Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi, ending both his 50-year rule and that of the Pahlavi dynasty.
News Line celebrates with them as we did 30 years ago.
The International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI), of which the Workers Revolutionary Party is the section in Britain, declared in June 1979: ‘The smashing of (the Shah’s) brutal dictatorship is a shattering blow to imperialism – above all, in the US. The ex-Shah embodied the ruthlessness of American imperialism and personified the barbarism of the client state system through which the US ruling class defends its worldwide interests.
‘Nothing since the 1917 October Revolution can compare to the broad and awesome sweep of the Iranian revolution. The masses who made this revolution have provided a mighty impulse for the acceleration of the world capitalist crisis and the development of revolutionary struggles on every continent.’
The imperialists resent the satellite launch. They know that, despite funds running into millions of dollars and the brutal suppression of the Shah’s hated Savak secret police, millions of Iranians mobilised to kick out the pro-imperialist regime in 1979.
For the past 30 years, the US has repeatedly attempted to return to the position it had under the Shah, that of having a quisling regime in Tehran instead of an anti-imperialist nationalist regime.
In 1980, the US also sponsored a proxy eight-year war by Iraq against revolutionary Iran, supplying secret funds and armaments. One million died on both sides, but Iran emerged undefeated.
Former US President George Bush named Iran as being part of the ‘axis of evil’. Under President Barack Obama, US imperialism is still pursuing its strategic interests in the Middle East, to exercise control over the vast oil resources in the region, either directly or indirectly.
Despite the recent covert dealings between US imperialism and the Iranian government in Afghanistan and Iraq, the anti-imperialist Iranian Revolution and its achievements have certainly been a ‘mighty impulse’ for ‘the development of revolutionary struggles’, particularly in the Middle East.
The Iranian Revolution has inspired and sustained the forces of the Lebanese national movement, Hezbollah, which has succeeded in driving US-backed Zionist forces out of that country.
Above all, it has inspired and strengthened the forces of the Palestinian Revolution in the struggle to end the Zionist occupation and go forward to an independent State of Palestine, with Jerusalem as its capital.
The same revolutionary determination displayed by the workers and labouring masses on the streets of Tehran in 1979 is seen in Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan today, where the imperialists are being defeated.
The ICFI and its sections support and participate in these struggles. They are delivering powerful blows to imperialism and are part of the struggle to complete the World Socialist Revolution, which began with the victory of the October Revolution in Russia in 1917.
