The Soviet Union and Iran

James Morgan's article on Iran in the February 26 Salient gave some interesting background to the ferment there. However, it ends on a note which is quite discordant with the rest of the article. After having pointed out that the Iranian upheaval has primarily been against exploitation and by the United States and its henchman, the Shah, Morgan switches positions abruptly to say that "The most urgent task for the Iranian people is to unite against any attempts of Soviet social-imperialist to subvert their revolution.

The most "subversive" forces in Iran are the old capitalist politicians, police and army leaders, who are trying to worm their way back in, and who have close traditional ties with the United States. And a number of US Cabinet ministers recently threatened publicly that there would be military intervention if oil supplies from the region were threatened.

It is true that the Soviet government does have a conservative influence. This is consistent with its foreign policy since the rise of Stalin. They have shown this in Iran in the past, particularly during the revolutionary upsurge in Iran just after the Second World War. Stalin used his troops at the time to demand a joint Soviet - Iranian oil company to process the oil.

It is quite false to say, as Morgan does, that Russia "welcomed the toppling of the pro-US regime". The Soviet Union did not welcome the Iranian upheaval. It has a destabilising on the Soviet Union's southern border. So Brezhnev maintained ties with the Shah right up until it became obvious that the monarch's days were numbered. Last year both Brezhnev and Hua Kuo-feng sent the Shah extremely laudatory birthday greetings.

The attitude of the Chinese and the Russian governments is not in fact essentially different. They both fear revolutionary upsurges. They both seek to preserve the international status quo.

The likes of Brezhnev and Deng Xiao-ping feel happier hob-knobbing it with the Shah (as Hua Kuo-feng did last year) than supporting the struggle of the Iranian people.

Morgan should be careful that his anti-Sovietism doesn't get out of hand. The main Soviet influence in Iran is in the Tudeh Party, which plays a not insignificant role among the oil workers. Morgan could well end up supporting Khomeini against the oil workers in the name of being against the Russians.