By Dashnor Kaloçi
The first part
Memorie.al publishes some archival documents extracted from the Central State Archive in Tirana, where the personal fund of the former first secretary of the PPSh Central Committee is located, from which we have extracted some parts from his political diary that belongs to a period of time from the beginning of January 1979 to February 1982, where the focus of his notes are the events developed in Iran, where the insurgent forces led by Mosadeq and the ‘Tudeh’ party supported by Moscow, managed to dethrone Shah Reza Phalevi, who, having the full support of the United States of America, was forced to leave the country by plane, arriving first in Cairo, where he was received as a personal friend by President Janvar Sadat and also the former president of the United States of America, Zehrar Ford, (who was on a visit to Egypt in those days), to then leave for the USA. After the overthrow and impeachment of Shah Reza Palehvi, at the end of January 1979, Ayatollah Kohmeini, the religious spiritual leader of the Shia Iranians, who was said to be leading the revolution to overthrow the Palehvi dynasty, arrived in Tehran from Paris, where he was staying for years. How he described all those events, in his political diary, the leader of communist Albania, the dictator Enver Hoxha, who, among other things, says: “Shahu, to protect himself from the people, had bought from the United States of America , a large amount of the most modern weapons that they have sold abroad, he had created an army of hundreds of thousands of people, with all kinds of weapons, with airplanes, with tanks, with machine guns, with missiles of the most modern, he had built many airfields . All this was done to protect the assets of the Americans in Iran and the assets of the Shah, as well as to keep the people in misery. Of course, such a state could not continue throughout his life, although material military and political aid to the Shah came from all four corners of the world. In addition to others, even the new Chinese empire threw roses at the Shah. Hua Kuo Fen himself, went to Iran and with the greatest cordiality, talked about a: “great and healthy friendship”, with the Shah of Persia and wished long life to this powerful supplier of oil, great friends of China , the United States of America and world capitalism”.
The political diary of Enver Hoxha
SUNDAY JANUARY 14, 1979
GLORY TO THE IRANIAN PEOPLE!
The people of Persia are a people with ancient progressive traditions, with great culture, with a broad idealistic philosophy. Writers, poets, philosophers and scientists have emerged from his bosom, which have surprised the world. Even today, their works are authoritative in the great world cultural treasury. The history of the Persian people, and of the illustrious men who have sprung from their bosom, is one of the most glorious parts of world history. Many of these great people, philosophers, poets, such as: Sadiu, Firdusiu, Omar Khayami and others, and others, were simple people of the people and their writings have their source in the people, despite the fact that they were supported by the Shahs of different empires.
The tradition of this knowledge, of this science, has been passed down from generation to generation. In modern times, Iran became a prey to imperialism, especially to British imperialism, which was the first to discover oil in this country, from which it received from the Shahs and princes of Persia, large concessions for the “Anglo-Persian Oil Company” and these took them for 5 gros. Later, when he saw that great treasures came out, the Admiralty of the English Fleet took this wealth under its control, because without this England could not have a fleet to dominate the oceans and could not develop an advanced industry in its own metropolis. Therefore, the “Anglo-Persian Oil Company” greatly expanded the territories of oil exploitation in its favor, around Abadan in the Persian Gulf, and further and filled the country with wells, from which it absorbed the “black gold”, and built there large refineries.
Thence, by steamers specially built for this purpose, with tankers; he transported oil to the metropolis and elsewhere, which this time he sold for yellow gold. All this served the strategy of imperialism, aiming to dominate the world. Later, in the extraction, processing and transportation of the night, everything was perfected, so that the profits were as large as possible for the colonizers and the misery of the Iranian people was increased as much as possible. In Iran, they peeled the crumbs that fell from the great mahogany of the English Empire, and these crumbs were divided among themselves by the Shahs, who also gave something to other princes, in different provinces of Persia, which were full of oil-bearing fields.
The representatives of the Xhar dynasty and after them that of the Pahlavis, became the biggest rich people of Persia and not only of this, but also of the world, because Persia managed to occupy the second place in the globe, for the extraction of oil. There, as we know, turbulence and popular conflicts have occurred, which had their source in the resistance of the people, against the Shah and the Shahinas who lived a fabulous life, but also against English imperialism, which mercilessly exploited the people, which He had bread to eat, no shoes on his feet and no clothes on his body, in the cities, but especially in the villages.
Let’s not talk about many of these, but about the conflict between the “Tudeh” party united with Musadek’s democratic landlord bourgeoisie, on the one hand, and the English Empire, represented by the large English oil concession, on the other. As a result of this conflict and this uprising, Musadek, at the beginning of 1951, took power.
The government he created nationalized oil, so the British Empire and other empires that received oil from Persia were in danger of being left with their fingers in their mouths, because the vast majority of oil revenues would go to the Iranian people, in other words, the situation would again be changed to the Pahlavi Shah’s disadvantage.
The victory of the uprising of the forces represented by Musadek and the “Tudeh” party, which had an inspiration, as I said, communist, forced the Shah to leave quickly by plane to Rome, but the CIA intervened, which, in cooperation with the Shah’s generals and with demagoguery, deceived the scum of Tehran and brought it to the streets, ostensibly to protect Musadek, but, in fact, surrounded the palace where the members of the government were, whom he arrested together with Musadek, ruthlessly crushed the party “Tudeh”, killed and imprisoned its members and drowned in blood this democratic uprising of the people.
The center of this revolt, which did not have a major development throughout Iran, was Tehran. With the intervention of the Americans, of course, the country’s share of kerosene was given to the United States of America, which played a decisive role in suppressing the popular uprising. The next smaller part was left to England and, thirdly, what was left, and what was left was again a lot, as large as the oil wealth, was given to Shah Muhammad Reza Pahlavi. Thus he became a powerful monarch, a great megalomaniac, an emperor who traced his origins back to remote antiquity from the time of the Assyrians.
He even celebrated the 2,500th anniversary of the foundation of the first Persian state in the desert, where he erected silk tents and invited all the heads of governments of the world, from Tito to the Chinese, who went and had a party, raising in the sky the fame of the Shah of Iran, of this barbaric, medieval feudal man, who sucked the blood of the Iranian people, who suffered in great misery in poverty, in ignorance. Chess became the wave of the United States of America. These were the ruling patriarchs who absorbed most of the kerosene and made the law in Iran.
Shahu invested the income he received abroad in his and his family’s name. He invested in the great steel companies in Germany, the United States and elsewhere, bought entire streets full of palaces and hotels in the main countries of the world, deposited gold and precious stones in the banks of the United States of America and Europe, to have them as his own property, for bad times. Inside the country, he had created SAVAK, a cruel weapon, which killed and cut down anyone who opposed, or said even a word, against this bloodsucker. This time, not only the oil, but the entire country as a territory, politically and militarily, was sold to the Americans.
The Shah, in order to protect himself from the people, had bought from the United States, a large amount of the most modern weapons that have been sold abroad, he had created an army of hundreds of thousands of people, with all kinds of weapons, with planes, with tanks, with machine guns, with the most modern rockets, he had built many airfields. All this was done to protect the assets of the Americans in Iran and the assets of the Shah, as well as to keep the people in misery.
Of course, such a state could not continue throughout his life, although material military and political aid to the Shah came from all four corners of the world. In addition to others, even the new Chinese empire threw roses at the Shah. Hua Kuo Fen himself, went to Iran and with the greatest cordiality, talked about a: “great and healthy friendship”, with the Shah of Persia and wished long life to this powerful supplier of oil, great friends of China , the United States of America and world capitalism.
Hua Kuo Feni, was separated as the best friend of the Shah of Iran, but it must be said that; these ties of China, with the Pahlavi emperor, were established even before the arrival of Hua Kuo Fen and Ten Hsiao Pin in power. Mao Zedong and Chu En Lai had become close friends with the Shah of Iran, where major Chinese leaders, such as Li Hsien Nien and others, came and went as often as they wanted.
This was Princess Ashraf, who was received with great honors by Mao Zedong and Chu En Lai. Although the forces of reaction, of imperialism, of revisionism, of world capitalism acted together, they could not suppress the heroic people of Iran. The feeling of freedom and independence was boiling in him, like a big volcano. The grudge was increasing; the hatred and anger were growing more and more, until finally, the people exploded. It has been three months since all the people of Iran, the Iranian proletariat, all the oil workers, rose up in open revolt. Thousands, hundreds of thousands of people, day and night, filled the streets of all the cities of Iran, shouting: Death to the Shah! Down with Shahu! Out of Chess! Out with American imperialism!
The machine-gun fire, ordered by the Shah, thundered through the streets, where hundreds of people were killed and yet, again with hundreds of thousands more, they came out the next day with the bodies of the dead in their arms, with their fists raised, protesting without ceasing. , day and night. Neither the army, nor the tanks, nothing scared this heroic people. Such a revolting state had been created in the Iranian people that neither an American tank, nor a Chinese tank, nor a Soviet tank, nor an English tank could stop its eruption and attack against the barbaric, exploitative, enslaving medieval empire of Shah Muhammad Reza Pahlavi, servant of imperialism and world capitalism.
This shows that the objective conditions in Iran were ripe. Such an uprising of the people, with such great force, was certainly guided by a subjective moment. Who was this subjective moment? They want to say that; it was the feeling of Islamism; it was Ayatollah Khomeini, who lives in Paris and from there give instructions to the revolted. It is a fact, and it must be recognized, that this person and his Shiite sect currently play a role, as a subjective factor, in the revolt of the Iranian people, but in no way are he and his sect alone the decisive force.
In the leadership of this revolution, we can say with democratic-bourgeois, anti-imperialist features in Iran, whose slogan is: “Death to the Shah”!-, are also the progressive bourgeoisie, even and affectionate, as well as communists and true patriots. Iranians. For months, day and night, without fear and with an exemplary courage, like a “rouleau compresseur”, the insurgents break through the barricades of the enemy, not at all afraid of the bullets of the Shah’s army, without being afraid of death.
The Pahlavi throne has been shaken and is expected to fall from day to day. The Shah of Iran, if not today, will surely be removed from there tomorrow. He stated that; will leave for a while ostensibly for vacation, but, in fact, will leave never to return. Shahu is running away with pleasure, but there is no pleasure here. It is the strength, the resistance, the uprising of the people that force him either to be killed, or to be captured alive by the people, or to take the plane and go to the United States of America.
Zaten has already sent all the family members there, while he himself is staying a little later, until he creates a certain ‘modus vivendi’, a government supposedly to be accepted and a regency, that is, to be called like the Shah, he did not give his resignation, so that later his son has claims for the throne and for this purpose, he has appointed a person, who has been denied by his own party, the party of Ayatollah Khomeini. The main one is that; the great revolt of the heroic Iranian people, against world imperialism, against the Shah, against innumerable modern weapons, against that seemingly invincible coup d’état, won.
The people, although unarmed, with the great strength of their will, which they demonstrated every day in front of the Shah’s armed forces, showed that they are invincible, which shocked the United States and forced them to leave Iran with tens of thousands of specialists foreign. Aircraft carriers of the United States of America have approached the waters of Iran, but without hope. So this time the CIA lost its case in Iran. He could not win as in the uprising of Musadek, because this time, the uprising has taken large proportions.
Iran’s oil no longer flows into English, American, Chinese, etc., etc. tankers. This shows what a great force the people are. The Iranian people overthrew the empire and forced the great military and political force of American imperialism, of world imperialism, to fail. This is a very important fact, which serves as a great example for other peoples of the world, who must draw conclusions from the uprising of this heroic people…!
So, as I pointed out, everything that happened in Iran is an example of the strength of the people and shows that the objective and subjective factors of the revolution have been created. You just have to understand that in these events, the subjective factor is not only the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Iran, because there are other progressive democratic, bourgeois, anti-feudal, anti-imperialist forces operating there.
From here, the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Iran must learn lessons and enter into the people, be at the forefront of the situation, establish ties with the people, with the proletariat, show them what a great victory it has reaped and to know how to build alliances with those elements, with those democratic layers, who actively participated in the uprising and with them, to move forward from stage to stage.
The peoples, the Marxist-Leninist parties and the progressive elements, should draw the right conclusions from the uprising in Iran. American imperialism and mainly Soviet imperialism, which are in rivalry for areas of influence, usually accuse each other of organizing uprisings and revolts in those countries whose peoples fight for their national and social liberation. They do this in order to denigrate these uprisings and revolts, to lower their true value and to sabotage them more easily. This tactic is also being applied by them for the great revolt of the Iranian people, against the Shah of imperialism.
This is not true. They, yes, have a hand in this revolt, but in a different direction and specifically: American imperialism seeks to preserve the privileges it had in Iran and did its best to preserve these privileges. Soviet imperialism tries to take advantage of the opportunity to secure privileges for itself. For this purpose, Carter spoke two or three times in support of the shah of Iran, and the Soviet Union was also not left behind, declaring that it would not allow the intervention of other countries in Iran. The fact is that in Iran, American imperialism suffered a political, military and economic defeat; its alliance with the Shah was struck.
But did American imperialism wash its hands of Iran? It is a mistake to think and say that he has completely washed his hands. No, he will use new tactics, tactics in supposedly democratic forms and ways, he will try to enter into an agreement, a bargain, naturally less favorable than in the time of the Shah, with that democratic-bourgeois power that will settled in Iran after the departure of the Shah. Even Soviet imperialism has its elements in Iran, with which it acts for its own interests in opposition to those of American imperialism. Soviet imperialism has not fought much against the Shah; on the contrary it has pampered him.
The Soviet Union in Iran has influence on the Kurds, the Azerbaijanis, but also on the “Tudeh” party, which it uses and will use for its purposes. He will exercise his influence even after the creation of another democratic, bourgeois government, as Ayatollah Khomeini preached will be established, in the interview he gave in Paris. It has been declared that, after the downfall or removal of the Shah and with the proclamation of the republic, according to the words of Ayatollah Khomeini, some reforms will be made for the people: SAVAK, the terrible police of the Shah, which oppressed the people, will be liquidated, or the great Iranian army is liquidated, some people will be brought to trial, that is no doubt, and the property of some people will be confiscated, who have abused more and their case has become scandalous.
Currently, we find that the Shah, before he ran away, as the news agencies are announcing, created the Regency Council, which includes the prime minister, the chief of general staff and others. This Prime Minister, Shapur Baftjari, is Shah’s man, that is, of the Americans. Will he be able to take power, or stage a coup? We will see this, but currently it is denied and not accepted by the masses of the people, nor by Ayatollah Khomeini in Paris, who has declared that he will form his own government, which will remain neutral, even with the Soviet Union, not even with the United States of America.
From what it seems, the two imperialist superpowers are making bargains at the expense of the Iranian people, at the expense of the blood that was shed, although, it seems, and neither the Americans nor the Soviets have taken the arms of Ayatollah Khomeini yet. If the Americans manage to take the arms of Khomeini and his followers, then definitely in Iran, there will be bloodshed and the uprising of the people will be suppressed. Whatever the Soviets do, we will see. They will probably try to find the side of Ayatollah Khomeini, causing him to create a government that looks after the interests of the Soviet Union as well as the interests of the United States of America.
This will be a middle ground, and if this road is reached, we will look at it. However, it will continue to be played at the expense of the people, because the democratic regime that will be established after the departure of the Shah will be a regime like all other regimes of the oil basin, of the Middle East basin. Many intrigues will be played, so that this revolution does not make deep reforms. In this strategically important country, it will still take a long time for the people to become even more aware of their great strength, and this awareness must be created by a true Marxist-Leninist party. Currently, this party almost does not exist, or it is a very small force, whose influence is not yet felt, or is felt very little.
The Soviet influence may be felt through the government that will be established in this country, but it will definitely be felt, for the interests of the imperialist Soviet Union and supposedly in the form of a democracy for the people. The Soviet Union will enter the Persian Gulf, just as it is trying to enter Iraq.
Therefore, in this area so important for the whole world, both economically and strategically, many tactics and strategies will be played, which we must observe, because they are of great importance, they are important for the future of the world, in the sense that this region can be the spark of a world war, but it can also be the spark of chain revolutions, democratic-bourgeois revolutions, which can turn into real revolutions.
The Middle East is on fire. Iran is now in the vanguard, while other countries in this area are in a mess, in countless intrigues. The people of these countries are numb; they are under the yoke of local capitalists connected to various foreign capitalists. One thing connects these countries to each other: the war allegedly against Israel, while other connections are evident with one or the other imperialist, who operate much more easily than they currently operate in Iran.
Today here, the people are on the move and have become a great force. But how and where, in what directions it will be channeled, specifically what will come out of this great popular movement, we will see. Positive is the fact that; for the second time in Iran, the people are rising against the Monarchy, against feudalism in an anti-imperialist struggle and for a progressive popular bourgeois democracy. Memorie.al
The next issue follows
