The ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) held a forum on August 23 in Los Angeles, which brought a full house. The event, entitled “Iran today: myths, realities, and the threat of a new U.S. war” featured Iranian American ANSWER activists and PSL members, Mazda Majidi and Nazila Bijari. Both recently returned from Iran.
The audience was diverse in age and nationality. The evening began with a beautiful slide show of images of Iran. Bijari then provided a concise and revealing discussion of Iran’s history. She highlighted the fact that U.S. intervention in Iran is nothing new. Its most notorious achievement was installing the hated Shah and his brutal regime—finally overthrown in 1979.
Majidi next took the podium and debunked a series of myths about Iran. Some of these myths are old and entrenched. Others are more recent creations, constantly pushed by the ruling class.
One such myth is that Iran is developing a nuclear weapons program. Although the PSL believes that Iran has every right to develop a nuclear weapons program to counter the enormous nuclear arsenal of the U.S. imperialists and their allies, the idea that Iran is actually doing so is a complete lie.
Majidi described how dangerous and absurd it would be for Iran to even attempt to rival the mind-boggling assortment of U.S. weaponry. Further, even the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly stated that there is no evidence of an Iranian nuclear weapons program. There is, however, a strong need in Iran to produce enough energy to meet the country’s growing needs; any nuclear energy program is geared toward this end.
The program concluded with a rich discussion. Many participants were able to ask a variety of questions and make thoughtful comments. Among the topics raised during the discussion were Russia’s role in the region and the status of women in Iran. On the subject of women, one participant said, “The women of Iran struggle just as women and people everywhere struggle. No Iranian woman would want her struggle to be the pretext for a U.S. attack on Iran.”
The forum in Los Angeles was part of an ANSWER national speaking tour with Majidi and Bijari. The activists have already held meetings in San Francisco and Oakland. Chicago, New York and several southern cities are also on the itinerary.
