The World Socialist Web Site recently spoke with
Bahram, an Iranian who fled to Australia as a refugee in the
1980s and has lived in New Zealand for many years. He
denounced the global propaganda campaign justifying the
illegal USIsraeli war against Iran, including the way
governments and corporate media are systematically promoting
a narrow, rightwing layer of supporters of Reza
Pahlavi—the son of the deposed Shah, Mohammad Reza
Pahlavi—as the supposed voice of “the Iranian
community.”
Bahram explained that Pahlavi is backing
the imperialist war in order to restore the hated
USbacked monarchy that was overthrown in the 1979
revolution. He said Pahlavi’s supporters in Europe and in
New Zealand are “using bullying tactics” and issuing
outright threats in an effort to silence antiwar voices
within the Iranian diaspora.
He strongly denounced the
position taken by the New Zealand government, which is
echoing Washington’s lies. Prime Minister Christopher
Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters declared that the
war’s aim was “to prevent Iran from continuing to
threaten international peace and security.” Luxon refused
to criticise the criminal conduct of the war, including the
bombing of a school which killed more than 160
children.
Bahram pointed out that Deputy Prime
Minister David Seymour, from the far-right ACT Party, has
embraced supporters of Pahlavi. Seymour posted on Facebook a
picture of the Lion and Sun flag used by the US-backed
dictatorship in Iran, which has become the logo of the
proPahlavi monarchists.
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Seymour defended the
unprovoked and criminal bombardment of Iran, declaring that
“an axis of evil is falling. First in Venezuela, now in
Iran, people right across the Middle East can look forward
to a lot more freedom without this terrorist organisation
and its proxies attacking and terrorising the
region.”
This is said by a government that continues
to support the genocidal actions of the Israeli military
against Palestinians in Gaza—methods that are now being
used against the population of Iran. New Zealand’s ruling
elite is backing the violent carve-up of the Middle East by
US imperialism and its proxies, as part of an increasingly
global war.
Bahram told the WSWS that the National
Party-led coalition government was “ignoring international
law and they are ignoring that kids are dying, including 185
teachers and students at a girls school. [The US and Israel]
are hitting maternity hospitals and our government’s
silent about it.”
The official pretext for war was a
sham, he said: “Iran was not ready to develop a nuclear
weapon, there is no evidence of it.” Responding to the lie
that the war is being waged to “liberate” the people of
Iran, Bahram said, “We’ve seen the American
‘freedom’ in Iraq, we’ve seen it in Afghanistan. In
Afghanistan, women still have no rights, they are treated
like animals, and that’s the legacy of
America.”
He acknowledged that the conflict, much
like the United States’ actions in Venezuela, was
intrinsically linked to Washington’s broader strategic
confrontation directed against China. China, as a major
importer of oil and other critical resources from both
regions, was simultaneously advancing its efforts to
establish a trade corridor through Iran. This initiative
aimed to further expand its economic engagement with Eastern
European countries.
People in Iran had described to
him the scale of devastation from the bombing: “They are
targeting not only military bases, they are targeting police
stations and they are targeting the individuals’ houses
that they suspect are linked to the
leadership.
“They are making another Gaza. They are
hitting every city, they are hitting factories that have
nothing to do with weaponry. They are obviously aiming to
cripple the economy. They are hitting the food
storage.”
Bahram made clear that he opposed Iran’s
theocratic and dictatorial regime, which imprisoned and
tortured him as a young activist following the 1979
revolution. He knew people killed during the state crackdown
on mass protests in January this year, which were driven by
social inequality, soaring inflation and demands for
democratic rights. He warned that the regime in Iran would
make use of the war, just as it had used the war with Iraq
from 1980-1988, to suppress internal opposition.
He
believes supporters of Pahlavi were only a small minority of
the protesters. Their role was “enormously” exaggerated
by the international media. There is evidence of audio being
added to videos of protests to make it appear that large
numbers of people were calling for the restoration of the
monarchy. Bahram said the violent actions of pro-Pahlavi
groups had played into the hands of the Khamenei regime,
providing it with a pretext for brutally repressing the
protests. “I hold Pahlavi responsible. Thousands of people
died; he has to answer for that.”
On January 16 a
small group carrying Israeli and American flags and pictures
of Pahlavi gathered outside the US embassy in Wellington to
call for US intervention in Iran. Other rallies were held
outside parliament to demand the expulsion of Iran’s
ambassador.
After the bombing began, media outlets
published headlines such as “Iranian NZers ‘incredibly
hopeful’ attacks will lead to swift regime change”
(Radio NZ) and “‘First step toward victory’: Iranians
in NZ react to Khamenei’s death” (One News). On March 2,
Stuff prominently published a letter from a Pahlavi
supporter stating: “The community has a tremendous respect
for the US and Israel for their brave and moral action.”
Similar items appeared in the media in the US and across the
world.
Bahram explained that “Pahlavi wants to ride
on the blood of the Iranian people and get himself [into
power].” He would then establish a ruthless
imperialist-backed regime. “Pahlavi’s document about a
temporary government clearly says: we will work with Israel
to establish our security system. They want another SAVAK.
They’re openly saying that.”
SAVAK was the brutal
secret police that upheld the Shah’s dictatorship, with
funding and training from the CIA. It was notorious for the
torture and murder of thousands of political
opponents.
In Telegram chat groups, Iranians who
oppose the war are receiving abusive, often anonymous
messages, including threats of violence from pro-Pahlavi
individuals. “This bullying is happening not only to the
Iranian community here [in New Zealand],” Bahram said.
“It’s happening in Europe. I was made aware that the
German police have been alerted to it. These people have
been going to Iranian businesses and shops saying: ‘If you
don’t put our posters up, we will deal with you.’ They
haven’t gone to that extent here.
“There are
videos from Europe saying: ‘we will identify you and we
will get you if you are against Pahlavi.’ This is open.”
In New Zealand, Bahram said, “They find people who are
opposed to them, then they send private messages saying:
‘you are a bastard, I will get you.’ Not many Iranians
feel safe to speak out or to write to the media.
“I
have been informed that a lot of students are being bullied,
are getting abusive messages, they say that they don’t
feel safe.”
Bahram said he believed most people
“are intelligent enough to see that war is not the answer.
We have an expression: ‘If the egg breaks from inside, a
bird comes out. If the egg breaks from outside, it will be
eaten.’ This is always the case.”
He was
encouraged by the fact that the Trump administration is
extremely unpopular and “a lot of Americans are standing
up and questioning the war.” He pointed to the example of
a Marine veteran who protested in a Senate hearing against
the attack on Iran. “I respect the soldiers who stick with
their values, not the orders of their superiors. There are a
lot of good people in America, and the government doesn’t
represent the people.”
There is also widespread
opposition to the war, and the ongoing genocide in Gaza,
among workers and young people in New Zealand, who are
looking for a way to effectively fight against the
government’s support for these atrocities.
One
recent target of the proPahlavi groups in New Zealand was
the International Youth and Students for Social Equality
(IYSSE), which held a public meeting at Victoria University
of Wellington on March 4 opposing the war. A Telegram
channel circulated the IYSSE’s poster with the message:
“This notice is being circulated at the university. If you
are a student/professor and would like to object to this,
please let me know,” in an attempt to mobilise a campaign
against the meeting.
In the event, the Pahlavi
supporters were unable to organise any disruption. The
meeting went ahead and advanced a socialist strategy to
unite the working class internationally against the war and
its source in the capitalist profit system, highlighting the
alternative to both imperialist intervention and the
reactionary Iranian regime. It also exposed the phoney
anti-war posturing of the opposition Labour and the Green
parties, which have criticised the war while still
supporting New Zealand’s alliance with US
imperialism.
Students, young people and workers who
want to take up this fight should contact the Socialist
Equality Group and the IYSSE, and join the fight to build a
socialist, antiwar movement.
By Tom Peters,
Socialist Equality Group
9 March 2026
Original url:
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2026/03/09/musw-m09.html
