April 24, 2026

Our country has been going through a difficult and crucial period for the past 9 months. The Extraordinary Congress of the Left Party of Iran, by explaining these extremely sensitive conditions, reviewing the events of the past few months, and evaluating the direction of trends, announces its emphasized policies in the following resolution:

A: Foreign Aggression, War, and Our Policy:

1- The aggression of the United States and Israel, the bombing and destruction of infrastructures, and the killing of people; have completely changed the situation in the country. Although a ceasefire has been established, an agreement has not yet been reached to even abandon the conflict and achieve peace. The focus of US and Israeli attacks on the destruction of vital infrastructure, from energy and transportation to economic and communication facilities, showed that the goal was not only to weaken the Islamic Republic militarily, but also to damage the country, erode the livability of society, and impose widespread and costly destruction on it. One of the main factors in the current situation is the ideological, adventurous, and tension-provoking policies of the Islamic Republic, which have paved the way for war and aggression by the murderous Netanyahu government and the aggressive Trump government. In addition, with the Islamic Republic’s reactions so far in attacking US bases in neighboring countries, the war has taken on regional dimensions and has economically involved many countries in the world and negatively affected the global economy. The aggressive war of the United States and Israel against Iran is a clear violation of international law, the UN Charter and international conventions. Its results have been the destruction of the country, the killing of people, the destruction of infrastructure, the spread of poverty and displacement, inflation and high prices, unemployment and the creation of a new crisis in the region, and have caused widespread protests and dissatisfaction in the region, the world, even among the allies of the United States and Israel and their lack of support for these two governments. Ending this war and establishing a ceasefire in the current situation can prevent further destruction of Iran and its transformation into a scorched land and the regional expansion of this war. We support the continuation of the ceasefire and the continuation of negotiations to achieve peace.

2- The US-Israeli war began with the claim of a "preventive attack" and with the aim of "regime change" in the form of "aid" to the people. Although each of these two governments pursued their own specific goals, they were together in destroying our country. The key role in the regime change plan was played by Benjamin Netanyahu. The regime change had failed in the first military aggression of the 12-day war. Despite the blows inflicted on the regime, the recent war also failed to achieve the declared goal of changing the regime and replacing it with Reza Pahlavi. Contrary to the imagination of the supporters of the war and this type of regime change, led by Reza Pahlavi and his team, the aggression on Iranian soil failed in this regard and had no other effect than killing, intensifying the process of destroying the country, weakening popular movements and intensifying repression, destroying the platforms and achievements of movements and uprisings, and marginalizing their effectiveness and role. The environment is also one of the biggest victims of this war. Attacks on fuel tanks have exposed Tehran and major cities to widespread pollution and have covered them with smoke and carcinogens. The war has hit the Iranian working class. The bombing of a number of production units, including the large Mobarakeh steel plant, has led to widespread unemployment among workers. Rising inflation, internet shutdowns, and reduced capacity in a number of production units have seriously harmed workers and the poor, adding to their problems. This bitter reality requires that adequate unemployment benefits be paid to the unemployed, health insurance coverage be maintained and provided for them, and internet access be established for business owners and online businesses.

3- We oppose the military intervention of the United States, Israel, and any other government in the internal affairs of our country and their alternativeization projects. We consider it a double threat to the future of Iran and its independence and freedom. These approaches deepen instability by weakening internal forces and transferring political acts and initiative to outside of society. The consequence of the strategy of changing the ruling regime has been creation of a deep rift among Iranians and causing partial cohesion in the ranks of the Islamic Republic. The role of foreign calls in this regard, in paving the way for the massacre, inciting early confrontations on January 8 and 9, has had a destructive deviant effect on civil protests, the bipolarity between "continuing the war" and "immediate ceasefire" being clear signs of this rift. Meanwhile, the confrontation between the strategy of regime change by the people versus the approach of foreign military intervention (under the pretext of helping the people) has become one of the main political disagreements among a section of society. We emphasize that regime change in Iran is a matter for the Iranian people and must be achieved by them. Aggression, war, and dependence will not bring democracy to our country. We strongly condemn this aggression, and we call for resolving disputes between sides through diplomacy and through international channels. We consider the elimination of hostilities and adherence to international law to be a prerequisite for establishing a lasting and just peace. Our party considers this approach a political and social necessity to defend society, prevent the destruction of the country, and preserve the possibility of any progressive change in Iran’s future. Our policy is to simultaneously fight against war and against the regime of the Islamic Republic, with the slogan “No to war, no to the Islamic Republic, yes to peace and freedom.” We consider the establishment of peaceful relations with Iran’s neighbors and other countries of the world based on mutual interests and de-escalation of tensions in the country’s foreign policy to be a necessary and urgent step and emphasize it. We emphasize the necessity of applying pressure from global public opinion and international institutions to stop the war machine of the United States and Israel and prevent the continuation of killing and destruction.

B: Islamic Republic:

4- Before the start of the current war, the Islamic Republic was facing crises from various angles, and most of all, an economic crisis. Rising prices and inflation, along with the daily fall in the value of the national currency, the liberalization of prices, and the imposition of crises on the people by implementing successive shock treatments, increasing the prices of water, electricity, gasoline, medicine, and food, and their impact on the costs of daily living, caused an outburst of anger and protest from the people, even from businesspeople and the bazaar. The regime, which had no solution to contain the crises, exhausted the people's patience by suppressing the protests and ignoring the demands, paving the way for January revolutionary movement. By brutally suppressing it, killing and injuring thousands of people, and arresting tens of thousands, it imposed a martial law on the country. In the meantime, using popular protests as a tool was one of the key tactics of the regime change strategy with foreign intervention, including Israel. By instilling an atmosphere of a "decisive moment," this strategy led nationwide protests for livelihood and civil demands to be misguided into violent and premature confrontation. Instead of weakening the ruling power, the deviation of the protests led to an intensification of repression and an increase in human costs. Costly scenarios such as attempts to arm national and ethnic groups or calls for violence on occasions such as Chaharshanbeh-e-Suri - which fortunately remained sterile - can be analyzed in this context. Protecting popular protests depends on cutting off the hands of foreign interventionists from the country’s destiny. In such circumstances, the initiators of the war thought that by killing the regime’s leaders, they would quickly get closer to their goal. However, the killing of Ali Khamenei and his generals did not bring them closer to their goal. The war conditions accelerated the succession plan of his son, Mojtaba Khamenei, and increased the authority of extremist movements to play a greater role in the regime and marginalized the more moderate forces that believed in negotiations. An inheritance that was facilitated by the management of the Revolutionary Guards and security forces, and the institution that was the father's armed party, quickly became the son's crown giver. However, Mojtaba Khamenei inherited the velayat while the velayat itself has been rejected in the minds of society. The model of velayat-e-faqih in Iran as a sustainable governance mechanism has reached its historical end.

5- On the one hand, the Islamic Republic has been weakened by the severe military blows and the killing of the leader and a significant part of the top cadres, and on the other hand, its militaristic nature has intensified. The war has led to an increase in authoritarianism, totalitarianism, and the strengthening of the IRGC’s position in the power structure, making it the main actor in determining the country’s domestic and foreign policies. At the same time, this regime is more worn out and weak than before, fearing its own collapse; how the war ends and with what results it ends can have various effects on the regime’s treatment of the people after the war, and the possibility that the treatment of the people, especially prisoners in custody, will become more violent cannot be ruled out, but everything depends on the state of society after the war. Political prisoners and detainees are already at risk; it is essential to mobilize the public and expand efforts for the immediate release of political prisoners and a halt to executions.

C- Popular Movements

6- War and war conditions are a deterrent to protests, the organization of popular movements, and their presence. However, on the other hand, war itself provides the ground for the emergence of social and political protests in other forms, such as anti-war and peace protests, or against poor living conditions, displacement, and economic issues; protests that can resurface after the war on the basis of accumulated dissatisfaction, but in different forms and levels. The January Movement, which began mainly with economic demands and in protest against economic inflation and instability, quickly transformed into a comprehensive political and anti-authoritarian movement with anti-regime structure horizons. This development showed that in the current situation, economic and social demands are inextricably linked to demands for freedom and social justice. The grounds for the reproduction of popular protests still exist, and the possibility of their resurgence after the war is likely.

7- The accumulation of dissatisfaction and the struggle to enjoy free living conditions and freedom from tyranny has turned our society into a volcano that may erupt at any moment. The uprisings and protest movements from January 2017 to today have become more powerful than ever and have been a continuation of each other. The uprisings that have been formed on the basis of increasing poverty, inequality, destabilization of life, neoliberal policies, and continuous attacks on the livelihoods and dignity of the underprivileged. Among them, the "Women, Life, Freedom" movement has been the most influential of these movements and has left lasting changes in society and in the political sphere of the country. By linking freedom, equality, human dignity and social resistance, with demands for livelihood, social justice and the rejection of class, gender and ethnic discrimination, this movement opened a new horizon of collective action and by attracting global solidarity, bringing a large number of Iranians abroad to the streets, with long resistance in the streets and universities, workplaces and expanding social ties within social movements. It forced the regime to retreat in the area of compulsory hijab and accelerated its internal collapse. This movement presented a new culture for brighter future.
8- Although the revolutionary uprising of January 2026 was the most extensive protest in the entire life of the regime in terms of the forces participating in it, it was unable to advance its demands due to the opportunistic interference of right-wing movements under the influence of Israel and the United States and Reza Pahlavi’s irresponsible calls to attack regime’s institutions, as well as the Islamic Republic’s readiness for bloody repression. But its grounds and demands still remain. We emphasize the independent and direct role of the people and the need to rely on popular movements and civil institutions for any change in Iran. Our party, in firmly drawing a line against authoritarian tendencies and claiming to be the viceroy and savior, considers itself committed to strengthening these popular movements and institutions. In the current circumstances, we emphasize more than ever the formation of people's organizations and cooperative institutions, sustainable organization in work and living environments, the formation of lasting trade union and professional organizations, the application of various forms of disobedience, the strengthening of civil society and social movements.

D- Opposition: Alliances, Coalitions and Coordinations

9- The experience of the January 2026 movement once again showed that the main weakness of the freedom-loving and democratic movement of the Iranian people is the lack of a democratic alternative in the country's political sphere. With the January uprising and the brutal massacre of the regime, in the continuation of the uprisings of the people so far, the majority of the people have come to the conclusion that the current trends have pushed the Islamic Republic further towards overthrow. While accompanying this diagnosis, the Left Party of Iran will take advantage of every opportunity to strengthen peaceful approaches on the path of overthrowing the Islamic Republic and transitioning to a secular and democratic republic. We emphasize social movements through strikes and street demonstrations and other forms of struggle and based on freedom, equality, social justice and human rights. How the war ends will change the political sphere of the country. It is necessary to review the party’s policies after the war, considering the trends of the war and how it ends. We emphasize informed dialogue among the people to clearly demarcate the strategy of transition to democracy by relying on popular movements, and the strategy of relying on the intervention of foreign actors to change the regime and return the center of gravity of politics to society and to the real protests and demands of the people.

10. Our Party, Adhering to Its Policies of forming a left bloc, cooperating with republican forces, and creating the weight of republicanism within the framework of the resolutions of the Fourth Congress and previous congresses, emphasizes the importance of dialogue for the formation of a center of coordination and cooperation from the democratic forces.

11. Commitment to Pluralism and Respect for National and Ethnic Diversity: We believe that the future of Iran must be built on the basis of pluralism, secularism, social justice, and respect for national, ethnic, cultural, and linguistic diversity. Within this framework, ensuring equal rights for all citizens and eliminating structural discrimination are among the fundamental principles of the future order. Federalism, as the most appropriate form of organizing the political structure, is a solution to achieve a fair distribution of power and strengthen national solidarity while maintaining diversity. We are seeking to establish a federalism appropriate to the specifics of Iran.

12- Criticism of the Approach of the Monarchist Movement, Especially Reza Pahlavi, and the forces around him, who, relying on foreign intervention, have practically taken steps towards escalating the war and destroying the country. The totalitarian behaviors of Reza Pahlavi’s entourage indicate the capacity of these forces to reproduce another form of tyranny in Iran, and projects such as the “Emergency Notebook” reflect a patronizing view of society and ignoring the decisive role of the people in their own destiny. Reza Pahlavi, with his repeated calls, inviting demonstrators to attack military and security centers and dragging the people into a “final battle” with the bloodthirsty regime, is responsible for the January massacre. He supported the US and Israeli aggression against Iran as a humanitarian intervention and practically became the road-pavers of this military aggression. The royalists supporting Reza Pahlavi, as a totalitarian and monopolistic movement, pose a serious threat to the freedom-loving and democratic movement in our country. Our policy is to expose Reza Pahlavi’s political project and criticize its performance.