Trump sends carrier strike force in threat to Iran

Written by: Nick G. on 26 January 2026

Whilst it is difficult to follow events in any country at a distance, various statements are coming out of Iran, or about Iran by external commentators. 

There was a good attempt at analysis on Pearls and Irritations .

This analysis makes the point that references to CIA, Mossad and Pahlavi/monarchist forces are not necessarily reliable and could be part of the normal imperialist psy-ops interference. 

Meanwhile, Trump has ordered the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and three accompanying destroyers to leave the South China Sea for the Middle East, and has made ambiguous statements about whether the US will or will not deploy its military against the Iranian regime.

Workers taking initiative in anti-theocratic uprising.

Our hopes as Australian anti-imperialists are that the Iranian working class will seize the initiative in the current uprising, overthrow the theocratic dictatorship, and protect Iranian sovereignty and independence from the imperialists and their monarchistic bourgeois collaborators.

There are some reports of independent working class activity.

The Iranian city of Arak is a major industrial centre with a fairly class-conscious working class. Various industries there have confronted the regime with strike action, and faced death to do so.  

In December 2024, workers at the railway rolling stock manufacturing plant Wagon Pars held demonstrations after 50 contract workers were abruptly dismissed without contract renewal. The despair of job insecurity led one dismissed worker to attempt suicide, though colleagues intervened in time. The workers emphasized the urgent need for job stability and an end to exploitative practices by contracting firms. The strike went on for 6 weeks and the Pars workers were joined by workers at HEPCO, heavy equipment manufacturers.

Last year, there was a prolonged strike by aluminum workers, and the Iranian Human Rights Society reported on it, a part of which follows: 

Iran Human Rights Society, Thursday, September 11, 2025– The Arak Aluminum strike grips Iran. On Thursday, September 11, 2025, over 4,000 workers at Arak Aluminum Company push into their 44th day of protests. The Iran Human Rights Society reports intense security pressures. Workers face fear from management and forces. They started with demands for overdue wages. Now, this action symbolizes resistance. It fights anti-labor laws, rising poverty, and worker suppression in Iran. Furthermore, the strike highlights factory risks. Therefore, global attention grows urgent. Families endure hardship. However, workers stand firm for justice. 
Death of Arak Aluminum Workers Behind the Scorching Furnaces of Poverty - Iran HRS 

Three days ago, IranWire released the names of five people killed days ago in Arak, noting: “Except for Meysam Saberi, who was first wounded and then killed after being run over by a vehicle, all the other victims named in this report were shot dead with live ammunition.” 
Identities of Five Slain Protesters in Arak During the January Protests 

There are also reports of Arak city workers having declared the creation of workers’ councils, or Soviets. This has been reported by the Communist Party of Iran (not to be confused with the Tudeh party or the MLMs).  

This was apparently a strategy decided on by various left groups which held a Conference in Stockholm on January 10. (Press Release on Holding Iranian Left and Communist Forces’ Conference in Stockholm ). 

This was followed the next day with the statement “All Power to the Workers’ Councils” ( Statement of the Workers’ Councils of Arak: All power to the councils!) 

On the 19th January, these groups released a Charter for the Overthrow of the Regime: 
The Charter of the Cooperation Council of Iranian Leftist and Communist Forces for the Revolutionary Overthrow of the Islamic Republic and the Establishment of Council Rule in Iran  

None of these developments by leftist forces in Iran get any mention in the capitalist press. 

Whilst we cannot independently verify the nature of these developments and the strength of the working class revolutionary and socialist movement in Iran, it is appropriate that communists internationally make these developments known, and express their support. 

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