Dr Abbas Mansouran
The war must end
This war must not end with surrender to an external force, but with the Islamic regime yielding to the will of its people. Every minute it persists adds to the toll of human suffering across Iran, Palestine, Israel and the broader region.
Revolutionary alternative: councilism and collective resistance
The seeds of liberation can still be planted even in the chaos of inter-state war. Since 2012, the people of North and East Syria, also known as Rojava, have demonstrated the power of council-based self-management in the face of Islamic State (ISIS) and state aggression. The Rojava model offers inspiration to regions of Iran like Kurdistan, Gilan, Mazandaran, Sistan and Baluchestan, where grassroots resilience remains strong.
The ongoing global conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East are not isolated. They represent a broader imperial contest over markets, labour and resources. The approach of the West echoes the imperial logic of the Sykes-Picot Agreement and the Lausanne Treaty, which fragmented the region and suppressed indigenous agency in the early 20th century.
Neoliberalism, repression and the crisis of legitimacy
Today’s rebranded imperialism hides behind discourses of “human rights” and “civil society”. But these terms have been co-opted as tools of repression, concealing global capitalism’s efforts to redraw borders and reinforce exploitative nation-states.
The Islamic Republic of Iran, long a proxy for competing global interests, has now reached the end of its utility. Corrupt, authoritarian and armed with nuclear ambitions, the regime endangers the lives of 90 million Iranians and the entire ecosystem of the region.
Uprisings and the will for change
The past five decades in Iran have seen waves of resistance from workers and students to mothers, retirees and the marginalised. Nationwide uprisings in 2017 and 2019, culminating in the ‘Jin, Jiyan, Azadî’ (Woman, Life, Freedom) movement which began in 2022, signify an irreversible demand for structural change.
Israel’s recent military campaigns against Iran – particularly the strikes on 13 June – are designed not merely to neutralise threats but to initiate regime change in the country. However, the freedom of Iranian society cannot be delivered through external war. Familiar patterns from Iraq, Libya and Syria risk repeating themselves.
Militarism and manufactured alternatives
Israel’s assault on Iran’s nuclear and military infrastructure has triggered a broader collapse of Iranian proxies in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Gaza. Yet even if this war succeeds in toppling the Islamic regime, it will not guarantee justice or freedom.
Dominant media now echo the tone of 1979, portraying regime change as a foregone conclusion. But without meaningful participation from below, such transitions will merely substitute one form of repression for another.
The people as the third force
The decisive force in Iran’s future must be its people—not elites, not external powers. Only the revolutionary mobilisation of workers, women and marginalised groups can pave the way for a council-based democratic future.
This war—driven by the ambitions of regime factions, profiteers and military elites—sacrifices the region’s real producers: women, workers, migrants and children. Behind the scenes, diplomatic manoeuvres from the US and Trump’s White House mask preparations for a regime replacement more palatable to Western powers.
Revolutionary infrastructure: councils and mutual aid
Throughout Iran, council institutions have already begun to take root, often during moments of crisis. These include:
– Local relief and medical committees active during natural disasters and uprisings;
– Volunteer educators serving marginalised communities;
– Community credit funds supporting livelihoods;
– Neighbourhood defence groups, particularly in Kurdish regions;
– Environmental collectives protecting wetlands, forests and local resources;
– Support networks for children, migrant workers and female-headed households.
These structures, often led by women and young people, form the basis for a revolutionary transition. They must now be scaled and interconnected across the country.
Organisation under fire
With the escalation of war, urgent grassroots organisation is essential:
– Medical and health networks for the injured;
– Food and medicine distribution channels;
– Educational initiatives for displaced or traumatised children;
– Local defence and reconstruction efforts;
– Participatory funds for war survivors.
In every neighbourhood and village, people must act collectively to build institutions that protect, nurture and resist. Freedom will not come through a mere change of leadership, but through the dismantling of exploitative structures and the empowerment of those long denied power.
The prison of nationalism and the illusion of reform
Iran’s peoples—Kurds, Baluchis, Arabs, Gilaks, Mazenis, Lors, Azeris, Persians and others—must not be forced into false choices between monarchy, republicanism or federalism. These models offer nothing but recycled domination. The Iraqi Kurdistan experience and Syria’s failed state demonstrate the limitations of nation-building on capitalist and authoritarian terms.
What is needed is a decentralised, council-based, confederal model that puts production, ecology and equality at the centre. This requires rejecting nationalism, ethnic hierarchy and party elitism.
Towards Jin, Jiyan, Azadî: a shared horizon
The only viable alternative is rooted in the Woman, Life, Freedom movement—a paradigm that centres collective liberation, self-management and the abolition of domination in all forms.
Victory depends on the convergence of workers, feminists, environmentalists, progressive movements and the oppressed, organised through councils in towns and villages, through democratic congresses of self-managed institutions.
This revolution will not be televised. It must be built—patiently, courageously, and collectively.
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*In the early hours of 22 June, as this article was being prepared, US forces launched airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities in Isfahan, Natanz and Fordow. With the entry of the United States into the conflict, a new and perilous phase has begun.
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*Dr Abbas Mansouran is an Iranian-born epidemiologist based in Sweden. In the Iran-Iraq War, he began humanitarian work focusing on trauma care. His research has extended to North and East Syria, where he has conducted independent investigation into the health consequences of prolonged conflict.
