Azadeh: I believe so. I think one thing for people to be aware of, going to the larger issue of U.S. militarism and imperialism, there is this notion that is very much rooted in white supremacy and racism, that it’s ok for the U.S. government to go around the world and build military bases and surround countries in the global south with their military bases. And they can just decide to kill people and assassinate people and torture people as they wish. The assassination that started the chain reaction in the past two weeks was completely illegal. It was an act of terror committed by the U.S. government and universally condemned, except by U.S. and Israel of course. And so the U.S. government as the world power can bend the laws as they wish and this is all in the service of U.S. militarism and racism. R.A.P.: Would it be accurate to say that the cardinal sin of Iran is that the U.S. wants to dominate the whole region through Saudi Arabia and Israel and Iran is the biggest thing standing in the way of that? Azadeh: I think that’s very much true. And I think there are changes that are needed in Iran, but any change coming in Iran has to come from the people, as is true anywhere else in the world. I am very much in support of the people’s movements in Iran which are very vibrant, movements for labor and students and women. The statements coming from people’s movements are that they are against imperialism, they are against foreign intervention, and they are against the crimes of the regimes. We can’t whitewash that. We have to look at the whole picture. We have to give support and solidarity to the people especially the working class, the students, and the women who are leading grassroots movements at the same time as we absolutely condemn U.S. imperialism and any type of foreign intervention attempts at destabilization, murder, and the sanctions that are killing people. -----You can read more from Azadeh on this topic at: https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/voices/2018/09/26/iran-united-states-foreign-policy-iraq-war-column /1379872002/ http://inthesetimes.com/article/21846/war-militarism-imperialism-invasion-iraq-syria-afghanistan-isis-troops
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By Any Means Necessary