As the Iranian regime continues its crackdown against a popular uprising, Kevin McKenna asks: what plans do America and the capitalist West have for rebuilding this mighty country?

Not many on the dilettante Left have been moved to condemn the atrocities carried out by the Iranian regime against its own people over the last two weeks. You’re left to wonder why they seem to have walked by on the other side. Hundreds of young Iranian Muslims are being slaughtered in their own streets by a repressive government which routinely uses violence to maintain control.

Of all those states featuring in lists chronicling human rights abuses, Iran’s place near the top is more or less guaranteed. Since the anti-government protests in 2022, the crackdown on human rights defenders – especially women – and people who belong to ethnic and religious minorities has been brutal. This has been accompanied by a sharp increase in executions, many of them in public by means of hanging from tall cranes in town squares.

The minority and peaceful Baha’is have been getting it particularly tough in Iran. Women though, remain the regime’s most favoured targets for oppression. In recent years, the penalties for violating dress codes have become more restrictive. Even just to be accused of this or of "immorality" can lead to torture and death.

Iran is among the world’s most prolific practitioners of the death penalty, using it to punish children as well as adults deemed guilty of transgressing the state’s national security. This is an easy thing to do in Iran. If you’ve been overheard in conversation discussing America or the West you run the risk of the tall crane treatment.

Amnesty has........

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