Iran:
Destruction and Anti-Imperialist Anger

April 20, 2026

This article is translated from the April 17 issue, #3011 of Lutte Ouvrière (Workers Struggle), the paper of the Trotskyist group of that name active in France.

After Trump’s threat to bomb Iran “back to the Stone Age,” the guns fell silent, undoubtedly only temporarily. But before the ceasefire, the attacks intensified.

The bombings have claimed thousands of civilian lives. They targeted a bridge near Tehran where families were picnicking, believing themselves safe; the Sharif University of Science; and even a Jewish synagogue! Iranian Red Crescent rescue workers were not spared either, not even their ambulances. Bombs struck functioning industrial sites, such as the Bushehr nuclear power plant, from which 200 Russian workers had to be evacuated. Near Isfahan, 15 workers were killed in a strike on a factory manufacturing heating and air conditioning equipment.

Oil depots, gas plants, and steel mills have been hit. The country’s two largest steel mills are shut down, damaged by bombing. The Mobarakeh steel mill—which employs tens of thousands of workers and supplies steel sheeting to automotive, appliance, and construction factories—will run out of raw materials and be forced to shut down. The vast majority of workers have precarious job contracts, without benefits like unemployment insurance. Thousands are left without income, laid off when their factory closed. Most workers who still have jobs must travel to earn a living. Many are forced to remain in bombed-out cities, lacking money, ways to get around, or anywhere to go. When their workplace isn’t hit by a bomb, it’s sometimes their home or loved ones.

Inflation reached a record high of 50% annually on March 20th. Employers’ decisions in the face of this economic catastrophe only exacerbate the situation. Bosses always make their employees pay for their misfortunes, even when they don’t lay off staff. For example, a large chain of stores in Isfahan decided to cut wages to compensate for the drop in sales. Many Iranian families rely on the support of relatives who had emigrated to other Persian Gulf countries for work. But the approximately 500,000 Iranians living there have had their visas revoked. Iranian businesses in Dubai and elsewhere have had to close as a result of the war. Their employees find themselves without income and with nothing to send back to Iran.

Even though the precarious and fragile ceasefire brought some relief to the population after 40 days of bombing, the imperialist fury fostered a certain national unity. Human chains around power plants brought together thousands of volunteers who supported the regime, as well as ordinary pacifists, like the musician who came to play “for peace.” Even some opposition to the negotiations with the U.S. emerged, seeing negotiation as betrayal. Some Iranians accused the leaders of not “avenging” the Iranian victims of the American and Israeli bombings, and of abandoning Hezbollah fighters by excluding Lebanon from the ceasefire. The hatred of imperialism among the population gives the regime the political means to hold on and resist American demands, despite the persecution of opponents labeled “traitors” and the continued executions of prisoners.