Sultana says it’s for Iranian people to ‘decide their future’

Zarah Sultana has spoken about the huge wave of anti-government protests in Iran. The demonstrations were originally over severe economic hardship and frustration with political repression. However, they quickly broadened into widespread opposition to the current leadership. The Iranian government’s response has been highly repressive, with heavy force, mass arrests, and a communications blackout.

As the situation becomes increasingly volatile, Your Party MP Zarah Sultana has once again confronted Western hypocrisy on X:

The images of body bags leave no doubt about the brutality of Iran’s repression, and a communications blackout is indefensible.

Across the country, Iranians are protesting real economic hardship, much of it deepened by US sanctions. From the UK, genuine solidarity means opposing…

— Zarah Sultana MP (@zarahsultana) January 12, 2026

Sultana and ‘genuine solidarity’

Sultana has questioned the depth of the UK’s proclaimed solidarity with Iranian citizens protesting their oppressive government. While acknowledging that Iranians have genuine and legitimate reasons for the widespread demonstrations highlighted across Western media, she argues that expressions of support from the UK risk being superficial.

In a post on X, Sultana emphasised that the severe economic hardship faced by ordinary Iranians has been significantly exacerbated by US sanctions, calling into question whether Western actions truly align with the solidarity they claim to show:

The images of body bags leave no doubt about the brutality of Iran’s repression, and a communications blackout is indefensible.

Across the country, Iranians are protesting real economic hardship, much of it deepened by US sanctions. From the UK, genuine solidarity means opposing those sanctions and the imperial strategies and aspirations behind them.

At the same time, this unrest is being cynically exploited by Netanyahu’s genocidal government as a pretext for military intervention and regime change — a path that must be firmly rejected.

It must be clear: only the Iranian people have the right to decide their own future. No outside power should dictate or interfere.

Any serious politics requires holding all of these truths together.

While Sultana’s post has attracted bile from right-wing bad actors, others have approved of her take on Iran:

A rare nuanced take on #IranProtests, holding multiple truths without simplification.

Thank you @zarahsultana 🙏🏻 https://t.co/DTqAjaerKx

— Donna Miles دانا مجاب (@UnPressed) January 13, 2026

Sanctions have consequences

As we have also seen in Gaza, many Western politicians appear unwilling, or unable, to grapple with the basic principle of neo-colonial cause and effect. Policies such as sanctions are often framed as tools to pressure governments, yet in practice it is ordinary citizens who bear the heaviest cost. This pattern once again highlights how political decisions made in the name of accountability or security routinely translate into economic hardship, instability, and suffering for people with little power over the actions of their leaders.

Our own Ed Sykes reported on the ‘not-so-distant’ track record of the West in relation to Iran:

Just a few years after the Second World War, the handover from old European empires to the new US empire was in full swing. But an independent government in Iran sought to nationalise the country’s oil industry. So the UK and US conspired to get rid of it, setting off a chain of events whose effects we’re still feeling today

The weight of Western intervention in Iran cannot be overstated. Sultana is quite right to urge vigilance over neo-colonial interests. Solidarity with Iran must be with the people, above all.

Featured image via the Canary