The spectacle unfolding in Munich this weekend is a textbook illustration of how the bourgeoisie attempts to manage and redirect revolutionary energy. While the world’s most powerful imperialist leaders gather at the Munich Security Conference to discuss the “rules-based international order”—a euphemism for their collective domination over the Global South—thousands of workers and oppressed masses have converged on Odeonsplatz to demand an end to the clerical dictatorship in Iran. This is no mere diplomatic theater; it is a living expression of the class struggle that transcends national borders.
The timing is no accident. The Munich Security Conference, now in its 62nd year, brings together the heads of state and military commanders of the imperialist powers to coordinate their strategies for maintaining global hegemony. Yet, as the protesters in Munich have made clear, sustainable international security begins with democracy in Iran. The very fact that the Iranian people’s struggle has become a focal point of this gathering of imperialist warmongers reveals the depth of the crisis facing the ruling classes worldwide.
What makes the Munich demonstrations particularly significant is their character as a workers’ movement. The protesters are not merely demanding political reforms; they are calling for the overthrow of a regime that serves as a bulwark of reaction in the Middle East. The National Council of Resistance of Iran, which has organized these demonstrations, represents a coalition of forces that includes workers, students, and democratic opposition elements. This is precisely the kind of broad-based movement that Trotsky identified as essential for revolutionary change.
The connection between the Iranian struggle and the broader international working class is unmistakable. As the protesters in Munich have demonstrated, the fight against clerical fascism in Iran is inseparable from the fight against imperialist intervention and exploitation. The Iranian people’s resistance has already forced the United States to increase its military presence in the Middle East—a clear indication that their struggle has global implications. This is the essence of internationalism: recognizing that the liberation of one oppressed people is inextricably linked to the liberation of all oppressed people.
The Munich demonstrations also reveal the limitations of reformist opposition. The exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, who has called for these protests, represents a bourgeois nationalist alternative that seeks to replace one form of dictatorship with another. Such “democratic” alternatives are precisely what the bourgeoisie offers when genuine revolutionary movement threatens their interests. The workers and oppressed masses in Iran must reject these false leaders and build their own independent movement, led by the working class and organized through workers’ councils and soviets.
The presence of figures like Mohammad Mohaddessin, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, alongside former British Speaker John Bercow, demonstrates the international character of this struggle. Yet it also reveals the danger of allowing bourgeois politicians to dominate the movement. The working class must maintain its independence and ensure that the struggle remains focused on the overthrow of the clerical regime and the establishment of a workers’ democracy.
The Munich demonstrations come on the heels of a nationwide uprising in Iran that began in late December 2025 and continued through January 2026. This uprising represents a new phase in the Iranian people’s struggle against clerical fascism—a struggle that began with the 1979 revolution but was betrayed by the Stalinist bureaucracy that seized power. The current uprising shows that the Iranian people have learned from past mistakes and are now prepared to complete the revolution that was interrupted by the counterrevolution.
The international working class has a duty to support the Iranian people’s struggle. This support must take the form of solidarity actions, not imperialist intervention. The workers of the world must recognize that the liberation of Iran from clerical fascism is essential for the liberation of the working class from imperialist exploitation. The Munich demonstrations provide a model for how this solidarity can be expressed: through mass protests, international coordination, and unwavering commitment to the principle that the working class must lead the struggle for democracy and socialism.
The Munich Security Conference will eventually end, and the imperialist leaders will return to their capitals to continue their schemes for global domination. But the demonstrations in Odeonsplatz will leave a lasting impact. They demonstrate that the Iranian people’s struggle has become a cause of the international working class, and that the fight for socialism in Iran is inseparable from the fight for socialism worldwide. As Trotsky taught us, the revolution must be international or it will not succeed. The Munich demonstrations are a powerful reminder of this truth.