Leading flotilla organiser aligns himself with Iranian-backed reactionary forces.
Details. Thiago Ávila, head of the Steering Committee of the “Global Sumud Flotilla,” has direct ties to the Iranian imperialist regime and its regional proxies.
► In 2025, Ávila proudly attended the funeral of Hassan Nasrallah, the former leader of Lebanon’s reactionary group Hezbollah, where he was observed chanting “Victory to Islam.” He praised Nasrallah as an “anti-colonial” martyr, who would inspire “freedom fighters.” Iranian government officials, foreign Islamists, and social-chauvinists from ACP were also in attendance.
► Ávila previously received an official award for his work, framed as “resistance,” from Iran’s imperialist regime. He travelled to Tehran in 2024 for meetings with senior Iranian government ministers. Ávila has interacted with Iranian proxies since 2006, and is also a supporter of Venezuela's pro-imperialist government.
Context. Iranian imperialism exerts its control across the Middle East through its reactionary “Axis of Resistance,” utilising proxy forces such as Hezbollah to secure profits and favourable redivision of the region for its capitalists.
► Hezbollah has historically killed many Lebanese communists. Under Hassan Nasrallah's command, the reactionary group assassinated Marxist writer Mehdi Amel in 1987 and secretary general of the Lebanese Communist Party, George Hawi, in 2005.
► In 1988, Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini issued a decree to execute over 5,000 leftist political prisoners, including members of the communist Tudeh Party. Prisoners were pressured to renounce Marxism and atheism, confess to treason, and declare loyalty to the Islamic regime. Iran’s former president Ebrahim Raisi was known as the “Butcher of Tehran” for his role on the 1988 “death commission” that oversaw the killings.
► Iran’s capitalist regime continues to repress workers: trade unionists were imprisoned and tortured by the IRGC in 2019 for organising strikes. In January 2026, the government massacred thousands of striking workers and demonstrators.