[1] He emphasised that Indonesians should work together, regardless of race, creed, or class, to ensure independence from the Dutch; he preached non-cooperation with colonial forces.

[2] In 1925 he moved to the Soviet Union to spend a year and a half studying at the Communist University of the Toilers of the East in Moscow.

In the Soviet Union he was briefly married to a Ukrainian woman named Anna Ivanova; the two had a daughter, Sumira Dingli, together.

He also met several leading nationalist figures also there in exiled, including Muhammad Hatta, Sutan Sjahrir, and Tjipto Mangunkusumo.

[6] As Japan's defeat in the Pacific became increasingly evident, Indonesian nationalist leaders began preparing for independence.

[9] He was accused of involvement with the 3 July Affair in 1946, which led to the Indonesian government imprisoning him; other prisoners included Muhammad Yamin, Achmad Soebardjo, and Tan Malaka.

[1] According to Indonesian historian Asvi Warman Adam, this was a prolapsed process owing to Iwa's affiliations with Tan Malaka and other communist interests, efforts not supported by the New Order government under President Suharto.