Build and escalate working-class antiwar resistance!
The Middle East is in flames once more, and again it is Trump who has lit the fire. The world’s warmonger-in-chief has unleashed a new dangerous situation.
After building up the biggest armada in the region since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the US and Israeli militaries began “Operation Epic Fury” on the morning of 28 February. Trump addressed the world to announce “major combat operations”.
Reports so far indicate wide-ranging strikes on Iranian cities, focusing on government compounds and IRGC institutions as well as attacks aimed at limiting Iranian military retaliation. The normal residencies of Iranian dictator, Ayatollah Khamenei and its President, Pezeshkian, were bombed though both are apparently uninjured. Simultaneously, US and Israeli jets carried out major air strikes near Baghdad in Iraq.
Within hours, Iranian missiles were raining down in retaliation on Israeli cities and United States military and naval bases in Bahrain, Kuwait, the UAE and Qatar.
The regional conflagration which has been implicit in the situation for the last two years has begun. It is now a question of how bad it gets and how long it lasts. The working class must step in and build mass struggle to end the bloodshed.
This time it’s different – Trump and Netanyahu want regime change
It is already clear that this war of aggression is not a mere repetition of the 12-day war last June, when Netanyahu and Trump attacked to severely weaken Iran’s military capability and set back its nuclear program.
Trump’s televised address set out almost limitless military objectives for the operation. They would, he promised, “annihilate their navy” and “raze their missile industry to the ground”.
It was also immediately clear that this is a war for regime change. Trump addressed himself nauseatingly to the Iranian people, for whom he cares not one iota, of course:
“I say tonight that the hour of your freedom is at hand. Stay sheltered. Don’t leave your home. It’s very dangerous outside. Bombs will be dropping everywhere. When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will probably be your only chance for generations..”
This was echoed by the genocidal murderer Netanyahu shortly afterwards.
What this is really about is completing the change in the regional balance of power which Israel and the United States has achieved in the last two years, over the bones and blood of tens of thousands of people. They want to seize on this moment of weakness of the regime in Tehran to remove the most important long-term adversary of U.S imperialism and its lapdogs in the region. These actions are also ultimately directed against Chinese imperialism, for whom the regime in Tehran is a crucial ally.
There is no doubt that the Iranian regime is probably weaker than at any time since 1979, hit by a deep economic crisis, the defeat of its allies in the region and then the heroic mass movement it sought to drown in blood some weeks ago. The overwhelming majority of its population longs for its overthrow.
But how exactly Trump and Netanyahu can bring about regime change, from the air without boots on the ground, is another question altogether.
Trump addressed curious words to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards offering them “immunity” if they “laid down their arms”. This may indicate hopes of a ‘Venezuela scenario’ in which U.S imperialism hopes for a section of the regime to capitulate and serve its interests.
This declaration of war follows facade negotiations, during which Trump’s demands constantly shifted in public. When Tehran reportedly indicated willingness to compromise on its nuclear program in order to survive, Trump demanded more. By the end of the “negotiations” Trump was demanding the neutering of Iran’s missile program and for it to hang its so-called proxies in the region out to dry. In short, they demand total capitulation from the Iranian regime. This, together with the weakness of the dictatorship, can lead to a stronger military response from Tehran than in June.
Escalate antiwar resistance internationally! Fight for revolutionary socialist change in Iran and the Middle East!
This new conflagration must be met with a massive resurgence of the global antiwar movement. It must also be escalated. The general strikes in Italy against genocide last year, and Trump’s defeat in the Battle of Minneapolis this year show the way forward to fight the warmongers and dictators. The labour movement internationally should organize strikes and direct action to stop this war. Preparations should be made for regional general strikes in the Middle East and in Europe.
Opposition to this war of blatant imperialist aggression can in no way undermine our opposition to the reactionary regime in Tehran whose hands are covered in blood. The revolutionary overthrow of the dictatorship is the task of the Iranian multi-ethnic working class and it is an urgent one. Iran’s powerful mass movement against the regime must be led by organisations of workers and youth with a program for socialist change. Without such an alternative, there is the risk of the islamist capitalist dictatorship being replaced by another dictatorial regime, maybe even with Reza Pahlavi at its head.
There is a strong tradition of struggles from below by workers and oppressed in Iran. A democratic and socialist movement must build, upon the lessons from those struggles. Workers, youth and oppressed people should be organised and ready to fight not only against this regime but to stop any new reactionary, pro-imperialist or monarchical regime from consolidating power.
The solution is a fight for a working-class government based on public ownership of natural resources and the key sectors of the economy. This must be the program of an international working class struggle throughout the region against imperialism, colonialism and occupation and for peace and socialism.