CND condemns the continued illegal bombing of Iran by the US and Israel. Already over 1000 people have been killed in Iran, with Iranian retaliation on US bases and energy infrastructure causing deaths and casualties in Israel, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and across the Middle East. Israel’s bombing of Lebanon has killed at least eleven people. Reports now suggest that US-armed Kurdish groups in Iraq may soon cross the border into Iran.
Threats by Israel’s defence minister that any new leader in Iran could also be assassinated is yet further evidence that the US and Israel are intent on regime change that could unleash a catastrophic war across the region. Meanwhile, the US Senate’s Intelligence committee has warned that Trump’s administration has given no indication that it has planned for the aftermath of its military campaign.
Starmer initially refused to give Trump permission for the use of British bases, arguing that ‘I won’t commit the UK military to unlawful action’. He has since buckled to US pressure, trying to justify this on the grounds of self-defence. Yet it is hard to see how allowing US nuclear-capable bombers to fly from RAF Fairford to destroy Iran’s ballistic missile sites would be viewed as defensive. Already, British F-35 fighter jets have shot down Iranian drones over Jordan to protect Israeli air space, and RAF Typhoon jets have attacked Iranian drones over Qatar. It is becoming increasingly clear that Britain is being rapidly sucked into another illegal war that the public don’t want.
Polling by YouGov found that most of the British public are opposed to the military attacks, with 49% opposing and just 28% supporting. Meanwhile in the US, several polls taken this week have found that almost two thirds of the public are opposed to Trumps’s military action.
Opposition is also very strong within the trade union movement. The Trade Union Congress – representing millions of working people across Britain – have issued a powerful condemnation of the escalation, calling for ‘all states and international actors to assume their historic responsibilities to support de-escalation’, diplomacy, to uphold the UN Charter and support the ‘comprehensive and universal ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons’.
Now more than ever, we need political leaders that will reassert international law, diplomacy and dialogue. We need an end to the illegal bombing of Iran. We need to expose the nuclear hypocrisy that targets Iran, which does not have nuclear weapons, whilst supporting nuclear-armed Israel in its genocide against the Palestinian people and its deadly plans for a greater Israel. This means Britain, as a primary sponsor of the UN resolution, should be promoting the establishment of a Nuclear Weapons-Free Middle East Treaty. The British government needs to stand up to Trump and end its military support for this illegal war.
Join the emergency demonstrations this Saturday, 7 March in London and at RAF Fairford.