Reports that the US is considering joining Israel’s war on Iran represents a catastrophic escalation in Israel’s illegal war on Iran. Trump has issued veiled threats to assassinate Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and called for Iran’s ‘unconditional surrender’. This again shows that Israel’s illegal war on Iran has nothing to do with Iran’s nuclear programme. Instead it has everything to do with US and Israeli plans for regime change in Iran and intensifying the genocidal war against the Palestinians.
Already hundreds have been killed in both Iran and Israel in the last six days. The International Atomic Energy Agency has condemned Israel’s bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities and has reported that the Natanz nuclear plant has caused ‘localised radioactivity’ leaks. IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi has said that military escalation ‘increases the chance of a radiological release with serious consequences for people and the environment.’ Reports that Israel wants the US to bomb other nuclear facilities should be a wake-up call for the international community to step up its pressure on Israel and the Trump administration.
In response to the escalation, Iran’s parliament is preparing legislation to withdraw from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The NPT sets out a framework, whereby non-nuclear weapons states can develop civilian nuclear power but must agree not to develop nuclear weapons. This very concerning development is in direct consequence of the military attacks. US threats to join Israel’s war on Iran and assassinate its leader are more likely to precipitate Iran’s withdrawal from the Treaty.
Starmer’s comments that ‘there is nothing to suggest Trump is about to get involved in this conflict’ do not reassure us. They fly in the face of both the US and Britain moving increasing amounts of military hardware into the region.
The consequences of a US-led war on Iran would be absolutely catastrophic. We all remember the horror of the Iraq war, a country half the size of Iran, in which over half a million people were killed and millions displaced. In this case, there is also the dangers of radioactive contamination spreading across the entire region.
We call on the British government to oppose the widening war on Iran, to withdraw its military presence in the region and work with the wider international community to secure a ceasefire. Britain should increase diplomatic and economic pressure on Israel, expanding sanctions and imposing full arms embargo now.
Image credit: SSGT Suzanne M. Jenkins, USAF