By the International Secretariat of the IWL
The United States has directly attacked Iran, thus joining the Israeli offensive against that country. They used the most advanced aircraft in the world and the largest non-nuclear bombs known to attack a semi-colonial country. The argument used—“Iran cannot have nuclear weapons”—is the most cynical expression of imperialist arrogance. This is said by the imperialist country that possesses the most nuclear weapons, allied with another nuclear power, Israel: they demand exclusivity in their power of destruction.
This is a brutal imperialist military offensive that deserves denunciation from activists around the world. This is not just another war. It is the continuation and expansion of the Zionist genocide in Gaza. It is an attempt to impose military terror on the peoples of the world. Revolutionary socialists around the world have a duty to take the side of Iran in this war, because it is an attack by the most powerful imperialist country in the world against a semi-colonial country. The outcome of this war will influence the processes of class struggle around the world. If imperialism wins, it will legitimize its military intervention on a global scale. If it loses, the popular struggles against exploitation will be strengthened internationally.
The outcome continues to hang in the balance. It will not depend solely on imperialist military superiority. A new wave of mobilizations is beginning around the world that could be much greater than those that have existed until now, reflecting the enormous social and political polarization that this US military intervention will generate. This does not mean, on our part, any political support for the regime of the Iranian ayatollahs, a dictatorship at the service of the bourgeoisie, built around the state that emerged from the Iranian revolution of 1979 and which crushed that revolution. We maintain the most complete political independence from the Iranian regime. The United States and Israel have two clear military and political objectives: to destroy Iran’s nuclear capacity and to overthrow the regime of the ayatollahs in order to impose a new government linked to the family of the former Shah Reza Pahlevi, who was deposed by the 1979 revolution.
Will they succeed in imposing these objectives? At this point, no one can predict the outcome of this conflict. So far, even with all its military superiority and the massacre of 60,000 Palestinians, Israel has not achieved its stated objectives in Gaza: the destruction of Hamas and the rescue of the hostages. The outcome of this conflict is not predetermined. Imperialism has already been defeated in the past in Vietnam, as well as in Iraq and Afghanistan, and it can be defeated again. Victory will depend on the continuity of the Palestinian and Iranian resistance and the magnitude of the mobilizations against imperialism throughout the world.
Chinese and Russian imperialism are limiting themselves to diplomatic statements against US military intervention. Despite their alliances with the Iranian regime, they are not prepared to confront US imperialism militarily. Putin cynically trades Iran for Ukraine, prioritizing his agreement with Trump on Ukraine over his alliance with Iran. The European imperialist governments came out in defense of the US attack or limited themselves to defending a diplomatic solution. There is no such thing as “progressive” imperialism. We join the calls already echoing around the world for mobilizations in the coming days against the counterrevolutionary alliance of the US with Israel against Iran.
We will see the response of the world’s masses to this brutal aggression. It is possible to defeat imperialism if mobilizations like those against the Vietnam War shake the US. It would require mass mobilizations to advance in the European imperialist countries, combined with direct actions and strikes wherever possible. It is essential to revive the Arab Spring to overthrow the Arab governments and regimes allied with the US and Israel, such as Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. Only then can the enormous political support of the Arab masses for the Palestinian cause be transformed into effective military support for the struggle in Gaza. A new intifada must shake the Palestinian territories to join the struggle in Gaza.
For the defeat of US and Israeli imperialism! For the victory of Iran and Palestine! Boycott and break all economic and political ties with Israel! No political confidence in the regime of the ayatollahs! For the destruction of the State of Israel! Free Palestine, from the river to the sea!
