THE ATTACK on Iran by USA-Israeli military forces culminated in a full-fledged war that has recorded casualties not less than three thousand lives in the last four weeks. These were drawn from both sides, including six US military personnel, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (spiritual leader of Iran), together with members of his family and other leading officials of the government.
As Leon Trotsky best described war as a destructive industry, this manifested in no little way in the war that started on 28th February and characterised by bombardment and shelling of residential houses, social infrastructures such as hospitals, military formations and schools from both sides of the divide. More appalling was the attack by the US, resulting in the death of over one hundred school children in Iran.
The crisis and the wars in the Middle East for the past seventy-eight years could be traced to the settlement of the oppressed Jews from Europe into its present abode, Israel, in 1948 under the British Protectorate. In the process of doing this, the Arabs and Palestinians met on the ground were intimidated, persecuted, and frightened to vacate their natural homes for protection. Israeli policy of Zionism hinged on racism and expansionism was backed up by the British imperialism charged with the responsibilities of the Israeli state.
The aggression by US imperialism embarked upon at the point of negotiation in Geneva between the two parties was uncalled for. This action meant to bully Iran as a way of prioritising war as a means of resolving international conflict over diplomatic measures.
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There is no evidence in sight to end the war so soon. The war has negated the plan of the US that thought it would be won within a brief period. None of the objectives set out to be achieved by the attack have been achieved. Even when Iran refuted the idea of developing nuclear weapons, the US insisted on this as the basis of the attack; and with the ultimate aim of achieving a regime change for the country. Contrarily, the war has opened the mind of the oppressed nations to see the need for acquiring nuclear power as a means of defending themselves from the hands of economic predators.
The early pro-democracy protest opposed to the Iranian government notwithstanding, it has become almost impossible for the USA to achieve her conceived plan of regime change as the war rather than achieving this, it has united Iranians more than ever before.
The war has presently reached a turning point of escalation whereby there are threats and counter threats from both sides. Both sides have lost considerably. On the whole, nothing less than eighty billion dollars have been expended on the war, while the USA alone is reported to have spent about a billion dollars every day. Donald Trump is proposing an additional budget of two hundred billion dollars to prosecute the war.
The state of the escalation so far includes blasting of the gas plant in Iran by Israel with the corresponding retaliation meted against the Qatar gas plant by Iran.
The attack against Iran on the first day of the war that targeted military formations and governmental institutions was followed up with immediate retaliation within an hour by Iran that in turn attacked US military bases in the whole of Gulf region. Iran has since seized the Strait of Hormuz, the route that not less than twenty per cent of oil and fertiliser in the region pass through to the final consumers in the rest of the world, e.g., Asia and Europe.
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The result of this singular action has complicated the situation for the USA and her allies who find it difficult to access free flow of oil and fertilizer for agricultural purposes thereby causing immediate hike in the price of oil, high cost of living, inflation and future perils for food production in USA and other parts of the world. The world economy is by this made vulnerable and at risk.
USA’s excuse of lack of democracy as one of the reasons for the war cannot hold water. It would be recalled that the democratically elected government of Iran led by Mohammad Mosaddegh was removed from office on August 19, 1953 by coup organised by the combined forces of CIA and M16, agents of America and British imperialism. His offence was for reason of the nationalisation (limited) of the oil multinational corporations. In his place, the Shah of Iran, Mohammed Pahlavi, a stooge of US imperialism, was imposed to steer the affairs of the country.
While opinions have been on the rise calling for the de-escalation of the war, but Iran would be justified in getting assurance that attack against her by USA would stop on a permanent basis and reparation paid for the gargantuan damages done on the country’s infrastructures and economy. This is also to include withdrawal of all hitherto sanctions placed on the government and the country.
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The war can best be understood along the pattern of aggression by Donald Trump, who stands for: “Making America Great Again” slogan, in an attempt to engage in an excruciating predatory imperialist competition and rivalry across regions and other parts of the world.
The crisis and the wars in the Middle East for the past seventy-eight years could be traced to the settlement of the oppressed Jews from Europe into its present abode, Israel, in 1948 under the British Protectorate. In the process of doing this, the Arabs and Palestinians met on the ground were intimidated, persecuted, and frightened to vacate their natural homes for protection. Israeli policy of Zionism hinged on racism and expansionism was backed up by the British imperialism charged with the responsibilities of the Israeli state.
So, with the collaboration of the British and US imperialism, the struggle for the dominance of Israeli’s state over other Arab nations in the region has been on ascendance. Not a few wars have been waged to actualise such dominance. These included the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, 1967 Six-Day War, 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War, 1990-91; Saudi Arabia-Egypt, 1962-1975, Syrian Civil War, etc.
Israel was able to overcome all of these wars in the 1950s and 1960s for the reason of dearth of unity amongst the Arab countries, many of whom were under the influence of US imperialism. By way of the policy of divide and rule, Israeli state has been maintained as the regional power over others in the region. The rise of Iran now in a position to challenge Israeli state and put an end to its dominance in the region is responsible for this fight back with the collaboration of the USA.
The climax of the Israeli state was the development of nuclear power armament dated back to the late 1960s. This state of Israeli military power has never been publicly accepted as it was achieved discreetly, having denied the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to have access to such facilities. It is the same Israel crying wolf not to allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons, a case of pot calling kettle black.
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USA’s excuse of lack of democracy as one of the reasons for the war cannot hold water. It would be recalled that the democratically elected government of Iran led by Mohammad Mosaddegh was removed from office on August 19, 1953 by coup organised by the combined forces of CIA and M16, agents of America and British imperialism. His offence was for reason of the nationalisation (limited) of the oil multinational corporations. In his place, the Shah of Iran, Mohammed Pahlavi, a stooge of US imperialism, was imposed to steer the affairs of the country.
Iranians fought consistently to resist this imposition until the will of the working people manifested in 1979 with the popular Iranian revolution achieved in overthrowing the Shah Pahlavi regime.
USA-British imperialism in collaboration with the Israeli state has never ceased to give Iran and others like Libya, Egypt, Palestine, Algeria, etc., problem in the Middle East since 1948 and the class struggle has been on to defend the soul of the revolution. For any revolution that is worth its salt, according to V. I. Lenin, it must be able to defend itself.
Comrade Olamosu, writes from Centre for Social Policy and Labour Research (SOPLAR), Signs & Wonders Shopping Complex, Ekotedo-Iyalobe, Dugbe, Ibadan, and can be reached via +2348125048832.
