Left organisations in the Asia-Pacific have to Israel’s illegal “pre-emptive” strikes on Iran, on June 13, and the bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan by the United States, on June 22.
The Socialist Party of Malaysia the US-Israeli military aggression against Iran as “unprovoked, illegal, and a clear violation of the UN Charter and international law”.
“While continuously committing genocide against the Palestinian people, the Zionist regime of Israel launched an aggressive war under the pretext of dismantling Iran’s nuclear capabilities. Yet, Iran’s nuclear program is one of the most internationally scrutinised nuclear programs, and Iran is still a party to the [Nuclear] Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), while Israel has never signed the NPT, never allowed any international nuclear inspection, and its possession of nuclear weapons is an open secret.
“The Zionist regime of Israel once again reveals its flagrant hypocrisy with the full backing of the imperialist US. In fact, the barbaric act of the US-backed Zionist regime of Israel has sabotaged the ongoing negotiation on Iran’s nuclear program and destroyed all the efforts to resolve this issue peacefully through diplomacy.
Destabilisation
“The US-Israeli war on Iran serves nothing except to terrorise the people of Iran and weaken forces that could disrupt the Zionist expansionist regional domination and its genocide against the Palestinian people. The escalation of aggression against Iran is further destabilising the region and jeopardising global peace by inviting more deadly conflicts.”
The PSM called on the Malaysian government to recall its ambassador to the US and expel the US ambassador to Malaysia “as the minimum form of protest” against the war. Further, PSM called on the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to “take decisive actions collectively to put pressure on the US to end the war on Iran and the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people, as well as to preserve a just peace for humanity globally”.
In the Philippines, the Party of the Labouring Masses (The Philippines) on Iran as “criminal”, saying it “has opened a Pandora’s box that widens the war in the Middle East with dangerous and far reaching consequences for global peace and security”.
“This military escalation is not just about Iran’s nuclear program. It is an intervention to support the genocidal Israeli regime and the US and imperialist interests in the region.
“The specific aim is regime change, to replace the current leadership of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei with a puppet regime obedient to the US, and support Israel’s colonial occupation and genocide against the Palestinian people.”
“This is not the first time the US has intervened to crush Iranian sovereignty. In 1953, the CIA organised a coup against the democratically elected nationalist government of Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh, two years after it nationalised the British-owned oil industry ... The coup put in power the monarchy under the brutal dictatorship of the Shah (King) Reza Pahlavi. The Shah’s dictatorship was characterised by unbridled brutality, murder and torture.
Imperialism
“Today, the U.S. and Israel’s campaign for regime change is framed as a response to Iran’s nuclear program. It is fundamentally about reasserting imperialist control over a key strategic region and eliminating any government that dares to challenge Israel’s genocide in Palestine and US dominance in the Middle East.
“It is in the interest of all anti-imperialist, progressive and working-class forces globally to oppose the imperialist drive for regime change in Iran. The Iranian people have the right to determine their own future, even to change its government, but free from foreign intervention, war, and occupation.”
In India, Dipankar Bhattacharya, General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation on June 22: “After destroying Iraq, Libya and Syria, the US-Israel axis of aggression wants to destroy Iran and destabilise and subjugate the whole of West Asia.” He called on India to “not support the US-Israel axis in this totally unjust war and demand an immediate end to imperialist invasion of Iran”.
A released by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, Revolutionary Socialist Party and Forward Bloc condemned the bombing of Iran as a “grave violation of Iranian sovereignty and the United Nations Charter, saying it “will inflame global tensions, destabilise West Asia and have severe economic repercussions”.
“The US and Israel are justifying their attacks by claiming that Iran was on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon. However … the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, stated on 19 June: ‘We did not have any proof of a systematic effort to move into a nuclear weapon.’
“Even US intelligence agencies acknowledged that they did not possess conclusive evidence indicating that Iran was developing a nuclear weapon.
Hypocrisy
The statement goes on to say that “the US-Israel axis has little regard for their own intelligence assessments or any diplomatic process, and is intent on imposing war on Iran and the entire West Asian region. This makes it evident that the real intention is to destroy Iran, establish imperialist hegemony over West Asia, and control the global flow of resources. This attack is aimed at serving the interests of the military-industrial complex and enabling international capital to navigate its way out of the prolonged crisis.
“It is ironic that US, the only country to have ever used a nuclear weapon — despite Japan being ready to negotiate at the end of the Second World War — is now speaking about the threat of nuclear weapons!
“The US attack will, in all likelihood, drastically escalate the conflict, with disastrous implications for global peace and the livelihoods of ordinary people — especially in countries like India, which rely heavily on West Asia for oil imports and opportunities for migrant labour. The already burdened working masses will be the worst affected by the economic fallout of the war.
“The Indian government must immediately abandon its pro-US, pro-Israel foreign policy stance and join global efforts to stop the war. We urge all peace-loving people of our country to unite in condemning the US attack and to organise protest actions against this imperialist aggression.”
In Australia, Socialist Alliance National Co-Convenor Sam Wainwright said on June 18: “We add our voices to those demanding the Australian government condemn Israel’s warmongering in the strongest terms and impose immediate sanctions, including cancelling the bilateral military ties.
“The movement for peace with justice in this country must also press for the [Australia] US military alliance, in all its forms, to end. This includes cancelling the AUKUS agreement and closing US military bases.”