For principled solidarity with Iran

international | anti-war / imperialism | other press Tuesday October 30, 2007 13:59 by Yassamine Mather - Hands Off the People of Iran

Yassamine Mather in an article published in the Weekly Worker (25 Oct 07) deals with the growing threat of war against Iran. She also analyses developments amongst the Kurds and highlights how the Iraqi PUK are betraying other Kurds.

If anyone is in any doubt about the level of the threat of war against Iran, I suggest they read the text of a speech by Tony Blair comparing “Iran’s extremism” to “rising fascism in the 1920s and 1930s” (Times Oct 19). Quiet clearly Blair has spent so much time in Israel that he repeats like a parrot the most stupid utterances of Israeli politicians - all this in line with the US administration’s plans for possible military attack against Iran and paving the way for more extensive sanctions. Worst of all for Iran’s leaders, Russian president Vladimir Putin, in Tehran for talks with the theocratic regime gave a stark warning that Russia will not oppose further sanctions and military strikes against Iran, unless it stopped its enrichment of nuclear-grade uranium.

Of course, no-one who has listened to Dick Cheney or George Bush could be in any doubt that the nuclear debacle is no more than an excuse for preparing for such an attack. The current US administration labelled Iran its main enemy in the region on the day it came to power in 2001 - it was Iran’s compliance with and support for the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq that delayed the escalation of the conflict. But now the US administration is so desperate to divert attention from the disaster in Iraq that an air assault on Iran by the US or Israel is a real possibility.