Against the Barbaric War of Israel and Iran. Capitalism Means War and Barbarism!

ICC Introduction

The ICC welcomes the rapid reaction by Internationalist Voice to the escalation of the war in the Middle East: analysing the attacks between Israel-Iran and putting forward an unswerving denunciation of the Israeli and Iranian bourgeoisies. IV also rejects the propaganda about the possibility of peace within decadent capitalism - the bourgeois press is talking of Iran and Israel stepping back from the brink when the threat of a wider war continues to grow.

The unconditional defence of internationalism and the rejection of all sides involved in this conflict is by far the first priority of any group claiming to defend internationalism. And IV rightly insists that only the working class struggle provides an answer to imperialism and its endless wars.

IV is also a co-signatory of the Joint Statement by the Communist Left on Ukraine and the Appeal concerning the war in Gaza, and on this occasion IV is again proving its internationalist credentials

The joint statement recognised that there would still be differences of analysis of the situation by groups of the Communist Left. These are being taken up in the Bulletins of the Communist Left where our readers can find discussion between the groups on these differences.

 

Against the Barbaric War of Israel and Iran. Capitalism Means War and Barbarism!

 

Once again, the brutality of capitalism has revealed itself in the form of military tensions. The states of Israel and Iran, widely regarded as war criminals, have turned the Middle East into a battleground for their contentious agendas and flames have engulfed the region. On 1 April 2024, Israel targeted the Iranian consulate in Damascus, resulting in the deaths of several Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders and Iranian military advisers. Iran lodged a complaint with the Security Council of the den of thieves (United Nations, UN), which also refused to condemn Israel, instead urging all parties to exercise restraint.

There are speculations that Israel had intelligence on Iranian military commanders and could have killed them as soon as they arrived in Syria, but Israel needed to intensify the existing tensions, and deliberately targeted the Iranian consulate in order to force Iran to challenge Israel directly instead of acting through proxies in the region. Netanyahu’s political position both inside and outside of Israel was greatly weakened, Western countries’ support for Israel was diminished due to the unrestrained killing of civilians in Gaza and internal protests against Netanyahu again spread inside Israel. Its child-killing and civilian-butchering face emerged, and anti-Israeli demonstrations affected public opinion around the world. Israel’s Haaretz newspaper, which is one of the most influential Israeli publications, described the situation in Israel just two days before Iran’s attack as follows:

“The war’s aims won’t be achieved, the hostages won’t be returned through military pressure, security won’t be restored and Israel’s international ostracism won’t end. We’ve lost. Truth must be told. The inability to admit it encapsulates everything you need to know about Israel’s individual and mass psychology. There’s a clear, sharp, predictable reality that we should begin to fathom, to process, to understand and to draw conclusions from for the future. It’s no fun to admit that we’ve lost, so we lie to ourselves.”[1]

With Iran’s attack, Israel appeared as the victim again, Netanyahu stabilized his position for the time being, Israel was able to regain the backing of Western countries and the issue of a possible ceasefire was side-lined. Most importantly, Israel was able to gain the unwavering support of America again, and America directly stood up to defend Israel. The US had previously emphasized that Israel did not inform the US of the attack on the Iranian consulate.

Iran informed its neighbours about the operation 72 hours before the military operation and emphasized that the operation would be limited and controlled and would not target Israel’s economic and civilian areas. Turkey had passed this information to America and most likely America had also transferred it to Israel. In addition, Iran had sent a message to America through the Swiss embassy that if America participated in Israel’s retaliatory attack against Iran, American bases in the region would not be safe.

First, on 13 April 2024, Iran seized a cargo ship belonging to an Israeli billionaire in the Strait of Hormuz. That evening, approximately 300 drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles were targeted at Israel, most of which were launched from Iran. According to the published information, all the drones were neutralized by Jordan, France, Britain and America before reaching Israel’s airspace in Jordan, Iraq and Syria. Some of the missiles were also stopped by the aforementioned countries before they entered the Israeli airspace, which made it easier for the remaining missiles to be intercepted by the planes or the Israeli interception system. Israel claims that 99 per cent of drones and missiles were blocked and eliminated by Israeli air defence systems and other Israeli partners. According to the British Guardian newspaper, the cost of interception and neutralization could amount to approximately 1.3 billion US dollars (1.1 billion British pounds).[2]

Iran’s representative in the UN declared that Iran’s operations were not offensive but legitimate defence according to the UN Charter:

“Iran’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations said the country’s military action against Israel was based on Article 51 of the UN Charter regarding the legitimate right to self-defence and in response to the deadly Israeli attack against the Iranian consulate in Syria.”[3]

Iran claimed that it targeted the Nevatim[4] air base in the south and the Negev air base in the north of Israel, causing significant damage to the former and disabling it. On the other hand, Israel stated that only one air base in the south of Israel was “very superficially” damaged in the Iranian attack and that the base is operating normally, and it also published a video of a military plane landing at the same base. The states of Iran and Israel have a long history of lying and inverting facts, although Israel does it more subtly and effectively and has better war propaganda. According to the American ABC report, nine Iranian missiles hit two Israeli air bases, but did not cause major damage:

“Five ballistic missiles hit the southern Nevatim Air Base, the official said, damaging a C-130 transport plane, an unused runway and empty warehouses. Four additional ballistic missiles struck the Negev Air Base, but no significant damage was reported, he added.”[5]

Certainly, such interception and neutralization would not have been possible without Israel’s partners, especially America, who had already prepared themselves for such a scenario. Through a statement, Joe Biden clearly explained how America was ready to help Israel:

“At my direction, to support the defence of Israel, the U.S. military moved aircraft and ballistic missile defence destroyers to the region over the course of the past week.  Thanks to these deployments and the extraordinary skill of our service members, we helped Israel take down nearly all of the incoming drones and missiles.”[6]

The chief of general staff of Iran’s armed forces also announced that the operation carried out was the extent of punishing Israel. From Iran’s point of view, the operation has ended and Iran does not intend to target the population and economic centres of Israel. In other words, Iran’s operations were controlled and Iran has no intention of escalating tensions:

“According to Iran, the operation was considered a success and further attacks on its part were not necessary, but if the Zionist regime carries out an action against the Islamic Republic either on our soil or in the centres belonging to us in Syria and elsewhere, a bigger operation will be carried out. Will be done.”[7]

As mentioned, Iran has warned of any possible attack by Israel, and in this context and in line with the propaganda war, billboards installed in the streets of Tehran read in both Persian and Hebrew: “The next attack will be the end of your fake country”. CNN also reflected the threat of the commander-in-chief of the IRGC:

“We have decided to create a new equation, which is that if from now on the Zionist regime attacks our interests, assets, personalities, and citizens, anywhere, and at any point we will retaliate against them.”[8]

Another important fact is that both Iran and Israel and Israel’s partners obtained the chance to test their war equipment in real combat conditions during this attack and, consequently, during the interception and neutralization and to examine the strengths and weaknesses of their war equipment.[9]

The tension between Iran and Israel following Israel’s attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus and even before Iran’s attack on Israel has generated serious economic consequences for Iran. The Iranian stock market experienced a heavy drop of approximately 54 thousand units of the stock index, and the value of the national currency fell by approximately 22 percentage points . After Iran’s attack on Israel, we also saw a drop in stocks in Asian markets and an increase in the price of gold. In other words, the working class pays the price of these imperialist tensions with the fall in their living standards.

The war in the Middle East has increased instability in the region, and this issue is not only a blow to American influence, but also to China’s imperialist ambitions. It has already affected China’s Silk Road. Just as Russia attacked Ukraine without the advice of China and in accordance with its imperialist interests, Israel is busy razing Gaza to the ground for the same reason, to some extent outside the control of America. Israel’s policy undermines the interests of the US and its allies. However, the US and its European allies are in some way facing the situation and are forced to support Netanyahu’s policies, although they also pay a heavy price. America is trying to prevent the situation from getting out of hand and the war from spreading, and that’s why the New York Times, in an article entitled “Military Aid to Israel Cannot Be Unconditional”, demanded that the sending of American weapons to Israel be conditional. The New York Times editorials state that Israel has broken the bond of trust between the two countries, and until Israel restores this bond, the US should not provide weapons to Israel:

“The suffering of civilians in Gaza – tens of thousands dead, many of them children; hundreds of thousands homeless, many at risk of starvation — has become more than a growing number of Americans can abide. And yet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and his ultranationalist allies in government have defied American calls for more restraint and humanitarian help.”[10]

Almost all Western countries condemned Iran’s operation against Israel and at the same time declared their support for Israel and advised Israel not to launch a retaliatory attack. Now the question of Israel’s retaliation has been raised. The US has asked Israel to inform the US of its plan before any possible response to Iran and has emphasized that it will not participate in any offensive action against Iran. CNN stated in this regard:

“President Joe Biden and senior members of his national security team, seeking to contain the risk of a wider regional war following a barrage of Iranian missiles and drones directed toward Israel, have told their counterparts the US will not participate in any offensive action against Iran, according to US officials familiar with the matter.”[11]

Israel also called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council and requested that it should firmly condemn Iran’s aggression against Israel and declare the IRGC a terrorist organization, despite the fact that Israel had previously called the council’s decisions shameful. Of course, the Security Council meeting ended without a resolution. During the meeting, the representative for Iran called Israel the cause of instability in the region and emphasized that Iran seeks to avoid the spread of the conflict:

“Iran has no intention of conflict with America in the region. We demonstrated our commitment to peace by exercising restraint over the US military’s involvement in intercepting Iranian drones and missiles aimed at military targets in the occupied Palestinian territories. This reflects our commitment to de-escalation and avoid escalation of conflict. However, if the United States initiates military operations against Iran, its citizens, or its security and interests, the Islamic Republic will use its inherent right to respond proportionately.”[12]

The fact is that the den of thieves (UN) is part of the war policy of different imperialist factions acting against each other. With the hypocrisy of the criminals, the demagoguery of the demagogues and the disgusting shows, the den of thieves, which once gave permission to carry out imperialist wars under the title of defending human rights, in the face of the massacre of approximately 37 thousand people, the majority of whom were children and women, states that nothing can be done, or silently authorizes the slaughter. Apparently, the mask of human rights has fallen and now not Israel itself, but its partners are accused of participating in genocide.

“Germany on Tuesday strongly rejected a case brought by Nicaragua at the United Nations’ top court accusing Berlin of facilitating breaches of the Geneva Convention and international humanitarian law by providing arms and other support to Israel in its deadly assault on Gaza.”[13]

All states, whether they appear to be pacifists, or whether they are warmongers, democrats or dictators, use the working class as cannon fodder in imperialist wars and are war criminals. The fact is that if we leave aside the propaganda of the democrats, the two criminal states of Israel and Iran have many similarities. In each one religion plays a fundamental role, and they are both ideological nations, with a long history of massacres, that have or have had thousands of prisoners, and so on. This list can be extended.

Depending on where you live or which front you are in, you will be bombarded with propaganda and the crimes of the other party are considered “war crimes”, while those of your own front are considered “legitimate defence”.

Israel claimed that Hamas intends to take advantage of the tension between Israel and Iran, so Hamas has rejected Israel’s offer and Israel will “pursue its goals in Gaza with all its might”.

Unfortunately, compared to their brothers and sisters in Iran, the Israeli working class is much more influenced by nationalism and religion, and this issue has made the Israeli working class unable to remember past struggles in its historical memory, meaning that the Israeli bourgeoisie can easily mobilize them to war. One of the reasons why the Iranian bourgeoisie does not want tensions to spread is that it knows that it will not be able to mobilize the working class to fight like it did during the Iran-Iraq war. Although the working class has not been able to straighten its back from previous defeats, nevertheless, compared to its class brothers and sisters in Israel, it has much better fighting conditions. It is the most combative battalion of the proletariat of the Middle East, which has recorded glorious battles in its historical memory.

In Iran, apart from their ideologies, pro-Western currents consider the expansion of tensions a window of hope and they hope that the military attack will bring down the mullahs and pave the way for them to come to the field. These factions have good propaganda facilities and are supported by Westerners, Arab countries and Israel in line with their imperialist interests.

The war in the Middle East is not a conflict in only one corner of the globe, but it has affected the whole world. Although all the actors involved in these imperialist goals emphasize the necessity of not expanding tensions, there is a risk that they will get out of control and turn into a regional war. These strained relations are not the product of bellicose leaders, but the result of certain conditions of the history of capitalism, and will continue in the future. Therefore, it is the duty of internationalists to defend proletarian internationalism and expose the imperialist nature of such frictions and their material background to the public and shout loudly that these are against the working class.

History has shown that the only force capable of ending the bourgeois killing machine that is war is the working class. It was the danger of the German Revolution that forced the bourgeoisie to sign the armistice. The same thing is always true. War criminals only refrain from conflict when there is the danger of the proletariat preparing themselves for the class war. Although the global working class is not in such a position today, the evolution of the class struggle can create such a future for the proletariat.

War has become a way of life for capitalism in its decadent age. Capitalism cannot provide a future, as it only spreads brutality and barbarism to more areas. It is an illusion to ask the warmongers to stop the war. The peace of the warmongers can only be a smokescreen in war-seeking capitalism. From within the peace of capitalism, only the flames of war can spread. Only the class struggle of the workers can offer an alternative to the brutality of capitalism, because the proletariat does not have a country to defend and its fight must cross national borders and develop on an international scale. Only the working class, by overthrowing capitalism on a global scale, can destroy the material basis of imperialist tensions and bring permanent peace to humanity.

Workers have no country!

Down with the imperialist war!

Long live the war between the classes!

 Internationalist Voice

15 April 2024

Notes:

[1] Saying What Can’t Be Said: Israel Has Been Defeated – a Total Defeat

[2] The Guardian.

[3] Iran says military action against Israel based on UN Charter’s Article 51

[4] Iran claims that this is the base from which the Israeli planes took off and bombed the consulate.

[5] U.S. officials told ABC News and the Wall Street Journal

[6] Statement from President Joe Biden on Iran’s Attacks against the State of Israel

[7] Financial Times

[8] CNN

[9] Some of the missiles fired did not have a warhead and were intended to engage the air defence systems so that other missiles would be able to hit the targets by bypassing the air defence systems. All the drones were also sent for the same purpose and apparently Iran did not use its latest-generation missiles in this attack.

[10] The New York Times

[11] Biden tells Netanyahu US will not participate in any counter-strike against Iran

[12] Amir Saeed Irvani, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran

[13] The Washington Post