The Zionist terrorist state of Israel launched an open war against Iran on the morning of 13 June with air strikes. The fact that the Iranian state, which remained passive on the first day of the war against Israel's attacks, was able to move to a more effective defensive position on the second day and was able to carry out counterattacks, albeit more limited than Israel’s strikes, one after another in the first two days of the war, indicates that the war could drag on for a long time.
This war marks a new phase in the strategy that Israel has been pursuing across the entire Middle East for 20 months since the Al-Aqsa Intifada. The Zionist state, taking advantage of the reaction in imperialist countries in its favour following the events of 7 October 2023, has embarked on a campaign to uproot the people of Gaza from their homeland through genocide and ethnic cleansing. After Trump came to power, it intensified this war of destruction and expulsion, targeting the ‘Axis of Resistance’. It has decimated the leadership of Hezbollah in Lebanon rendering the organisation incapable of action, ensured the overthrow of the Baath regime in Syria with the help of Turkey and imperialism, and has now finally declared war on Iran, the backbone of the Resistance Axis. This is not just an Israeli-Iranian war; it is a war on the whole of West Asia (the Middle East). The imperialism-Zionism duo is jointly carrying out an operation to turn West Asia into a thornless rose garden. Iraq and Yemen will be next.
There is no room for ambivalence or hesitation! We stand with Iran! The path to peace in West Asia lies in the defeat of imperialism and Zionism!
In such a war, there is no room for ambivalence for the working people of our country and West Asia. As in past incidents where the peoples and states of our region were subjugated by imperialism's tanks and guns, notably the US invasion of Iraq, the interests of the working people lie in repelling the attacks of imperialism and its lackey Zionism. When conditions permit, taking this war beyond a successful defence and eliminating the Zionist terrorist state by force is also in the interests of our working people. The DIP (Revolutionary Workers' Party), which views this war from the perspective of the working people, stands with Iran in its just war with this very awareness. Iran must emerge victorious from this war, the rogue state of Israel must be crushed, and the great power behind it, US imperialism, must be defeated along with Israel.
We advocate the prospect of workers' power in Iran not to deepen its weaknesses on the military front, but to eliminate its weaknesses and ensure the mobilisation required for victory!
The expression of concerns about the nature of the mullahs' regime in Iran, perfectly legitimate under other circumstances, must not be allowed to cast doubt on Iran's rightful defence of its homeland. The heroic struggle of the Iranian people, first and foremost the workers and the poor who fought for jobs and food in 2019 and the women who fought for freedom in 2023, being turned into a weapon in the hands of imperialism and Zionism and used as a cover for the bombs raining down on Iran means betraying both these struggles and the anti-imperialist cause. What we are witnessing is a new peak in the war that Zionism has been waging against the peoples of our region and it is Iran's struggle for survival. The imperialists talk day and night about Israel's right to self-defence. It is Iran in fact that has the right to self-defence.
The fact that this legitimate defence of the homeland could not be carried out with the expected success, especially on the first day, and the targeted assassinations of senior commanders of the Iranian army and the Revolutionary Guards, a military formation operating independently of the army, as well as of leading scientists at the head of the Iranian nuclear programme, display the serious military and intelligence weaknesses Iran faces. Those who exploit this situation against Iran and in support of Zionism are waging a propaganda war with exaggerated comments. We, on the contrary, wish for Iran's victory without hesitation. It is precisely those who want this victory who should reflect on the causes of the current weaknesses. The reactionary mullahs in power, who have left a number of social groups open to Zionist propaganda through their harsh and oppressive policies against women, minorities, and the working class, and who have paved the way for imperialist and Zionist intelligence organisations to easily gain followers, have clearly become a weak link preventing a more successful war against Zionism. Therefore, while we stand with Iran in the current war, we also emphasise that the power that can achieve the victories our people long for against Zionism and imperialism in Iran, the Arab world, and Turkey is working-class power, which will unite the working people like a fist.
The nuclear arsenal of genocidal Israel is illegal and illegitimate! Iran's nuclear programme in defence of its homeland is a legitimate right!
There is no tangible basis for the imperialist and Zionist propaganda's attempts to legitimise this barbaric declaration of war. Arguments about Iran's uranium enrichment and its potential to acquire nuclear weapons are a mockery of the intelligence of the peoples of the planet. It is well known that Israel is the only state in West Asia and North Africa with a nuclear arsenal. Moreover, while Iran is a signatory to the international Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Israel has never been a party to it. Therefore, characterising Iran's uranium enrichment as a threat and the Zionists' hostility towards it as Israel's concerns is merely repeating the lies of imperialism. Iran has demonstrated its willingness to keep its nuclear programme within peaceful limits through a series of agreements and by opening its doors to the International Atomic Energy Agency. Even if this were not the case, who could claim that only Israel has the right to possess nuclear weapons in the region? It is a legitimate right for Iran, which is under Israel's nuclear threat, to possess nuclear weapons to deter this threat.
The US and Western imperialism, which protect Zionist aggression, cannot be mediators
The attacks have clearly exposed the hypocrisy of imperialism. US President Donald Trump, who, before coming to power, marketed himself as a candidate for peace, is using Israel as an aggressive dog with a loose leash while continuing nuclear negotiations with Iran. French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who pose as democratic forces in contrast to Trump, did not hesitate to indicate that they would be willing to play a role in defending Israel in response to Iran's countermeasures. They also halted a series of diplomatic initiatives aimed at recognising a Palestinian state. It is striking that this move, aimed at curbing the massive anger developing even among the peoples of imperialist countries against the Zionist genocide in Palestine, has been put on hold in order to rush to Israel's defence. It has thereby been made abundantly clear that even symbolic concessions to the Palestinian victims of genocide can only come after the military “defence” of genocidal Israel has been successfully carried out. No salvation will come to our region from the imperialists, whether American or European. The end of Zionist terrorism will not come through imperialist mediation, but through a relentless struggle against imperialism.
Open or covert collaboration with Zionism is a crime! The peoples are against, the rulers are servants!
This war has once again highlighted the striking hypocrisy of the imperialists and the collaborative nature of the regional powers. The collusive Arab regimes, which have issued statements condemning Israel out of fear of their peoples' reactions, not only failed to provide any concrete support to Iran in its legitimate defence of its homeland, but also rushed to Israel's defence. Iran's missile and drone strikes against Israel are being countered first by Jordan's air defence systems, as if they were the first line of defence. Saudi Arabia and Egypt are playing the same role against missiles fired at Israel from Yemen. These governments, which are shooting down these missiles against Zionist terrorism under the pretext of airspace security, reveal their true intentions by doing nothing against Israeli aircraft flying to Yemen and Iran. The US military bases in Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Kuwait are playing the role of a front line against Iran. Although these collaborators are among the greatest assets of the Zionists, the deepening of the war could trigger popular movements against the collaborating governments in countries with a significant Palestinian population, such as Jordan, or a Shiite majority, such as Bahrain. The rise of the masses in the Arab world to overthrow the collaborators of Zionism is the greatest hope for changing both the balance of power in the war and the regional balance in general.
Turkey's verbal support for Iran while practically supporting Israel
While the despotic regime in Turkey is content with empty statements, it refrains from taking any genuine steps to support the resistance against Zionism.
High-sounding statements against Israel are not followed by concrete steps such as military support for Iran or the Palestinian resistance, an embargo against Israel, or the closure of the Kürecik Base in Malatya, Turkey, which serves as the eyes and ears of the Zionists against missiles sent from Iran. This situation, which amounts to practical support for Zionism, must be brought to an end immediately. Practical military support for Zionist Israel's attacks must be cut off, starting with the closure of the Kürecik and İncirlik bases, which stand as monuments to humiliation on Turkish territory. Concrete sanctions must be imposed on Israel, the Zionist embassy must be closed, a total embargo on Israel must be immediately implemented, in short those in power in our country must put an end to this disgrace.
The reason behind the lack of a real response to Israel by the dictatorship lies in its support for imperialism and Zionism, despite all its attempts to cover it up. However, in this war that imperialism and Zionism have launched against Iran, imperialism's ultimate target is Russia, which is fighting against the Ukrainian army equipped by imperialists on the front lines, and China, which continues to face tensions with the United States and its allies in the South China Sea. Iran is not receiving significant support from either of these two powers. Developments may, of course, take a different turn, but at this early stage, both powers are speaking with a weak voice and appear unable to stop the United States and Israel. This situation once again demonstrates that Putin and the Chinese Communist Party are the weak belly in the struggle against imperialism. Russia, whose expectations of reaching an agreement with Trump are slowly falling through, is about to pay the price for its opportunistic policy towards Israel. Not only does Putin want to avoid conflict with Israel in West Asia, he also wants to strengthen Israel in the Balkans, and it is he who will suddenly find himself facing the imperialists in the Caspian Sea if Iran falls. Russia recently signed a strategic partnership agreement with Iran that is entirely devoid of any returns. This agreement contains ridiculous provisions, such as Russia not selling weapons to Israel in the event of an attack. But what is even more serious is that Russian newspapers are rejoicing in anticipation of a rise in oil prices as a result of the attack on Iran since this they think will be in Russia's favour. China, meanwhile, has limited itself to issuing a statement calling on ‘all sides to remain calm.’ These examples prove once again the urgency of organising revolutionary struggle in Russia and China.
It is revolution that will prevent the world war we are on the brink of! Internationale unites the human race!
At this stage, predictions about what the outcome of this war will be, whether the United States will join the war, whether the Arab masses will launch a ‘game-changing’ uprising, or whether the mullahs' regime will survive this crisis irrespective of how the war ends, cannot go beyond speculation. However, it is necessary to point out a major outcome that has already emerged from the very first days of the war. The Israel-Iran war has once again demonstrated that we are on the brink of a Third World War. The prediction made by DIP at its extraordinary congress in 2016, convened due to the threat of a world war having become “tangible, concrete, and actual” is being proven right by the flow of events.
To say that the Third World War has already begun is sensationalist chatter. When that war starts, no one will need to demonstrate that it has started with high-flown analyses; everyone will immediately understand that it has begun. But the events that have unfolded over the past three years—from NATO unleashing Ukraine under Zelensky on Russia to Israel's genocide in Gaza, and now the all-out attack on Iran—are even more deafening warnings than the developments that heralded the Second World War in the 1930s (Abyssinia, Spain, Munich, China, etc.).
Therefore, proletarian socialists and vanguard workers must certainly take seriously the slogans and demands regarding the individual wars taking place today, but they must not stop there. Humanity will soon face the task of preventing barbarism. The Gaza genocide is the first expression of this. Therefore, the task is to construct revolutionary workers' parties in all countries and unite them in order to take steps towards the foundation of a world party, a revolutionary International, in order to defeat barbarism. It was the revolutions of the working class that put an end to the first two world wars. The third will be prevented by the working class, initially with its thunderous irruption in single countries towards taking power, ultimately through the victory of world socialist revolution.
Shut down the Incirlik and Kürecik bases immediately!
Total embargo on Israel!
War against imperialist/Zionist aggression and the genocide in Gaza!
Down with the Zionist state of Israel!
Down with imperialism!
Socialism or barbarism!
Workers and oppressed peoples of all countries, unite!
Revolutionary Workers' Party (DIP)