Britain Must End its IntensifiedWarmongering Activities against Iran
http://www.rcpbml.org.uk/wwie-12/ww12-28-29.htm#seventhLast week, the navies of the US, Britain, France and over twenty other countries, known as the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) began to converge on the Strait of Hormuz in order to carry out the largest-ever military manoeuvres in the Persian Gulf, the International Mine Countermeasures Exercise (ICMEX 12). As reported in The Telegraph of September 15, under the headline Armada of international naval power massing in the Gulf as Israel prepares an Iran strike, “Cruisers, aircraft carriers and minesweepers from 25 nations are converging on the strategically important Strait of Hormuz in an unprecedented show of force as Israel and Iran move towards the brink of war.” This military provocation lasting nearly two weeks is the latest in a series of warmongering acts directed at the Islamic Republic of Iran and carried out under the leadership of Anglo-American imperialism.
According to news agencies, the sabre-rattling in the Gulf is in preparation for war in the region. There is increasing speculation about the likelihood of a military attack on Iran by Zionist Israel sanctioned by the US and its closest allies. Iran has been the subject of sanctions and other hostile measures by the US, Britain and their allies because of its advanced nuclear programme, which the government of Iran claims is only intended for peaceful purposes and which is permitted for all signatories of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
Only last week the majority on the governing board of the International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA), under the influence of Britain and the US, passed a resolution on September 13 expressing “serious concern” about Iran’s nuclear capability and urging that country to comply with US Security Council resolutions tabled mainly by the governments of the US and Britain. It is noteworthy that Cuba voted against the IAEA resolution, while Egypt, Tunisia and Ecuador abstained. For its part, Iran stated it was ready to comply with the resolution but would not compromise its national security.
The British government also continues to play a leading role in the economic sanctions and other attacks against Iran that are tantamount to a war against its civilian population and are designed to prevent the importation of medicine and other necessities. Last week, Foreign Secretary William Hague announced that EU countries were planning to unleash yet more economic and other sanctions against Iran. Hague was also critical of Iran’s involvement in attempts to resolve the crisis in Syria, as part of quartet of neighbouring countries alongside Egypt, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
The government of Zionist Israel has amassed a nuclear arsenal with the support of the governments Britain, France and the US and is openly issuing threats against Iran. There is now open speculation in the media that Israel might launch a pre-emptive strike against Iran either shortly before or shortly after the presidential election in the US. In response to such an attack, it is claimed that the government of Iran might take measures to close the Strait of Hormuz to international shipping, thus cutting off oil and other vital supplies. It is in order to prepare for such an eventuality and to heap further pressure on Iran that the CMF is carrying out its current manoeuvres in the Persian Gulf. In response, the Iranian government has announced that it will carry out its own military manoeuvres next month.
Although the Coalition government is claiming that it is acting to restrain Israel, the latter is once again being used as a cat’s paw in the region and is an integral part of the warmongering stance of Britain, the US and others intent on regime change in Iran, just an in Syria. Anglo-American imperialism is not content to allow the gains of the Iranian revolution to be further developed and wishes to secure a geo-political advantage in central Asia both in its own interests and to the detriment of Russia and China.
The sabre-rattling and brinkmanship of the British government and its allies are creating an extremely dangerous situation in Asia with their warmongering and the fostering of violence and instability that could have unforeseen circumstances. Therefore the workers’ movement and all democratic people in Britain must step up the struggle to stay the hand of the warmogers, remove the threat of new war, and establish an anti-war-government.
