“We condemn the imperialist-Zionist bombings against Iran, Lebanon, and other countries in the region. We recognize Iran’s right to defend itself and we stand with its people, without providing any justification for and political support to the reactionary and repressive fundamentalist regime of the Ayatollahs. We call for international mobilization to stop Trump, Netanyahu, and their accomplices.”

The US and Israel are waging a brutal reactionary war against the Iranian people. Day after day, cities are being bombed across the country. Trump and Netanyahu once again aim to destroy the military capacities of Iran, its conventional rocket arsenals, depots and launch systems and its navy and to destroy all its means to acquire and build nuclear weapons. This time Trump has added a third objective: Regime change, even though it is unclear how this could be achieved.

The US and Zionist strikes deliberately targeted key representatives of the Iranian regime, killing supreme leader Ali Khamenei, and the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard (IRG), and other top political and military leaders of the Islamist regime. At the same time, they also murdered hundreds of civilians, including school children, another example what they call “collateral damage”. The intensive military campaign is clearly not limited to “surgical strikes”, calling the Iranian population to evacuate whole urban districts near military or other targets like TV stations. This is what “aid to Iranian people” looks like, if the US and Israel – covertly or openly aided by their NATO allies and the Gulf states – press ahead aim with regime change in order to install a pro-US and pro-Israel puppet regime.

And this is only the beginning. Trump announces that we have not yet seen the high point of the US military campaign, that an even greater “massive wave” will start soon. He doesn’t even rule out sending in ground troops, though such an imperialist adventure is probably another Trump threat rather than a likely perspective. The US military has not (yet) assembled the troops in the region to carry out a serious ground invasion and all other member of the US government like vice-president J.D. Vance or foreign minister Marco Rubio currently rule out such an invasion.

But, given the aims of the US and Israel and the inner logic of the evolution of the war itself, one cannot categorically rule out such a development, if the regime does not collapse or surrender unconditionally.

In any case, the war has already gone beyond an imperialist aggression against Iran. The Israeli army is waging another massive attack against Lebanon under the pretext of finally destroying Hezbollah, bombarding the country, including Beirut, on a daily basis and even threatening a ground invasion. The US tries to drag the Gulf states into the offensive operations of its military campaign. In short the conflict is already turning into a regional war in order to reshape the power relations in the entire region in favour of the US and Israel. Trump and Netanyahu seek to reduce all the states of the region to humble agents of whatever they dictate. A vital part of this is to give Israel another carte blanche to complete its genocide against the Palestinian people, despite the so-called ceasefire it has violated regularly since October 2025.

As expected, many Western imperialist states, in spite of the debates and differences they have with the United States and Israel, end up lining up behind Trump. This is not limited to diplomatic and political support, but also includes direct or indirect aid. Although Trump complains and berates them for not doing enough, the British army provides logistical support for the airstrikes against Iran, although it alleges that it is only for defensive purposes. France wants to intervene to “protect” the Gulf countries, while Germany and Italy host key U.S. air bases, such as Ramstein Air base, to secure supply chains for the U.S. war machine.

In spite of these facts, there are contradictions. The President of Spain Pedro Sánchez rejected the war, stating that he would not allow the use of the Rota and Morón bases and refusing to adopt a position of “blind and servile following”. Regarding Trump’s threats to sever all trade relations with Spain, Sánchez obtained the solidarity of the Brussels authorities who declared themselves ready to act to safeguard the interests of the European Union. For his part, on Monday, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte praised the US and Israeli military action against Iran, although he also stated that NATO will not participate as such.

China and Russia, political and economic allies of Iran, criticise the US attack and condemn the breach of international law. But this is not only a cynical move given the reactionary Russian invasion in Ukraine and the global imperialist ambitions of China. As was the case in Venezuela, their “support” is limited to words, since they do not want to challenge the US over Iran, giving it and its allies de facto free hand.

The criminal adventure of the US and the Zionist state risks igniting a wider regional conflagration with unpredictable consequences for working people everywhere — rising prices, economic instability, and the danger of escalation. It underlines, once again, that there is no peaceful or stable future under this system, but that it rather has to be seen as another explosion in a world marked by the struggle for the redivision of the world, economic and social crisis.

Stop the imperialist and Zionist aggression!

It is the duty of the entire working class movement and the whole left to denounce the reactionary attack on Iran, on Lebanon and on any other states or forces in the region, who are targeted by the imperialist-Zionist aggression. We must organise mass actions against this criminal adventure and all governments supporting it.

A victory of the US and Israel would be a defeat not only for the brutally repressive Iranian regime, but also for the working class and the oppressed in Iran, since it would strengthen direct control of the country by imperialism and Zionism, it would not bring freedom and democracy, but a US puppet government, be it under a “reformed” Islamist or military pro-US regime or a return of a monarchy under US control.

Therefore, we defend Iran’s right to resist the attack – not at all because we support the Islamic Republic, an arch-reactionary regime that slaughters its own citizens. We supported the repeated mass mobilisations by Iranian workers, youth and women. Indeed, Khamenei’s and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s horrific repression, alienating millions, acted as an invitation to the US and Israel to attack Iran, hoping to misuse the anger, hatred and desperation of the people to bring down the regime.

The current US and Zionist attack is not as struggle between “democracy” and “Islamist dictatorship”. Even Trumps “minister of war”, Pete Hegseth, has made this clear on 2^nd of March, when he stated, “this is not a politically correct war” and that a “democratic Iran” is not the objective, but “just” the installation of an US-friendly regime. In other words: It is an imperialist aggression to turn the country in into a subservient ally for the restructuring of the entire region. Therefore, any state with any degree of strength, which is seen as an obstacle to the imposition of this order and the strengthening of the Zionist state as a regional gendarme, is a target, irrespective of the character of its regime.

Iran is aiming to resist the attack. Counter-attacks on the Zionist state or on US military basis in the Gulf are legitimate means of Iran’s self-defence against such an aggression. Likewise, the support of Hezbollah for Iran, the Huthi attacks on ships heading for the Suez canal or of Shia forces in Iraq on US occupation forces are a justified response to the US onslaught. We must reject the Western lie that Iran and its allies spread the war to the Gulf or other parts of the Middle East. In reality the Gulf states, with their US and British bases, are de facto backing the attack by providing military basis for the imperialist or by allowing the US and Israel to use their air space.

But whilst the military defence of Iran and its allies is legitimate, we also must be clear, that the US and Zionist aggression is not going to be stopped or defeated only by military means. We need to build a massive international movement to stop the imperialist aggression and to defeat its war machine.

This means to build a movement to block the military supply chains of the attack. We need to fight for the closure of all US military basis, for the dissolution of NATO and against the support of the war by all the states in the West or in the Gulf. We need to impose a full scale boycott of all military, financial and economic support for Israel. And we need to give full support for the Palestinian liberation struggle and the fight for one socialist state in Palestine.

The struggle against the imperialist war on Iran is also closely linked to the social, economic, democratic and antiracist struggles in the United States. The US is attacking Iran for geo-strategic reasons, but also in order to rally support for a “victorious” Trump and the Republicans amongst his base, despite the fact a majority of the US population does not support the war. Therefore, defeating the US aggression – the failure to install a puppet regime in the country or seize hold of its oil wealth – would weaken imperialism in the Middle East as well as in the US itself. Also in the Arab states, rallying workers and popular masses against the aggression and in solidarity with Palestine, could generate mass movements against the imperialists and the reactionary, dictatorial regimes.

Defend Iran, but no political support for the Islamist regime!

We defend Iran and the Iranian people against the imperialist aggression. But this does not and must not entail any political support of the regime or any whitewashing of the theocratic dictatorship as “anti-imperialist”.

The weak and crisis ridden Iranian capitalist state, has been aiming to increase its regional power. The Mullah regime has done so by supporting arch reactionary dictatorships like Assad in Syria or by increasing its influence in Iraq – an unintended consequence of the reactionary US wars and overthrow of Saddam Hussein. It has presented itself demagogically as a supporter of the Palestine liberation struggle but is has actually avoided any clash with the Zionist state (which did not prevent Israel from attacking Iran). And Iran has de facto drifted towards becoming a kind of semi-colony closely tied to Russia and, economically much more importantly, to China in order to counter the most dramatic effects of the US and Western European sanctions.

The Iranian regime is the result of the Iranian revolution against the Shah being hijacked after his fall by a reactionary Islamic counter-revolution led by Ayatollah Khomeini. This was not solely the result of the influence of religion on the Iranian masses. It was also the result of the betrayal by almost the entire left, both petty bourgeois and Stalinist, who, at the crucial moment, subordinated to Khomeini. This was particularly true of the massive Stalinist Tudhe Party. In the name of a revolution by stages (first democratic, subordinated to the bourgeoisie, in this case Islamic, and then socialist), they supported the Islamists. The result, as so often in history, is that neither socialism nor democracy was ever achieved. The only exceptions on the left were the Guevarists of the People’s Fedayeen (minority) and the Trotskyist comrades of the Socialist Workers’ Party, along with a workers’ vanguard organized in the Independent Shoras (Workers’ Councils). But these forces were too small to defeat the Khomeiniists. Thus, a counter-revolutionary regime was established behind the backs of the working class, the peasants, women, youth, and the oppressed nations of Iran, who have been brutally oppressed by a reactionary Islamist dictatorship ever since. Iran is an extremely repressive clerical dictatorship, whose repressive apparatus even includes fascist forces such as the Basij militia.

The Iranian workers, women, students and oppressed nations have risen time and time again against the dictatorship, be it in the Jin Jiyan Azadi movement or, most recently in the mass strikes, protests and uprisings in December 2025 and January 2026, which have been crushed in blood, with tens of thousands being killed, injured, imprisoned or “disappeared”. The working class and the oppressed in Iran will never forget this and, sooner or later, rise against the regime.

We defend Iran not because, but despite its reactionary regime. The liberation from the Islamic Republic can only be carried out by the people of Iran themselves — the workers, women, and youth who have fought that regime at enormous cost. We stand in unconditional solidarity with their struggle, against the mullahs, against the monarchists, and against the imperialist bombs and sanctions that strengthen the regime’s fraudulent claim to be the defender of Iran against Zionism and imperialism.

The international working class movement is the only consistent ally of the Iranian people’s struggle for democracy and self-determination. In defending Iran against this war of aggression, we give no support to the clerical dictatorship — we act in solidarity with the just struggle of the Iranian people to determine their own future, free from imperialist blackmail.

Whilst rejecting the imperialist aggression, revolutionaries must at the same time prepare for the future struggles and uprisings against the Islamist regime. This means to fight to create a political force, a revolutionary working class party under conditions of massive repression and illegality which can give a lead to the coming political eruptions in order to prevent another crackdown or pro-imperialist forces like the Pahlevis taking advantage of the situation. Such a party must learn from the past mistakes and build an organisation on clear political foundations, a programme of permanent revolution, for linking the democratic demands with the struggle for a workers government and socialism.

For an international movement against imperialist aggression and war!

The current attack poses the question of building an international mass movement against imperialist attacks in the Middle East and against the continued genocide in Palestine. It should be founded on the basis of clear slogans:

Hands off Iran! Defeat the US and Zionist aggression!

No to the attacks on Lebanon!

Stop the Genocide! Support the Palestinian liberation struggle!

US, UK, France and their allies out of the Middle East!

Close all US military bases of the US and its allies

Workers’ sanctions against the warmongers!

Our full solidarity with the Iranian people!

No political support for the dictatorial regime of the mullahs!

For the right to self-determination, including separation, for all the peoples of Iran! For their voluntary unity in a socialist federation of the region!

The US and Zionist aggression can be defeated, if we build a movement, rooted in the workplace, in the communities, in the schools and universities. We call on all working class parties, on the students and women’s movements and on the trade unions to unite their forces against the war, to take up the example of Italian and other trade unionists organizing mass strike action in solidarity with the Sumud Flotilla in Autumn 2025, organizing mass demonstrations, blockades and taking strike again to stop the war.

Within such a movement, we will raise the need to go beyond joint action. The imperialist system inevitably leads to more and more wars, social, economic, environmental and political catastrophes. Fighting for a revolutionary and socialist perspective in the Middle East and worldwide has become an urgent necessity. This poses the need for a new revolutionary international, regrouping and uniting revolutionaries on the basis of common perspective and revolutionary programme. The ISL and its sections are committed to this goal.

International Socialist League (ISL)