Stop U.S. attacks on Iran. No war! End sanctions!

On Facebook: Emergency Day-After Protests: U.S. Hands Off Iran

We call on the anti-war and anti-imperialist movement, workers’ and community organizations to be on alert for the possibility of a U.S. military attack on Iran. We urge the movement to join us in calling for emergency day-after protests in cities around the country to demand “Hands Off Iran” in the event of a strike by the Pentagon or its proxies. The U.S. may use Israel to initiate an attack.

Since Election Day, the Trump administration has escalated war threats against Iran. On Nov. 27, Israel assassinated Iranian scientist Mohsen Fakrizadeh Mahabadi. Israel is a proxy state completely dependent on Washington. It could not have carried out such a provocative act without prior approval from the U.S. government. 

On Nov. 30, the U.S. aircraft carrier Nimitz and its strike group of guided-missile cruisers and destroyers entered the Arab/Persian Gulf off the coast of Iran. On Dec. 10, U.S. B-52 bombers based in Louisiana flew another run over the gulf off the coast of Iran. Saudi, Bahraini and Qatari warplanes — made in the USA — flew with them. On Dec. 21, the U.S. nuclear submarine Georgia, accompanied by two other warships, passed through the Strait of Hormuz.

On Dec. 20, several Katyusha rockets were fired at the Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq, which houses the U.S. Embassy. One Iraqi civilian was killed and there was minor damage to the perimeter of the U.S. Embassy complex. The U.S. Central Command issued a statement claiming that the attack was “almost certainly conducted by an Iranian-backed rogue militia group,” a charge disputed by Iraqi officials. On Dec. 23, Trump tweeted: “If one American is killed, I will hold Iran responsible. Think it over.”

The Trump administration’s baseless and illegal withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement was a pretext to escalate war preparations. Unilateral sanctions imposed on Iran by Washington and enforced against other countries have caused terrible economic harm as well as death, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sanctions are another form of war. 

Last January, Trump ordered the assassination of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani while he was on a peace mission to Iraq. Soleimani helped lead the resistance to imperialist-funded forces seeking to overthrow the sovereign government of Syria. On Dec. 24, Israel launched a missile attack in western Syria.

The section of the U.S. capitalist class that most favors Trump includes oil and gas bosses who profited from the fracking boom after the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. Overproduction of oil on the global market has sent their profits into a downward spiral. They are eager for a war to disrupt the supply chain and boost their profits at any cost.

Trump may use a war with Iran as part of his strategy to overturn the election and remain in office. But even if Joe Biden takes office on Jan. 20, there is no guarantee that he would end a war that Trump set in motion. One only needs to look at recent congressional bipartisan actions — $696 billion for the U.S. war machine and a mere $600 in “stimulus” for workers — to see the real priorities of both the Republicans and Democrats.

Thirty-one years ago, George H.W. Bush and the Pentagon used the December holidays as a screen for the brutal, illegal invasion of Panama. The rulers must be put on notice that they will be met with opposition in the streets if they dare to attack the people of Iran.

Money for COVID relief for the people, not for war! 

U.S. troops out of Syria and Iraq!

End the sanctions! U.S. hands off Iran!

Socialist Unity Party/Partido de Socialismo Unido and Struggle-La Lucha newspaper

December 25, 2020