TEL AVIV and TEHRAN—Under the title “Stop the Killing, Stop the War Now!”, the Tudeh Party of Iran and the Communist Party of Israel published a joint statement Tuesday that has garnered media attention around the world.
In the statement, the two communist parties strongly condemned “the ongoing Israeli aggression in the region, and the recent attack on Iran, which constitutes a direct violation of international law.” They demanded an immediate end to all military actions, which they said are killing civilians on both sides.
“The crimes committed by Benjamin Netanyahu’s reactionary right-wing government in Gaza and the West Bank with the support of American imperialism, Britain, and their allies in the European Union have not only resulted in more than 55,000 Palestinians losing their lives and over 18,000 children being killed, but have also given the Israeli government the green light for further aggression against the countries of the region, with the aim of redrawing the map of the Middle East in accordance with the strategic goals of American imperialism,” they wrote.
The parties also noted that the leaders of the Israeli government have “been rightly accused of crimes against humanity” by the International Criminal Court.
The Communists in Iran and Israel linked the war against Iran to the one Israel is already waging against Palestine.
“While we witness war and destruction in Iran and Israel, we also warn against exploiting the situation to intensify and continue the suffering and inhuman oppression of the Palestinian people in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. We call on the international community to take real and concrete actions to prevent another disaster for the Palestinian people and the peoples of the region.”
Tudeh and the CPI said that ending the genocide in Gaza and recognizing a Palestinian state were central requirements to lower tensions in the Middle East.
“Only imperialism, its allies, reactionaries, and the ruling dictatorship [in Iran] benefit from the tensions and war,” they declared. “Israel and the U.S.—after Iraq, Libya, and Syria—are now determined to undermine Iranian sovereignty and will not stop until all the regimes in the region bow to the same project of imperialism and hegemony in the Middle East that aims to suppress the will of the peoples and their right to self-determination.”
Both parties also expressed their principled opposition to all nuclear weapons programs in the Middle East and around the world. “The path to stopping the nuclear race in the Middle East does not lie in an aggressive war against Iran, but rather in the disarmament of the entire region from nuclear weapons, and the signing of the Non-Proliferation Treaty by all countries in the region, including Israel.”
They also called on all progressive and freedom-loving forces in Israel, Iran, and around the world to “unite in condemning this blatant and cruel violation of international law” and to focus all efforts on preventing a destructive and widespread military conflict and establishing peace in the Middle East.
“All available international mechanisms must be used, including through the U.N. and the Security Council, to prevent the region from plunging into a catastrophic war,” they warned.
The Communists of the Tudeh Party have been operating underground in Iran since the early 1980s, and thousands of their members have been murdered by the regime, arrested and tortured, and even forced to flee their country. Despite their repression by the theocratic government which rules their country, they say it is the Iranian people themselves who should decide their future and not foreign powers like Israel or the U.S.
Last Friday, the Tudeh Party published a statement stating: “The criminal attack led by Benjamin Netanyahu, apparently in coordination with the Trump administration, is a violation of all international laws. It is worth noting that the attack occurred two days before the opening of the sixth round of negotiations between the Islamic Republic and the United States on the nuclear issue.”
Meanwhile, U.S. intelligence estimated that Iran was not actually working to develop nuclear weapons and that it would be up to three years before such weapons could be produced. Trump’s Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, shared that fact in testimony before Congress in March.
Gabbard’s report contradicts the position of the right-wing government in Israel, according to which Iran is rapidly approaching the point of no return and that its attacks on Iranian territory are intended to destroy its nuclear program. The U.S. president has dismissed Gabbard’s assessment and indicates he will likely join Israel in bombing Iran.
A source in the U.S. government told CNN that since the attacks began last Friday, Israel has only managed to delay the Iranian nuclear program by a few months. The news network mentioned that Israel caused heavy damage to the uranium enrichment facility in Natanz, but the fortified enrichment facility in Fordow, located under the mountain, was hardly damaged.
According to experts, Israel is unable to strike the Fordow facility without advanced air weapons and operational assistance from the United States.
Related Stories:
> Israel’s bombing of Iran aims to pull U.S. into all-out war
> Iranian, Israeli, Palestinian, and U.S. Communists all condemn Netanyahu’s war on Iran
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