In February 2003, at a session of the Security Council of the den of thieves (the UN), Colin Powell, then United States Secretary of State, held up a vial containing a white powder and claimed that Saddam Hussein’s regime possessed weapons of mass destruction, presenting it as a grave threat to world peace. This assertion was used as one of the principal justifications for the military invasion, the launch of a large-scale war, and the unleashing of a bloodbath in the name of “democratising” Iraq.

On 28 February 2026, Donald Trump repeated a similar scenario and, claiming to eliminate imminent threats to the interests of the United States, announced the launch of a large-scale military operation. According to this account, the US military, accompanied by Israel, carried out extensive combat operations against the Islamic Republic with the aim of neutralising an immediate threat as part of a pre-emptive action, and stated:

“A short time ago, the United States military began major combat operations in Iran. Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very hard, terrible people. Its menacing activities directly endanger the United States, our troops, our bases overseas and our allies throughout the world.”[1]

On Saturday morning, the United States and Israel launched a new war against the Islamic bourgeoisie through a combined operation, aiming to “Make Iran Great Again” through slaughter. The operation, accompanied by cyber-attacks, began its first phase with the objective of eliminating commanders, ministers, and the Supreme Leader of the Islamic bourgeoisie through direct air strikes using fighter jets, drones, and missiles, as well as sabotage by internal agents. The Supreme Leader of the Islamic bourgeoisie, the Chief of the General Staff, the commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Minister of Defence, the Secretary of the Defence Council, numerous military commanders, and hundreds of civilians have been killed as of the time of writing. Air bombardments are occurring across almost all of Iran, but in Tehran they are particularly severe and terrifying. The city is witnessing one of the heaviest and most widespread air raids in its history, carried out by aircraft, missiles, and drones.

This is merely demagoguery, as if the United States and Israel, through their precise strikes, were only seeking to eliminate the political and military leadership and the military infrastructure of the Islamic bourgeoisie. In reality, schools, hospitals, clinics, residential homes, sports halls, markets, and other locations have also been targeted, and, unfortunately, civilian casualties are extremely high; in a single girls’ primary school in Minab County alone, 156 female students have been killed.

Trump, like gangsters who flaunt their strength and power, once again spoke in the language of robbers about the capability and might of his army and its progress in carrying out killings. His apparent aim was to compel other robbers—that is, the rulers of Iran—to surrender or collapse; but, in fact, he also showcased his own destructive power and declared:

“No one should challenge the strength and might of the United States Armed Forces. I built and rebuilt our military in my first administration. And there is no military on Earth even close to its power. Strength or sophistication.”[2]

Earlier, in a detailed analytical article entitled “Submission or War? Capitalism and the Tendency Towards Generalised Imperialist War, and the Internationalist Response”, we examined and analysed the situation, explaining and arguing that capitalism tends towards general wars that spread across different parts of the world. In this specific case—namely, the attack by the United States and Israel—our argument was as follows:

“If the objective of the United States and its allies is to move beyond containment and weakening, and towards an existential war against the Islamic bourgeoisie, the situation assumes a fundamentally different character for Iran’s rulers. In such a scenario, the political survival of the Islamic bourgeoisie would be directly threatened, and its response could escalate into full-scale war.”[3]

Contrary to the wartime atmosphere prevailing on the first day of the conflict, the Islamic bourgeoisie initially called on the people to gather in Palestine Square to show their support. However, after the Supreme Leader was killed by rival gangsters, the public was urged to assemble in the squares of various cities to demonstrate their loyalty to the regime. At the same time, some expressed joy at the Supreme Leader’s death.[4]

Despite the initial strikes, Iran’s response this time took only a few hours. In addition to attacks on various locations across Israel and US military bases, other areas were targeted with missile and drone strikes under the pretext of hosting American or Israeli personnel; these included Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Iraq.

Meanwhile, the Strait of Hormuz is effectively closed. The Revolutionary Guards have sent high-frequency messages to ships, declaring that passage through the strait is prohibited. It appears that vessels on both sides of the strait have halted and are unwilling to risk crossing.

Tensions are deepening and spreading. Following news of the Supreme Leader’s death, demonstrations erupted in Kashmir, India. In Karachi, Pakistan, protesters attacked the US consulate, during which at least eight people were killed. At the same time, Iran-supporting groups in Iraq announced that they had launched operations against the United States. Hezbollah in Lebanon also declared that it would not remain neutral, while the Houthis in Yemen announced the start of their own operations.

However, most importantly, the situation in the Gulf states—particularly Saudi Arabia—could see them drawn directly into the conflict. If tensions continue to escalate, there is a real possibility that the clashes could spread to other regions. In other words, capitalism is sinking ever deeper into the vortex of chaos and war.

All governments—whether outwardly peace-loving or openly warlike, democratic or dictatorial—operate within the logic of capitalism and ultimately sacrifice the working class as cannon fodder in imperialist wars. In this sense, they are all complicit in war crimes; their differences lie not in their nature, but in their position and material capacity. The fundamental distinction is one of development and resources: advanced industrial countries are equipped with the latest information, security, and military technologies, and can therefore conduct wars and interventions with greater efficiency and destructive power.

In the imperialist war in the Middle East, the United States’ Western allies, as well as some regional partners, have effectively supported the conflict. For example, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom condemned Iran’s attacks on the Gulf states and called on Iran to refrain from “indiscriminate” military strikes. Meanwhile, Russia and China have gone no further than condemning the US–Israel attack.[5]

Strategically, weakening Iran as a Russian ally effectively undermines Russia’s position and can be seen as part of a strategy to contain China; limiting Iran’s influence—or even, beyond that, overthrowing the Islamic bourgeoisie—would also hinder China’s expansion of influence.

The pro-Western opposition, regardless of its ideological differences—whether representing the right or left of capital—regards the escalation of tensions as a window of opportunity and believes that a military attack could lead to the overthrow of the Islamic regime and pave the way for their entry onto the political stage. In addition to possessing extensive propaganda resources, these groups also benefit from the support of Western governments, Israel, and certain Arab states, in line with imperialist interests. In this context, and following developments and tensions related to imperialist wars in the Middle East, the propaganda machines of various powers have been activated on a wide scale, aiming to manage and influence public opinion in Iran.

In these critical historical circumstances, the responsibility for the steadfast defence of proletarian internationalism falls on communist left and internationalist forces. This duty requires exposing the imperialist nature of these wars and clarifying the material conditions that give rise to them for public understanding, particularly for the working class.

It must be stated loudly and clearly that all of these wars are contrary to the interests of the working class. The consequences of the Middle Eastern war will not be confined to the region, since capitalism is a global system of militarism, and its effects on the lives and livelihoods of workers worldwide will be severe. Only the working class, as an organised social force, can challenge the warlike policies of bourgeois governments and resist them.

War is no longer merely a military event or the result of decisions by one leader or another; rather, it increasingly represents the stark expression of the historical decay of capitalism and its mode of existence. The Middle Eastern war is no exception or isolated phenomenon; it is the product of a specific stage in the decline of the capitalist system—a stage in which the system moves towards the generalisation and expansion of wars on a global scale, making war a permanent element in the process of its own reproduction. In this way, war becomes one of the normal forms of capitalist life in its era of decline.

Capitalism is no longer capable of offering a horizon for human liberation and achieves nothing beyond deepening barbarism and spreading devastation to ever-wider regions. It is therefore an illusion to expect warmongers to halt war of their own accord. Within the framework of capitalism, “peace” is nothing more than a temporary pause in the continuity of imperialist competition—ceasefires that themselves sow the seeds of future wars.

Against this destructive cycle, the only real alternative is the class struggle of the proletariat. The working class has no country to defend, and its interests fit within no national or imperialist camp. Its struggle must inevitably transcend national borders and be organised on an international scale. Only by transforming capitalist wars into a war against capitalism itself, and by overthrowing this system globally, can the material foundations of imperialist wars be eliminated and the prospect of lasting peace opened up for humanity.

Workers have no country!

Down with the imperialist war!

Long live the war between the classes!

 

 Internationalist Voice

1 March 2026

 

 Notes:

[1] Trump declaring war on Iran.

[2] Trump declaring war on Iran.

[3] Submission or War? Capitalism and the Tendency Towards Generalised Imperialist War, and the Internationalist Response.

[4] Internationalist Voice has published a booklet entitled “Bloody Repression and Bourgeois Alternatives as Instruments of Defeat; The Necessity of Independent and Internationalist Working-Class Struggle”, in which recent events in Iran are discussed and analysed from the perspective of communist left. The booklet was written before the outbreak of the war, but even after the conflict began, it continues to help provide a better understanding of these events. Furthermore, it demonstrates that the tradition of communist left, unlike the right- and left-wing tendencies of capital, remains steadfast in defending proletarian positions.

] The reasons why Russia and China have limited themselves to merely condemning the US–Israel attack are examined in the article “Submission or War? Capitalism and the Tendency Towards Generalised Imperialist War, and the Internationalist Response.”

 

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