Workers' Weekly Internet Edition Year 2026 Volume 56 Number 8
Source: http://www.rcpbml.org.uk/wwie-26/ww26-08/ww26-08.htm
Archived: 2026-04-23 17:23
Workers' Weekly Internet Edition Year 2026 Volume 56 Number 8
Volume 56 Number 8, March 14,
2026
ARCHIVE
HOME
JBCENTRE
SUBSCRIBE
Hands Off Iran!
Iran
Continues Its Military Response to US/Israeli Attacks
Workers' Weekly Internet Edition
:
Article Index :
Hands Off Iran! :
Iran Continues Its Military Response to US/Israeli
Attacks
Resistance Movement against external aggressors:
Hezbollah Responds to Israeli Aggression
Viva Cuba!:
House of Commons Meeting: "Cuba Under Siege"
March 16, 2026:
Celebrating the 47th Anniversary of RCPB(ML)
Hands Off
Iran!
Iran
Continues Its Military Response to US/Israeli Attacks
The aggression by the US and Israel on February 28, which has since
intensified, has led to the martyrdom of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic
Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, as well at least 1,255 Iranians
killed so far, including 165 schoolgirls in the city of Minab. In response to
this unprompted criminal US/Israeli aggression while US-Iran negotiations had
been ongoing, Iran has conducted a devastating and precisely co-ordinated
military campaign.
In just 14 days, Iran's defensive military response
True Promise 4
to
the US/Israeli war of aggression has continued to hit the core of US power in
the Persian Gulf, from Qatar's Al-Udeid Air Base to the US Fifth Fleet
headquarters in Bahrain and its genocidal ally Israel. Iran has featured the
deployment of hundreds of missiles, including ballistic and hypersonic
variants, together with attack drones in some 40 waves to date against numerous
US and Israeli targets throughout the region.
Web of US military bases in the Persian Gulf
As Iranian reports say, to fully grasp the magnitude of Iran's defensive
military achievements, one must first understand the intricate web of US
military power that has for decades strangled the Persian Gulf region [1]. At
the apex of this system sits Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar. A sprawling facility
covering approximately fifty square kilometres south-west of Doha, it stands as
the largest American military installation in the entire West Asia and the
forward headquarters of United States Central Command. Al-Udeid is the
cornerstone of US military strategy in the region, housing over ten thousand
personnel and supporting the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing. Its formidable array
of bombers, fighter aircraft, surveillance platforms, and drones has, for
years, been the launchpad for aggressive operations against regional nations.
Demonstration in London opposing the attack on Iran,
March 7, 2026
Around 150 miles from Al-Udeid lies Al-Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab
Emirates. This installation complements its Qatari counterpart by providing the
United States with advanced intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance
capabilities. Al-Dhafra hosts approximately five thousand active-duty US
military personnel assigned to the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing. Their primary
missions include aerial refuelling and high-altitude intelligence gathering,
utilising platforms such as the Lockheed U-2 Dragon Lady, the Boeing E-3 Sentry
AWACS, and the RQ-4 Global Hawk surveillance drones - aircraft that have
routinely violated Iranian airspace along the Persian Gulf coast.
In Bahrain, the Naval Support Activity in Manama serves as the headquarters
for both US Naval Forces Central Command and the United States Fifth Fleet.
Supporting over nine thousand military personnel and more than one hundred
tenant commands, this facility, established on the grounds of the former
British Royal Navy base HMS Juffair, provides the logistical and command
infrastructure necessary for the Fifth Fleet to project power throughout the
region with its carrier strike groups and supporting vessels.
Kuwait hosts yet another crucial node. Camp Arifjan serves as the primary
forward logistics hub for American ground forces, while Ali Al-Salem Air Base
hosts the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing, and Mohammed Al-Ahmad Naval Base
provides critical naval infrastructure.
This was the fortress America had built, a ring of steel and fire meant to
contain and intimidate Iran and the countries of the Persian Gulf and West
Asia. And this is the US/Israeli fortress that Iran has shattered.
The Response
True Promise 4
Arifjan is a major U.S. Army installation in Kuwait,
serving as a forward logistics and operational hub for U.S. and coalition
forces in the Middle East
According to multiple reports and within hours of the initial wave of
aggression, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) launched Operation
True Promise 4
, "a meticulously planned retaliation that
simultaneously targeted more than a dozen American military installations
across the region".
At Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, Iranian missiles struck with devastating
precision. Their impacts were captured on video and broadcast by multiple news
agencies. The most significant achievement was the complete destruction of the
AN/FPS-132 Upgraded Early Warning Radar, a system valued at approximately $1.1
billion that served as the electronic eye of American air defence throughout
the Persian Gulf.
This fixed UHF phased-array radar, designed to detect and continuously track
ballistic missiles at extremely long ranges, represented the most critical
component of the US early warning architecture in West Asia. Its obliteration
rendered the entire American air defence network effectively blind, forcing
surviving batteries to operate with degraded situational awareness and
dramatically reducing their effectiveness against subsequent Iranian strikes.
Simultaneously, Iranian missiles and kamikaze drones descended upon
Al-Dhafra Air Base in the UAE, destroying the American terrorists' air warfare
centre, satellite communication centre, early warning radars, and fire control
radars, effectively decapitating the base's command and control capabilities.
The Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft, Boeing E-3 Sentry AWACS, and RQ-4
Global Hawk drones found themselves without the supporting infrastructure
necessary for their operations. Their hangars were damaged or destroyed, their
crews scrambling to survive the onslaught.
The strikes extended to the naval infrastructure. At Jebel Ali Port in
Dubai, which is the most frequent port of call for US Navy vessels outside the
American homeland, Iranian missiles caused significant damage to facilities
used for resupplying and maintaining the Fifth Fleet's warships.
In Bahrain, the headquarters of the United States Fifth Fleet came under
direct attack, with multiple missiles and kamikaze drones striking the Naval
Support Activity facility.
Video clips captured the moment of impact as projectiles struck buildings
within the base complex, including a high-rise structure housing American
troops.
The IRGC announced that a service centre for the Fifth Fleet had been
specifically targeted, and subsequent attacks on March 1 would hit an unnamed
US naval command and backup centre with two ballistic missiles.
Kuwait's American installations suffered perhaps the most complete
destruction. Ali Al-Salem Air Base, struck on February 28, came under renewed
attack on March 1.
The IRGC subsequently declared that the base had been rendered completely
out of service. This facility, home to the US Air Force's 386th Air
Expeditionary Wing, was effectively neutralised as a military asset: its
runways cratered, its hangars destroyed, its aircraft either damaged or forced
to flee. The Mohammed Al-Ahmad Naval Base suffered an equally devastating fate,
with three naval infrastructure structures reportedly destroyed. In a matter of
hours, the elaborate fortress America had spent decades building had been
shattered.
Iran's
True Promise 4
response to Israel
The "Western" media continues to implement the Israeli regime's
censorship hiding the effects of Iran's defensive response on Israel itself.
There has been considerable damage by Iran's 44 waves of
True Promise 4
missiles and drones on Israel and Tel Aviv itself, aiming to destroy the
Israeli regime's military capacity and infrastructure. This has itself been
unprecedented and devastating.
The effectiveness could already be seen when on Thursday, March 12,
Press
TV
reported [2]:
"Iran's Army says its operations against Israeli military
infrastructure are becoming easier and more precise after parts of the regime's
radar network were destroyed, as a new wave of drone strikes hit key bases and
security facilities. Iranian forces launched a fresh round of drone operations
against strategic Israeli targets on Thursday, striking the Palmachim Airbase,
Ovda Airbase, and a major facility of the Shin Bet internal security service
near Tel Aviv, according to an official military statement.
"Army spokesman Brigadier General Akraminia said the destruction of
sections of the enemy's radar infrastructure has significantly improved
operational conditions for Iranian forces. 'With the elimination of part of the
enemy's radar facilities at sensitive centres, continuing the operations has
become easier and we now have better access to important and sensitive points,'
he said. 'Operations are becoming more precise day by day.'"
The
Press TV
report continued: "According to the Army's
statement, Iranian loitering drones targeted the control tower, runway, and
aircraft hangars at Palmachim and Ovda airbases on Thursday. Palmachim, located
near Tel Aviv, serves as a key hub for the Israeli regime's satellite launches
and missile testing programmes. The base also hosts missile defence systems
such as David's Sling and Hermes-900 drones. The Ovda Airbase, another
strategic facility, functions as a major training base for the Israeli air
force. The site has also hosted American F-22 fighter jets.
London demonstration confronting the US Embassy, March 7
2026
"Iranian drones also struck the headquarters of the Shin Bet, which
operates as the operational heart of the regime's internal security apparatus,
coordinating security operations and protection of senior officials and
sensitive installations."
Among previous reports, there is one which shows that Iran also targeted Bir
as-Sab (Beersheba) in southern Israel, scoring a direct hit on the Israeli
army's communication complex located there. Microsoft and other Israeli
companies engaged in Israeli military operations in Gaza and beyond were also
struck in Bir as-Sab.
In Iran itself a report last Saturday said: "Since the beginning of the
aggression by the American-Zionist enemy, the number of drones shot down by the
defence systems of the Army and the IRGC has reached 82." The statement
came as reports published in domestic media suggested that Iranian armed forces
had also managed to down several foreign jets trying to enter the country's
airspace from neighbouring Kuwait.
As we write, Iranian defensive operations are ongoing in response to the
continued criminal US/Israeli bombing and aggression. The news reports also
point out that "the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement and the Islamic
Resistance in Iraq have also joined the front against the external aggressors
on Iran and Lebanon, inflicting heavy blows on the enemy". Latest
information on March 10 and 13 gives details of
True Promise 4's
34th,
35th and 44th waves [3]. Iranian armed forces have so far carried out 44 waves
of missile and drone strikes with advanced weaponry targeting Israeli military
facilities in the occupied territories, as well as US occupation bases and
assets scattered across the West Asia region.
The new Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah, Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei,
issued his first message on March 12, stressing unity and the Iranian people's
"determined and regret-inducing" defence efforts and asserting that
the Strait of Hormuz must remain closed. "The will of the people is to
continue effective defence," he said, "and their presence on the
scene must be maintained."
Notes
1. Op. True Promise 4: Iran's missile blitzkrieg dismantles US war machine in
West Asia -
Press TV
, Ivan Kesic, March 10
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2026/03/10/765211/op-true-promise-iran-missile-blitzkrieg-dismantles-us-war-machine-west-asia
2. Iran Army launches drone operation, says radar collapse makes Israeli
targets easier to hit -
Press TV
, March 12
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2026/03/12/765286/Iran-Army-launches-drone-operation-says-radar-collapse-makes-Israeli-targets-easier-to-hit
3. True Promise 4: Iran and resistance axis ops. against US-Israeli assets on
March 10,
Press TV
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2026/03/10/765225/true-promise-4-iran-resistance-axisops-against-us-israeli-assets-march-10
IRGC hits Israeli military sites, US bases in major offensive, March 13,
Press TV
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2026/03/13/765317/IRGC-hits-Israeli-military-sites-US-bases-in-major-offensive
Article Index
Resistance Movement
against external aggressors
Hezbollah Responds to Israeli Aggression
Israel strikes southern Lebanon
The Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement and the Islamic Resistance in
Iraq have joined the front against the external aggressors. Hezbollah's
operations have been primarily focused on Israeli military sites in the
occupied territories. Its operations are both in response to the assassination
of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, and the
relentless ceasefire violations by the Israeli regime over the past year.
In the 15 months of reported Israeli violations since the so-called
"ceasefire", of which the US is a guarantor, Lebanese authorities and
United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) report in excess of 15,400
breaches by Israel, with hundreds reportedly killed by Israeli actions over the
past year.
On March 3, Hezbollah Resistance fighters launched decisive retaliatory
strikes on the Israeli Occupation forces (IOF) in response to the brutal and
escalating Israeli aggression on Lebanon. Israel has struck dozens of Lebanese
cities and towns, inducing the Southern Suburb of Beirut. The Israeli Army's
91st Division had initiated a campaign on March 3 to militarily occupy Lebanese
territory. Some 100,000 reservists have been called up for this campaign but
many have failed to report for duty. Despite the withdrawal of Lebanese armed
forces, Hezbollah Resistance fighters are fiercely confronting the IOF.
Resistance fighters shot down a drone over Nabatieh and targeted a Merkava
tank in the Semmaqa, delivering a direct hit. Shortly after another Merkava
tank was struck near Tal Nahas on the outskirts of Kfar Kila. When Israeli
forces attempted to advance two additional tanks to recover the damaged vehicle
in Tal Nahas, the fighters engaged them with precision-guided missiles, forcing
the occupiers to retreat under heavy gunfire. Nearby, at the Metula settlement,
Hezbollah fighters targeted a fifth Merkava tank.
Hezbollah fighters also fired salvos of rockets at IOF forces occupying the
Rawlyyah site and the Kela' site in the Syrian Golan and attacked Israeli Haifa
Naval Base with advanced drones. The Resistance deployed a swarm of attack
drones against the Meron air surveillance and operations management base in
northern occupied Palestine, causing damage to one of the base's radar systems
and a command building, according to a statement. IOF radar installations and
control rooms were also struck at the Ramat David Airbase in occupied
Palestine, some 50 km from the Lebanese border, demonstrating the precision and
reach of the Resistance's operations.
Article Index
Viva Cuba!
House of
Commons Meeting: "Cuba Under Siege"
Aid for Cuba arrives from Mexico - Photo:
Granma
On March 4, 2026, a public meeting took place in the House of Commons
entitled "Cuba Under Siege", organised by the All-Party Parliamentary
Group (APPG) on Cuba and the Cuba Solidarity Campaign (CSC). The meeting heard
from experts as well as MPs about the escalating US sanctions on Cuba, and
discussed what action could be taken in Britain to stand in solidarity with the
people of Cuba and oppose the sanctions and aggression. The meeting was very
well attended, with the room running out of seats and attendees standing round
the edge of the room to fit more people in. The attendees were comprised of a
mix of MPs, campaigners, trade unionists, and members of the public.
"Cuba Under Siege" was chaired by Steve Witherden MP, who opened
by stressing the humanitarian and political gravity of the crisis. He
highlighted Early Day Motion (EDM) 2739 [1] as a way for MPs to show opposition
to the US measures and encouraged those who had not signed to sign it, and also
for other attendees to write to their MPs requesting that they sign the motion.
The first main speaker was the Cuban Ambassador to the UK, Ismara Vargas
Walter. Her testimony was incredibly powerful, invoking strong emotions. Her
description of the humanitarian impact visibly shocked the room: alongside
blackouts of up to 20 hours a day, she explained the impact this was having on
Cuban hospitals, with doctors having to perform surgeries using only the light
of their mobile phones, even on newborn babies. The resilience and strength of
the Cuban people continues to be astounding, even in the face of such horrific
aggression.
The meeting then heard from Dr Emily Morris, an economist and Honorary
Senior Research Fellow at University College London's Institute of the Americas
(UCLIA), who had just returned from Cuba. She confirmed and reinforced the
ambassador's account of the severe conditions caused by fuel, medicine, and
food shortages, and warned the room that "people are dying, they're
definitely dying".
Two MPs then expressed their views. Diane Abbott MP spoke on Cuba's history
and the history of US aggression towards the country, such as during the Cuban
Missile Crisis. Richard Burgon MP framed the sanctions as part of the wider US
strategy, stating the goal is "to bring about hunger, desperation, and
overthrow of government".
Finally, Bernard Regan, National Secretary of the Cuba Solidarity Campaign,
focused on action. He highlighted the practical solidarity already underway,
such as the
Cuba Vive
appeal, which has sent eight shipments of aid. He
echoed the ambassador's sentiment, arguing that Cuba's only "threat"
is its good example of internationalism.
Unfortunately there wasn't an opportunity for questions or statements from
those in attendance, but the issue of the urgency of going all out to support
Cuba and its people's life and death struggle for their right to be was clear.
The people are demonstrating their heroism in safeguarding their independence
and resisting attempts to asphyxiate them.
The lasting impact of the meeting, particularly the images of the resilience
and resourcefulness of the Cuban people in overcoming the effects of the
blockade, stayed in the minds of the participants long after the meeting had
concluded, inspiring further investigation and determination to give every
possible support to Cuba and its people and government. It made clear the human
consequences of US imperialism and its economic war on Cuba, and clarified the
urgent need for action. The US is engaging in economic violence and warfare
against a country whose only crime is daring to chart a socialist path. The
Cuban people have an inalienable right to defend their national sovereignty and
their chosen path of development.
Notes
1. For the text of EDM 2739, see
Workers' Weekly
, "Defeat the US
Attempts to Crush Revolutionary Cuba!", Note 1
https://www.rcpbml.org.uk/wwie-26/ww26-05/ww26-05-01.htm
Article Index
March 16, 2026
Celebrating the 47th Anniversary of RCPB(ML)
Michael Chant General Secretary of RCPBML speaking at the
new year social
March 16 marks the 47th anniversary of the founding of the Revolutionary
Communist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist) in 1979. The Party is proud to
have reached this anniversary tempered in the midst of the struggles and
fighting traditions of the working class and people of England, Scotland and
Wales, and as a contingent of the international communist and workers' movement
in Britain. We pay tribute to these struggles and traditions which the working
people have never betrayed, especially the working women who have always been
at the forefront. As the Party said on the threshold of a new millennium:
"The challenge of history is to move forward into the 21st century on a
new basis and to prepare for the revolutionary transformation of society."
Comrade Hardial Bains speaking at the International Rally
of Marxist-Leninist Parties on the Centenary of Karl Marx, London, June 4
1983
RCPB(ML) also takes this opportunity to record its immense debt to the
leadership of Comrade Hardial Bains, and now to the close fraternal comradeship
of the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) which continues to this
day.
The Party was tempered in the anti-fascist struggles of the 1970s under the
leadership of the late John Buckle. This has defined the contribution of the
Party in terms of pinpointing the struggles thrown down by history which
require addressing at any period, challenges which the Party has never shirked
from accepting. In this context, it is important to state that right from the
word go, RCPB(ML) has taken up as one the cause of the liberation and unity of
Ireland and the Irish people from British colonialism and imperialism. It has
taken up the struggle against all racist attacks, organised by the state, and
has taken up as one the cause of the people of Africa, Asia, Oceania and the
Caribbean, whether as part of the working class in Britain or in unity against
the colonialism and neocolonialism of the British state, its ruling elite and
its reactionary and retrogressive monarchy, which today is demonstrating its
true colours.
Very crucially, RCPB(ML) has always taken up the fight against imperialist
war, and today has as part of its cutting edge work the fight for an Anti-War
Government in a period characterised by extreme dictate and wanton violence and
conflict. How does the Party do this? It does so first and foremost in its work
of Party building, the taking of decisions and implementing them in and through
the collective, having in mind the necessity to give rise to the modern
democratic personality, and takes these methods into the movement itself. In
this way, the line of march is being taken towards establishing an Anti-War
Government which embodies the modern democratic personality and which fulfils
the people's striving for peace, democracy and freedom. This is a profound
conception encompassing a government which is also pro-social and pro-worker.
Out of the resistance struggles of society, and guided by the theory of Modern
Communism, is emerging the outlook of the New. This is a new framework which
has fidelity to the ensemble of human relations, and recognises that the need
for political power is indispensable. It is an internationalist framework,
working to bring into being a world of socialised humanity, humanising the
natural and social environments.
35th anniversary of RCPB(ML), March 16
2014
RCPB(ML) persistently implements its stand against the police powers wielded
by the ruling elites who are restructuring the state to ensure everything is
done to serve the narrow private interests of finance capital and the
oligopolies. The Party puts on the agenda to organise and inspire the working
class to respond to the urgent necessity for a change in the direction of
society and the economy. It calls for the people to establish their own vantage
point and for the working class to rely on and implement its own agenda and
programme. It calls for workers and the class as a whole to speak in their own
name. This it is which points the way forward to the way out of the crisis, a
crisis which is characterised by the existence of defunct liberal democratic
institutions which no longer answer to the needs of the times in any sense.
This requires settling scores with the old conscience which embodies the
"covenant thesis" on which the old political system is based, with
"representatives" authorised to speak in the name of the electorate,
a system which is disempowering the people, maintaining a fictitious person of
state which keeps everyone as subjects, rather than as citizens with equal
membership rights.
The Party in this context upholds that the working class must constitute
itself the nation and vest sovereignty in the people with the aim of creating a
society without the exploitation of persons by persons, and in particular
ending the old system of wage slavery. The Party organises the people to be
history-making. This is the significance of its own history. No amount of
attempts to marginalise the Party can erase this. Its outlook, revolutionary
ideology and methods of work mark it out.
We are proud to say that the Party has over the decades foiled every attempt
of the state to subvert it, marginalise it and crush it or get it to conciliate
with the ruling elites. It has continued to march on along the high road of
civilisation, taking its stand with progressive humanity and the resistance
struggles of the people against exploitation and oppression. It pledges to
build the New by leaving the Old behind, being at one with the struggles of the
people for their rights, and with its programme for the working class:
"Stop Paying the Rich! Increase Investments in Social Programmes!" It
calls on all democratic forces to join the work for democratic renewal and the
empowerment of the people.
Over the years since its founding, the Party has built itself in the course
of providing solutions to the critical problems of society. On this occasion
the Party pays tribute to all its members, activists and sympathisers, workers,
women and youth, who over the years have contributed to building RCPB(ML) in
all its vibrancy and vitality, dealing with the world as it is, and as part of
the communist and workers' movement internationally. As the conditions have
changed, so have the analyses and political programmes, while the theory known
as Contemporary Marxist-Leninist Thought has become all the more powerful. In
this context, as the Third Congress of RCPB(ML) brought out, the Party has not
only been built and strengthened but is a living organism, in motion in this
historical phase of the retreat of revolution, and with a vision of a new and
classless society.
On this occasion the Party gives a call for everyone longing for and
fighting for change, especially the youth, to consider joining the ranks of
RCPB(ML), building it as the Party which the times demand as the instrument for
this change. Let us together fight for the alternative!
Article Index
Receive Workers'
Weekly E-mail Edition:
It is free to
subscribe to the e-mail edition
We encourage all those who support the work of RCPB(ML) to also support it
financially:
Donate to
RCPB(ML)
WW Internet
RSS Feed
Workers' Weekly
is the weekly on
line newspaper of the
Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist)
Website:
http://www.rcpbml.org.uk
E-mail:
office@rcpbml.org.uk
170, Wandsworth Road, London, SW8 2LA.
Phone: 020 7627 0599:
RCPB(ML) Home Page
Workers' Weekly Online
Archive
Volume 56 Number 8, March 14,
2026
ARCHIVE
HOME
JBCENTRE
SUBSCRIBE
Hands Off Iran!
Iran
Continues Its Military Response to US/Israeli Attacks
Workers' Weekly Internet Edition
:
Article Index :
Hands Off Iran! :
Iran Continues Its Military Response to US/Israeli
Attacks
Resistance Movement against external aggressors:
Hezbollah Responds to Israeli Aggression
Viva Cuba!:
House of Commons Meeting: "Cuba Under Siege"
March 16, 2026:
Celebrating the 47th Anniversary of RCPB(ML)
Hands Off
Iran!
Iran
Continues Its Military Response to US/Israeli Attacks
The aggression by the US and Israel on February 28, which has since
intensified, has led to the martyrdom of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic
Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, as well at least 1,255 Iranians
killed so far, including 165 schoolgirls in the city of Minab. In response to
this unprompted criminal US/Israeli aggression while US-Iran negotiations had
been ongoing, Iran has conducted a devastating and precisely co-ordinated
military campaign.
In just 14 days, Iran's defensive military response
True Promise 4
to
the US/Israeli war of aggression has continued to hit the core of US power in
the Persian Gulf, from Qatar's Al-Udeid Air Base to the US Fifth Fleet
headquarters in Bahrain and its genocidal ally Israel. Iran has featured the
deployment of hundreds of missiles, including ballistic and hypersonic
variants, together with attack drones in some 40 waves to date against numerous
US and Israeli targets throughout the region.
Web of US military bases in the Persian Gulf
As Iranian reports say, to fully grasp the magnitude of Iran's defensive
military achievements, one must first understand the intricate web of US
military power that has for decades strangled the Persian Gulf region [1]. At
the apex of this system sits Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar. A sprawling facility
covering approximately fifty square kilometres south-west of Doha, it stands as
the largest American military installation in the entire West Asia and the
forward headquarters of United States Central Command. Al-Udeid is the
cornerstone of US military strategy in the region, housing over ten thousand
personnel and supporting the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing. Its formidable array
of bombers, fighter aircraft, surveillance platforms, and drones has, for
years, been the launchpad for aggressive operations against regional nations.
Demonstration in London opposing the attack on Iran,
March 7, 2026
Around 150 miles from Al-Udeid lies Al-Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab
Emirates. This installation complements its Qatari counterpart by providing the
United States with advanced intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance
capabilities. Al-Dhafra hosts approximately five thousand active-duty US
military personnel assigned to the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing. Their primary
missions include aerial refuelling and high-altitude intelligence gathering,
utilising platforms such as the Lockheed U-2 Dragon Lady, the Boeing E-3 Sentry
AWACS, and the RQ-4 Global Hawk surveillance drones - aircraft that have
routinely violated Iranian airspace along the Persian Gulf coast.
In Bahrain, the Naval Support Activity in Manama serves as the headquarters
for both US Naval Forces Central Command and the United States Fifth Fleet.
Supporting over nine thousand military personnel and more than one hundred
tenant commands, this facility, established on the grounds of the former
British Royal Navy base HMS Juffair, provides the logistical and command
infrastructure necessary for the Fifth Fleet to project power throughout the
region with its carrier strike groups and supporting vessels.
Kuwait hosts yet another crucial node. Camp Arifjan serves as the primary
forward logistics hub for American ground forces, while Ali Al-Salem Air Base
hosts the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing, and Mohammed Al-Ahmad Naval Base
provides critical naval infrastructure.
This was the fortress America had built, a ring of steel and fire meant to
contain and intimidate Iran and the countries of the Persian Gulf and West
Asia. And this is the US/Israeli fortress that Iran has shattered.
The Response
True Promise 4
Arifjan is a major U.S. Army installation in Kuwait,
serving as a forward logistics and operational hub for U.S. and coalition
forces in the Middle East
According to multiple reports and within hours of the initial wave of
aggression, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) launched Operation
True Promise 4
, "a meticulously planned retaliation that
simultaneously targeted more than a dozen American military installations
across the region".
At Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, Iranian missiles struck with devastating
precision. Their impacts were captured on video and broadcast by multiple news
agencies. The most significant achievement was the complete destruction of the
AN/FPS-132 Upgraded Early Warning Radar, a system valued at approximately $1.1
billion that served as the electronic eye of American air defence throughout
the Persian Gulf.
This fixed UHF phased-array radar, designed to detect and continuously track
ballistic missiles at extremely long ranges, represented the most critical
component of the US early warning architecture in West Asia. Its obliteration
rendered the entire American air defence network effectively blind, forcing
surviving batteries to operate with degraded situational awareness and
dramatically reducing their effectiveness against subsequent Iranian strikes.
Simultaneously, Iranian missiles and kamikaze drones descended upon
Al-Dhafra Air Base in the UAE, destroying the American terrorists' air warfare
centre, satellite communication centre, early warning radars, and fire control
radars, effectively decapitating the base's command and control capabilities.
The Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft, Boeing E-3 Sentry AWACS, and RQ-4
Global Hawk drones found themselves without the supporting infrastructure
necessary for their operations. Their hangars were damaged or destroyed, their
crews scrambling to survive the onslaught.
The strikes extended to the naval infrastructure. At Jebel Ali Port in
Dubai, which is the most frequent port of call for US Navy vessels outside the
American homeland, Iranian missiles caused significant damage to facilities
used for resupplying and maintaining the Fifth Fleet's warships.
In Bahrain, the headquarters of the United States Fifth Fleet came under
direct attack, with multiple missiles and kamikaze drones striking the Naval
Support Activity facility.
Video clips captured the moment of impact as projectiles struck buildings
within the base complex, including a high-rise structure housing American
troops.
The IRGC announced that a service centre for the Fifth Fleet had been
specifically targeted, and subsequent attacks on March 1 would hit an unnamed
US naval command and backup centre with two ballistic missiles.
Kuwait's American installations suffered perhaps the most complete
destruction. Ali Al-Salem Air Base, struck on February 28, came under renewed
attack on March 1.
The IRGC subsequently declared that the base had been rendered completely
out of service. This facility, home to the US Air Force's 386th Air
Expeditionary Wing, was effectively neutralised as a military asset: its
runways cratered, its hangars destroyed, its aircraft either damaged or forced
to flee. The Mohammed Al-Ahmad Naval Base suffered an equally devastating fate,
with three naval infrastructure structures reportedly destroyed. In a matter of
hours, the elaborate fortress America had spent decades building had been
shattered.
Iran's
True Promise 4
response to Israel
The "Western" media continues to implement the Israeli regime's
censorship hiding the effects of Iran's defensive response on Israel itself.
There has been considerable damage by Iran's 44 waves of
True Promise 4
missiles and drones on Israel and Tel Aviv itself, aiming to destroy the
Israeli regime's military capacity and infrastructure. This has itself been
unprecedented and devastating.
The effectiveness could already be seen when on Thursday, March 12,
Press
TV
reported [2]:
"Iran's Army says its operations against Israeli military
infrastructure are becoming easier and more precise after parts of the regime's
radar network were destroyed, as a new wave of drone strikes hit key bases and
security facilities. Iranian forces launched a fresh round of drone operations
against strategic Israeli targets on Thursday, striking the Palmachim Airbase,
Ovda Airbase, and a major facility of the Shin Bet internal security service
near Tel Aviv, according to an official military statement.
"Army spokesman Brigadier General Akraminia said the destruction of
sections of the enemy's radar infrastructure has significantly improved
operational conditions for Iranian forces. 'With the elimination of part of the
enemy's radar facilities at sensitive centres, continuing the operations has
become easier and we now have better access to important and sensitive points,'
he said. 'Operations are becoming more precise day by day.'"
The
Press TV
report continued: "According to the Army's
statement, Iranian loitering drones targeted the control tower, runway, and
aircraft hangars at Palmachim and Ovda airbases on Thursday. Palmachim, located
near Tel Aviv, serves as a key hub for the Israeli regime's satellite launches
and missile testing programmes. The base also hosts missile defence systems
such as David's Sling and Hermes-900 drones. The Ovda Airbase, another
strategic facility, functions as a major training base for the Israeli air
force. The site has also hosted American F-22 fighter jets.
London demonstration confronting the US Embassy, March 7
2026
"Iranian drones also struck the headquarters of the Shin Bet, which
operates as the operational heart of the regime's internal security apparatus,
coordinating security operations and protection of senior officials and
sensitive installations."
Among previous reports, there is one which shows that Iran also targeted Bir
as-Sab (Beersheba) in southern Israel, scoring a direct hit on the Israeli
army's communication complex located there. Microsoft and other Israeli
companies engaged in Israeli military operations in Gaza and beyond were also
struck in Bir as-Sab.
In Iran itself a report last Saturday said: "Since the beginning of the
aggression by the American-Zionist enemy, the number of drones shot down by the
defence systems of the Army and the IRGC has reached 82." The statement
came as reports published in domestic media suggested that Iranian armed forces
had also managed to down several foreign jets trying to enter the country's
airspace from neighbouring Kuwait.
As we write, Iranian defensive operations are ongoing in response to the
continued criminal US/Israeli bombing and aggression. The news reports also
point out that "the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement and the Islamic
Resistance in Iraq have also joined the front against the external aggressors
on Iran and Lebanon, inflicting heavy blows on the enemy". Latest
information on March 10 and 13 gives details of
True Promise 4's
34th,
35th and 44th waves [3]. Iranian armed forces have so far carried out 44 waves
of missile and drone strikes with advanced weaponry targeting Israeli military
facilities in the occupied territories, as well as US occupation bases and
assets scattered across the West Asia region.
The new Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah, Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei,
issued his first message on March 12, stressing unity and the Iranian people's
"determined and regret-inducing" defence efforts and asserting that
the Strait of Hormuz must remain closed. "The will of the people is to
continue effective defence," he said, "and their presence on the
scene must be maintained."
Notes
1. Op. True Promise 4: Iran's missile blitzkrieg dismantles US war machine in
West Asia -
Press TV
, Ivan Kesic, March 10
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2026/03/10/765211/op-true-promise-iran-missile-blitzkrieg-dismantles-us-war-machine-west-asia
2. Iran Army launches drone operation, says radar collapse makes Israeli
targets easier to hit -
Press TV
, March 12
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2026/03/12/765286/Iran-Army-launches-drone-operation-says-radar-collapse-makes-Israeli-targets-easier-to-hit
3. True Promise 4: Iran and resistance axis ops. against US-Israeli assets on
March 10,
Press TV
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2026/03/10/765225/true-promise-4-iran-resistance-axisops-against-us-israeli-assets-march-10
IRGC hits Israeli military sites, US bases in major offensive, March 13,
Press TV
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2026/03/13/765317/IRGC-hits-Israeli-military-sites-US-bases-in-major-offensive
Article Index
Resistance Movement
against external aggressors
Hezbollah Responds to Israeli Aggression
Israel strikes southern Lebanon
The Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement and the Islamic Resistance in
Iraq have joined the front against the external aggressors. Hezbollah's
operations have been primarily focused on Israeli military sites in the
occupied territories. Its operations are both in response to the assassination
of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, and the
relentless ceasefire violations by the Israeli regime over the past year.
In the 15 months of reported Israeli violations since the so-called
"ceasefire", of which the US is a guarantor, Lebanese authorities and
United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) report in excess of 15,400
breaches by Israel, with hundreds reportedly killed by Israeli actions over the
past year.
On March 3, Hezbollah Resistance fighters launched decisive retaliatory
strikes on the Israeli Occupation forces (IOF) in response to the brutal and
escalating Israeli aggression on Lebanon. Israel has struck dozens of Lebanese
cities and towns, inducing the Southern Suburb of Beirut. The Israeli Army's
91st Division had initiated a campaign on March 3 to militarily occupy Lebanese
territory. Some 100,000 reservists have been called up for this campaign but
many have failed to report for duty. Despite the withdrawal of Lebanese armed
forces, Hezbollah Resistance fighters are fiercely confronting the IOF.
Resistance fighters shot down a drone over Nabatieh and targeted a Merkava
tank in the Semmaqa, delivering a direct hit. Shortly after another Merkava
tank was struck near Tal Nahas on the outskirts of Kfar Kila. When Israeli
forces attempted to advance two additional tanks to recover the damaged vehicle
in Tal Nahas, the fighters engaged them with precision-guided missiles, forcing
the occupiers to retreat under heavy gunfire. Nearby, at the Metula settlement,
Hezbollah fighters targeted a fifth Merkava tank.
Hezbollah fighters also fired salvos of rockets at IOF forces occupying the
Rawlyyah site and the Kela' site in the Syrian Golan and attacked Israeli Haifa
Naval Base with advanced drones. The Resistance deployed a swarm of attack
drones against the Meron air surveillance and operations management base in
northern occupied Palestine, causing damage to one of the base's radar systems
and a command building, according to a statement. IOF radar installations and
control rooms were also struck at the Ramat David Airbase in occupied
Palestine, some 50 km from the Lebanese border, demonstrating the precision and
reach of the Resistance's operations.
Article Index
Viva Cuba!
House of
Commons Meeting: "Cuba Under Siege"
Aid for Cuba arrives from Mexico - Photo:
Granma
On March 4, 2026, a public meeting took place in the House of Commons
entitled "Cuba Under Siege", organised by the All-Party Parliamentary
Group (APPG) on Cuba and the Cuba Solidarity Campaign (CSC). The meeting heard
from experts as well as MPs about the escalating US sanctions on Cuba, and
discussed what action could be taken in Britain to stand in solidarity with the
people of Cuba and oppose the sanctions and aggression. The meeting was very
well attended, with the room running out of seats and attendees standing round
the edge of the room to fit more people in. The attendees were comprised of a
mix of MPs, campaigners, trade unionists, and members of the public.
"Cuba Under Siege" was chaired by Steve Witherden MP, who opened
by stressing the humanitarian and political gravity of the crisis. He
highlighted Early Day Motion (EDM) 2739 [1] as a way for MPs to show opposition
to the US measures and encouraged those who had not signed to sign it, and also
for other attendees to write to their MPs requesting that they sign the motion.
The first main speaker was the Cuban Ambassador to the UK, Ismara Vargas
Walter. Her testimony was incredibly powerful, invoking strong emotions. Her
description of the humanitarian impact visibly shocked the room: alongside
blackouts of up to 20 hours a day, she explained the impact this was having on
Cuban hospitals, with doctors having to perform surgeries using only the light
of their mobile phones, even on newborn babies. The resilience and strength of
the Cuban people continues to be astounding, even in the face of such horrific
aggression.
The meeting then heard from Dr Emily Morris, an economist and Honorary
Senior Research Fellow at University College London's Institute of the Americas
(UCLIA), who had just returned from Cuba. She confirmed and reinforced the
ambassador's account of the severe conditions caused by fuel, medicine, and
food shortages, and warned the room that "people are dying, they're
definitely dying".
Two MPs then expressed their views. Diane Abbott MP spoke on Cuba's history
and the history of US aggression towards the country, such as during the Cuban
Missile Crisis. Richard Burgon MP framed the sanctions as part of the wider US
strategy, stating the goal is "to bring about hunger, desperation, and
overthrow of government".
Finally, Bernard Regan, National Secretary of the Cuba Solidarity Campaign,
focused on action. He highlighted the practical solidarity already underway,
such as the
Cuba Vive
appeal, which has sent eight shipments of aid. He
echoed the ambassador's sentiment, arguing that Cuba's only "threat"
is its good example of internationalism.
Unfortunately there wasn't an opportunity for questions or statements from
those in attendance, but the issue of the urgency of going all out to support
Cuba and its people's life and death struggle for their right to be was clear.
The people are demonstrating their heroism in safeguarding their independence
and resisting attempts to asphyxiate them.
The lasting impact of the meeting, particularly the images of the resilience
and resourcefulness of the Cuban people in overcoming the effects of the
blockade, stayed in the minds of the participants long after the meeting had
concluded, inspiring further investigation and determination to give every
possible support to Cuba and its people and government. It made clear the human
consequences of US imperialism and its economic war on Cuba, and clarified the
urgent need for action. The US is engaging in economic violence and warfare
against a country whose only crime is daring to chart a socialist path. The
Cuban people have an inalienable right to defend their national sovereignty and
their chosen path of development.
Notes
1. For the text of EDM 2739, see
Workers' Weekly
, "Defeat the US
Attempts to Crush Revolutionary Cuba!", Note 1
https://www.rcpbml.org.uk/wwie-26/ww26-05/ww26-05-01.htm
Article Index
March 16, 2026
Celebrating the 47th Anniversary of RCPB(ML)
Michael Chant General Secretary of RCPBML speaking at the
new year social
March 16 marks the 47th anniversary of the founding of the Revolutionary
Communist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist) in 1979. The Party is proud to
have reached this anniversary tempered in the midst of the struggles and
fighting traditions of the working class and people of England, Scotland and
Wales, and as a contingent of the international communist and workers' movement
in Britain. We pay tribute to these struggles and traditions which the working
people have never betrayed, especially the working women who have always been
at the forefront. As the Party said on the threshold of a new millennium:
"The challenge of history is to move forward into the 21st century on a
new basis and to prepare for the revolutionary transformation of society."
Comrade Hardial Bains speaking at the International Rally
of Marxist-Leninist Parties on the Centenary of Karl Marx, London, June 4
1983
RCPB(ML) also takes this opportunity to record its immense debt to the
leadership of Comrade Hardial Bains, and now to the close fraternal comradeship
of the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) which continues to this
day.
The Party was tempered in the anti-fascist struggles of the 1970s under the
leadership of the late John Buckle. This has defined the contribution of the
Party in terms of pinpointing the struggles thrown down by history which
require addressing at any period, challenges which the Party has never shirked
from accepting. In this context, it is important to state that right from the
word go, RCPB(ML) has taken up as one the cause of the liberation and unity of
Ireland and the Irish people from British colonialism and imperialism. It has
taken up the struggle against all racist attacks, organised by the state, and
has taken up as one the cause of the people of Africa, Asia, Oceania and the
Caribbean, whether as part of the working class in Britain or in unity against
the colonialism and neocolonialism of the British state, its ruling elite and
its reactionary and retrogressive monarchy, which today is demonstrating its
true colours.
Very crucially, RCPB(ML) has always taken up the fight against imperialist
war, and today has as part of its cutting edge work the fight for an Anti-War
Government in a period characterised by extreme dictate and wanton violence and
conflict. How does the Party do this? It does so first and foremost in its work
of Party building, the taking of decisions and implementing them in and through
the collective, having in mind the necessity to give rise to the modern
democratic personality, and takes these methods into the movement itself. In
this way, the line of march is being taken towards establishing an Anti-War
Government which embodies the modern democratic personality and which fulfils
the people's striving for peace, democracy and freedom. This is a profound
conception encompassing a government which is also pro-social and pro-worker.
Out of the resistance struggles of society, and guided by the theory of Modern
Communism, is emerging the outlook of the New. This is a new framework which
has fidelity to the ensemble of human relations, and recognises that the need
for political power is indispensable. It is an internationalist framework,
working to bring into being a world of socialised humanity, humanising the
natural and social environments.
35th anniversary of RCPB(ML), March 16
2014
RCPB(ML) persistently implements its stand against the police powers wielded
by the ruling elites who are restructuring the state to ensure everything is
done to serve the narrow private interests of finance capital and the
oligopolies. The Party puts on the agenda to organise and inspire the working
class to respond to the urgent necessity for a change in the direction of
society and the economy. It calls for the people to establish their own vantage
point and for the working class to rely on and implement its own agenda and
programme. It calls for workers and the class as a whole to speak in their own
name. This it is which points the way forward to the way out of the crisis, a
crisis which is characterised by the existence of defunct liberal democratic
institutions which no longer answer to the needs of the times in any sense.
This requires settling scores with the old conscience which embodies the
"covenant thesis" on which the old political system is based, with
"representatives" authorised to speak in the name of the electorate,
a system which is disempowering the people, maintaining a fictitious person of
state which keeps everyone as subjects, rather than as citizens with equal
membership rights.
The Party in this context upholds that the working class must constitute
itself the nation and vest sovereignty in the people with the aim of creating a
society without the exploitation of persons by persons, and in particular
ending the old system of wage slavery. The Party organises the people to be
history-making. This is the significance of its own history. No amount of
attempts to marginalise the Party can erase this. Its outlook, revolutionary
ideology and methods of work mark it out.
We are proud to say that the Party has over the decades foiled every attempt
of the state to subvert it, marginalise it and crush it or get it to conciliate
with the ruling elites. It has continued to march on along the high road of
civilisation, taking its stand with progressive humanity and the resistance
struggles of the people against exploitation and oppression. It pledges to
build the New by leaving the Old behind, being at one with the struggles of the
people for their rights, and with its programme for the working class:
"Stop Paying the Rich! Increase Investments in Social Programmes!" It
calls on all democratic forces to join the work for democratic renewal and the
empowerment of the people.
Over the years since its founding, the Party has built itself in the course
of providing solutions to the critical problems of society. On this occasion
the Party pays tribute to all its members, activists and sympathisers, workers,
women and youth, who over the years have contributed to building RCPB(ML) in
all its vibrancy and vitality, dealing with the world as it is, and as part of
the communist and workers' movement internationally. As the conditions have
changed, so have the analyses and political programmes, while the theory known
as Contemporary Marxist-Leninist Thought has become all the more powerful. In
this context, as the Third Congress of RCPB(ML) brought out, the Party has not
only been built and strengthened but is a living organism, in motion in this
historical phase of the retreat of revolution, and with a vision of a new and
classless society.
On this occasion the Party gives a call for everyone longing for and
fighting for change, especially the youth, to consider joining the ranks of
RCPB(ML), building it as the Party which the times demand as the instrument for
this change. Let us together fight for the alternative!
Article Index
Receive Workers'
Weekly E-mail Edition:
It is free to
subscribe to the e-mail edition
We encourage all those who support the work of RCPB(ML) to also support it
financially:
Donate to
RCPB(ML)
WW Internet
RSS Feed
Workers' Weekly
is the weekly on
line newspaper of the
Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist)
Website:
http://www.rcpbml.org.uk
E-mail:
office@rcpbml.org.uk
170, Wandsworth Road, London, SW8 2LA.
Phone: 020 7627 0599:
RCPB(ML) Home Page
Workers' Weekly Online
Archive