Hands Off Iran! Hands Off the Middle East! Free Palestine!
Source: http://www.rcpbml.org.uk/wwie-26/ww26-03/ww26-03-01.htm
Archived: 2026-04-23 17:09
Hands Off Iran! Hands Off the Middle East! Free Palestine!
Volume 56 Number 3, February 7,
2026
ARCHIVE
HOME
JBCENTRE
SUBSCRIBE
Hands
Off Iran! Hands Off the Middle East! Free Palestine!
Huge image in Tehran - "If you sow the wind, you
will reap the whirlwind."
As we write, the US warmonger Trump continues the dangerous US war
escalation with military build-up in the Middle East threatening Iran. Trump
boasts of sending a "massive armada" with deployment of the aircraft
carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, accompanied by three destroyers, including
guided-missile destroyers and additional ships. These have also been
supplemented by reports of "specialist military" jets and helicopters
arriving through US bases in Britain and Germany showing the cowardice and
complicity of British and the EU ally vassals in all US threats against Iran.
This is the reality of the crimes against peace by Trump and his allies. It is
in fact now support for Trump's lashing out with even more extreme violence,
destruction and obliteration of anything which stands in his way.
Al Quds Day - Tehran 2024
The Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, whilst in China, when asked if Trump's
actions were right, refused to say, only commenting: "We all agree that
ensuring that Iran doesn't get that nuclear programme is the number one
priority, and that's what we're working on." Starmer did not refer to
Britain's so-called concern about Iranian demonstrators. He instead emphasised
the nuclear pretext to interfere in Iran just as Blair had used "weapons
of mass destruction" as a pretext to invade Iraq in 2003.
Last week the EU dutifully designated the Iranian defence forces, the
Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), a "terrorist"
organisation. The British government on Monday, February 2, moved to impose
further sanctions on Iran and Iranians [1]. Then on Tuesday, the government led
a debate in Parliament [2] where the whole cartel party system condemned Iran
for "attacks on protesters", and any parallel drawn with the arrest
and demonising of pro-Palestine demonstrators here was noticeable by its
absence.
In the debate, only one MP, Richard Foord, managed to condemn Trump's
threats to attack Iran saying: "In response to the unilateral US action in
Venezuela, the Government merely said that they were waiting to establish all
the facts. Meanwhile President Trump said that he does not need international
law, and that he is constrained only by his own morality or conscience. In
advance of any US unilateral action against Iran, will the Minister reassure
the House that this time the Government will speak up for the use of force when
it is in compliance with international law?" The Parliamentary under
secretary, Hamish Falconer tried to claim in reply: "As the House knows,
the Government are a strong supporter of international law. Everything we do is
consistent with that principle, but for the reasons that I set out to the
Shadow Foreign Secretary, I will not be commenting on hypothetical
scenarios." In other words, the reality is that the government and the
cartel party system in Westminster support Trump, but fantasise that to do so
is supporting "international law". In reply, Iran has stood firm. It
has said it will strike US bases and aircraft carriers immediately in response
to any attack.
Chicago, January 3, 2026
Iran and its Islamic Republic has always responded with the full force of
the heroic Iranian people and its 1979 revolution, the anniversary of which we
celebrate this week on February 11. In nearly 50 years, the Islamic Republic of
Iran has never bent but continued to resist the criminal actions of the
Anglo-US imperialists, and the Israeli regime who continue their genocidal
murder of the Palestinian people with the support of the US, Britain and the
EU. This week marks the anniversary of the overthrow of the Pahlavi regime in
1979 by the Iranian people. The celebrations known as the Fajr decade (Ten Days
of Dawn), run annually from February 1st to 11th (12th to 22nd of Bahman in the
Persian calendar). The referendum that followed in March 1979 established the
Islamic Republic of Iran.
The brutal Pahlavi monarchy had itself been brought to power on August 19,
1953, by a coup organised by the Anglo-US imperialists to seize back control of
Iranian oil fields and Iran's strategic position in the Middle East. The
coup d'état
overthrew the government of Prime Minister of Iran
Mohammad Mosaddegh, who had defended Iran, its oil and resources, and was left
to die in prison.
Since the Iranian revolution, the Anglo-US imperialists alongside the
Israeli regime and their European allies have never ceased in the attempts to
destroy the Islamic Republic. The Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain
(Marxist-Leninist) has consistently maintained its stand demanding an end to
imperialist intervention in the Middle East, specifically campaigning under
banners such as "Hands off Iran" and "Hands off the Middle
East" and "Free Palestine" and supporting the resistance. The
Party has always argued that Iran and its people should be left alone to
determine their own path and that the focus should be on stopping US-British
interference and aggression. The Party characterises "Western" media
reports regarding Iran's nuclear programme as disinformation for war, comparing
it to the build-up to the 2003 Iraq invasion and the so-called accusation that
Iraq possessed "weapons of mass destruction" used to justify the
Anglo-US invasion and occupation of Iraq. The Party has always argued that
meddling by British and American governments is the primary cause of regional
turmoil.
London, January 31, 2026
When Iran announced the starting of live-fire military exercises in the
Strait of Hormuz, a critical maritime chokepoint through which a substantial
portion of the world's oil passes, US forces had immediately been taken by
surprise. These drills overlap with US movements, and noticeably blind-sided
and forced US military concerns over "potential miscalculations" in
the congested waters and a demand that the Iranian military, the IRGC, should
act with "professionalism". In Tehran, a huge image is being
displayed showing a bird's-eye view of an aircraft carrier with damaged and
exploding fighter planes on its flight deck. The deck is strewn with bodies and
streaked with blood that trails into the water behind the ship to form a
pattern reminiscent of the stripes of the American flag. A slogan is emblazoned
across one corner: "If you sow the wind, you will reap the
whirlwind." All this shows why Trump was forced to retreat to diplomatic
talks with Iran which are said to be going ahead on Friday, February 6.
As
Workers' Weekly
reported, condemning the Israel and US bombing of
Iran last year in their 12-day attack on Iran on June 12, 2025: "Israel is
a terrorist state committing genocide against the Palestine people whose land
it occupies. The British government's support for arming Israel and supporting
it as an 'ally' must be ended. Britain must support Iran in exercising its
right to self-defence and demand that Israel cease its attack on Iran and ends
its genocide against the Palestinian people." To the US, Britain and their
allies the working class and people say "Hands Off Iran!" "Hands
Off the Middle East!" "Free Palestine!".
Condemn British Sanctions on Iran
The British government announced on February 2 a new wave of sanctions
against several high-ranking Iranian officials and entities accused of
involvement in serious human rights violations. This move, the Foreign Office
said, "targets individuals within the country's judiciary, security forces
and transport infrastructure who have been instrumental in enforcing repressive
laws and stifling dissent." The government claims that "these
individuals have played a direct role in the suppression of fundamental
freedoms and the mistreatment of citizens exercising their right to
protest."
These sanctions amount to a declaration of war against a sovereign
government. They can be seen as a form of collective punishment that itself
violates principles of international justice. The Iranian people are the force
that will sort out their own problems. The sanctions are incompatible with the
fundamental right of the Iranian people to chart their own future free from
external interference. The sanctions go against the Iranian people's ability to
determine their own political and economic path. The Iranian nation's right to
self-governance must be respected without foreign pressure designed to shape
internal affairs.
The Iranian people have the right to determine their own future without
British and/or US coercion. Britain must not join with Trump and the US in
finding pretexts, whether as regards to Iran's nuclear programme or concern
over "perpetrators of human rights violations", with which to commit
aggression against Iran, itself a powerful anti-imperialist force.
Notes
1. UK announces sanctions against perpetrators of human rights violations in
Iran
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-announces-sanctions-against-perpetrators-of-human-rights-violations-in-iran
2. Iran Volume 780: debated on Tuesday 3 February 2026
https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2026-02-03/debates/9CF7A5A9-1F44-44AD-917F-15F55C597CE6/Iran
Link to Full Issue of Workers'
Weekly
RCPB(ML) Home Page
Workers' Weekly Online
Archive
Volume 56 Number 3, February 7,
2026
ARCHIVE
HOME
JBCENTRE
SUBSCRIBE
Hands
Off Iran! Hands Off the Middle East! Free Palestine!
Huge image in Tehran - "If you sow the wind, you
will reap the whirlwind."
As we write, the US warmonger Trump continues the dangerous US war
escalation with military build-up in the Middle East threatening Iran. Trump
boasts of sending a "massive armada" with deployment of the aircraft
carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, accompanied by three destroyers, including
guided-missile destroyers and additional ships. These have also been
supplemented by reports of "specialist military" jets and helicopters
arriving through US bases in Britain and Germany showing the cowardice and
complicity of British and the EU ally vassals in all US threats against Iran.
This is the reality of the crimes against peace by Trump and his allies. It is
in fact now support for Trump's lashing out with even more extreme violence,
destruction and obliteration of anything which stands in his way.
Al Quds Day - Tehran 2024
The Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, whilst in China, when asked if Trump's
actions were right, refused to say, only commenting: "We all agree that
ensuring that Iran doesn't get that nuclear programme is the number one
priority, and that's what we're working on." Starmer did not refer to
Britain's so-called concern about Iranian demonstrators. He instead emphasised
the nuclear pretext to interfere in Iran just as Blair had used "weapons
of mass destruction" as a pretext to invade Iraq in 2003.
Last week the EU dutifully designated the Iranian defence forces, the
Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), a "terrorist"
organisation. The British government on Monday, February 2, moved to impose
further sanctions on Iran and Iranians [1]. Then on Tuesday, the government led
a debate in Parliament [2] where the whole cartel party system condemned Iran
for "attacks on protesters", and any parallel drawn with the arrest
and demonising of pro-Palestine demonstrators here was noticeable by its
absence.
In the debate, only one MP, Richard Foord, managed to condemn Trump's
threats to attack Iran saying: "In response to the unilateral US action in
Venezuela, the Government merely said that they were waiting to establish all
the facts. Meanwhile President Trump said that he does not need international
law, and that he is constrained only by his own morality or conscience. In
advance of any US unilateral action against Iran, will the Minister reassure
the House that this time the Government will speak up for the use of force when
it is in compliance with international law?" The Parliamentary under
secretary, Hamish Falconer tried to claim in reply: "As the House knows,
the Government are a strong supporter of international law. Everything we do is
consistent with that principle, but for the reasons that I set out to the
Shadow Foreign Secretary, I will not be commenting on hypothetical
scenarios." In other words, the reality is that the government and the
cartel party system in Westminster support Trump, but fantasise that to do so
is supporting "international law". In reply, Iran has stood firm. It
has said it will strike US bases and aircraft carriers immediately in response
to any attack.
Chicago, January 3, 2026
Iran and its Islamic Republic has always responded with the full force of
the heroic Iranian people and its 1979 revolution, the anniversary of which we
celebrate this week on February 11. In nearly 50 years, the Islamic Republic of
Iran has never bent but continued to resist the criminal actions of the
Anglo-US imperialists, and the Israeli regime who continue their genocidal
murder of the Palestinian people with the support of the US, Britain and the
EU. This week marks the anniversary of the overthrow of the Pahlavi regime in
1979 by the Iranian people. The celebrations known as the Fajr decade (Ten Days
of Dawn), run annually from February 1st to 11th (12th to 22nd of Bahman in the
Persian calendar). The referendum that followed in March 1979 established the
Islamic Republic of Iran.
The brutal Pahlavi monarchy had itself been brought to power on August 19,
1953, by a coup organised by the Anglo-US imperialists to seize back control of
Iranian oil fields and Iran's strategic position in the Middle East. The
coup d'état
overthrew the government of Prime Minister of Iran
Mohammad Mosaddegh, who had defended Iran, its oil and resources, and was left
to die in prison.
Since the Iranian revolution, the Anglo-US imperialists alongside the
Israeli regime and their European allies have never ceased in the attempts to
destroy the Islamic Republic. The Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain
(Marxist-Leninist) has consistently maintained its stand demanding an end to
imperialist intervention in the Middle East, specifically campaigning under
banners such as "Hands off Iran" and "Hands off the Middle
East" and "Free Palestine" and supporting the resistance. The
Party has always argued that Iran and its people should be left alone to
determine their own path and that the focus should be on stopping US-British
interference and aggression. The Party characterises "Western" media
reports regarding Iran's nuclear programme as disinformation for war, comparing
it to the build-up to the 2003 Iraq invasion and the so-called accusation that
Iraq possessed "weapons of mass destruction" used to justify the
Anglo-US invasion and occupation of Iraq. The Party has always argued that
meddling by British and American governments is the primary cause of regional
turmoil.
London, January 31, 2026
When Iran announced the starting of live-fire military exercises in the
Strait of Hormuz, a critical maritime chokepoint through which a substantial
portion of the world's oil passes, US forces had immediately been taken by
surprise. These drills overlap with US movements, and noticeably blind-sided
and forced US military concerns over "potential miscalculations" in
the congested waters and a demand that the Iranian military, the IRGC, should
act with "professionalism". In Tehran, a huge image is being
displayed showing a bird's-eye view of an aircraft carrier with damaged and
exploding fighter planes on its flight deck. The deck is strewn with bodies and
streaked with blood that trails into the water behind the ship to form a
pattern reminiscent of the stripes of the American flag. A slogan is emblazoned
across one corner: "If you sow the wind, you will reap the
whirlwind." All this shows why Trump was forced to retreat to diplomatic
talks with Iran which are said to be going ahead on Friday, February 6.
As
Workers' Weekly
reported, condemning the Israel and US bombing of
Iran last year in their 12-day attack on Iran on June 12, 2025: "Israel is
a terrorist state committing genocide against the Palestine people whose land
it occupies. The British government's support for arming Israel and supporting
it as an 'ally' must be ended. Britain must support Iran in exercising its
right to self-defence and demand that Israel cease its attack on Iran and ends
its genocide against the Palestinian people." To the US, Britain and their
allies the working class and people say "Hands Off Iran!" "Hands
Off the Middle East!" "Free Palestine!".
Condemn British Sanctions on Iran
The British government announced on February 2 a new wave of sanctions
against several high-ranking Iranian officials and entities accused of
involvement in serious human rights violations. This move, the Foreign Office
said, "targets individuals within the country's judiciary, security forces
and transport infrastructure who have been instrumental in enforcing repressive
laws and stifling dissent." The government claims that "these
individuals have played a direct role in the suppression of fundamental
freedoms and the mistreatment of citizens exercising their right to
protest."
These sanctions amount to a declaration of war against a sovereign
government. They can be seen as a form of collective punishment that itself
violates principles of international justice. The Iranian people are the force
that will sort out their own problems. The sanctions are incompatible with the
fundamental right of the Iranian people to chart their own future free from
external interference. The sanctions go against the Iranian people's ability to
determine their own political and economic path. The Iranian nation's right to
self-governance must be respected without foreign pressure designed to shape
internal affairs.
The Iranian people have the right to determine their own future without
British and/or US coercion. Britain must not join with Trump and the US in
finding pretexts, whether as regards to Iran's nuclear programme or concern
over "perpetrators of human rights violations", with which to commit
aggression against Iran, itself a powerful anti-imperialist force.
Notes
1. UK announces sanctions against perpetrators of human rights violations in
Iran
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-announces-sanctions-against-perpetrators-of-human-rights-violations-in-iran
2. Iran Volume 780: debated on Tuesday 3 February 2026
https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2026-02-03/debates/9CF7A5A9-1F44-44AD-917F-15F55C597CE6/Iran
Link to Full Issue of Workers'
Weekly
RCPB(ML) Home Page
Workers' Weekly Online
Archive