Campaign group Stop the War Coalition (STWC) has issued a damning statement over the escalating situation between Israel and Iran – pointedly blaming the former for the actions of the latter.
Iran: responding to Israel’s illegal actions
As the Canary previously reported, on 1 April Israel bombed an Iranian embassy in Syria – a move which technically counts as a direct attack on Iranian soil. After nearly two weeks of promising a retaliatory strike, Iran launched a drone and missile assault on Israel on 13 April.
Israel, the US, and UK intercepted the majority of Iran’s drone and missiles. However, it put the world on a war footing – with some analysts predicting the situation could throw the entire Middle East into chaos. However, as of Monday 15 April that doesn’t appear to have panned out.
Iran issued a statement on 15 April, with a spokesperson saying:
Instead of making accusations against Iran, (Western) countries should blame themselves and answer to public opinion for the measures they have taken against the… war crimes committed by Israel [in Gaza].
The spokesman added that Western countries “should appreciate Iran’s restraint in recent months”. Interestingly, Iran said it had informed the US and gave a 72-hour warning to neighbouring countries ahead of what it called its “limited” attack on Israel.
The spokesperson said Iran’s action was meant to:
create a deterrent in the aim to prevent the repetition of the actions of the Zionist regime and to defend (Iranian) interests.
Who’s the ‘malign influence’ in the Middle East?
Predictably, further to what the Canary previously reported, Western leaders are still blaming Iran solely for its retaliatory strike on Israel. UK foreign secretary David Cameron said on 15 April – without irony, given it’s Israel that has killed tens of thousands of people in just six months:
We’re very anxious to avoid escalation and to say to our friends in Israel, ‘it’s a time to think with head as well as heart and in many ways this is a double defeat for Iran’… Not only was their attack an almost total failure, but also the rest of the world can now see what a malign influence they are in the region.
If anyone in the region is a malign influence, it’s Israel near the top of the list. However, some people aren’t buying Cameron’s spin – including STWC.
The group issued the following statement:
The Stop the War Coalition has been warning over the last months that Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip, on the West Bank, on Lebanon and in Syria and Iraq, risk regional war. In the last few days that war has come closer. We call on all sides to show restraint and to stop this terrifying slide to wider conflict.
The Iranian drone and missile attack on Israel was a response to a series of attacks on Iranian personnel including most seriously the bombing of the Iranian Consulate in Damascus on 1 April, which killed several people including senior military commanders and which, under international law, represented an attack on Iranian territory.
That deliberately provocative attack was not condemned by the US, the UK or the UN Security Council. The Iranian leadership has said, if it had been, they would have felt no need to retaliate.
Israel must stop what it’s doing
It continued:
US, British and French forces have been actively involved in countering the Iranian drone and missile attacks. We demand that Israel does not launch further attacks on Iranian forces and start another cycle of escalation.
We also continue to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and an end to UK arms sales to Israel. The evidence of war crimes carried out during the assault on Gaza is irrefutable. At least an important component of the Israeli leadership is actively seeking a more general war in the Middle East, and they wish to draw the US and its allies in to support it.
Opposing the logic of war and escalation means calling for an end to Western imperialist intervention in the region. There must be an end to Western support for Israel as it carries out genocide against the people of Gaza and tries to widen the conflict and a lasting settlement for a sovereign and free Palestine.
In Gaza, Israel has so far killed nearly 34,000 people – mostly women and children. It begs the question just how far will the West allow Israel to go before it says ‘enough is enough’ – and will that red line ever be reached at all?
Additional reporting via Agence France-Presse
Featured image via YouTube
