On Sunday morning the sun did not rise on my home town of Tehran, because of dark clouds of toxic smoke that filled the sky. This was a result of oil depots that were blown up by the US and Israel. Rivers of fire were flowing through the streets as the oil leaked out into neighbourhoods. A vision from hell. Hospitals, airports, UNESCO heritage sites and other civilian targets have been damaged or destroyed.
The cost to human lives has been even greater. More than 1400 Iranians have been killed. That includes 168 children killed just in one school in the town of Minab. It has now been confirmed that the school was targeted by US missiles twice, 40 minutes apart. These so-called double-taps are deadly for first responders. So far, 55 Iranian healthcare workers have been wounded and 11 killed. There have also been casualties in other countries as the war spills across borders, including most notably over 500 people killed in Lebanon. And this is just the beginning.
Against war
We must stand against this war on Iran because it will bring only death and misery. The purpose of the war is to advance the interests of the US ruling class and to strengthen Israel’s regional hegemony. That’s bad not just for Iranians, but for the world.
As we stand against the war, we should not be discouraged or distracted by those Iranians in Canada who, out of sheer desperation, support the war in the false hope that it will usher in a positive political change. It is true that the current form of the Iranian state, the Islamic Republic, is authoritarian and reactionary. Iranians deserve, like everyone, to fight for a better future. For freedom and for equality.
But that freedom will not be bombed into Iran. The history of US intervention has proven that. Bombs didn’t bring freedom to Iraq. They didn’t bring freedom to Afghanistan. Both neighbours of Iran. The fact is that war destroys first and foremost the civil society itself. It ushers in militarism, censorship, and state control. In the last war Iran experienced in the 1980s, the state used the excuse of war and national security to orchestrate mass executions of dissidents. The same pattern of repression is now repeating itself.
Solidarity with the Iranian people
We must stand in solidarity with the Iranian people. Today, that means opposing the war. Helping to take the boot of US imperialism off the necks of everyday Iranians so that they can transform their own society.
This war is also illegal. Prime Minister Mark Carney has acknowledged as much. Yet he has nonetheless supported it. This is a horrifying moment that shows a leader who is prepared to knowingly support violations of international law. He should call for an end to the war today.
We must create a broad antiwar movement here in Canada, including labour unions, faith groups, and everyone who would stand against the bombing of Iran. It is ok to disagree on some things. Not everyone is going to share our view about the Islamic Republic, for example. But as long as we all stand together, we can successfully prevent Canada from supporting this war, as we did with the Iraq war.
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