Iran’s Attack on Israel: Imperialist War is Heating Up

In retaliation, Iran launched an air strike on Israel, but it was ineffective. This is the first direct attack by Iran on Israeli territory. Zionist Israel, which has incurred the hatred of the peoples of the region and concerned working masses of the world with its genocidal operation in Gaza, has been provoking Iran to such an attack in order to drag it into war. Most recently, on April 1, the air attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, the capital of Syria, destroyed the consulate and killed seven Iranian soldiers, including two generals. Although Israel did not declare that it was the perpetrator of this attack (which is usually its position), the rulers of Iran and other countries knew that Israel was the perpetrator and made statements accordingly. The Iranian rulers made statements that this attack would be avenged in a short time. Israel responded to these statements by saying that it would retaliate if attacked, and the United States responded by saying that it would defend Israel.

Iran’s attack on Saturday night involved hundreds of drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles. However, this attack, which had already been announced in advance, does not appear to have caused any serious damage to Israel's military forces. The US and Israel claim that almost all of the drones and missiles used in the attack were destroyed in mid-air by their defence systems (with the support of Saudi Arabia and Jordan) and that very few of them fell on Israeli territory. Neither Iran nor independent observers have provided any evidence or explanation to the contrary. It has been proven time and again that Israel, with the support of the United States, has an effective defence system against such air strikes. In such circumstances, the primary significance of Iran launching such a strike, using means considered insufficient, is to show the world that it will not fail to respond to Israeli aggression. It is also to appease its own domestic public opinion, sending the message that it is strong enough to hit Israel, and to keep its alliances in the Middle East on track.

After the attack, Iranian officials warned Israel not to retaliate and the United States not to intervene, saying that the retaliation had been successful and that the matter was closed. The United States announced that it would not support Israel in a counter-attack and demanded that Israel be informed in advance if such an attack was to take place. Israel, on the other hand, announced that it would respond to this attack. The Western imperialist states condemned Iran and offered their support to Israel. Russia and China, on the other hand, called on all sides to show restraint and not to escalate tensions.

Given the developments so far, we can say that Israel has achieved at least one of its goals with the provocative attack on 1 April. Iran has launched an ineffective retaliatory attack; Israel has once again had the opportunity to play the victim under attack; world public opinion has begun to talk about the Iranian attack and its aftermath rather than the events in Gaza; the verbal, albeit ostensible, pressure recently exerted by the US has been removed; and domestic public opinion has been forced to rally behind the government in the face of external threats and aggression. However, the Israeli government is probably aware that none of these “political-diplomatic gains” can be permanent. It will therefore continue to try to provoke Iran and push it into more aggressive behaviour in the region.

The US and Israel have agreed to extend and intensify the war in the region. They differ on tactical issues such as the speed, allies, means and methods of implementing this plan. It is known that Israel wants to draw the US into a direct confrontation with Iran, which the US is avoiding for the time being. Israel's main aim is to expel the Palestinian people from the region and seize their remaining land. Moreover, it is well known that it is pursuing an expansionist policy in the Middle East and that Zionist objectives both feed and shape this policy. It is clear that the chances in this direction will only increase if the war and chaos in the region increase. American imperialism, which is the instigator of the ongoing war in the Middle East, aims at maintaining and consolidating its global hegemony and making its rivals retreat. Therefore, Israel's presence in the region is vital for it. This does not mean, however, that the USA approves every Israeli plan from the outset.

Both the war in the Middle East and the war in Ukraine are parts and fronts of the Third World War. The events in Palestine and Israel's genocidal atrocities are also taking place in this conjuncture. Therefore, at this point, it would be a grave mistake to treat both the events in Palestine and the Iran-Israel conflict in isolation from this great war conjuncture. Israel is trying to justify and legitimise its provocative attacks against the Iranian forces and the Mullah regime in Iran is trying to justify and legitimise its counter-attacks. In the name of the left, some people fall into the mistake of describing Iran as justified and legitimate because “it opposes Zionist Israel”. One can even be tempted by their description of themselves as the "axis of resistance". However, there is an imperialist war going on and all capitalist states, big and small, participating in this war are accomplices to this crime; they are all enemies both of the workers in their own countries and of the world working class. It is incompatible with Marxism to sympathise with any of the imperialist-capitalist blocs in this war and to make the working people partners of this sympathy. The working class can be neither on the side of American and British imperialism, which has unleashed Zionist Israel on the peoples of the Middle East, nor on the side of China, Russia, Iran, etc. at the other imperialist pole. Both the NATO alliance of the West, the Russian-Chinese bloc, Zionist Israel and the Mullah regime in Iran must be overthrown! The only force that can overthrow them in the interests of humanity is the world working class.