THE Iranian foreign ministry denounced the attack carried out by the US early on Tuesday morning as ‘an act of bad faith’ and a ‘definitive violation of the ceasefire’ and insisted that it would not leave aggression unanswered.
The Iranian military did not announce any specific reprisals for the bombing of a number of Iranian missile sites but warned of ‘heavier and more severe’ counterattacks in the event of a new aggression by the US and Israeli regimes.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Brigadier General Abolfazi Shekarchi, a senior spokesperson for the Iranian Armed Forces, emphasised that any response to new aggression would be different from what has come before.
He said that Iran’s enemies would face surprises and new tactics, and that if the region enters another round of war Iran’s strikes would extend beyond regional borders.
Shekarchi went on to address the issue of oil exports, warning that if the war resumes and Iran is prevented from exporting its oil it will prevent oil from leaving the region altogether.
If US president Donald Trump and his advisers believed that a limited air strike could somehow pressurise Iran into caving into US demands at the talks taking place to end the unprovoked war against Iran, then he has badly underestimated Iranian resolve and determination not to concede at the negotiating table anything that Trump has failed to achieve through a war.
Indeed, Iran is attending these talks aimed at ending the war and reopening the Straits of Hormuz from a position of strength, while US imperialism is operating from a position of weakness.
Last week, Trump made another of his boastful claims that the US may need to strike Iran again, telling reporters: ‘I was an hour away from making a decision to go today,’ adding that Iran’s leaders are ‘begging’ to strike a ceasefire deal.
Today, however, it is clear that it is Trump who is begging for a deal, with Iran holding all the cards.
The peace agreement, that Trump is now saying is close to being signed, fails to achieve any of the objectives Trump set out when he and the Israeli regime started their war on February 28th.
Indeed, Iran has insisted it will not proceed with any agreement until half of the country’s frozen assets – worth $12 billion – are transferred with the remainder released over the following 60 days.
These assets include Iranian revenue from oil and gas sales that have been ‘frozen’ in foreign banks following years of US sanctions designed to crush Iran economically.
All the economic sanctions failed to smash Iran, and the war waged by US imperialism has not just failed, but has destroyed forever the myth of US sovereignty over the world, along with pushing the global economy over the brink into a historic recessionary crisis.
Trump is now faced with the choice between the public humiliation of accepting the defeat of US imperialism, or launching fresh attacks on Iran which will quickly spiral out of control across, not just the Middle East, but throughout the world.
The working class in the US, UK and Europe are already picking up the bill for Trump and US imperialism’s failed war to reorder the world, through massive increases in inflation and soaring energy costs.
Now is the time for the working class internationally to mobilise its enormous strength by calling general strikes to bring down their capitalist governments and bring in workers government and socialism.
The time has come for the working class to use its power to put an end to capitalism, that in its final imperialist stage can offer humanity nothing except world wars and poverty.
The burning issue today, is the building of the WRP and Young Socialists in the UK and sections of the International Committee of the Fourth International in every country to provide the leadership required to organise the victory of the World Socialist Revolution, to dump capitalism into the dustbin of history!
