THE US yesterday raised tensions considerably between itself and Iran by declaring that the main body of armed men maintained by the Iranian state, The Revolutionary Guards, charged by that state with defending and preserving Iran and its Islamic revolution, would be declared a ‘terrorist organisation’ by executive presidential order by the end of this month.
The implication of such an announcement is that since the Revolutionary Guards is the main instrument of the Iranian state, and is its tool, acting under its instructions, that this state itself is terrorist.
The United States administration, with this announcement, has now quickened the pace of its collision course with the Iranian revolution, since the US administration has made it clear that it feels free to take action against those that it designates as terrorist movements by striking at its source of finances and at its leadership.
In July 2006, the US administration supported by the then British Prime Minister, Blair, organised the Israeli attack on the Hezbollah movement, which is also designated as terrorist, and a servant of the Syrian government.
Both leaders went out of their way to allow Israel all of the time that it needed to attempt to crush the Hezbollah movement, and prepare an attack on Syria.
Both refused to urge Israel to call a ceasefire at a time when hundreds of Lebanese civilians, men women and children were being slaughtered by air attacks.
However Israel suffered an ignominious defeat.
Now Bush is developing the same tactic for dealing with Iran by threatening to designate its main defensive force, and the Revolutionary Guards is purely defensive, a terrorist organisation that is a tool of the Iranian government.
The Iranian government and all of its armed forces in the face of this threat has no alternative but to put itself on a full state of alert for a US and/or Israeli attack.
At the same time the whole of the Middle East from Beirut, to Baghdad and Basra is being brought to boiling point, by this threat and other measures.
The sponsor of the latest move in the US administration is said to be Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State.
She has already visited the Middle East along with the US Defence Secretary Gates, when she pledged $63 billion dollars in military aid for Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States.
Israel signed up to receive its £30 billion in military aid yesterday.
Rice is due to return to the Middle East in the Autumn for the big push to clear the way for an anti-Iranian alliance by forcing the Palestinian president, Abbas to agree to a deal establishing a Palestinian ‘state’ on parts of the West Bank, and to agree to give up the right of the Palestinian refugees to return, while getting a financial subsidy for his ‘government’ as compensation.
The British trade unions must condemn the latest Bush imperialist provocation.
They must also demand that the Brown government publicly declares that it will have nothing to do with helping Bush prepare a war against Iran.
Furthermore the trade unions must demand that the Brown government withdraws all troops from Iraq and Afghanistan to lower the political and military temperature throughout the region.
Workers in Britain and the US must take action to halt the drive to war by the imperialist powers which is fuelled by the economic catastrophe that is developing.
There is only one way that this drive to war can be halted. This is through the building of revolutionary parties to lead workers in socialist revolutions to expropriate the bosses and the bankers and establish a planned socialist economy worldwide.
