Israel has made clear that this attack marks only the beginning
Israel has launched air strikes across Iran—and pushed the Middle East closer towards a devastating wider war.
The United States and Britain hypocritically call for “diplomacy” and “de-escalation”, but back the terror state as it goes on the rampage.
The Israeli military said it had launched “precise strikes on military targets in Iran” in response to “months of continuous attacks” from Iran against Israel.
But Israel—backed by the West—is the aggressor.
The Israeli state has made clear that the three waves of airstrikes mark only the beginning. “Now, the state of Israel has wider freedom of action in the air over Iran as well,” military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a televised briefing.
It has warned Iran against retaliating, saying it would be “obligated to respond” with attacks on “additional attacks”.
Iran launched 200 missile strikes on military sites in Israel at the beginning of this month. Its retaliation came amid Israel’s terror campaign, assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and ground invasion in Lebanon—and threats of regime change in Iran.
The hypocrisy of the West is on show in the aftermath of Israel strikes. The US National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said, “We urge Iran to cease its attacks on Israel so that this cycle of fighting can end without further escalation.
“It is our aim to accelerate diplomacy and de-escalate tensions in the Middle East region.”
Another US official said, “This should be the end of the direct military exchange between Israel and Iran. We had a direct exchange in April and that was closed off and now we’ve had this direct exchange again.”
Labour prime minister Keir Starmer said, “I am clear that Israel has the right to defend itself against Iranian aggression, I am equally clear that we need to avoid escalation.
“Iran should not respond.”
Israel wanted a much bigger strike on Iran—hoping to target Iranian civilian nuclear facilities and energy facilities.
US imperialism feared a greater escalation would cause more chaos in the Middle East at a time when it faces challenges on multiple fronts. And attacks on oil production would hit the US economy just before a presidential election.
But the logic of escalation is built into the situation—and the US is unable and unwilling to restrain Israel.
Israel’s genocide in Gaza has caused tensions between the US and Israel. The US was nervous that the scale of the genocide could lead to resistance against the Arab regimes, which are aligned with US imperialism.
But, in response to those tensions, Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu has spread the war to Lebanon to cement Western support. He knows that, when push comes to shove, the US will back its terror state.
The US has both failed to restrain and enabled Israel throughout the genocide and war—and that’s true of its latest attack.
Israel’s attacks on Iran came as the United Nations human rights chief said the “darkest moment” of the war is unfolding in the north of Gaza.
“As we speak, the Israeli military is subjecting an entire population to bombing, siege and risk of starvation,” Volker Turk said.
The Zionist state—furious with its inability to exterminate the Palestinian resistance in Gaza—is ramping up massacres and mass starvation.
In Britain our urgent task is to stop all arms sales to the racist and genocidal state. Let’s turn out in vast numbers in London on 2 November and organise for the workplace day of action on Thursday 28 November.