UCU Left statement
We condemn the attack on Iran by the US and Israel.
The US under Donald Trump is attacking country after country. Trump has unleashed ICE thugs on Americans. He will not bring democracy to Iran: he does not support democracy in the USA.
Bombing Iran will not support the movement for ‘Women, life, freedom.’ Trump is attacking women’s rights to healthcare, employment and equality in the USA and worldwide.
Opposing war does not mean support for the Iranian regime. The future of Iran must be decided by the Iranian people. They will not be liberated by bombs dropped from 30,000 feet. The dreadful US missile strike on a girl’s elementary school in southern Iran exposes the real consequences of Donald Trump’s war.
Bombing Iran does not make the Middle East safer.
The excuse given by Trump for launching the attack on Iran was the failure of Iranian leaders to not agree to pursue a nuclear capacity. Whilst the threat of nuclear Armageddon is real, the main driver towards such a catastrophe is from the US, the only state to use nuclear weapons, and Israel, the only Middle East state that possesses nuclear weapons.
The Iranian state has shown it can retaliate against Israel and other US allies.
The Islamic Republic will not fall because it has lost a leader. The government is strong, and the country is huge. Iran has over double the population of Iraq, and twice the landmass.
Bombing Iran will not bring democracy closer in Iran or the wider Middle East. Every bomb dropped and every civilian who dies strengthens the targeted government. Every conscript killed becomes a martyr and strengthens nationalism.
UCU Left condemns these murderous and reckless acts. They are causing death and destruction in Iran and threaten wider war across the region.
As trade unionists in Britain, our first duty is to call for an immediate halt to this war. We condemn our government for supporting Trump’s war and for allowing Trump to use British military bases.
Donald Trump has said that American lives will be lost for his ‘noble’ cause. But as usual it will not be the children of the rich who suffer or die. Working class Americans will pay the ultimate price for Trump’s expansionism.
We call on all of our supporters to organise and build the protests against the war on Iran.
Suggested branch motion
This branch notes
- The attack by the US and Israel on Iran began on 27 February, while both sides were ostensibly in nuclear negotiations.
- Trump’s ‘America First’ doctrine explicitly prioritises US corporations’ interests above all else. Trump seeks to avoid ‘forever wars’ like Afghanistan (nearly 20 years) and Iraq (8 years, 8 months). So far this doctrine has translated into targeted strikes against leaders and military installations but not invading troops.
- The attack has been condemned by the UN Secretary General; Brazil, Turkey, Oman and Russia, as well as US lawmakers. But Keir Starmer has sent war planes to shoot down Iranian missiles, and offered British bases to the US, all the time approving US military actions while urging Iranian ‘restraint’.
This branch believes
- Bombing is not a route to democracy. The history of bombing campaigns is that they kill civilians and strengthen states’ hold over their people.
- The first duty of trade unionists in the UK is to call for an immediate end to the war, and oppose the actions of our own government in enabling it.
This branch resolves
- To call on members to oppose war on Iran and to join protests against it called by the Stop the War Coalition and CND.
- To send messages of solidarity to Iranian trade unions, including the Iranian Teachers Trade Association (a member of Education International, to which UCU is affiliated).
- To call on UCU nationally to do likewise.
- To send a version of this motion to UCU Congress.*
*Note re: the final resolves – “a version of” here is to deal with the 150 word limit.