Welsh anti-war group condemns attack on Iran
A Welsh anti-war group has condemned what it described as an “unprovoked military attack” on Iran, following US and Israeli strikes on targets in the country.
At its annual meeting on today (28 February), Stop the War Cymru criticised the action, saying it risked wider escalation in the region.
STW Cymru convenor Dominic Macaskill said the strikes came as Iran had been engaged in negotiations over its civil nuclear programme.
“The US/Israel strikes on Iran come as Iran has been negotiating on its civil nuclear programme,” he said. “The previous 2015 agreement was broken by US President Donald Trump in 2018, and he imposed sanctions.
“Iran had just agreed that it would not stockpile enriched uranium – effectively preventing any possibility of it developing nuclear weapons. With its unilateral attacks, the US has chosen war instead of a negotiated agreement.”
Mr Macaskill also accused Israel of preferring conflict to diplomacy and warned of the dangers of escalation.
“Today’s attack endangers civilians and has the illegal objective of regime change,” he said. “There is a clear risk of escalation, including the possible use of Israeli nuclear weapons.”
He called on the UK Government not to support military action and urged both the Senedd and Westminster to condemn the strikes and withhold “political or material support”.
The criticism came as Prime Minister Keir Starmer addressed the situation from Downing Street.
Indiscriminate strikes
He said: “Earlier this morning, the United States and Israel struck targets in Iran. Iran has since launched indiscriminate strikes across the region.
“I know the British people and communities across our country will be deeply concerned about what this means for security and stability.”
The Prime Minister confirmed that while the UK had “played no role” in the initial strikes, British forces were active in the region as part of coordinated defensive operations.
“As part of our commitments to the security of our allies in the Middle East, we have a range of defensive capabilities in the region which we have recently strengthened,” he said. “Our forces are active and British planes are in the sky today.”
Sir Keir added that the UK’s long-standing position remained that Iran “must never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon”, while urging de-escalation and a return to diplomacy.
“It is vital that we prevent further escalation and return to a diplomatic process,” he said.
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I’m not sure the families of the 40,000 dead Iranian democracy protesters would call the attack ‘unprovoked’. True, it probably will escalate things but it’s very odd not to mention how darn awful that regime is.
Just because a regime is awful and tyrannical does not mean a foreign power has the right to intervene. The UN Charter is very clear in this regard. Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator, did that justify the invasion of Iraq? No! Its only provocative when a state invades or threatens to invade a sovereign country violating the Charter.
Where exactly is your source for 40,00 Dead,Tousi TV!
As awful as the Regime is according to you, they haven’t been complicit in the Genocide in Gaza and assisting Zionist Settler Militia who have driven Palestinians from their homes in The West Bank at gunpoint.
Furthermore unlike the USA Iran doesn’t have Military bases in Canada or Mexico.
Silly to defend a regime that kills women for the clothes they wear.
Quote: Furthermore unlike the USA Iran doesn’t have Military bases in Canada or Mexico.
Maybe not Iran, but if Trump’s idiocracy continues to inflame tensions against his neighbours, then I wouldn’t be surprised if China expanded its influence even further into Latin America and the Caribbean. Even Canada is seeking closer ties with them.
Those are totally invented figures for propaganda purposes to justify this war it’s irresponsible to repeat them. If you believe for one second the Trump regime cares about Iranians you may be beyond help. They want to collapse the Iranian state into a position of total weakness and plunder the resources. The Isrealis have pushed for this attack constantly. Iran’s real crime to the criminal regimes in Washington and Tell Aviv is their independence
Why on earth do you think Iranians people around the world and inside Iran are dancing with joy and thanking the Israelis and Americans for helping them? Is that propaganda?
As the Iranian regime has lied consistently about everything the idea that suddenly now their word can be trusted is frankly odd.
Then it’s no different to the USA and UK who lied about Weapons of Mass Distribution in Iraq.
And you can trust Trumps word? A bloke that lies constantly.
That people actually seem to be supporting the regime is terrifying.
I don’t think anyone here is defending the Iranian regime. Opposing foreign military intervention is not the same thing as supporting the government in Tehran. It’s about questioning whether Trump has the right to intervene and impose regime change.
If you are against freeing the Iranian people that are begging for help against a regime that murders their own people by the tens of thousands, you are defending the Iranian regime. There is no other possible path that will help these people. They’ve tried protesting and all they get is bullets. Even in the UK, scores of Iranian regime backed terror plots are foiled every year. This military intervention is in everyone’s interest.
The Iranian regime is authoritarian and its human rights record is deeply troubling, that is not in dispute. But it is not a binary choice as you suggest. Opposing military intervention does not mean supporting the Iranian regime. By that logic, anyone who opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq would have been defending Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship, which clearly was not the case. The issue is the principle involved. The international system is built around the United Nations Charter, which restricts the use of force except in self-defence or with authorisation from the UN Security Council. If powerful states begin bypassing… Read more »
Trump running scare from Epstein (lots of abuse alleged) starts illegal war that will kill many people to try to save his skin.
Netanyahu and Trump are committing war crimes, for Netanyahu this is business as usual.
Greenland next, UK through Kemi and farge next. Panama Canal next.
There can never be peace in the Middle East without regime change in Iran. Whether this is the right way of doing it depends only on what the other regional powers think.
Surely it’s Israel that stops progress to peace? If it accepted peaceful coexistence with Palestinians decades of conflict would have been avoided. It could still change its expansionist policies, but prefers ongoing war. And, now it has a very compliant partner in the Trump administration.
Iran has been working hard for decades to stop Israelis from peacefully coexisting with Palestinians and others in the region.
“Regime change” is a breach of that nation’s domestic jurisdiction. Fat lot of good did the invasion of Iraq achieve. Afghanistan started as chasing Osama bin Laden, then morphed into a regime change programme. Where did that one end? Regime change is more often a smokescreen for other covert aims and activities
That’s why the success or not of this action depends on support within the region, and who knows what the alliance of kings including the orange one have agreed. Beyond the terror groups and puppet states it funded Iran doesn’t have any friends. Any regional reluctance is fear of what comes next, because it can always be worse. The lesson from Venezuela is he might just take the head and see if a friendlier one replaces it without the chaos of destroying the machinery of government or trying to install a democracy.
Iran is a different story. In Iran you have huge anti-regime protests and calls for international help, and an extremely violent crackdown from the regime. This was not the situation in these other contexts you mention.
How about mentioning the IRANIAN pro-war groups dancing in Cardiff city centre?