June 17, 2025

Radical Socialist endorses the statement of the Fourth International issued on 13 June on the current Israeli war of aggression against Iran. . At the same time, we want our readers, especially in India, to note strongly certain concerns, some briefly mentioned in the FI statement, others specific to the Indian context.

The fraudulent basis of the Israeli aggression is to “stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons”.  In truth, Iran does not have nuclear weapons, Israel does. Iran is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) since 1970 while Israel is not a signatory to the NPT. Iran has repeatedly cooperated with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) whose officials have monitored the development of a non-military nuclear program in Iran.

Under the leadership of the then US President Barack Obama, Iran signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) under which Iran agreed to stricter restrictions on its nuclear program and enhanced monitoring by the IAEA in return for relaxation of sanctions. The IAEA confirmed Iran’s cooperation and compliance until 2018, when USA, under President Trump, scrapped the JCPOA.

In recent days, Israel and the U.S. engaged in negotiations with Iran under false pretences. Although talks were scheduled for Sunday, Israel had been preparing military operations all along—with full knowledge of the U.S. Ahead of the strikes, the U.S. ordered non-essential embassy staff and non-military personnel to leave West Asia. Shortly after, Israel bombed Iran and assassinated Ali Shamkhani, one of Iran’s top nuclear negotiators.

However, in an Orwellian twist, it is being reported in the mainstream media, as the recent G7 statement also reads, that Israel has the right to defend itself (meaning that they are not the aggressors but the victims), and Iran is the cause of instability in the region (meaning Iran is the aggressor even though Israel has been the one acting  in bad faith, and has in fact assassinated one of the main negotiators of Iran).     

The aggression comes as a bid to reverse the swing in public perception in many of the imperialist countries about the Zionist leadership and the Israeli state. The genocidal activities of Israel are so widely unpopular (53% of people in the US, 61% in UK and 60% in Canada have unfavourable views on Israel, according to a recent Pew Research Poll) that sections of the conservative journalists, who have been reporting positively about Israel since October 7 2023, as well as some leading state actors of all imperialist countries (except the US) have publicly registered their discomfort at Israeli actions.  The current Israeli aggression on Iran has again occasioned the imperialist countries to fall in line and the mainstream media to report that Israel, a country actively carrying out genocide of a starving defenceless population, is actually the victim.

A real reason for Israeli armed aggression is regime change in Iran. This is evinced by their explicit willingness to assassinate the supreme leader of Iran, as well as their assassinations of top military leaders, making its actions a cause of grave concern. After all, a regime change imposed by imperialism, which we categorically reject, is fundamentally different from the ongoing popular pro-democracy struggles against the reactionary Iranian regime.

India has relationships with both Israel and Iran. India is the biggest buyer of Israeli armaments, and it also has economic relations with Iran. However, given the current geopolitical rivalries and the proximity of China with Iran, India has deemed it geopolitically prudent to position itself close to Tel Aviv and Washington. It has distanced itself from a statement that the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) has issued strongly condemning the Israeli acts of war. We find these actions of India to be highly condemnable and immoral.

These actions cannot be disassociated from the increase in virulent Islamophobia in India which makes the apartheid state of Israel a natural ally. The same Pew Research Poll which showed a decline in favourability of Israel in the imperialist countries finds that the unfavorability of Israel is lowest in India—only 29% of Indians have a negative opinion about Israel. Radical Socialist decries the diplomatic actions of India, and calls on the working people and civil society of India to recognize the dangerous aggression of Israel and demand that India suspends economic and military relations with Israel, and calls for strengthening the Boycott, Divest and Sanction movement in support of Palestine.

Featured image: Netayahu and Modi shake hands beside their respective flags. CC BY-NC 2.0.