The EU has agreed an oil embargo on Iran. In response Iran has threatened to close the strait of Hormuz (through which oil supplies pass). The US has said if that happens it could take military action.
The embargo might work, and Iran might back down. However Iran has other customers for its oil.
There is a possibility there will be a stumbling into a war which could ignite a series of other conflicts across the region.
The EU’s embargo comes after months of standoff between Iran and the west over Iran’s nuclear programme. The prospect of the clerical-fascist regime in Iran having a nuclear bomb is alarming. We oppose Iran developing nuclear weapons.
The AWL opposes war as we oppose economic sanctions now. Sanctions help the regime whip up nationalist support for the defence of Iran.
Already in trouble, the Iranian economy is now further on the slide. Iranian workers are struggling while the rich and powerful at the top of Iranian society continue to do well.
Economic sanctions will hurt the Iranian working-class. And they will also make the enormously difficult and dangerous tasks of the secular democratic and working-class forces in Iran much harder.
Socialists should oppose these sanctions and any drive to war. We must step up our solidarity with the small and embattled working-class forces in Iran who are struggling for their freedom.
