On 13 June 2025, we witnessed yet another unprovoked attack by the Zionist entity against the Islamic Republic of Iran. This was preceded by the bombing of the Iranian consulate in Damascus in April 2024 followed by Iran’s measured response; the mysterious helicopter crash in May that killed Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and members of the government; and the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July, which was followed by limited retaliation and counter-retaliation from Iran and Israel respectively.
On 13 June, the Zionist entity launched an attack under the pretext of the danger posed by Iran’s nuclear programme.[1] This was a crude repetition of Colin Powell and the US leadership’s theatrics in February 2003, when they attempted to justify their attack on Iraq for possessing ‘weapons of mass destruction’. Rumours that Iran is close to enriching uranium for nuclear weapons have circulated since the Iranian Revolution in 1979 – for the last 46 years.
The operation was complex and highly coordinated. The part carried out within Iran involved months of reconnaissance and the deployment of hundreds of attack drones hidden in civilian vehicles. Enemy agents planted explosives on targets inside Iran and disabled key elements of the Iranian air defence target identification system. Tactics were also employed to disorient Iranian forces and cause their military leaders to gather at predetermined locations, which were then targeted.
Meanwhile, a large number of Israeli aircraft bombed Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities at Natanz and Fordow, as well as many other sites, including military bases, ballistic missile depots, and radar arrays. Scientific research centres were hit, and individual nuclear physicists, scientists, and military leaders were targeted in their homes, resulting in the murder of their families and many civilians.
Clearly, operations of this scale are not carried out independently by a single state, but are the result of coordination between the imperialist axis and its instruments, such as the Zionist entity of Israel, to crush anti-imperialist resistance, such as that of Iran. The overthrow of the Assad government by Islamofascist forces with the help of Turkey and Israel, as well as the recent Ukrainian operation within the Russian Federation that struck a strategic aircraft – i.e. a component of the nuclear deterrent triad – were exploited to reinforce the blow against Iran.
The Islamic Republic of Iran did not remain idle. On 13 and 14 June, after interfering with Israel’s air defence early warning systems, Iran launched a large-scale attack with drones and ballistic missiles, hitting targets in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa. Economic and military centres, air defence positions and the Weizmann Research Institute – a key location for Israel’s defence programmes – were hit, as were oil refineries and energy infrastructure. These attacks were carried out in coordination with Iran and the Yemeni armed forces, with Israel admitting that strategic facilities were hit.
As Israel loses the element of surprise it had at the beginning of its attack, the conflict is moving towards a war of attrition. According to Iran’s Channel 3, Iran and Yemen are considering blocking the Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean, as well as the Strait of Bab al-Mandeb, which leads from the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. This could paralyse one third of all oil and natural gas transport, putting additional pressure on Western countries’ supply chains.
Meanwhile, in media campaigns sanctifying Israeli aggression, Iran is portrayed as an aggressive terrorist regime posing an existential threat to Israel through its strengthening of the ‘Axis of Resistance’ in Lebanon and Yemen – which the West presents as ‘terrorist forces’ – and through its nuclear programme, which is presented as the main reason for sanctions to be strengthened against Iran.
Within the country, the Iranian government is presented as an authoritarian theocracy that oppresses its citizens, particularly women. In recent years, operations have been carried out to destabilise the Iranian government by exploiting the Iranian people’s anger over the difficult economic conditions caused by heavy sanctions. This has been done through the use of armed provocateurs who assassinate government officials and by creating provocations concerning so-called ‘human rights’, women’s rights, etc. The Western media exploits these issues according to its own agenda to paint a picture of an outdated government model and a backward, religiously fanatical people. This is an attempt to shape public opinion in the West and elsewhere in favour of aggressive war against Iran.
The distorted image of Iran conveyed by the Western and Israeli media has recently been significantly weakened due to the intensifying genocidal aggression of the Zionist entity against the Palestinian people, whose resistance is supported by Iran. This has been further exacerbated by Israel’s recent unprovoked attack on Iran, prompting a large number of Iranian citizens to speak out about their living conditions and defend their country on social media.
WWIII is a confrontation between the forces of the imperialist axis of aggression and the forces of socialism and anti-imperialism. The EU and NATO institutions are therefore escalating the aggression of the imperialist axis under the pretext of the ‘fight against authoritarian and totalitarian regimes and ideologies’, such as Iran. This unambiguously identifies the enemy as the forces of anti-imperialism, early socialism, and the global progressive and communist movements. Meanwhile, they present the criminal organisations that make up the shock forces of the axis – which are committing genocide – as ‘models of democracy and commitment to common values’. These include the Zionist regime of Israel, the Nazi puppet regime of Ukraine, the regimes of the Baltic ‘democracies’ (where apartheid is institutionally in force, with the Russian-speaking population classified as ‘non-citizens’), the regimes of Taiwan and South Korea, and so on.
When the Axis targets the ‘weak links’ of this pole, it is necessary to establish and proclaim collective security terms that are binding on all countries, starting with the basic principle that any attack on a country in the resistance bloc will result in immediate military assistance from the others.
Similar alliance obligations between the People’s Republic of China and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and between the Russian Federation and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, could be used as a model for the adoption of collective security alliances on a wider scale. The argument that such an alliance-collective security system provokes greater aggression on the part of the axis is unfounded. After all, in times of war, it is preferable for a reckless enemy to fear you rather than disrespect you.
Along these lines, Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif urged Muslim countries to adopt a unified strategy for dealing with Israel. In a speech to the National Assembly following the Israeli attacks, he expressed his full diplomatic support for Iran, warning that failure to act collectively would leave them vulnerable.
It is now clear that simply rejecting the dominance of the imperialist axis is not enough. General, vague and abstract anti-imperialism, which effectively cedes the strategic initiative to the enemy, is no longer sufficient. What is needed is a conscious, scientific foundation for a positive perspective and an alternative strategy and tactics for the socialist, anti-imperialist bloc.
In the context of WWIII, the main objective of the anti-imperialist forces is the victory of the forces of socialism and anti-imperialism, and the defeat of the US-NATO-EU axis in all areas of the conflict. The potential for mass destruction of all life on the planet lends weight to the most macabre predictions. The balance of the forces involved will be crucial, with the global anti-imperialist front promoted by the World Anti-Imperialist Platform becoming the decisive factor in determining the survival and future prospects of humanity.
Those who do not currently support the anti-imperialist and socialist forces, Palestine, Yemen, Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, the Russian Federation, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the People’s Republic of China and the countries of the Sahel are not neutral. They are siding with imperialism. In the context of WWIII, which has been unleashed by imperialism, we are unequivocally on the opposing side, despite any individual objections we may have and however inconsistent or heterogeneous they may be.
Victory to Iran, Yemen and the Palestinian resistance!
Victory to the anti-imperialist and socialist forces!
Defeat to the imperialist axis and its instruments!
Free Palestine!
[1] Unlike Israel, which has a nuclear arsenal of unknown size, Iran has fully cooperated with the International Atomic Energy Agency. However, on 15 June, the Iranian Foreign Ministry announced that it was suspending the exchange of information with the IAEA, as the West was using this cooperation to gather information on Iran’s nuclear programme and justify overt attacks.