Trump’s recent escalation of the war on Iran is extremely dangerous. After two weeks of bombing a fragile ‘pause’ in hostilities has been announced. But the President’s erratic behaviour and the crisis of US foreign policy should make us more concerned, not less. Now is the time for the new Burnham government to cut support for Trump’s war and profoundly reassess the UK’s diplomatic and economic priorities.
Which is why Stop the War Coalition and CND have called an online public meeting on Wednesday 5 August, 6.30pm to discuss the latest situation and what we do about it. Titled ‘Stop Bombing Iran: Cut Warfare not Welfare’, the meeting will hear from speakers including Shabbir Lakha (Stop the War national officer), Sophie Bolt (CND general secretary), Maryam Eslamdoust (TSSA general secretary) and Atefeh Zandi (an activist with Iranians Against War)
The meeting is especially well timed as it comes a week before the 15 August demonstration at RAF Fairford – a launchpad for the US war on Iran – and the day before Hiroshima Day.
During his first Presidential term, Trump tore up the Iran Nuclear deal (the JCPOA), despite all the evidence by international experts that the country was complying with the terms of the accord. This set the stage for ensuing hostilities that have ramped up massively since the Gaza genocide. The latter demonstrated Israel’s impunity in the eyes of the US, including through its attacks on Iranian allies, and destroyed any semblance of moral authority within the US-led international order.
The cost of war
Thousands of Iranian civilians have now been killed in the war. Thousands more have been killed in Lebanon, which has been sucked into the conflict. The US has targeted bridges, hospitals, railways and other civilian infrastructure. These are war crimes – although you wouldn’t know it from the mainstream media, or from the European heads of state who brush off Trump’s insults then continue to appease him.
A spokesperson from Iranians Against War said, it’s vital that in these circumstances we “amplify the voices of innocent Iranians inside Iran who are being bombed by B-2 bombers and B-1 Lancers taking off from RAF Fairford.”
“We strongly oppose this illegal war and the warmongers who care only about the price of oil, at any cost – even if it means the killing of 168 school children, as witnessed in the atrocity carried out by the US Airforce on day 1 of the 2026 war. We say to the UK: stop using RAF Fairford as a base for this aggression. Not in our name. Not with our tax money.”
Maryam Eslamdoust, TSSA general secretary, powerfully reinforced this link between the war on Iran and social spending cuts in the UK during her speech at the International Conference Against War:
“Our government is in a desperate drive for armaments. Their plan is to more than double military expenditure over the next few years. And they have made it very clear how they will pay for it – by cutting the very essentials of everyday life for workers.
“Money cut from transport, health and housing will be spent on ‘big American toys like nuclear armed F-35 jets, which Iran has proved are not even suitable for the needs of the unnecessary wars of today. The brave men and women, and children, of Iran have held our heads high and withstood two of the most powerful militaries in the world. Dare we hope that no more lives will be blighted by war [and] that Iran might be treated like a normal country?”
A spiralling conflict
UK support for the US and Israel’s war on Iran has helped drive continued escalation. Saudi Arabia and the Houthis in Yemen have now become embroiled in the conflict, alongside Israel and Lebanon, while Iran has said it now sees Britain as a legitimate target.
Just this weekend, Ukraine attacked an Iranian ship in the Caspian Sea. More actions like this could lead to a fusion of the two major imperialist wars currently raging across the world – from the Middle East to Eastern Europe. This is the future if we do not stop it now.
As Stop the War national officer Shabbir Lakha put it: “Andy Burnham has given the keys to the Treasury to John Healey, a man who openly campaigned for cutting welfare to fund eye-watering hikes in military spending. We urgently need to organise against the escalation of the war on Iran and the drive to re-militarisation.”
CND general secretary Sophie Bolt stressed: “This critical meeting takes place in a volatile situation. While US bombing has stopped for now, the impact of Trump’s illegal war on Iran still threatens to escalate, with the risk of re-igniting Saudi Arabia’s deadly war on Yemen. Burnham cannot continue to justify that British bases are being used “defensively” when the US is destroying civilian infrastructure. He must withdraw permission now and focus on diplomatic efforts to fully implement the Memorandum of Understanding brokered in Islamabad and halt Israel’s barbaric attacks on Gaza and Lebanon.”
Source: Labour Outlook