CPI(ML) condemns the murder of General Qassem Soleimani for which US President Trump has claimed personal responsibility. This unprovoked killing of a very prominent figure in the Iranian military and state, along with Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy commander of the Popular Mobilisation Forces (an umbrella group of Iran-backed militias) and at least six other people has clearly been carried out in order to escalate an imperialist war on Iran.  

The US and in particular Israel have long wanted to eliminate the Iranian state which stands as a countervailing force to the apartheid Israeli regime and the ongoing US-Israeli plunder of the region.  A US war on Iran will deepen the conflict in the entire region and generate immeasurable suffering and loss of civilian lives. Further the fact that since Trump unilaterally undermined the nuclear deal with Iran, this could potentially be a conflict between two nuclear armed powers means that such a war could threaten survival on an unimaginable scale.  

The current US moves and its military escalation in the region will inevitably intensify the oppression of all progressive forces fighting for democratic rights, including those in Iran and notably the ongoing popular protests in Iraq, which are opposed to Iraq being made the battleground between the US and Iran.

The murder of General Soleimani is also clearly calculated to boost Trump’s upcoming election campaign which will be fought on a platform of imperialist triumphalism, fascistic nationalism and further escalating Islamophobia.

We stand with the people of Iran, Iraq and the region and demand that the Indian government reflects the will of its people and condemns Trump’s criminal act, and stands firmly against any forthcoming war on Iran by the US government.    

Dipankar Bhattacharya
General Secretary, CPI(ML)