Aramco Attack: Defeat the US/Saudi/Israeli Warmongers!

 

Defend Iran against any imperialist aggression! But no political support for the reactionary Mullah Regime in Teheran!

 

Statement of the Revolutionary Communist International Tendency (RCIT), 16 September 2019, www.thecommunists.net

 

 

 

1.             A major air strike on Saudi Arabia’s oil infrastructure on 14 September is bringing the Middle East to the brink of another major war. The attack on two key facilities of Saudi Aramco, which is the heart of the country’s petroleum and natural gas business and one of the largest companies in the world, halted production of 5.7 million barrels of crude a day, more than half of Saudi Arabia’s global daily exports and more than 5% of the world’s daily crude oil production. This disruption is the greatest on record for world markets, according to figures from the International Energy Agency (even larger than the disruption around the time of Iran’s 1979 Revolution). The markets reacted with panic. Brent crude futures, the international benchmark, briefly rose by as much as 19.5% to $71.95 per barrel, the biggest intra-day jump since 14 January 1991 (before the start of the Gulf War at that time).

 

2.             The Houthi movement in Yemen claimed responsibility for the attack. However, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Iran in a Twitter post: "Amid all the calls for de-escalation, Iran has now launched an unprecedented attack on the world's energy supply". At the same time, a senior Iraqi intelligence official said that the strikes were made by Iranian drones launched from Hashd al-Shaabi bases in southern Iraq – a claim which has been denied by the Iraqi government (David Hearst: Iranian drones launched from Iraq carried out attacks on Saudi oil plants, Middle East Eye, 15 September 2019). US President Donald Trump said that the United States is "locked and loaded" for a military strike against Iran.

 

3.             Irrespective if the attack has been launched by the Houthis, by pro-Iranian militias in Iraq or by Iran itself, there can be no doubt that this strike was a legitimate attack against Saudi Arabia and its US-American and Israeli allies. Saudi Arabia has waged a barbarous war against the Yemeni people since 2015 resulting in thousands of civilians killed and millions starving. It has aided Israel which launched repeated air strikes against pro-Iranian forces in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq (not to speak about the ongoing Zionist aggression against the heroic Palestinian people in Gaza). Furthermore, the Saudi monarchy is a key force in the pro-US counter-revolutionary alliance in the Middle East which strangles Iran with massive sanctions and military provocations in the Persian Gulf (and which, at the same time, props up the military dictatorship in Egypt, supports the coup attempt of General Haftar in Libya and tries to smash the Palestinian resistance).

 

4.             Clearly, the U.S. Administration is in a quandary: if it launches air strikes against Iran in retaliation it risks a military escalation which could get easily out of control. In any case, a massive rise in oil prices would be guaranteed which would accelerate the downturn of the capitalist world economy (a process which is already taking place). It would have immediate effects on the U.S. consumers, diminishing the already modest chances of U.S. President Trump to safeguard his re-election. The fact that Trump recently sacked John Bolton, his National Security Adviser and a notorious anti-Iranian warmonger, reflects the desire of the U.S. Administration to avoid such a war with Iran (of course only after it recklessly escalated the aggression against Teheran for one and a half years without the desired result). On the other hand, if Washington refrains from a military strike against Iran, it would be a major foreign policy embarrassment for the Trump Administration and its whole counter-revolutionary alliance with Israel and Saudi Arabia. It would further diminish substantially the prestige of U.S. imperialism and accelerate its decay – a process which takes already place since a number of years. In any case, the successful air strike against the nerve centre of the Saudi energy system has demonstrated that Saudi and other Gulf oil facilities are vulnerable to this kind of attack which has serious consequences both for world politics as well as for the world economy. In short, whatever will be outcome of the current crisis it will have significant repercussions on the world situation.

 

5.             The Revolutionary Communist International Tendency (RCIT) reaffirms its long-standing position on this conflict. We condemn the rampant aggression of U.S. imperialism against Iran and call for the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. forces from the region. We call for the immediate and unconditional lifting of all sanctions against Iran. In case of any military conflict between Iran and the US, Israel or any of its allies, we will side with the former and advocate the defeat of the imperialists. We support all activities that undermine and defeat imperialist aggression.

 

6.             As we stated in past declarations on this issue (see the link below), the RCIT has not the slightest political sympathy for the capitalist Mullah regime in Teheran. We support the struggle of the workers and oppressed peoples in Iran to overthrow the reactionary regime. We unswervingly stand in the camp of the Syrian Revolution fighting against the tyranny of Assad as well as its Russian imperialist and Iranian backers. However, while the U.S. and UK are imperialist Great Powers, Iran is not. It is rather a capitalist intermediate power which basically remains an industrialized semi-colonial country. As we did explain in the past, while the rivalry between Washington, Moscow and Beijing plays a certain role in this conflict, the current tensions in the Strait of Hormuz are essentially about the hegemony of U.S. imperialism and its allies in the Middle East.

 

7.             We call socialists to join forces on the basis of a struggle on two fronts: siding with Iran against US/UK imperialism and siding with the Iranian workers and oppressed against the Mullah regime, with the Syrian people against Assad/Putin/Rouhani and with the Yemeni people against the Saudi aggressors. Hence, we call revolutionaries to join the RCIT in fighting for the following slogans:

 

* End the imperialist sanctions against Iran!

 

* US Navy and allies – out of the Persian Gulf!

 

* For the defeat of the US/UK in any military confrontation with Iran!

 

* US military out of the Middle East! Close all US military bases!

 

* Support the struggle of the workers and oppressed in Iran against the Mullah regime!

 

* Victory to the Syrian Revolution against Assad/Putin/Rouhani! Drive the Russian and Iranian forces out of Syria!

 

* Support the Yemeni popular resistance against the Saudi invaders and their allies!

 

* For workers and peasants republics! For a socialist federation of the Middle East!

 

 

 

International Bureau of the RCIT

 

 

 

* * * * *

 

 

 

For the RCIT's analysis of Iran and the imperialist aggression we refer readers to our numerous articles and statements that are published on our website at: https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/

 

In particular we refer to:

 

Strait of Hormuz: Escalating Tensions between the US/UK and Iran. Drive the Great Powers out of the Middle East! But no political support for the reactionary Mullah Regime in Teheran! 22 July 2019, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/escalating-tensions-between-the-us-uk-and-iran/

 

Iran: Down with Trump’s Sanctions and Military Threats! But no political support for the reactionary Mullah Regime in Teheran! 11 May 2019, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/down-with-trump-s-sanctions-and-military-threats-against-iran/

 

Warmongering in the Middle East: Down with all Imperialist Great Powers and Capitalist Dictatorships! 13 May 2018, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/joint-statement-warmongering-in-the-middle-east/

 

For the Iranian Revolution! Down with the capitalist Mullah dictatorship! Down with Imperialism! For a working class revolution in Iran! Action Platform for Iran by the RCIT, February 2017, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/iran-platform/