House of Commons' motion to rule out use of force: First crack in western hawkish alliance against Iran

The first major crack in the western alliance against Iran has now surfaced in the UK's House of Commons by a rebellious Conservative back bencher who has for the first time in a western country proposed a motion against the hawkish western Iran policy. The anti-war groups activists and peace activists all around the world will see this as a promising sign to build a strong lobbying and media campaign to successfully oppose the war drive on Iran.

For the first time in many years, the UK Parliament has held a debate  specifically on Iran.  The Motion tabled by the Conservative MP, John Baron (Basildon and Billericay), secured a debate on 20/02/2012 on a Motion calling on the government to rule out the use of force against Iran, arguing for calm and vigorous diplomacy as the only sensible option. 

John Baron intends “to divide the house to test the view and will of Parliament”.  He states that “The catalyst for the latest round of condemnation against Iran has been the IAEA’s November report. But close reading reveals no ‘smoking gun’. There is no evidence of attempts to produce nuclear weapons, or of a decision to do so. Much is made of Western intelligence reports – but Iraq should have told us to be careful on this front.”

In his interview on BBC Radio 4’ s Today  program on February 20th , Baron  urged the west to recognize the Islamic Republic as a super power in the region and opt for a rapprochement with Iran in the style of Richard Nixon who visited China to end the long term US hostility against the country. 

This development clearly reveals the gigantic hoax in the Western allegations of Iranian nuclear threat that the US and UK,  while constantly prodded by Israel, have used in recent years to once again deceive the world nearly ten years after their  fabricated and false dossiers paved the  way for the criminal and Illegal invasion of Iraq. 

In fact, many British and Western parliamentarians who voted for war on Iraq, claimed afterwards that they had been ‘misled’.  The motion by John Baron reflects this sentiment and highlights the disarray in the British and western political establishment.

Not only do the majority of the International community as organised in the 118 nations of the non-aligned movement defend Iran's rights for a civilian nuclear programme and criticise the western pressures on Iran, but we now see that the supposed unity of the western alliance against Iran is actually fragile and can be cracked by further public pressure.

It is the responsibility of the antiwar organisations and peace activists to  mobilise the public opinion on British Parliamentarians to abandon their aggressive stance on Iran.

Systematic and orchestrated lobbying of parliamentarians is therefore crucial to avert the gathering tide of sanctions, covert war and military attack on Iran.  Parliamentarians and key decision makers must be publicly questioned by groups of activists and individuals in their constituencies and held accountable for their positions and their evidence on which they might support sanctions, interference or military strike on Iran.

The lobbying work should be backed up by a systematic campaign to challenge  the western biased media which played a decisive role in manipulating public opinion and paving the path to the invasion of Iraq.  Well-informed and sustained media work such as writing letters to editors and journalists to challenge lies and distortions, writing articles, and giving media interviews are crucial in mobilising public opinion against sanctions and war and towards negotiations without pre-conditions. CASMII’s Key Reasons Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran, provides a regularly updated record of the issues of US-Iran stand-off. 

In February 2003, in response to the huge and unprecedented anti-war demonstrations that engulfed the world days before Iraq was invaded, the NY Times, acknowledged the existence of “two superpowers on the planet: the United States and world public opinion”.  Those demonstrations, including the two million strong demonstration in London did not stop the war, but created fractures and fears in the ranks of the decision makers.  For  history not to be repeated we must educate and win the public and mobilise it to win parliamentarians. 

Local and national antiwar organisations are vital for building a strong lobbying and media campaign against the war drive on Iran. On 4th February 2012, Anti-war activists in many cities in the US demonstrated against sanctions, military attack, covert operations and domestic interference in Iran.  CASMII for many years has been consistently campaigning against domestic interference and any type of sanctions as destructive to Iranian society and a prelude to war.   The crushing sanctions on the Iranian economy and the massive military build-up in the Persian Gulf have prompted the main anti-war organisations in the UK and the US to now rally around the slogans of No Sanctions, No interference, No assassinations alongside the slogan of No War on Iran.  

CASMII calls upon all concerned Iranian and non-Iranians to urgently join and build national campaigns in the UK (Stop the War Coalition), the US and other Western countries to mobilise public opinion against the sanctions and war drive on Iran by building a strong lobbying and media campaign.  A peaceful resolution to the stand-off between the West and Iran would benefit all geopolitical parties involved and would avoid a doomsday scenario in which there will be no winners.

Please contact CASMII for more information and if you wish to get involved.