This article by Comrade Hamma Hammami was published in issue 72 of Al-Hadaf magazine, published by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, on July 2nd. It is a valuable addition to the analysis of the Middle East. However the analogy between Israel and Algeria is problematic. The USSR recognized the right of self-determination for the Jewish people in Palestine and indicated its preference for a single state.

1. Understanding the events taking place in the region, or in what is called the Middle East, and specifically the Zionist-American aggression against Iran, cannot be properly understood without linking these events to each other and without placing them in the general regional and international context in which they are taking place. Otherwise, we will fall into partial, simplistic, and even superficial interpretations and explanations that will lead us to wrong, if not opportunistic, political positions that serve the interests of the forces we claim to resist and confront. We mean the American-Western imperialist camp, the Zionist entity, and the agent regimes in the region that are hostile to our peoples and their aspirations for liberation and emancipation, foremost among them the Palestinian people.

2. The aggression against Iran represents, firstly, the continuation of the war of extermination that has been taking place for more than twenty months in Gaza and the West Bank, with the aim of completing the seizure of Palestine and its complete Judaization, as declared by the Zionists in a blatant manner, as announced by the criminal in the White House, the fascist populist Donald Trump. Secondly, it represents a continuation of the attacks and assassinations that took place in Lebanon, targeting one of the most important resistance factions in the region, namely Hezbollah, and the resulting agreement on a formal ceasefire. This agreement deprives the resistance from responding and does not prevent the Zionist entity from continuing its rampage, in light of the arrival of a new president and government, with American and Western blessing, who do nothing in response to this rampage. Thirdly, it represents a continuation of what took place in Syria, with the overthrow of the Assad regime and its replacement by a regime that declares its non-hostility to the Zionist entity, but rather declares that what unites it and the Zionist entity is that they have “two common enemies,” namely Iran and Hezbollah.

3. The aggression against Iran falls within this context. The American-Zionist enemy believes that the climate has become conducive to completing the elimination of the axis of opposition to American-Western-Zionist hegemony in the region. This is achieved by striking at the "heart" of this axis and its strongest actor, Iran, using the pretext of "nuclear weapons." The entity and its American sponsor have made no secret of the fact that their true goal is to change the regime in Iran and replace it with a docile one. Moreover, following the implementation of the first phase of the aggression, which included the assassination of military leaders and a number of scientists, Netanyahu did not hesitate to address the Iranian people, calling on them to take to the streets and overthrow the regime.

4. The war being waged in the region has no other goal than to reshape it according to the strategic interests of the United States, the West, and Zionists, as summarized by the "New Middle East" project. This project is nothing more than a reworking of the Sykes-Picot Agreement (1916) along religious, sectarian, and ethnic lines, with the goal of creating small, fragmented, and warring entities that would ensure easy control by American imperialism and its Zionist spearhead. Libya is torn apart, as are Yemen, Sudan, and Iraq, and Syria has joined them. Only Iran remains a major obstacle, which is what prompted the attack. However, one should not assume that the matter will stop with these countries and societies. Rather, it is likely, if not certain, that the hand of crime will extend in the coming period to other countries, most notably Algeria, which the New Middle East project stipulates dividing into three states or regions. The growing American-Western-Zionist presence in Morocco, supported by the king and the Makhzen, should only be understood within this framework. There is no doubt that Egypt's turn will come later, despite its regime's alignment with American imperialism. The latter is not concerned with the Egyptian regime currently under his control, but rather with any change that could occur in this large country as a result of a popular revolution or even a military coup of a nationalist nature, and the threat that this could pose to American-Zionist interests. The best guarantee for this is the fragmentation of Egypt and its early plunge into widespread chaos. As for Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, ruled by established families protected by Western imperialist powers, they will not be immune to the fluctuations of regional interests. Last but not least, Turkey itself is not exempt from the aggressive intentions of the entity and its American sponsor, despite the invaluable services provided to them by Erdoğan and his predecessors among Turkish rulers. However, Netanyahu's problem is that he does not want a strong Turkey, even if reactionary, close to the entity. This is because Zionist imperialist strategic thinking considers the future, that is, the possibility of the situation changing to the disadvantage of the current regimes as a result of popular uprisings against them and the rise of revolutionary or progressive regimes in their place. It even considers the possibility of a shift in alliances. Above all, the extremist Zionists do not hide the fact that their goal remains the establishment of “Greater Israel” extending from the Nile to the Euphrates.

5. All of this falls within a special international context. The global capitalist system has been experiencing a stifling crisis for some time. The monopoly bourgeoisie is attempting to resolve this crisis at the expense of its own peoples at home by undermining the freedoms and economic and social rights of workers, toilers, and even the middle classes, on behalf of the financial elites that dominate society. This same bourgeoisie is also attempting to resolve its crisis at the expense of other weak and small peoples and nations by further controlling them, plundering their wealth, and suppressing their aspirations. Finally, the various monopoly bourgeoisies, old and new, are attempting to resolve their crises at the expense of one another by intensifying economic, trade, and financial wars, but also by intensifying the arms race and provoking proxy wars and conflicts around the world in preparation for a potential all-out war that would open the door to a redivision of spheres of influence according to the new balance of power. War has always been and remains an essential part of imperialism. The rise of far-right, fascist, and chauvinistic nationalist governments in various major countries, led by the United States, can only be viewed as an expression of these dangerous trends at home and abroad: protectionism in the economy, racism and fascism in politics, and the rise of militarism and the resulting tensions and conflicts in international relations.

6. The Middle East today represents one of the most prominent areas of conflict between the major imperialist monopoly powers competing over raw material resources, primarily energy, of which the Middle East holds a large share, as well as over markets and strategic locations. The United States and its Western allies have felt a decline in their interests in the region (and in other parts of the world as well, in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America) as a result of Chinese and Russian expansionism in particular, and the acquisition of allies and positions at their expense. This explains the ferocity of American imperialism, its intensification of aggression, and its incitement of more than one conflict, fearing for its position and interests threatened by competing imperialist powers. In this context, it supports the Zelensky regime, along with its NATO allies, to contain the Russian competitor in Europe. It is igniting the fire of war in the Middle East and, along with its Zionist counterpart, committing the most heinous crimes to subjugate the region, ensure its absolute hegemony, and eliminate its competitors, especially the Chinese and Russians. It will then turn its attention to the South China Sea, where the fiercest strategic battles will take place in the future with the new Chinese giant, which seeks to consolidate and strengthen its position. The law of unequal development among the various capitalist powers constantly creates a state of tension and conflict between the dominant power or powers on the world throne and the new, rising power or powers that propose reconsidering the existing order in defense of their interests. This was the source of two previous world wars, and today it is pushing the world toward a third.

7. The conflict in the Middle East is therefore a conflict of interests fueled by monopolistic imperialist capitalist powers. Striking Iran has nothing to do with preventing it from possessing nuclear weapons; it is merely a pretext. The first country to use nuclear weapons was American imperialism, which holds the record for wars (225 internal and external wars since 1776, the date of the Declaration of Independence). Moreover, nuclear weapons are in the hands of the criminal Zionist entity, which, since its inception, has perpetrated massacre after massacre at the expense of the Palestinian people, and is today waging a Nazi-like war of extermination against them. Moreover, its entire history is a history of attacks on Arab peoples, both neighboring and even distant, such as Tunisia. The war has been planned for some time. It has been planned more than once. In this context, it is important to recall the Trump administration's initial attempts to form an alliance that included the entity and the "Sunni" Gulf regimes against "Shiite" Iran, under the pretext of it being a "common enemy." One aspect of this project was the widespread normalization of relations with Israel under the "Abraham Accords" or "Deal of the Century," which drew the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco into the normalization process. Saudi Arabia was the favored candidate, but the outbreak of the "Al-Aqsa Flood" operation shuffled the cards and created new equations, in addition to the strong entry of other powers, most notably China, into the region and its efforts to bring Iran and Saudi Arabia closer together. Today, however, the American-Zionist project is being revived, and it is intended to be completed by overthrowing the Iranian regime and annexing the country to the Western fold.

8. However, the Zionist-American project was thwarted and did not achieve its declared goals due to the Iranian state's reaction to the aggression and the support of the majority of the Iranian people for it, defending the nation's sovereignty, not necessarily out of "love" for the existing regime. Even opponents of Khamenei's regime from among the revolutionary and nationalist forces stood against the aggression and refused to stand behind it, believing, firstly, that the criminal Zionist regime and its fascist imperialist American supporter cannot work for the Iranian people, but rather against them and their interests. Secondly, that the Iranian people alone are responsible for choosing the regime they want, because freedom, democracy, equality, and dignity represent gains achieved by the people themselves and for themselves. They cannot be gifted to them by foreigners or their agents, let alone by the executioners of peoples and perpetrators of wars of genocide. There is no doubt that if the Iranian regime has a lesson to draw from the current confrontation, which has not ended—and it is a mistake to believe that it has—it is that no regime can survive without a solid internal front. A solid internal front can only be achieved by respecting the political rights of the people, respecting equality, and thus granting women their rights, without accusing any movement for freedoms and basic rights of being the work of an external enemy. Imperialist and colonial powers exploit the internal weakness of countries to infiltrate them and employ their forces to facilitate this infiltration. There is no doubt that one of the reasons for the infiltrations carried out by the Zionist entity and its imperialist sponsor is Iran's internal situation. The cohesion achieved today cannot be guaranteed to continue without respect for the freedom and rights of the Iranian people, because the enemy will redouble its subversive activities to weaken and undermine this cohesion and provide the appropriate ground for resuming its aggression.

9. Opportunistic and reactionary ideas and positions have become popular these days to justify not standing with Iran, or even to “gloat” over it and justify attacking it.

Among these ideas and positions is that the Iranian regime is “reactionary and religious and oppresses its people.” Some rely on this position to justify their neutrality, in accordance with the Tunisian proverb that says, “A pot breaks with its own pot” or “Don’t return an axe to a club.” However, they forget that this “argument” is weak because, first, the “reactionary nature of the Iranian regime” in no way justifies aggression against Iran’s sovereignty and regime change. Second, the greatest beneficiary of the aggression is the Iranian people, their wealth, freedom, sovereignty, and territorial integrity. Third, the other beneficiary is the Palestinian people, and Gaza in particular, because destroying Iran will encourage the enemy to proceed with its project of forced displacement of the people of Gaza, in accordance with the criminal plan of the White House. Thus, this seemingly neutral position serves the Zionist imperialist enemy.

Another of these ideas is that the Iranian regime has "Safavid expansionist ambitions" and that its possession of nuclear weapons will strengthen its control over the countries of the region. This position is no less dangerous than the first. On the one hand, it falls into the same pretexts used by the enemy to justify aggression and conceals its true objective. On the other hand, it overlooks the fact that the rampaging aggressor possesses nuclear weapons and its sponsor possesses these weapons and has used them more than once in its history (Japan, Afghanistan, etc.). Therefore, if there is a serious and tangible threat to the peoples of the region, it is the American-Western imperialism and the Zionist entity, which are practicing aggression in a real and tangible manner. Above all, isn't it foolish to rely on the criminal to save the peoples of the region from a nuclear weapon that Iran has yet to possess, or is the precise intention simply to create a pretext for Zionist-American arrogance? A coherent position on nuclear weapons must be based on disarming all powers in the world that possess them, foremost among them American imperialism and the Zionist entity, which are more likely than others to use them today in their repeated aggressions in the region and elsewhere.

Another idea is that the Iranian regime is "sectarian" and seeks to spread "Shiism" in the region at the expense of the Sunnis. This position falls into the reactionary imperialist-Zionist trap that seeks to incite religious and sectarian strife in the region: pitting Sunnis against Shiites, pitting Sunnis against each other, and so on. The reality is that the issue is political before it is religious. Indeed, in this conflict, religion is nothing more than an ideological cover behind which various reactionary forces hide. There is no clearer evidence of this than the fact that Sunni Islamic regimes are currently at the forefront of those normalizing relations with the Zionist entity, and they are directly or indirectly assisting it in the genocide of the Palestinian people. They are also the ones filling the coffers of American imperialism with hundreds of billions of dollars. Some of them have not hesitated to provide support to American imperialism in its aggression against Iran, just as they previously supported it in its wars against Iraq and Libya. In contrast, the "Sunnis" of Gaza have found no support except from the "Shiites" of Iran and Lebanon and the "Zaydis" of Yemen. This confirms that the issue is political, and that the primary angle from which it must be viewed is, in the final analysis, the position on American imperialism and its Zionist creation. The Arab client regimes are part of this Zionist imperialist system, which works to eliminate the Palestinian resistance and any liberationist tendency in the region, even if it is motivated by bourgeois nationalism. Of course, our emphasis on this issue does not mean that we absolve the Iranian regime of any possible expansionist ambitions in the region. Rather, it is another stage that cannot be resolved in any way by the most heinous expansionist and criminal force in the region, namely American imperialism and its Zionist creation.

From this standpoint, the correct position must stem from the nature of the tangible conflict currently existing in the region between the criminal Zionist imperialist forces waging war after war for expansion and hegemony on the one hand, and the peoples and states of the region who reject this expansion and defend their sovereignty on the other.

10. Among the positions that have recently become popular, and have slowed the pace of solidarity movements with Iran in Western countries in particular, is the emphasis placed by their leadership on the need to eliminate the Zionist cancer from the region. There is no doubt that those who hold these positions fear being accused of anti-Semitism, in addition to the fact that they themselves support the "two-state solution." We believe that this "half-position" is based on a mistake. We ourselves, as revolutionaries, leftists, and Marxist-Leninists, raise the slogan of eliminating the Zionist entity as a condition for the liberation of the Palestinian people, first, and for establishing peace in the region, second. Our position is based on a historical argument, a real and indisputable one for us, which is that the Zionist entity is an artificial entity planted by colonialism in the region to serve as its spearhead in its hegemony. It suffices to review the statements of the leaders of imperialist countries and the Zionist entity to realize this, the most recent of whom was Biden, who arrogantly said, "If there were no 'Israel,' America would have created it to protect its interests." The current "Israelis," with the exception of a few of them of Palestinian origin, represent nothing more than groups of settlers. The elimination of Israel means nothing other than dismantling it as an entity, a state, institutions, an army, and settlements, and returning the land to its rightful owners, regardless of their religion or belief. Meanwhile, the settlers would return to their countries of origin, just as hundreds of thousands of French settlers returned to Algeria after 132 years of colonialism, and even more so as thousands of Jewish settlers are now returning to their countries after realizing the reality of the "Promised Land" to which they were brought. The Palestinian issue is the issue of a people whose land was stolen, only to be granted by European countries, through the United Nations, to those who were not its people. This was done in an attempt to resolve the Jewish issue, which they created at the expense of the Palestinian people, firstly, and to create an artificial entity in the region to ensure control over it and its resources, and secondly, to leave it floundering in ongoing wars and conflicts, unable to achieve its own prosperity and well-being.

11. Today, Iran has been able to repel the aggression against it. The resistance in Gaza, despite the unimaginable crimes, is still standing, inflicting painful blows on the enemy that will force it to retreat. Yemen also continues to stand by the Palestinian people. We do not believe that the "stunned" feelings of the rest of the peoples of the region are anything but temporary, and they will certainly rise up against their exploiters and oppressors. The national, revolutionary, leftist, and progressive forces must assume their responsibility in mobilizing their peoples to confront the enemies, whose brutality, if they have proven anything over the past 20 months, has ultimately led them to inevitable defeat. As for the regimes of subservience and treason, they will collapse at any moment like autumn leaves. It is enough for the spearhead to fall for them to meet the same fate. They exist today with its support and protection. The enemies of our peoples, the imperialists and Zionists, who are exploiting chaos to reshape the region within the framework of a new Sykes-Picot Agreement, will be turned against them by that chaos, creating an uprising from below, from the peoples themselves, who will find their way to organize to realize their dream of liberation from all forms of imperialist and reactionary domination and to exploit their wealth to build their glory. Fortunately for peoples, the forces of barbarism at various stages of human development fail to learn from history, and so they repeat the same mistakes that led to their demise. It is certain that we have reached a stage where it has become imperative to finally rid ourselves of the last of the "evil" of history, namely the capitalist system, which has reached a stage where it no longer offers humanity anything but destruction, devastation, and ugliness. This task falls upon the forces of liberation and socialism, so that the peoples and the working class may enjoy economic, social, intellectual, and cultural emancipation and liberation, and put an end to all forms of alienation.

Click here to return to October 2025 index.