Translated "Avante!"article by Jorge Cadima, Member of the International Department

The ultimate cause of the new Gulf crisis was the USA administration’s violation of the international agreement on Iran, that obliged all the signatories: the USA, Iran and the other UN Security Council permanent members, plus Germany and the EU. The USA tore up the agreement over a year ago. The EU talks about preserving it, while obliging Iran, but not the USA. But Trump decreed sanctions against companies and countries that maintain trade relations with Iran. Major European companies have announced their exit, and the trade with Iran and Germany dropped by about 50% (Sputniknews, 2019.07.01). The USA are currently applying against Iran, the same “model” used against Venezuela: siege, economic war, and military provocations. Imperialism dislikes independent countries, moreover when they hold huge energy resources.

The hijacking of an Iranian oil tanker, carried out by the British poodles under USA orders – as stated by Borrell, the Spanish Foreign Minister (in Reuters, 2019.07.04) – marks a new stage. Trump’s attacks against the British ambassador, didn’t break down their joint enthusiasm to play `colonialists´ together. And it was precisely on the anniversary of when an Iranian commercial airplane was shot down by a USA warship, killing its 290 passengers (on the 3rd July 1988). Iran’s response in the Strait of Hormuz, which even the British Sky News (2019.07.20) was forced to recognize that it had been a carbon copy of when the Royal Marines hijacked Grace 1 (the Iranian oil tanker) having originated hypocritical statements about “freedom of navigation”. An attack by the USA and its allies against Iran, that the most bellicose circles openly proclaim, would cause a catastrophe of huge proportions, surmounting all imperialist wars of the past quarter century.

There exist obvious contradictions among the imperialist powers. But it would be dangerous to underestimate the “War Party” and its provocations. Last June, Document 3-72 , on nuclear policy, was published (and immediately withdrawn from circulation) by the USA Armed Forces Chief of Staff: It is a terrifying document, that seeks to trivialize and lower the standards regarding the use of nuclear weapons. It proclaims (p.V-3) that “The spectrum of nuclear warfare may range from tactical application, to limited regional use, to global employment by friendly forces and/or enemies”. And, nurturing the dangerous idea that there ought to be a “post-nuclear”, it added: “Integration of nuclear weapons employment with conventional and special operations forces is essential to the success of any mission or operation”. Nuclear temptation is circulating amid the USA power circles and is confirmed by Trump: “I have plans on Afghanistan that if I wanted to win that war, Afghanistan would be wiped off the face of the Earth. It would be gone. It would be over in -- literally in ten days. […] But I do not want to kill 10 million people” (in ABC News, 2019.07. 22).

Environmental emergency is much talked about. But there is a deafening silence, including from many NGOs that claim to be environmentalists or even left-wing, when it comes to the greatest environmental danger of all: a war of great proportions, possibly a nuclear one, into which today’s rotting capitalism in decline threatens to lead humanity. That is certainly a mystery.