In the early hours of June 13, Zionist Israel carried out a comprehensive attack against Iran. The attack targeted senior military officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran, resulting in the deaths of 20 military experts and officials, including the Chief of General Staff and the Commander of the Revolutionary Guards. This assault took place just before the sixth round of nuclear negotiations between the United States and Iran, scheduled for June 15. The attack was conducted with the support of internal intelligence networks and air forces within Iran.
In response to this large-scale assault, Iran launched a missile strike later that same evening. Israel has been continuing its operations against high-level state bureaucracy, expanding them without interruption to include nuclear facilities, weapons depots, fuel storage sites, airports, and undoubtedly, civilian areas as well. Iran, in turn, has responded solely with missile strikes—particularly ballistic missiles—targeting cities such as Haifa, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and many others. Zionist Israel is now facing the most severe and forceful military retaliation in its history.
Zionist Israel, the bloody dagger of U.S. imperialism in the region, became the main instigator of regional war following the Al-Aqsa Operation launched by the Palestinian resistance on October 7, 2023. While devastating all of Palestine—particularly Gaza—and massacring tens of thousands of Palestinians, it has also extended its attacks to Lebanon. It has declared Yemen, Syria, Iraq, and Iran as additional targets.
The Abraham Accords and the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor Agreement signed in September 2023 also signify the final nails being driven into the coffin of Palestine. The military-political-economic balance that these agreements aimed to establish was effectively disrupted by the Al-Aqsa Flood resistance. This resistance rapidly pushed U.S.-British imperialism and Zionist Israel into increasingly aggressive positions within their regional plans. Since October 7, 2023, U.S. imperialism and Zionist Israel have aimed to eliminate all forces resisting their interests. This is being carried out alongside a policy of destruction and weakening.
The imperialists have turned the national liberation struggles ongoing in Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, and Turkey into targets to be liquidated—either through force or consent—because they resist domination. Undoubtedly, this situation is not limited to the region alone; it extends across a wide area from India to North Africa. All resistance forces engaged in struggles on national and social grounds in these regions have become targets of liquidation—either through reconciliation (e.g., PKK) or by military means (e.g., CPI(Maoist), Hamas, Hezbollah, etc.).
In addition, states that do not align with the economic and political interests of U.S. imperialism are also part of this strategic orientation. At the root of this targeting lies the fierce competition with rival imperialist powers. As inter-imperialist contradictions intensify and the struggle for hegemony escalates, states that were “tolerated” in the past are now being slated for liquidation, even at the cost of triggering regional war, as new political opportunities arise. The first step of this was implemented in Syria: the country was brought under control and handed over to HTS and Jolani, bastions of reaction. It is a known fact that Iraq, Yemen, and ultimately Iran are also among the targets. This reality has been openly expressed by Zionist Israel, which has explicitly included these states in its list of military targets. By defining these states as an ‘existential threat,’ Israel also serves as the spearhead of U.S. imperialism’s effort to reshape the region.
It must be stated that Zionist Israel has become an active actor in accelerating the implementation of the U.S. imperialist plan to secure its hegemony in the region. It should be recognized that the recent attack could not have taken place without the knowledge and guidance of the United States. In the context of U.S.-Russia negotiations, where Trump played the “peace game,” a response to the deadlock was delivered through Israel. Among the political objectives concerning the redrawing of borders and the transformation of certain states in the region, Iran stands out as the most critical link.
Zionist Israel has now launched a campaign of attacks aimed at the collapse of the Iranian state and its military wing—an operation that appears to have been planned over a long period of preparation involving intelligence efforts and the strategic positioning of forces within Iran. The assault began with the elimination of top-ranking officials and continues in the same manner. The Iranian state has proven inadequate in protecting its cadres and preparing for potential attacks. Zionist forces, establishing military superiority within Iranian territory and airspace, are continuing their offensive.
The most critical question here is whether this form of aggression will escalate into an all-out war between the two states. In previous instances of similar attacks, Iran has responded with “controlled” retaliation. It is known that Iran has kept its responses within “acceptable limits,” carefully calculating the scale and targets of its counterattacks so as not to provoke full-scale war. However, Iran’s response to the Zionist assault on June 13 has clearly been harsher than previous ones. Still, it must be noted that Iran is acting in a controlled and measured manner, without employing all of its capabilities. Zionism’s so-called “security myth,” already shaken by the October 7 Al-Aqsa Flood, continues to bleed under the impact of Iranian missiles.
Zionist Israel, whose very existence is founded on the occupation of Palestine and the destruction of the Palestinian people, and whose character is shaped by hostility toward all the peoples of the region, has now added its attack on Iran and its people to its record of crimes. Israel, which has crystallized its enmity particularly toward the Palestinian nation and the peoples of the region, is playing its most aggressive and destructive role in orchestrating the process of reshaping the region.
Undoubtedly, the Islamic Republic of Iran is also a reactionary, oppressive, and aggressive regional power, responsible for numerous crimes against its own people, the oppressed nationalities under its rule, and the peoples of the region. Although it has deep and sharp contradictions with the Western imperialists led by the U.S., it remains a semi-colony of Russian and Chinese imperialism. Its political orientation in the region does not follow a progressive or consistent anti-imperialist line. The so-called “Axis of Resistance” is aligned with its own interests and those of the imperialist powers it is affiliated with. Iran’s hallmark is its attempt to conceal its crimes against its own people, the oppressed nations within its borders, and the peoples of the region under the guise of an anti-U.S. stance. However, this reactionary reality does not negate the fact that it is currently under attack by Zionism and U.S. imperialism.
In this context, communist, revolutionary, and all progressive forces must expose and target Zionist Israel and the United States, which are the aggressors and instigators of war in the conflict between two reactionary powers. The spearhead of the struggle must be directed at them. The essential approach is to define the development as “Zionist Israel’s aggression and warmongering against Iran” and to place it at the center of the struggle. The current situation is a result of the aggressive line pursued by Zionism and U.S. imperialism throughout the region. The role of triggering regional and imperialist war has been assigned to Israel, and Zionism is acting in accordance with this role.
In this wave of aggression, Iran is positioned on the defensive side but does not represent the just side. To suggest that the Iranian people—and the oppressed nations, especially the Kurdish nation—should rally around the Iranian regime in the face of Zionist aggression is nothing short of a call to betray social and national liberation struggles.
In the midst of the deep political conflict, vacuum, and chaos that has emerged, while the Iranian people concentrate their attention on the Zionist assault, it remains a legitimate right and duty for them to continue the struggle against their own rulers with an independent revolutionary program. Likewise, for the oppressed nations within Iran’s borders—especially the Kurdish nation—the fight to break free from all forms of imperialist domination and oppression by the dominant nation is a legitimate call and obligation for liberation. Any contrary stance only serves to push the Iranian people into social-chauvinism in this unjust and reactionary war, and to condemn the oppressed nations to a subordinate status under the guise of “acknowledging the warmongering nature of the aggressor.” Even under these conditions, the people and oppressed nations of Iran have the right to rebel and continue their struggle for liberation.
Directing the spearhead of struggle against Zionist aggression is by no means contradictory to this position. It must not be forgotten that Zionism is not attacking Iran because it is governed by a reactionary regime. Zionism is, in fact, in alignment and friendly with similarly reactionary regimes in other countries. The core issue lies in the clash of interests between the U.S.–Zionist bloc and the Iranian regime on a regional scale.
Zionist Israel, under the shadow of U.S. imperialism and in alignment with its plans, is engaging in a campaign of aggression that aims to envelop the entire region. The attack on Iran is a direct outcome of this approach. In coordination with its assault on Iran, Israel has also targeted Yemen, specifically aiming at the military and political leadership of the Yemeni state. Following the attack on Iran, Zionist Israel has declared, “the path to continuous strikes on Tehran is now open.” This latest confrontation marks a new stage in the escalation, deepening, and development of regional-scale conflict, struggle, and tension. It could potentially be halted through an agreement between Russia and the United States.
The doors to a region-wide war have now been thrown wide open. Any reconciliations will be temporary, while conflicts are set to become sharper. In the aftermath of this attack, military, political, and economic maneuvers will intensify among the imperialist powers; the struggle between them will become even more acute. Likewise, relations among regional states will be reshaped in accordance with these developments.
In conclusion, the conditions for regional war have matured further compared to previous days. In particular, the liquidation attacks targeting social and national liberation movements positioned along the line of resistance will intensify. U.S. imperialism and its proxies offer the peoples and oppressed nations only two choices: total submission or annihilation. The attack on Iran also carries this message.
The desire of Zionism and imperialism to turn the region into a thornless rose garden is based on a strategy of disarming the peoples and oppressed nations, leaving them disorganized and fragmented. Political enslavement and the erasure of identity are at the core of the ideological encirclement. Forcing this upon peoples and oppressed nations while contradictions deepen is nothing but an illusion. Imperialism imposes destruction, death, and oppression in order to turn the world into a paradise of exploitation. This imposition will be broken by the independent actions and struggles of the peoples and oppressed nations. Let us mobilize on a more organized and militant front against imperialist warmongering and aggression. Let us say no to imperialism and Zionism.
– Down with Imperialism and All Forms of Reaction!
– Let Us Organize the Peoples’ Anti-Unjust War Resistance Against the Aggression of Imperialism and Zionism!
– The War Between Israel and Iran Is Not the War of the Peoples, But of the Ruling Classes!
– Let Us Expand the Resistance Against Unjust Wars and Organize the Revolution!
– Long Live Proletarian Internationalism!
June 2025
TKP/ML CC-PB
(Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist-Leninist
Central Committee-Political Bureau)
