The US’s war on Iran is illegal according to the United Nations Charter and unconstitutional under domestic law, say the US group Veterans for Peace. A war of aggression and of choice, it’s also largely based on lies.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has now admitted as much. Israel’s determination to attack Iran and the certainty that US troops would be targeted in response forced the Trump administration to take pre-emptive strikes, he said. So much for the rhetoric about a “defensive war”.

Hours before President Donald Trump began bombing Iran, the foreign minister of Oman appeared on one of the most prominent US television news programs to declare that a diplomatic breakthrough was “within reach”. Some believe that this was a situation Israel in particular was determined to forestall.

Several hundred Iranians have been killed in the first four days of the US-Israeli bombardment, most shockingly over 150 in one single attack on a girls’ school. Yet the way this is reported in the mainstream media is instructive. The BBC headlined: “At least 148 dead after reported strike on school, Iran says.” We apparently have only Iran’s word for it, and no idea of agency. Contrast the corporation’s equally prominent headline the same day: “Nine dead in missile attack on Israel as Iran strikes region”. As Owen Jones observes, “When Iranians are killed – in this case overwhelmingly children – the perpetrator isn’t named.”

Hospitals and homes have also been targeted. Nor is there evidence of any effort to minimise civilian fatalities. Casualties in a popular Teheran square on Sunday evening were victims of a “double tap” strike, where a smaller strike in the vicinity was followed by a larger one that devastated much of the neighbourhood and hit medical services responding to the first. Over twenty people were killed.

The war has quickly spread across the region, with Iran retaliating and Israel bombing southern Lebanon. Here Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said Britain will not be joining Donald Trump’s action against Iran, saying the UK did not believe in “regime change from the skies”. Yet he defended his decision to permit the US to conduct ‘defensive’ strikes on Iranian missile sites from RAF bases. Spain, to its credit, has denied US permission to use jointly operated bases to attack Iran.

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn MP retorted: “Allowing British bases to be used in an illegal war of aggression is a catastrophic and historic mistake. Britain has been dragged into another war because our Prime Minister would rather appease Donald Trump than stand up for international law. War is not a game. This shameful decision makes Britain complicit in the devastating consequences ahead – and jeopardises the safety of us all.”

He added: “You don’t bring about democracy and human rights by bombing from 35,000 feet.”

Polls show that only 28% of people in Britain support the US-Israeli aggression and only 30% support allowing British military bases to be used, with half the public against the move.  

Reaction to the US-Israeli aggression has been hostile from much of the labour movement. A Statement Against the Illegal War on Iran was issued by over a dozen trade union General Secretaries and now Sharon Graham of Unite and Andrea Egan of Unison have also added their names.

Momentum said: “Labour must be unequivocal in opposing all military action in the Middle East or risk making the same catastrophic mistakes of the past.”

Former Shadow Justice Secretary Richard Burgon MP warned: “The wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya show where this can end. The government’s focus must be on pushing Trump, Israel and Iran towards de-escalation and a ceasefire. Siding with Trump risks British involvement in another US war in the Middle East and leaves us all less safe.”

Former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell MP echoed these sentiments, reminding Keir Starmer that he promised in 2020 there would be Commons vote on any involvement in military action.

Former Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott said: “This is an illegal war of aggression, just as Iraq was. While Starmer is trying to cover for US-Israeli bombing, the US Pentagon has told Congress that there is no evidence that Iran was about to attack. Once again it will be civilians in the region who pay the price.”

Online briefing

7:30pm Wednesday 4th March, the Peace and Justice Project will be hosting an online briefing on the situation in Iran and discussing how our movement can hold the government to account. With PJP founder Jeremy Corbyn MP, Stop The War Coalition’s Lindsey German, Professor Paul Rogers and Iranian artist Nilly Brook.

Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pictures_of_the_Israeli_attack_on_Tehran_1_Mehr_(2).jpg The army of Israel attacked parts of Tehran at dawn on Friday, June 13, 2025. Source: This is a retouched picture, which means that it has been digitally altered from its original version. Modifications: removing watermark. The original can be viewed here: Pictures of the Israel attack on Tehran 1 Mehr.jpg: . Modifications made by Oleg Yunakov. Author: Mohammadjavad Alikhani, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.