Hands Off Iran: Stop the March Toward Another U.S.-Engineered War

Once again, the United States is dragging the Middle East toward the edge of catastrophe, this time with Iran in its crosshairs. Under the familiar guise of “security,” the U.S. has begun evacuating personnel from Iraq, Bahrain, and Kuwait. Mainstream headlines refer to it as a “precaution.” But activists and independent observers see the truth: this is a manufactured escalation, laying the groundwork for yet another illegal, imperialist war.

Iran’s response is not reckless; it’s resistance. After years of brutal sanctions, political isolation, covert attacks, and the assassination of key officials, Tehran has drawn a line: if the U.S. or its allies launch a military strike, Iran will strike back with force. Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh’s warning that U.S. bases across the region will be targeted is not a threat; it’s a declaration that Iran will not be bullied into submission by a nuclear-armed superpower that flouts international law at every turn.

And let’s be clear: this has nothing to do with nuclear weapons. Iran has repeatedly said its nuclear program is peaceful. The 2015 nuclear deal, backed by international monitors, proved this. It was the U.S. that walked away. It is the U.S. that sabotaged diplomacy. And it is the U.S. that now pretends Iran is the aggressor, justifying the buildup of troops, arms, and rhetoric across the region.

This is the same tired playbook that led to the Iraq War, to the devastation of Libya, to the endless quagmire in Syria and Afghanistan. We must not fall for it again. The war machine thrives on lies, distraction, and silence. It counts on the public being too afraid, or too apathetic, to push back. But silence is complicity.

To activists, students, workers, and communities across the world: this is your fight too. Another war means more innocent lives lost, more billions funneled into weapons instead of healthcare, housing, and climate justice. It means more surveillance, more authoritarianism, more division. We cannot let our governments sleepwalk us into disaster.

We must demand an end to U.S. aggression in the Middle East. We must say NO to another war for oil, dominance, and empire. And we must stand in solidarity with the people of Iran, not their leaders, not ours, but the people, who will once again bear the cost of Western ambition.

The time to act is now. Peace is not passive. Peace is resistance.