The South African chapter of the Anti-Apartheid Movement has called on the government to take an unambiguous position opposing the “illegal war” being waged by the US and Israeli against Iran.
The chapter also called for the dismantling of US military bases in West Asia and Africa and for sanctions to be immediately imposed on the “apartheid state of Israel”.
It also demanded a Brics position opposing the US-Israel war and that a global consensus be developed against US imperial adventures and Zionist expansionism.
In a statement on Monday, the chapter strongly condemned the war launched by the US and Israel on Iran.
“This imperialist and expansionist war has already had devastating consequences in Iran, Lebanon, the West Asia region as a whole and the world more generally,” the chapter’s chairperson Frank Chikane said.
He said the blame for all the devastation resulting from this war belonged to the US and Israel.
“Their unprovoked aggression has already caused the devastating loss of thousands of civilian lives — including school children — the displacement of millions of people and the massive destruction of civilian infrastructure.”
The chapter said the crimes of the US and Israel in Iran and elsewhere were not limited to the illegal war, the assassination of the Iranian head of state or the targeting of civilians, such as the school in Minab on the first day of attacks.
“It includes the fact that, for the second time in eight months, these states launched illegal wars on Iran while in the midst of negotiations with its leaders.
“That the mediators reported that a deal was imminent indicates that the US used negotiations as a delaying tactic to prepare its forces for war.”
The chapter said the US-Israel attack was in direct violation of articles 2 and 51 of the UN Charter, relating to the use of force by a UN member state and the right to self-defence.
It was also in violation of UNGA Resolution 3314, in terms of which this war imposed on Iran would be regarded as a war of aggression and a crime against international peace.
The chapter said the onslaught on Iran was part of Israel’s expansionist project, in its attempt to dominate the entire West Asia region and subjugate its populations to Zionist objectives.
“It is Israel, not Iran, that insists on territorial expansionism with its claims to a ‘Greater Israel’ ; it is Israel, not Iran, that possesses nuclear weapons; it is Israel, not Iran, that refuses to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and refuses to subject its nuclear installations to IAEA inspection; it is Israel, not Iran, that — until February 2026 — had attacked or invaded seven neighbouring countries. It is Israel, not Iran, that is guilty of committing a genocide against Gaza and now the West Bank, an illegally occupied population.”
The recent actions of the US and Israel, it said, were a call to action to all the people of the world.
“Either we oppose their illegal programmes or we condemn the world to a future of barbarism, violence, subjugation of the weak by the powerful and the theft of resources by powerful imperialists and their billionaire cohorts.”
TimesLIVE
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