The National Lawyers Guild International supports and signs on to the following statement, issued by the Committee of Anti-Imperialists in Solidarity with Iran (CASI):
TO ENDORSE THIS STATEMENT, PLEASE EMAIL committeeiransolidarity@gmail.com
The Committee of Anti-Imperialists in Solidarity with Iran (CASI) and the endorsing organizations listed below firmly support Iran’s right to defend itself against Zionist aggression through the illegal attack on its embassy in Damascus, murdering high-value personnel who supported the Axis of Resistance in both Lebanon and Syria, and murdering civilians in the neighborhood.
CASI also stands against war and sanctions on Iran and calls on the US and its allies to end the genocide and blockade on Gaza immediately. We not only support Iran’s right to defend its sovereignty in the face of imperialist aggression, we also view Iran’s actions as part of the long decolonizing tradition and expression of principled international solidarity among the peoples of the Global South. This decolonizing tradition transcends political rhetoric and takes material action to advance the Palestinian struggle for freedom and national liberation.
The occupation state is a regional proxy of the United States and one of its most valuable client states, one which cannot function without US weaponry, capital, and strategic guidance. It is the primary aggressor in West Asia, committing a genocide against the Indigenous Palestinian peoples and repeatedly violating the sovereignty of other nations in the region. As such, it has no right to self-defense against a population under its subjugation or against nations that it repeatedly violates and attacks. The events of April 14 proved to the world that this entity cannot function without the continued support of US imperialism. The US must immediately stop the Zionist bombing of Gaza, end the blockade to allow the delivery of aid, and cease all attacks on Iranian sovereignty and other sovereign states in the Axis of Resistance.
For decades, the United States has sought to destabilize Iran, a critical Asian power situated at the intersection of three major continents and multiple waterways. The first CIA orchestrated coup toppled the democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran, Mohammad Mossadegh, in 1953. Since then, Iran has weathered both the direct and indirect effects of U.S. imperialism, culminating in a brutal eight-year military aggression (1980-88) and a devastating sanctions regime that has denied Iranians’ access to basic medical supplies, infrastructure, food staples, and led to astronomical inflation. Over the last few decades, Iran has suffered assassinations of its scientists and generals, bombings of critical infrastructure, and repeated violations of its sovereignty and attacks on its national development. The Israeli bombing of its embassy in Syria on April 1, in violation of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic and Consular Relations is only the latest aggression against Iran.
Despite this long history of attacks, Iran has practiced great restraint in the face of Zionist aggression. Current events are no different. Following the April 1 embassy attack by the Zionists, Iran indicated that it would refrain from responding if the Security Council condemned the embassy attack. The Security Council once again proved to be an instrument of U.S. imperialism; opposing votes from the US, UK, and France blocked the Security Council from condemning or taking effective measures against the occupation state’s blatant violations of international law. This further highlights the inadequacy of existing international institutions to defend the sovereignty of the Global South. In the face of an international legal order created to uphold European and US power, force is a legitimate response to the genocidal occupation state’s aggressions. In fact, force has become the only response that deters the occupation state and mitigates the damage its violence continues to cause throughout West Asia.
After the failures of the Security Council, Iran notified the United States that it would refrain from acting in self-defense in response to the violation of its sovereignty should the occupation state withdraw from Gaza and agree to a definitive ceasefire. Iran’s offer to deescalate came even despite the fact that Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations authorizes self-defense against foreign threats.* Still, both the US and Israel refused to respond favorably and end the genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. The US instead backed the Zionist regime, contradicting the media propaganda which claims that the Biden government seeks de-escalation.
The US no longer has control over West Asia. Put simply, the days of the US subjugating the nations of the region are over. This is owed to the steadfastness of Palestinian resistance and the growing deterrence capabilities developed by the Axis of Resistance from Palestine to Iran, Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen. At this critical juncture facing humanity, the U.S. has two options. The first option is to deescalate—end the genocide of Gaza and the blockade, cease bombing Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq, and Syria, and ensure that the Zionist state refrain from any further attacks on Iranian sovereignty. This option would prevent yet another war at the junction of Eurasia, which already suffers from the US and NATO proxy war in Ukraine. The second option is for the US and the Zionist state to continue their genocide in Gaza and their attacks on Syrian, Yemeni, Lebanese, Iraqi, and Iranian sovereignty, an option that would likely shift the ongoing tit-for-tat engagements to a regional war. The balance of powers in the world is changing to favor the Global South, the previous subjects of European pillaging and colonialism. It is incumbent upon the US to read global events correctly.
WE STAND FOR LIBERATION, SOVEREIGN PEACE, AND JUSTICE, NOT WAR.
STOP THE GENOCIDE & BLOCKADE OF GAZA! FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA, PALESTINE WILL BE FREE! NO WAR ON IRAN! STOP BOMBING LEBANON, YEMEN, IRAQ AND SYRIA!
*Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security.
INITIAL ENDORSING ORGANIZATIONS
- Al Awda, Palestine Right to Return Coalition (National, NY/NJ)
- Anakbayan-Manhattan
- ANSWER Coalition
- Black Alliance for Peace (BAP)
- Bronx Anti War Coalition
- Friends of Swazi Freedom
- International Action Center (IAC)
- International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL)
- Masar Badil: Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement
- National Lawyers Guild-International
- National Students for Justice in Palestine
- Nodutdol for Korean Community Development
- Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM)
- PAL National
- Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
- Sanctions Kill
- Teaching Palestine: Pedagogical Praxis and the Indivisibility of Justice
- The People’s Forum (TPF)
- United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC)
- Workers World Party
