LOBBY YOUR MP: Call for an immediate end to the attacks on Iran!

More US long-range bombers have arrived at RAF Fairford, bringing the total to 12, now readying for bombing operations against Iran. Three B-1 Lancers were spotted taking off from the base in Gloucestershire on Tuesday evening, returning Wednesday morning in what is believed to have been the first bombing run conducted from the base since the illegal US and Israeli war on Iran started 12 days ago. Alongside the 8 B-1s that have arrived at the base over the last week are three B-52 bombers – warplanes capable of dropping both nuclear and massive conventional 70,000 lb bombs. 

Keir Starmer had initially resisted giving permission for the US to use bases like Fairford and Diego Garcia on the Chagos Islands for this operation. He’s since buckled to the pressure allowing for so-called ‘defensive’ operations. But how ‘defensive’ can such weapons be? And how long before these bombing operations hit schools or hospitals? Despite Donald Trump’s denials, there is mounting evidence that a US Tomahawk missile was responsible for the deaths of at least 180 people, mostly children, after it hit a school in southern Iran during the first days of the attacks. Components for this missile are designed and manufactured at a Raytheon factory in Glenrothes, Scotland.

According to the commander of US Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper, US airstrikes have hit 5,500 targets in Iran since the illegal war started, with bombing waves now coming every hour. The war continues to threaten a global economic crisis, with the International Energy Agency today announcing the release of 400 million barrels of emergency crude from its stockpiles – the largest ever – to ease rising oil prices.

This illegal war has nothing to do with supposed nuclear threats from Iran. Nuclear-armed Israel and the US sabotaged the talks. Mediators confirmed that Iran had committed to zero uranium enrichment – meaning it would not develop a nuclear bomb. And Iran agreed to full inspections to verify this by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

But given the devastating attacks taking place now, any hopes for diplomacy are in tatters. This illegal war won’t just devastate lives in the Middle East. It has far-reaching global consequences, from escalating conflict and nuclear dangers to rising fuel and food prices felt by ordinary people everywhere.

Take action today! In just two minutes you can e-mail your MP using our easy lobby tool. Call on them to make it clear that Britain cannot be dragged into another illegal war.

Save the date: Join the protest. CND and Stop the War are organising a demonstration ‘Stop Bombing Iran. Hands Off Lebanon. Free Palestine’ on Saturday 21 March. More details to be announced!