Ancient Iranian insect rock art discovery

This 2015 video is called Oldest Petroglyphs In North America – Nevada.

From ScienceDaily:

Ancient mantis-man petroglyph discovered in Iran

March 16, 2020

A unique rock carving found in the Teymareh rock art site (Khomein county) in Central Iran with six limbs has been described as part man, part mantis. Rock carvings, or petroglyphs, of invertebrate animals are rare, so entomologists teamed up with archaeologists to try and identify the motif. They compared the carving with others around the world and with the local six-legged creatures which its prehistoric artists could have encountered.

Entomologists Mahmood Kolnegari, Islamic Azad University of Arak, Iran; Mandana Hazrati, Avaye Dornaye Khakestari Institute, Iran; and Matan Shelomi, National Taiwan University teamed up with freelance archaeologist and rock art expert Mohammad Naserifard and describe the petroglyph in a new paper published in the open-access Journal of Orthoptera Research.

The 14-centimetre carving was first spotted during surveys between 2017 and 2018, but could not be identified due to its unusual shape. The six limbs suggest an insect, while the triangular head with big eyes and the grasping forearms are unmistakably those of a praying mantid, a predatory insect that hunts and captures prey like flies, bees and even small birds. An extension on its head even helps narrow the identification to a particular genus of mantids in this region: Empusa.

Even more mysterious are the middle limbs, which end in loops or circles. The closest parallel to this in archaeology is the ‘Squatter Man‘, a petroglyph figure found around the world depicting a person flanked by circles. While they could represent a person holding circular objects, an alternative hypothesis is that the circles represent auroras caused by atmospheric plasma discharges.

It is presently impossible to tell exactly how old the petroglyphs are, because sanctions on Iran prohibit the use of radioactive materials needed for radiocarbon dating. However, experts Jan Brouwer and Gus van Veen examined the Teymareh site and estimated the carvings were made 40,000-4,000 years ago.

One can only guess why prehistoric people felt the need to carve a mantis-man into rock, but the petroglyph suggests humans have linked mantids to the supernatural since ancient times. As stated by the authors, the carving bears witness, “that in prehistory, almost as today, praying mantids were animals of mysticism and appreciation.”

Spanish neofascists Vox bribed by Iranian paramilitarists

This 17 November 2019 video from Spain says about itself:

Around 1,000 protesters gathered in Madrid to participate in a demo against racism and the surging popularity of the far-right on Sunday.

The crowd protested in the city centre, bringing signs and banners directed at banishing xenophobia and far-right parties including Vox, who significantly increased their share of the vote in the recent general elections.

Spain has been rocked by demonstrations sparked by Catalan independence leaders being sentenced to prison in mid-October. Political uncertainty saw the second election of 2019 with the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) again emerging the largest party after the November 10 elections.

From daily The Morning Star in Britain:

Vox party funded by Iranian extremist group

TWO parliamentarians from Spain’s far-right Vox party were paid for eight months by donations from the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), sources have revealed.

The El Pais newspaper reported that the party — now Spain’s third-largest, with 52 MPs — was created in 2013 thanks to a bumper €1million (£845,600) from the NCRI.

In December of that year, Vox received a donation of €1,156 (£977) transferred from abroad by sympathisers of the Iranian group whose armed wing, Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK), was deemed by the US to be a terrorist organisation until 2012.

The politically jihadist NCRI-MEK used to fight for Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in armed conflicts between the Iraqi and Iranian governments. Later, as conflicts between the United States and Iranian governments increased, they switched sides to the Bush, later Obama and Trump United States administrations, and to the Blair administration in Britain, who then got them off their lists of terrorists.

One month later the then Vox secretary-general Santiago Abascal and senior official Espinosa started receiving salaries paid for by the NCRI, invoiced through another company, according to two former party officials. …

Vox received nearly €1m between December 2013 and April 2014 which helped fund their 2014 European election campaign, as well as paying the rent on the party headquarters in Madrid.

MEK undertook a lengthy legal battle over its designation as a terrorist group between 2003 and 2014.

Britain removed MEK from its list of proscribed organisations in 2008, followed by Washington in 2012.

This was thanks to a multi-million dollar lobbying campaign with large donations to members of Congress and influential officials.

Spain’s Vox Party Hates Muslims—Except the Ones Who Fund It. The upstart far-right party is unapologetically Islamophobic, but without donations from Iranian exiles, it may have never gotten off the ground: here.

Trump’s war on pregnant women, students

This 23 January 2020 video from the USA says about itself:

Trump administration brutally targets pregnant women. John Iadarola breaks it down on The Damage Report.

“People are going to die because of this”. Trump administration to deny visas to pregnant women: here.

Iranian student deported from Boston by Customs and Border Protection despite court order: here.

Warships starting oil war on Iran?

This 28 October 2019 video says about itself:

U.S. Spills The Beans: Trump Wants To ‘seize’ Syrian Oil

Trump Tells The World That He Wants Syrian Oil For The U.S.

From daily News Line in Britain:

EIGHT EU nations: France, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Greece, the Netherlands and Portugal will support a European-led naval mission in the Strait of Hormuz, France’s Foreign Ministry announced yesterday.

The initiative to send European warships to the Gulf seemed dead in the water last year when the UK announced that it would be joining a US-led maritime coalition in the region.

However, France resurrected the plan yesterday, pushing for an alternative European-led maritime security coalition in the Persian Gulf, opening the prospect of both a US and EU anti-Iranian force in the Strait of Hormuz.

The US is seeking to send a naval coalition to police the Persian Gulf including Australia, Bahrain, the UK, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Israel. …

The Strait is in some parts less than 21 nautical miles wide, yet a third of the world’s liquefied natural gas and almost 25% of total global oil consumption passes through it, giving it extreme strategic importance.

Tensions in the Persian Gulf began escalating in May 2019, after the US announced that it would be deploying a carrier strike group to the region to counter an unspecified ‘Iranian threat’ to its interests.

Stop Trump-Iran war, Brussels demonstration 25 January

This 10 January 2020 Associated Press video says about itself:

‘No war with Iran’ demonstrations across U.S.

Demonstrators in dozens of US cities gathered Thursday night to protest the Trump administration‘s killing of an Iranian general and the decision to send thousands of additional soldiers to the Middle East.

The progressive political action committee “MoveOn” organized the national “No War With Iran” protests.

The group previously held rallies against the travel ban and white nationalism.

Protest organizers said the Trump administration has essentially started an illegal war with Iran by assassinating Qassem Soleimani.

Activists carried signs with messages like “Peace Now” while chanting anti-war slogans.

They also heard musicians performing songs with lyrics calling President Trump a liar.

Several speakers also called for the President’s immediate removal from office.

Others called for the US to stop spending money on war and instead invest in health care and the fight against climate change.

Translated from the Belgian peace movement Intal today:

Noi another war in the Middle East!

25/01: Action day – 2 pm Central Station Brussels

Seventeen years after the invasion of Iraq, the world seemed to be heading for another disastrous war in the unstable Middle East. For the time being, a further escalation of the conflict between the US and Iran seems to have been averted, but a small spark may be enough to escalate it. The US American sanctions regime is being further strengthened, and threatening language is still heard from both sides.

The USA plays with fire. The extrajudicial execution of Qasem Soleimani with drone rockets, whatever one thinks about his role and that of Iran in the region, is a war act and a violation of international law. We cannot tolerate that US President Donald Trump is constantly undermining the international legal order. We cannot accept that Belgium and the other member states of the European Union, through their passivity or even support, will ensure that we evolve towards an international system in which only might would be right.

Various organizations, including Intal, ask:

that Belgium and the other Member States of the European Union unambiguously condemn any provocative action and violations of international law and human rights;
that Belgium and the European Union play an active mediation role in achieving sustainable de-escalation with Iran;
that Belgium would in no way make itself complicit – if requested – in acts of war and violations of international law by the USA and other countries in Iraq and Iran, neither individually, nor in a NATO context or through other international coalitions.
that Belgium, as a member of the UN Security Council, should take appropriate initiatives to help restore peace and stability in the region and promote political dialogue, under the auspices of the UN;
that the European Union clearly distance itself from the White House’s attempts to make the nuclear agreement with Iran fail. The EU should further encourage Iran to respect the provisions of the agreement and, in return, refuse to implement the US American sanctions that hit the Iranian people hard, but also help them to bypass and compensate them. In the medium term, the Middle East should become a nuclear-free zone.

We express our solidarity with the Iraqi and Iranian protest movements that fight against foreign interference and strive for sovereignty, democratic rights and social justice in their countries.

On Saturday, January 25, an action day will take place in various places in the world at the request of the US peace movement. In Brussels, too, the peace movement will be on the streets at 2 pm at Brussels Central station. Welcome!

Wall Street weapons company CEOs cash in on Iran war danger. Share traders know that a war with Iran would mean more lucrative contracts for US weapons-makers, says SARAH ANDERSON: here.

War and the quest for profits are intrinsically linked: here.

United States students oppose war on Iran

This video from the USA says about itself:

‘No War with Iran’ protest at University of Michigan

More than 200 protesters braved freezing temperatures Wednesday night January 8, 2020, in Ann Arbor to condemn recent U.S. military action in Iraq.

By Trévon Austin in the USA:

US students and youth speak out against the threat of war with Iran

17 January 2020

The International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) held a series of meetings across the United States on the threat of war in the aftermath of the criminal assassination of Iranian General Qassem Suleimani. The meetings garnered significant attention and many youth demonstrated a genuine concern over the consequences of further escalation of conflict in the Middle East.

There is widespread opposition to war among youth, whose entire lives have been overshadowed by consecutive imperialist wars. This generation, which is the first generation set to be worse off than their parents, is intimately familiar with the fiscal and human costs of war. The multitude of US interventions in the Middle East and North Africa, dating back to 2001, have cost over $6 trillion and created the greatest humanitarian crisis since World War II.

In the United States, the social consequences of endless violence abroad are acutely felt by workers and youth. Exorbitant sums are secured to fund the US war machine, as workers and students struggle to make basic ends meet and are told that there is no money for healthcare, education and other social programs. Students increasingly struggle with food insecurity and homelessness, and incidents of gun violence and police brutality occur with an unnerving regularity.

IYSSE members asked youth who attended meetings about their opposition to war, inequality, and the role of the Democratic Party … . Many of the responses are impassioned and reflect a deep hostility to war and the capitalist system.

Steven, a student at Wayne State University (WSU) in Detroit, said, “I’m opposed to war with Iran because it’s going to create an economic downslide. It will be the working class who are forced to fight the war. I think young people should get involved and fight for socialism because these are the issues that address how we live as human beings. To ignore them is to ignore the future of our world and our country.”

Jack, another WSU student, told IYSSE members, “I’ve grown up with multiple wars throughout my lifetime and now to see my classmates from high school in Iraq. For 18 years of my life, I’ve watched this war and seen nothing but the profiting, extraction of resources, and the misery and desolation that’s been brought there. Why would I want to see more than that? There’s no reason for us to be anywhere else in the world—we aren’t the world police. The reality is that we’ve manufactured these imperialist wars to profit. Not for us to profit but for those above us—for the ruling class to profit. It’s being carried out for oil execs, Raytheon execs.

“You see it everywhere, every day—the promotion of war. Raytheon is now one of the sponsors of the Girl Scouts of America. This is becoming ingrained in our culture but there has to be some point that we say this is enough. And if we’re not going to say no now, when are we going to say it? So no, I do not think we should go to war with Iran.”

When asked about the Democratic Party, Jack responded, “Every part of the Democratic Party’s actions is just performative. The impeachment process, for example; they’ll vote to impeach [Trump] but then they’ll immediately pass his border funding, and they’ll willingly pass increased military spending. So, you’re telling me we can outspend the next eight countries combined for military spending, year after year after year, and continue to increase that spending and yet somehow there’s still people who are homeless? … And there’s no money, somehow, to pay for their schooling. But we can drone strike leaders of sovereign nations? It doesn’t make sense to me at all.

“Literally every day Trump is in office he’s committing crimes. He’s committing crimes publicly! He laughs about them, and we can’t go after any of those? We have to focus it on Ukraine? They want to make it look like they’re doing something against Trump, but it’s all performative. The Democratic Party isn’t really an opposition party, it’s not meant to enact change. It hasn’t enacted change in over 50 years, it literally just exists to maintain the status quo.”

He continued, “We’re forced into these arbitrary choices between the two parties. One side’s pretty bad and the other side is a little less bad, so I guess I’m supposed to go with the side that’s a little less bad? Year after year after year. There has to be some kind of change, some kind of stop to this cycle. There is no opposition party. Effectively, the Democrats don’t oppose anything.”

Indya, a student at University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, said, “My biggest fear is a war with Iran. While Iran isn’t really much of a threat to us because of its low technological capabilities, the country is allied with many of our bigger enemies like Russia and China. Our president isn’t helping; he’s escalating the problem and fueling the fire. This could really set us up for WWIII. I know how crazy that sounds, but there’s really enough going on here that it could truly happen.

“This war is going to devastate the working class, as many more of us will be the ones who actually get sent off to fight. The ruling class, that is the top 1 percent, are the ones who will be making money off of our family members being sent to die.

“There’s so many of us who are already being pushed down by the system. Why are we having to suffer so that the ruling class enrich themselves and build new penthouses, and more private islands? They’re using my parents’ tax money to fund their wars.

“But if we all came together, we could become a truly unbeatable force.”

Discussing the threat of nuclear war, Indya said, “With nuclear war, if there’s one strike, there’s going to be more out of retaliation. And nuclear weapons have a much higher destructive capacity than they did in WWII. We’re still suffering the environmental effects from that war. It’s a really scary thought that we might not be able to repair the world from another nuclear conflict. It’ll affect generations for years to come.”

Sam, a theater student at the University of Michigan, attended the IYSSE meeting in light of his developing interest in Marxism. He told IYSSE members he wanted to hear a socialist perspective on the question of war.

Asked about endless imperialist wars, Sam responded, “I disagree with our entire history on this, and the idea that we should be in any war at all in the first place, especially done with an imperialistic motivation, for colonial reasons or imperial reasons or fascist reasons. I’ve never agreed with it, but I would like to do what I can now to stop this from continuing anywhere in the world.” …

Sam stated he was glad the meeting emphasized the importance of internationalism:

“I think it’s incredibly important to organize workers on a worldwide basis so that if we do create a social revolution and create a socialist government, we can utilize those worldwide trade organizations, to operate independently with workers at the helm. And the best, or only, way to do that would be on a global scale. Internationalism is incredibly important. I was glad to hear it brought up so directly.”

Beth, a pharmaceutical worker attending an IYSSE meeting, said, “I think the attack on Iran is totally criminal. I believe in the slogan ‘law, not war’, as I’ve been reading recently about Ben Ferencz, the American lawyer who fought in World War II and who eventually prosecuted in the subsequent Nuremberg trials. He believed that there should be a universal law that applies to everyone, across international boundaries. Trump is guilty of war crimes and could totally be prosecuted if we were using the same standards.

“We know who war benefits. It benefits the rich, and it’s always the poor and the working class who suffer the consequences. My father fought in World War II and the Korean War and it totally destroyed him. He suffered with alcoholism my entire life, and his experiences haunted him.”

United States workers oppose Trump’s Iran war

This 11 January 2020 video from Senator Bernie Sanders in the USA says about itself:

I Will Do Everything I Can To Stop War With Iran

War is a horror. And it is time that politicians understood we must do everything we can to avoid war.

From the World Socialist Web Site in the USA:

“Why should we follow these politicians who want us to kill each other for corporate profits?”

US workers denounce war threats against Iran

By our reporters

15 January 2020

There is widespread hostility among workers and young people in the United States over the Trump administration’s provocations against Iran, which brought the world to the brink of a catastrophic war last week. Three decades of disastrous wars have produced popular skepticism to the official propaganda machine and opposition to the launching of new wars.

The decision was made to temporarily delay a full-scale war with Iran not only because the military wants more time to prepare, but also because sections of the political establishment realize they have not done enough to counter public opposition to war. An ABC News/Ipsos poll released Sunday found a majority of Americans—56 percent—disapproved of President Donald Trump’s handling of Iran and feel less safe.

After more than 7,000 were killed and nearly ten times as many wounded during the US wars over the last two decades, discontent among US soldiers is even higher. A Pew Research poll conducted last July found a majority of military veterans believed that the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria were “not worth fighting.” Sixty-four percent disapproved of the war in Iraq, 58 percent disapproved of the war in Afghanistan and 55 percent disapproved of the war in Syria.

A reporting team from the World Socialist Web Site spoke with Fiat Chrysler workers at Warren Truck Assembly Plant in the Detroit suburb of Warren, Michigan, late last week. They distributed a WSWS Autoworker Newsletter statement calling for opposition to the looming war with Iran and explaining the political and historical roots of US aggression against the oil-rich Middle Eastern country.

One veteran worker said, “I know a few people online in Iran, and they feel the same way. They are putting out love. They know that Americans aren’t all alike.”

Asked what she thought about the Democrats’ role in enabling Trump’s provocations, she added, “That’s what happens when you have just two parties.”

Another worker said, “It started with the Iranian Revolution. I think that our policy is driven by the military-industrial complex. They want to get control of everything. This is about economics, nothing more, nothing less.”

“It is all about oil and money,” another worker added. “The United States should not be involved in the business of other countries. We need to take care of working people here.”

Reporters asked a young temporary part-time worker whom he thought benefited from the wars. “It is the government that benefits. This is the most powerful country, but we can’t have a meeting and get something together instead of jumping into war and dropping bombs.

“It might not be the case this time, but every time we have an election, there is some kind of conflict in that region.

“We don’t need to be there. I have friends in Saudi Arabia. When you hear from that perspective in the Middle East, they don’t want us in their country. The same with Iraq. We wouldn’t want anyone in our country taking over and jumping in.

“This president is making really bad decisions. I don’t agree with him.

“Nobody really wants war. We want to do what is right, defend our country. But that’s why we are supposed to be a democracy. But Trump is being totally barbaric, like any other dictator. It is almost like we are being run under a dictatorship.”

Other workers denounced the war moves in more explicit terms. Larry, a retired General Motors worker and long-time reader of the WSWS, said, “I was scared when Trump assassinated General Suleimani. I said to myself, ‘Here we go again with another 20-year murderfest in the Middle East.’ Trump is looking after the interests of the oil companies and defense contractors. Iran and Iraq have some of the world’s largest oil reserves.

“The US should get out of the Middle East and stop interfering with the lives of the people there. I remember when Reagan was doing the same thing by waging secret wars in Nicaragua, El Salvador and other Central American countries in the 1980s. Behind these wars, the US corporations are looking to grab raw materials and set up cheap labor platforms. I’ve come to realize this over the last 50 years.

“People in the US have to understand that capitalism is a world-wide system and the same corporations that are attacking our jobs and wages here go all over the world to exploit cheap labor and the lack of environmental protections. They want to even out the wages all over the world, by driving us into poverty. Karl Marx said the capitalists breed us to work and produce another generation to exploit once we’re worn out or dead.

“We have to unite labor around the world to fight this. We have to communicate with each other. The proletariat has the same goals everywhere: to take care of our families, to have dignity. We don’t want to be rich but to have enough to live in dignity. All working-class people around the world feel the same. Why should we follow these politicians, and the union officials too, who want us to fight and kill each other for corporate profits?

“The growth of the internet gives me great faith that we can stop war. Workers and young people can talk to a family in Iran, Russia or China. We can see that we have the same goals and all want dignity and peace. The Iranian people are not our enemies, they don’t want to start another world war. They hate Trump, not the American people.

“That is what the government fears, that workers and young people around the world will talk to each other and oppose war. That is why they threw Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning into prison, because they exposed the war crimes. Obama and the Democrats are just as guilty as Trump and the Republicans.”

A GM worker from Flint Assembly with many family members in the military also commented on the role of social media. “It’s great that American youth are getting on the internet and talking directly with youth in Iran. These kids use social media to study the issues and they don’t want to fight a war for nothing.”

A Missouri tradesman and member of the Steering Committee of the Coalition of Rank-and-File Committees, which was established in 2018 at a meeting sponsored by the World Socialist Web Site and Socialist Equality Party, said, “One thing that struck me as very different between today and back in 2003 or even later is the conversations I have at work. After the murder of Suleimani, the guys I work with are saying, ‘That president of ours is a damn idiot. He’s done it now. This is all gonna blow up.’ But there’s no followup about supporting the troops or any of that. The attitude is very different today. Some of these guys voted for Trump and you don’t even hear his name. What I hear is, ‘They aren’t gonna fool me again.’

“The murder of Suleimani and what could follow is chilling. It was also totally illegal, criminal. What is a president that makes this decision to murder a general of a sovereign nation? It forces one to take stock of not only the last four to five years, but the lessons of a whole period. Bush and Obama laid the ground for this.”

A GM worker in Missouri and a long-time reader of the WSWS added, “Killing a major Iranian general is insane. Iran is not a country that can be bullied without consequence, as it has ties to nuclear-armed Russia. Bragging about extrajudicial assassination when the world is on a hair-trigger is insane. This is part of a buildup to a war that would have horrific casualties on all sides.

“Food stamps were just cut for 700,000 US citizens. Our government spends billions of dollars on war while millions suffer from hunger and poverty. There is no way we go through 2020 without the same mass protests in the United States that have hit other countries around the world.”

Steve, a teacher from Northern California and a member of the Steering Committee, said, “I oppose US imperialism and its drive towards world war. Imperialism uses its military, its political system, and its economic web of ruthless capitalist enterprises to impose its death grip on the working class and the masses at home and abroad.

“The assassination of the Iranian general Suleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a leader of the Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq, came after the US military bombing of locations in Iraq and Syria which murdered more than 25 people. This is part of a decades-long campaign by US imperialism, Israel and Saudi Arabia not only against Iran and Iraq, but against the masses in the Middle East, including in Yemen, Lebanon, the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Libya.

“The working class in the United States has a heavy responsibility to oppose US imperialism and to organize the class struggle within the USA to overturn imperialism and establish the socialist society. We must do this in conjunction with the working class and masses of the Middle East who have the responsibility to organize a revolutionary movement and class struggle to push US imperialism out of the Middle East, overthrow its lackeys and establish socialism throughout the region. I stand in solidarity with the people of the Middle East and the world against imperialist war.”

British pro-peace demonstrators against war on Iran

From the World Socialist Web Site in Britain:

“We’ve seen this all happen before, with the Iraq war. We saw how that went. It was a complete tragedy”

UK protesters speak out against war on Iran

By our reporters

13 January 2020

WSWS reporters spoke to attendees at Saturday’s demonstrations in the UK against the danger of war in Iran.

“The thought of us fighting against Iran is terrible,” said Carol, who attended the London protest with her friend, Titch.

“Exposing lies is very important … I believe Dr David Kelly [UN weapons inspector in Iraq] was murdered, but our government will never admit that. He said there were no weapons of destruction.”

Carol had planned to protest at Belmarsh prison in support of imprisoned WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, but decided to attend the Iran war protest in London at the last minute. “It’s very dangerous,” she said. “You’ve got the Iranians on the other hand who have come out and said that they did shoot down the passenger plane and that it was a mistake. But either way, the blood is still on Trump’s hands. This was all because of Trump. It was started long before him, but he has kicked it to another level.”

Titch referred to the regime change operation orchestrated by the US and UK in Iran. “It all began in 1953 when we overthrew the Iranian government to strengthen the Shah. In 1979 the Iranian people overthrew him. Ever since then, America and the UK have had it in for Iran. They’re going to do whatever they can to get in there and tear up that country. Everyone knows it.”

…

Maddy, who attended the protest with her friend Tia, noted, “We’ve seen this all happen before, with the Iraq war. We saw how that went. It was a complete tragedy.”

Tia said, “The thought of there being more destruction in an area which has just been decimated over and over is really heartbreaking. There’s no chance of any resources being put into recovery, or into making positive change, when warmongering is the only option that our leaders seem to go for.”

“I’m on the demonstration to highlight the persecution of Julian Assange,” Jane noted. “Julian is locked up in Belmarsh prison because he spoke out against war crimes, and the fight to save him is the fight against war as well. I think all the terrible political and environmental issues we’re facing are connected. A consciousness is starting to emerge in the world, where people know there is something terribly wrong and it’s getting to the point where it’s either ‘do or die’.

“I think all our problems are caused by a system that sits above and beyond the government, which is about money and power and oppression, with a few very rich and very powerful people in charge.”

Labour Party member Diane noted, “Donald Trump is being impeached and it is a perfect diversion to start a war; historically that is what they do. [Former US President Bill] Clinton did it.” Asked her opinion of the US Democratic Party, she said, “I think ideologically they are the same [as the Republicans]. I think big corporations, big business, is behind what’s going on in the world. It is terrifying … how far it has gone to the right.”

John Kelsey stated, “I’m here today to stop war and because it’s been a US strategy for the last 30 years to dominate the Middle East.”

Lucia, a student visiting the UK from Spain, said, “I don’t believe in war with anybody. People need to come together to solve all our problems, including climate change. Trump caused the problem, to create division between other countries to impose American imperialism.”

Deanna remarked, “I am definitely against what Trump is doing. People don’t understand what’s going on, but they need to know.’’

About 100 people demonstrated on the steps of a bombed-out church in Liverpool, St Luke’s, which is preserved in memory of the devastation inflicted during World War Two.

David and Stephen, 16-year-old school students attended to express their opposition to war on Iran. “I am here because I’m against war, I’m against violence,” David explained. “Suleimani was visiting Iraq to sort out peace so it wasn’t good that he was murdered.

“Most people don’t want war. I saw on the media that Iranian people like people in America, they just don’t like the president … I imagine they don’t want to go to war with America. America would probably use nuclear weapons [against Iran], like in World War Two, in Nagasaki and Hiroshima. They didn’t need to drop the bomb. Japan were already on the verge of surrender. America killed Suleimani to prove they have the power to destroy. They want the oil. With how advanced weapons are today, there’s no future if war breaks out.”

“It’s my first rally,” Stephen noted. “I agree with stopping tension and war. It will affect the higher up people, but it affects the working class more and future generations, and ruins things for everyone. They won’t listen to us, what we want.”

Jennifer, a qualified social worker at a mental health charity said, “I feel strongly that the Iran war is detrimental and I think we’re going into it blindly with America. We can’t just sit back. We all need to get out there and say ‘no’.”

About 60 protesters gathered in Bradford City centre on Sunday. Performing arts student Carol brought her own banner reading, “Don’t Attack Iran.” She said, “Ever since the news first appeared, I was thinking, ‘What do we expect from a president who’s got a mindset for war?’ There are lots of tensions between lots of places which could get out of hand.

“A lot of the attacks in the Middle East are based on lies. They are trying to find excuses to get more power and more money as that’s all that matters to them. Talking to my friends on social media, we are all opposed to what’s happening but feel a bit helpless about what to do.”

ESPER ‘DIDN’T SEE’ SPECIFIC EVIDENCE OF IRAN THREAT Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Sunday defended President Donald Trump’s order to assassinate Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani, but admitted he “didn’t see” any specific evidence backing up the president’s claim that Soleimani had been planning imminent attacks on multiple U.S. embassies. [HuffPost]

The assassination of General Qassem Suleimani, regarded as the second most powerful figure in the government of Iran, was planned more than six months before he and nine others were murdered in a January 3 US drone missile strike at Baghdad’s international airport, NBC News reported Monday: here.

US SECRETARY of State Mike Pompeo has spilled the beans about the murder of top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. He has revealed that it was part of a ‘bigger strategy of deterrence’ – dumping President Trump’s claim that the murders by drone were carried out to prevent an ‘imminent’ attack: here.

Australia’s Pine Gap spy base likely involved in the assassination of Qassem Suleimani: here.

Yesterday, the foreign ministries of Berlin, London and Paris said that they would submit a complaint against Iran for allegedly violating the 2015 Iranian nuclear treaty. This would allow them to then repudiate the treaty, which Washington repudiated in 2018, and support the reimposition of UN sanctions—aligning them with the US campaign against Iran that threatens to provoke all-out war in the Middle East: here.

Pushing the lie propagated by Donald Trump that the assassination of Iranian general Qassem Suleimani was aimed at combating terrorism, the government of Brazil’s fascistic President Jair Bolsonaro was one of the first to defend Washington’s war crime. Just one day after the attack, Itamaraty—the Brazilian Foreign Ministry—issued a note stating that “the Brazilian government expresses its support for the fight against the scourge of terrorism”: here.

Stop Donald Trump’s Iran Iraq war

This 10 January 2020 video from the USA says about itself:

#NoWarWithIran Protests Across America

Rebel HQ’s Emma Vigeland spoke with New York City protestors demanding an end to the continued escalation with Iran. Cenk Uygur, Jayar Jackson, and Aida Rodriguez, hosts of The Young Turks, break it down.

This 11 January 2020 video from the USA says about itself:

A Trump supporter is changing sides after Trump’s escalation with Iran, will more follow?

This 10 January 2020 video from Iraq war veteran and Democratic party presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard in the USA says about itself:

Terrible things happen when the bullets start flying | Tulsi Gabbard

When the bullets start flying and the bombs start dropping, terrible things can happen that no one has planned for. This is one of the great tragedies of war. Unintended consequences and so-called “collateral damage“.

JEREMY CORBYN warned the government against leading Britain into “another conflict led by another US president” in London on Saturday, as demonstrations across the country demanded an end to attacks on Iran. Thousands of protesters gathered in Trafalgar Square in central London and in many other cities across Britain to oppose the conflict: here.

Iranian exiles demonstrate against Trump’s war

Translated from Amsterdam, the Netherlands local AT5 TV today:

Amsterdam Iranians afraid of escalation: ‘Two nights without sleep’

It is a nerve-racking week for Amsterdam Iranians. Since the liquidation of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani on 3 January and the subsequent airstrike on a US American basis, the tension between the two countries has risen to unprecedented levels. “I didn’t sleep for the first two nights.”

Tensions between Iran and the USA have been around for much longer, but since Soleimani died in the American rocket attack in Baghdad, the fear of an escalation has increased considerably. …

Moayyed finds America’s strategy thoughtless and irresponsible. “President Trump is really different from other presidents, such as Obama. Obama focused more on peace, Trump focuses on escalation. ”

Nikita Shahbazi agrees. ‘What he does is not predictable at all. He has been calculating completely wrongly. He makes premature decisions without consulting others. This also happened with the liquidation of Soleimani. It is a disaster for the region.” …

Both Moayyed and Shahbazi were present at the Spui [in Amsterdam] this afternoon at a demonstration against war on Iran. … According to the demonstrators, the Netherlands should also not support the USA , since further escalation in Iran must be prevented.