The Communist Party USA condemns in the strongest possible terms the genocidal and explicitly racist statements made by President Donald Trump about the Iranian peoples. Trump’s open threats to obliterate Iranian civilization, paired with his dehumanizing characterization of the Iranian people as “animals,” clearly expose the fascistic character of United States imperialism in West Asia. These are not simply the reckless words of an erratic individual. They are the ideological expression of a ruling class prepared to commit crimes against humanity in defense of its regional hegemony.

While we welcome the temporary cessation of hostilities, the Trump regime has demonstrated conclusively that it cannot be trusted to pursue a genuine peace. It has twice launched preemptive military strikes under the cover of ongoing diplomatic negotiations. This shows a pattern that exposes the hollowness of its supposed commitment to dialogue. The current two-week ceasefire must not become a breathing space for the United States military and its Israeli allies to lick their wounds, resupply, reposition, and prepare for a renewed and more devastating round of aggression. A pause in violence is not peace. Only a permanent, verifiable, and unconditional end to hostilities is acceptable.

We demand that the United States Congress immediately exercise its full Constitutional authority to restrain the President and bring this illegal war of aggression to an end. No president has the right to unilaterally plunge the country into war, especially a war that breaks numerous international laws and treaties. We echo the demand of the majority of the American people that Donald Trump must be impeached and removed from office. An executive who threatens genocide and wages illegal war must be removed from office.

The working class of the United States has no interest in this war. It is the children of working people who are sent to fight and die in the service of oil profits, military contractors, and imperial ambition. The peoples of West Asia — Iranian, Palestinian, Lebanese, Yemeni — are not our enemies. Our enemies are the war profiteers and the political class that serves them.

History teaches us an unambiguous lesson: when fascists threaten genocide, they should be believed. The inernational community, the labor movement, the antiwar movement, and every force committed to human dignity and peace must act with the urgency this moment demands. Trump must be stopped.  The Communist Party USA calls on all peace-loving people to contact your members of Congress at (202) 224-3121 and demand they hold the President accountable and bring this useless violence to an end. On May 1st, International Workers’ Day, we bring our demands for peace and democracy to the streets, marching under the banner of peace and an end to all imperialist wars.

Images: No War with Iran: Raleigh (2020 Jan) by Anthony Crider. CC BY 2.0. Trump stop spreading terror – end islamophobia by Alisdare Hickson. CC BY-SA 2.0.