The Committee for the Defence of the Iranian People’s Rights (Codir) has called for the international community to intervene to prevent the further escalation of conflicts in the Middle East, which has seen the continued bombardment of several facilities in Yemen by the US and Britain, firing of ballistic missiles by Iran’s IRGC at Israeli “espionage centres” in Erbil in north Iraq and hitting “Isis” targets in Syria, and finally exchange of missile fire between Iran and Pakistan in the past week.

These escalations have been followed, over the last day, with Israeli strikes in both Syria and Lebanon resulting in the deaths of four IRGC personnel — two of whom are believed to have been high-ranking — and two members of Hezbollah respectively.

Israeli genocide in Gaza is showing no sign of slowing down, while threats from the US and British governments against Iran continue. These are in response to missile and drone attacks against oil tankers and cargo ships on the Red Sea by Yemeni Houthi forces. As a result, hardliners inside the Iranian dictatorship are putting pressure upon the regime to act to flex its military muscle in the region.

Any involvement of Iran in the war in Gaza so far has been by proxy in arming Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis in Yemen. Direct intervention against other states increases the likelihood of retaliatory strikes and the prospect of Nato powers being drawn even further into the conflict. Strikes against Yemeni bases by the US-British alliance have already shown willingness on the part of the West to intervene.

Codir general secretary Gawain Little emphasised the dangers of the present situation and the threat to world peace any escalation could bring.

“The Iranian regime is volatile and cannot be relied upon to act in a rational way,” he said. “The missile attack upon Pakistan in particular, a nuclear state, poses a real threat not just to peace in the Middle East but peace at a global level. Key to this is an immediate total ceasefire, resolving the situation in Palestine and implementing UN resolutions calling for a two-state solution.”

The fate of the Iranian people who have suffered over 40 years of dictatorship is also a key concern for Codir and its trade union affiliates.

An ongoing strike wave, which has gripped Iran for the past two years, has developed in spite of the draconian approach to trade union rights taken by the Iranian regime. This has included the imprisonment, torture and execution of trade union and political activists engaged in basic human rights activity.

Any widening of the war in the Middle East involving Iran will give theocratic regime an excuse to increase its repression of the people of Iran and outlaw opposition activities, in particular workers’ strikes.

For the population as a whole the mismanagement of the economy, exacerbated by corruption at every level of government and sanctions imposed by the US, has meant poverty and unemployment for many.

Little was keen to draw attention to the impact a regional war would have upon the people of Iran.

“Having suffered an eight-year-long war with Iraq in the 1980s the people of Iran know only too well what it is like to lose family members and live with the constant insecurity war brings. Thousands have already lost their lives as a result of the ongoing Israeli operations in Gaza.

“We do not want to see that tragedy unfold across the Middle East. We should campaign against any widening of conflict in the Middle East. This would be catastrophic for the working people of Palestinian, Lebanon and Iran.”

While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken claims to have sent a private message to Iran, telling it to back off, this does not appear to have had any more impact than exhortations to Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel, to avoid killing civilians in Gaza.

Netanyahu’s response has been to take the number of dead over the 24,000 mark, 70 per cent being women and children according to the UN, the vast majority civilian non-combatants.

Only this week Netanyahu has been explicit in his opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state. This is in direct contradiction to the stated US position of supporting a two-state solution.

The US has now designated the Houthis as “global terrorists” in a further twist in the escalation of regional tension. The designation will make it harder for humanitarian aid organisations to access those in need.

Until the question of Palestine is addressed the prospects for peace in the region will remain slim. The refusal of the US and Israel to engage in serious dialogue with the Palestinians over many decades has directly led to Hamas gaining control in Gaza, increased Iranian influence in both Lebanon and Palestine and fuelled tensions across the Arab world.

The US has tried to use such tensions to its advantage, by playing one group or state off against another, the eight-year-long Iran-Iraq war being a case in point, arming reactionary groups in Afghanistan, which eventually became the Taliban, another. Engineering uprisings against Gadaffi in Libya and Assad in Syria add to the list.

In none of these situations has US imperialism increased its influence and has often had to resort to massive force just to hold onto its position. In every instance the consequences for the people of the region have been catastrophic, resulting in war, collapsed states or dictatorship.

As tensions in the Middle East increase, and the response of Britain and the US remains one of sending in gunships, the situation can only get worse. The warmongering response of Nato is a further reason for any incoming Labour government to have withdrawal from the military alliance in its manifesto along with a commitment to a non-aligned foreign policy.

Also, mass mobilisation of the people, like the January 13 demonstrations, is essential to bring pressure to bear upon the West to adopt a strategy aimed at reducing, not increasing tensions. Without such an approach the prospects for peace will remain in the balance.

Codir implores the international community to be vigilant and, through the auspices of the UN, to call for an immediate halt to any offensive military action by Iran and by Western or regional actors, as well as a reversal in their war footing, so as to guard against the unnecessary escalation and spread of the conflict in the region. The only route to the de-escalation and proper resolution of the current tensions is through diplomacy and negotiation via the recognised channels at the UN.

Codir requests that trade union affiliates write to the embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran to make clear their opposition to missile attacks on neighbouring countries. All disputes should be resolved through dialogue and UN mediation.

Codir is also asking for individuals to write to their local MP, drawing their attention to the worsening situation in the Middle East and requesting that they write to the embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, as well as using their platform in Parliament to draw attention to the plight of the people of Iran should the conflict escalate.