The International League of Peoples’ Struggles (ILPS) condemned the ongoing joint US-Israel airstrikes against Iran as “a blatant act of aggression.”
ILPS-Philippines, a chapter of the global anti-imperialist coalition, said the coordinated action by the allies US and Israel gravely escalates tensions and pushes West Asia “toward a wider and more destructive war.”
ILPS-Philippines spokesperson Arnold Padilla said their group stands in solidarity with the Iranian people as they call for the immediate end to US-Israel strikes against the Islamic republic.
Padilla said they reject as a “sham” US President Donald Trump’s justification that his orders to attack Iran are to bring security in the region and at home.
University of the Philippines Center for International Studies professor Sarah Raymundo for her part said Iran is at the pointed end of US military interventions as it is the “bulwark of anti-imperialism in West Asia.”
“Iran’s crime is not any alleged misdeed but its sovereignty and its material support for anti-colonial liberation forces across the region, from Palestine to Lebanon to Yemen,” Raymundo said.
The scholar pointed out that despite despite four decades of severe sanctions, Iran has achieved demonstrable social gains for its population, an achievement that draws suspicion of undermining Western definitions of democracy.
Raymundo, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan’s International Liaison Officer, said that internationalists must stand with Iran in its defense of its sovereignty and call for “a future free from the threat of US bombs and sanctions.”
The US and Israel attacked Iran on Saturday, targeting the office of Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei. At least 53 people were killed at a girls’ school, Iran’s state media reported.
Trump called for regime change as he confirmed “major combat operations” against the Islamic country.
Iran has launched retaliatory strikes on Israel and US military bases across the region, including in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kuwait.
OFWs told to limit movement
Meanwhile, the Philippine government ordered its embassies in the Arab states to ask Filipinos to limit their movements as hostilities erupted.
Philippine embassies in the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Jordan are told to issue alerts to Filipinos in their jurisdictions as explosions are reported in Abu Dhabi, in UAE, Manama in Bahrain, and Kuwait, while local authorities activated sirens and issued alerts to residents.
Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro expressed concern over the escalation and asked all parties to “resort immediately” to dialogue and negotiations.
The DFA said there are no Filipinos affected or harmed in the ongoing strikes, and that the Philippine Embassies in Tehran, Iran and Tel Aviv, Israel are “on full alert.”
A major labor exporter to the region, there are more than 2.2 million Filipinos in Western Asia, including 1,600 in Iran. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
