Last week the US President, Donald Trump ordered the extrajudicial killing of Iranian General Suleimani. The strike killed up to 10 people, including Suleimani as well as Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, an Iraqi politician and military commander.
The aftermath of the strike has seen an increase in tensions in the region and hardened rhetoric from Washington and Tehran. The response from the UK Government has been largely supportive of the Trump administration.
The UN secretary general, António Guterres has demanded an end to the escalation of tensions and warned of the “profound risk of miscalculation”.
Andrew Smith of Campaign Against Arms Trade said:
Last week’s strike was reckless and dangerous and may well be illegal. It seems to have been done to help Donald Trump politically, rather than because of any military threat. Extrajudicial killings of government officials cannot be normalised, and the US Government cannot be allowed to act in this way on the world stage, regardless of the brutal record of the Iranian regime.
The interventions in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya have been catastrophic. They have killed hundreds of thousands of people, destroyed vital infrastructure and exacerbated instability and violence. The region is still living with the consequences of these terrible wars, and will for years to come. This ‘bomb first’ approach to diplomacy has done a huge amount of damage and has increased the risk of violence in the US and UK.
The UK Government must do all that it can to reduce tensions and hold the Trump administration to account; part of that means making it clear that the UK will not join or provide logistical support or arms in any resulting military intervention in Iran or the wider region. Boris Johnson and his colleagues should be condemning US warmongering, not boosting it.
ENDS
For further information please contact Andrew at media(at)caat·org·uk or call 020 7281 0297.
