The rising tension in the Middle East has fundamentally one root cause: the Iranian regime’s four-decade-long visceral hatred of Israel and its desire to extend its power and influence throughout the region.
Through the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Tehran funds, arms, trains and directs “the axis of resistance”, a network of proxy armies, including Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Houthis and Iraqi Shia militia.
They are committed to the destruction of Israel and the liberal democratic values it upholds and they further Iran’s goal of using brute force to carve out a sphere of influence stretching from the Mediterranean coast through Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
The impact of Tehran’s strategy has been devastating for millions of people across the region.
Tehran bears ultimate responsibility for Hamas’ assault on Israel on 7 October: the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust and an attack which provoked a devastating conflict in Gaza which has brought nothing but suffering to the Palestinian people.
Tehran and its proxy Hezbollah have propped up the blood-soaked Assad regime in Syria as it fought a vicious civil war in which over 300,000 civilians have died.
And, at Tehran’s behest, Hezbollah has brought decades of bloodshed, political instability and impoverishment to the people of Lebanon. Like Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah uses Lebanon simply to enrich itself, attack Israel, and shelter its arsenal and forces behind the civilian population which it regards as little more than human shields.
When the people of Lebanon, Iraq and Syria have sought to throw off the chains of Iranian oppression, Tehran and its proxies have responded with the same terror and violence it uses to suppress opposition and dissent at home.
Hezbollah has menaced northern Israel for years, violating UN security council resolution 1701, which brought to an end the 2006 Lebanon war, and periodically launching unprovoked attacks across the border.
Since 7 October, these attacks – which have forced the displacement of some 80,000 Israelis from their homes – have intensified and widened. Last month, they resulted in the deaths of 12 children and young people in the Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights.
Supplied by Tehran with an estimated 150,000 rockets, missiles and drones, and able to muster between 40,000 and 50,000 troops, Hezbollah is the world’s most heavily-armed non-state actor.
It now threatens Israel with what Hassan Nasrallah, its secretary-general, last month termed a war with “no rules” and “no ceilings”.
In any such conflict, it will have the support of Iran – a state which commands the biggest ballistic arsenal in the Middle East, with a range that can reach NATO and EU territory, and a nuclear programme which is on the threshold of producing a nuclear weapon.
Nor should we forget that the Iranian regime presents a clear and present danger to the UK and our interests and allies in the region and beyond.
Iran’s support for the Houthis – who have also fired over 220 ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones at Israel since 7 October – endangers freedom of shipping and international trade.
Iran’s alliance with Russia and China is aiding Putin’s war against Ukraine, providing the Kremlin’s war machine with drones and missiles to terrorise Ukrainian civilians.
And, at home, Tehran is engaged in plots against Iranian dissidents and opposition media. It is seeking to promote its violent and extremist ideology. And it is working to foster antisemitism and hatred, and inflame community tensions.
As we have repeatedly stated, we now urgently need an end to the fighting and an immediate, permanent and sustainable ceasefire in Gaza – one which ensures the release of the Israeli hostages; enables a massive and immediate increase in humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians; and ends Hamas’ disastrous rule of Gaza.
Beyond this, we continue to support the Biden administration’s post-war plan which encompasses the normalisation of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia; a path towards a demilitarised Palestinian state; and a US-led regional security alliance against the Iranian threat. We support a swift return to meaningful direct negotiations toward a two-state solution.
Benjamin Netanyahu lacks the political strength to accept the trade-offs involved in accepting the Biden plan. The far-right partners on which his coalition rests are ideologically opposed to what the US has to offer and appear to have abandoned the hostages to their fate.
Israel – like the Palestinians – urgently needs new elections and new leaders.
But, at this perilous moment, Iran and its proxies appear determined to widen and expand their conflict with Israel. As usual, they do so with an utterly callous disregard for civilian deaths – in Israel, Lebanon and beyond – that will result.
The international community is right to attempt diplomatic action aimed at de-escalation. At the same time, it must also seek to deter and restrain Iran from its aggressive course.
Both now and in the potentially difficult days ahead, it is imperative that Britain and our allies stand side by side with the Jewish state and its people.
Read our statement on X: https://x.com/_LFI/status/1820518746328535374
