“Iran Is Fighting Imperialism” – Joti Brar on US-Israel War & Why the Left Is Divided

The episode of India and Global Left features Joti Bra, a leader of the Communist Party of Great Britain Marxist Leninist and a prominent critic of Western imperialism, discussing the ongoing conflict between Iran, Israel, and the United States. Joti frames the war as an illegal, unjust aggression under international law, emphasizing that the imperialist system is inherently violent and that progressive forces support wars of self-defense and national liberation, such as Iran’s current stance. He details Iran’s prolonged resistance to imperialist pressures and hybrid warfare, portraying Iran as a key leader of regional anti-imperialist resistance movements united against U.S. imperial domination.

Joti critiques Western media narratives that falsely depict Iran as the instigator of the conflict, highlighting the historical roots of imperialist interventions in the Middle East dating back to World War I. He stresses the strategic importance of the Middle East’s oil reserves, which are the real prize behind imperialist aggression, and explains how Israel functions as an imperialist outpost designed to control the region. The conversation also explores the decline and desperation of Western imperial powers, especially the U.S. and Britain, whose leadership increasingly reveals its decay through incoherent war messaging and failed strategic calculations, such as underestimating Iran’s resilience.

Joti elaborates on the role of psychological warfare and media control as tools of imperialism, while noting that these tools are losing effectiveness as public trust in governments and media collapses. He contrasts the current lack of mass anti-war mobilization with the large protests of the 2003 Iraq war, attributing this to widespread cynicism and disillusionment with political institutions rather than apathy. The conversation further delves into Britain’s continued imperialist involvement worldwide, particularly through military bases and covert operations, and calls on the British and European working classes to recognize their shared struggle with oppressed peoples globally.

The discussion ends by addressing divisions within the left regarding Iran. Joti identifies ignorance and co-optation of left-wing leadership in imperialist countries as key reasons for misunderstanding Iran’s anti-imperialist revolution. He stresses the importance of seeing beyond the surface religious elements to grasp the revolution’s popular and anti-imperialist essence. Joti argues that despite hardships, the Iranian people largely support their government because it represents their sovereignty and dignity against imperialist aggression.

Highlights

• [01:12] ⚖️ Iran’s war against Israel and the US is an illegal aggression under international law, constituting the highest crime against humanity.
• [04:01] 🛡️ Iran’s conflict is a just defensive and liberation war against imperialist and settler-colonial aggression.
• [09:28] 🛢️ The Middle East and North Africa hold 58% of the world’s proven oil reserves, making the region a key target for imperialist control.
• [14:08] 📰 Western imperialism maintains media monopoly to control narratives but is losing the ability to maintain consistent propaganda.
• [19:05] 📉 US public support for war against Iran is historically low, reflecting growing distrust in government narratives.
• [36:40] 🇬🇧 Britain continues playing a covert, adjunct role in US-led imperialist wars, maintaining military bases and secret operations globally.
• [44:58] 📚 Many on the Western left fail to understand Iran’s anti-imperialist revolution due to ignorance and leadership co-opted by imperialist interests.

Key Insights

• [01:12] ⚖️ Illegal Aggression as the Root Crime:Joti emphasizes that launching an aggressive war is the supreme crime against humanity under international law since WWII tribunals. This frames the conflict not as a mere geopolitical dispute but as a fundamental violation of global legal and moral norms, largely ignored by Western powers and media. Understanding this helps expose the hypocrisy in Western justifications of war and shifts focus to the means, not just the ends, of imperialist violence.
• [04:01] 🛡️ Iran’s Dual War: Defensive and Liberation:Iran is not merely defending itself but is leading a broader regional resistance against U.S. imperialism and Zionist settler-colonialism. This war is a continuation of decades-long hybrid warfare aimed at undermining Iran’s sovereignty. Iran’s role as a “tip of the spear” for resistance movements unites diverse groups—secular, religious, Sunni, Shia—against a common imperialist enemy, reflecting the complexity and multi-faceted nature of anti-imperialist struggles in the Middle East.

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• [09:28] 🛢️ Middle East Oil and Imperialist Strategy: The Middle East’s vast oil reserves (58% globally) explain why imperial powers have long sought dominance in the region. The arbitrary borders and the establishment of Israel as a settler-colonial outpost are strategic moves by British and American imperialism to control these resources. This economic imperative underpins military actions and geopolitical strategies, making regional conflicts a proxy for global capitalist competition and resource control.
• [14:08] 📰 Declining Effectiveness of Imperialist Psychological Warfare: Despite a century of mastering propaganda, imperialist powers now struggle to maintain consistent narratives, evidenced by contradictory war justifications and eroding public support. This decline reflects deeper systemic crises, including the underestimation of popular resistance and the failure to control information in the digital age. The loss of narrative control signals weakening imperialist hegemony and growing opportunities for alternative voices.
• [19:05] 📉 Waning Western Public Support for War: Polls show only about 28% of Americans support the current war, a stark contrast to previous conflicts like Iraq and Afghanistan. This reflects a historic shift in public trust toward governments and media, driven by prolonged lies, failed wars, and worsening domestic conditions. The decline in “rally around the flag” effects suggests an erosion of political legitimacy and a rising disconnect between ruling elites and their populations.
• [36:40] 🇬🇧 Britain’s Continued Imperial Role: Britain remains deeply engaged in imperialist military operations worldwide, often under U.S. leadership, with special forces, intelligence, and psychological warfare playing key roles. Military bases in Cyprus and elsewhere serve as strategic outposts for imperial control. This covert involvement is masked domestically, leading to public ignorance and complicity, while enabling ruling elites to maintain global power and suppress working-class movements at home.
• [44:58] 📚 Left-Wing Failures on Iran: Ignorance and Co-optation: Many leftist groups in imperialist countries fail to support Iran’s anti-imperialist struggle due to reliance on Western media narratives and leadership co-opted by imperialist interests. These groups often echo Western propaganda on issues like the hijab or women’s rights without understanding Iran’s complex revolutionary history and popular anti-imperialist essence. This disconnect weakens international solidarity and leaves imperialism’s global resistance fragmented.

Additional Analytical Points

• The discussion highlights the importance of understanding imperialism as a system characterized by sustained, systemic violence rather than isolated conflicts, showing how wars serve to uphold global capitalist dominance.
• Joti’s insistence that progressive forces are not pacifist but support revolutionary and defensive struggles reframes the debate on violence and war in leftist politics, confronting simplistic anti-war pacifism that ignores structural violence.
• The analysis of declining Western imperial legitimacy and public trust underscores a growing political crisis that may catalyze future mass movements, though current disillusionment hampers immediate mobilization.
• The strategic use of settler colonialism (Israel) as an imperial tool illustrates how colonial tactics persist in new forms, linking historical and contemporary struggles against oppression.
• The erosion of established left-wing organizations through co-optation and misinformation points to the urgent need for renewed political education and independent analysis in the global left.
• The episode situates Iran’s fight within a global context of capitalist crisis and imperial decline, implying that regional conflicts are interconnected with broader economic and systemic shifts.
• Emphasizing the Iranian people’s popular support for their government challenges dominant Western narratives portraying Iran as uniformly repressive, highlighting the complexity of sovereignty, dignity, and resistance under siege.

This comprehensive analysis situates the Iran-Israel-US conflict within historical, legal, economic, and ideological frameworks, providing a nuanced leftist critique of imperialism and the challenges facing anti-imperialist solidarity today.

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