The PPU joins peace campaigners across the world - along with most people in the UK, US and elsewhere - in condemning the US and Israeli assault on Iran. Not only is this attack a flagrant breach of international law, it threatens to plunge Iran and the wider region into catastrophe, with untold consequences.

This is a war of aggression, founded on lies. Contrary to US and Israeli claims, there is no evidence that Iran posed an imminent threat. The attack has brought negotiations on Iran's nuclear programme to an abrupt end.

The human cost is mounting. The initial wave of strikes in Iran are reported to have killed over a thousand civilians, as well as Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, members of his family and around forty other Iranian political leaders. 160 people are reported to have been killed at a girls’ school.

Iran has responded with strikes on Israel and US bases in the region, as well as several countries in the Gulf, killing dozens more. Lebanon meanwhile has been dragged into the conflict, with hostilities escalating betwen Israel and Hezbollah. The PPU likewise condemns these further attacks, which are sending shockwaves through the region, with scant regard for civilian life.

The war has already cast a long shadow over the entire region and the world. Millions of lives are affected, not only those directly under attack, but those whose futures are now clouded by instability, economic shock and fear. As this war unfolds, we will hear only a fraction of their stories.

While Keir Starmer initially attempted to distance the UK from the assault, British aircraft have been deployed over the region and British bases are being used for US military operations, risking Iranian retaliation. By refusing to condemn the US-Israeli action, just as it has shielded Israel during the devastation in Gaza, the UK is rapidly becoming complicit in this illegal and disastrous war.

The war also seems to signal new levels of US military supremacy and recklessness. The formidable military technology and intelligence-gathering involved in the decapitation of the Iranian regime allows the US and Israel to inflict extraordinary damage while keeping the risks to their populations to a minimum. These capabilities, tested in Gaza, in the hands of a genocidal regime in Israel and an autocrat in the US, pose a profound threat to the world.

Every day that the bombing continues, the prospects for dialogue and peace become more distant. Nobody can say with confidence where this war leads. There is little sign that those driving this escalation have any plan for what will follow.

The lessons of Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Syria are stark. Power vacuums fuel civil war. Regime change can entrench instability for decades. Deep-rooted social and political problems cannot be solved by bombs and air strikes.

We therefore call for an immediate end to these attacks. Civilians must be protected as a matter of urgency. International law must be respected and the leaders who have launched this war must be held to account. All parties must commit to dialogue rather than entrench a cycle of violence that could continue for many years to come.

We urge our members and supporters not to succumb to despair or intimidation. This is a time to speak up clearly for peace, to stand in solidarity with those affected, and to insist on the value of human life in the face of violence and militarism.

Each one of us can play a role in the struggle for peace. If you would like to get involved in our campaigns against war and militarism, and for peace education and nonviolence, please join us! You can learn more about our work here.