7-20-06, 9:12 am

The large-scale military attack of Israel military forces on Lebanon since July 12th has created a severe turmoil in the Middle East and has heightened the possibility of spreading the war to other countries in the region.

In a scenario similar to its attack on the Gaza strip, and apparently to respond to the Lebanon Hezbollah forces attack on a border control station and capturing of two Israeli soldiers, Israel launched a wide-ranged air and sea strike against Lebanon. The news of the recent days clearly show that the main target of these unjustifiable attacks, which are conducted under silence and indirect endorsement of some international circles, is to destroy the socio-economic infrastructure of Lebanon. Striking the runways at Beirut's International airport, power plants, road and highways, bridges, is conducted within the framework of a plan that the prime minister of Israel called it 'to return Lebanon to twenty years ago', when Lebanon was burning in a civil war. As reported by the media, 97 percent of the victims of the Israel's massive assaults on Lebanon have been civilians and mostly women and children. Additionally, there are serious worrying indications that these conflicts are going to continue and will broaden. The news about the western countries trying to evacuate their citizens from Lebanon, including sending two British aircraft carriers to Lebanon coasts, indicate the possibility of escalation and expansion of the current crisis.

Israeli government officials, in order to justify their aggressive assault, which is a harsh violation of the UN charter and international laws, make every effort to attribute the roots of these clashes to the Islamic Republic of Iran and Syria. Recently, Israel claimed that the rockets used by Hezbollah are made in Iran and/or Syria. Similarly, the position taken by the leaders of the US and EU, and especially Blair administration, to blame Iran and Syria rather than condemning inhumane raids of Israeli troops against Lebanese civilians and the bombardment of Gaza strip, could not be accidental.

Considering the current situation in the region and the continual terror and military clashes in Iraq and Afghanistan, and escalation of propaganda war between Iran and the US over Iran's nuclear energy policies, the progressive and democratic political forces of Iran cannot remain indifferent to the ongoing bloodshed in Gaza strip and Lebanon and the risk of spreading this clash to other countries of the region. Tudeh Party of Iran believes that Israel's unjustified assault on Lebanon and re-occupation of Gaza strip and destruction and massacre in these regions, will be used as a tool by imperialism for it's further intervention in the region and has developed a new round of violence and war in the Middle East that will prevent achieving a peaceful resolution for this region's problems and crises. While declaring our solidarity with people of Palestine and Lebanon and their progressive forces, we seriously demand that solutions for the disputes and discords between the countries of the region be based on dialogue and international conventions.

Tudeh Party of Iran, along with all the peace-loving and progressive forces of the world, condemns the Israeli aggressive assaults in the recent weeks and demands an immediate stop to all strikes on Lebanon and Gaza strip.

We declare our opposition to any form of military solutions, or the ones based on economic pressure, for the disputes and conflicts in the region.

We call upon the UN to provide the opportunities for finding the final peaceful and fair solution to this ongoing crisis, based on the main articles of its charter and numerous resolutions on the Middle East crisis and Israel's obligations to fulfill its commitments before this global assembly in the last two decades.

Central Committee of Tudeh Party of Iran 15 July 2006