International Viewpoint - online socialist magazine

Resumption of Bombing and Internal Crisis in Iran

Babak Kia — 2026-08-17T07:33:45Z

The ceasefire between the US and Iran was shattered around the question of control of the Strait of Hormuz. As the US bombing resumes, divisions are deepening at the top of the Islamic Republic, with no way out for the people of Iran.

- IVP619 - August 2026 / United States (USA), Iran

A (temporary) calm before the storm in Iran

Houshang Sepehr — 2026-07-14T08:55:39Z

This article, analysing the underlying dynamics of the “Memorandum of Understanding”, was written before the renewed USA attacks on Iran, thus demonstrating it was indeed a temporary calm.

- IVP618 - July 2026 / United States (USA), Iran

Trump-Netanyahu Debacle: A World of Collateral Damage

David Finkel — 2026-06-28T07:41:36Z

Strait of Hormuz: Nice oil shipping lane there. A real pity if something would happen to it…

- IVP617 - June 2026 / United States (USA), Israel, Iran

Iran's shockwave in Asia

Pierre Rousset — 2026-05-27T06:24:27Z

By dint of dragging on, the United States' war against Iran seems to be becoming a real international tipping point whose scope varies according to the region. Its consequences are expected to be major in Asia. On the geopolitical terrain, of course, as illustrated by the Xi-Trump summit in Beijing on 14-15 May. But it will also aggravate the social crisis in many countries as well as boosting the global climate and ecological crisis. It is the beginning of multiple upheavals that will only be fully measured with hindsight.

- IVP616 - May 2026 / United States (USA), China, Iran, Taiwan

The Reasons for the US-Israeli Aggression against Iran

Sarah Selami — 2026-05-20T14:01:54Z

“It is important to remember that the Islamic Republic of Iran — and more broadly the Iranian capitalism it administers — is not a simple passive victim of this warlike configuration. It is a fully-fledged player, committed to its own logic of power, internal consolidation and regional influence.”

- IVP616 - May 2026 / United States (USA), Israel, Iran

Justice for the Middle East Is Also About Climate

Adam Hanieh, Denys Gorbach, Simon Pirani — 2026-05-11T17:10:15Z

“The deepening climate emergency means that we need to put upfront the question of the climate and the urgent need to move away from fossil fuels. The Middle East is absolutely key to this because it sits at the centre of the world oil and gas industry, particularly in relation to global exports. The politics of the region – from Palestine to Iran – cannot be understood separate from this role of the Middle East in the global energy system.”

- Features / Palestine, United States (USA), MENA (Middle East/North Africa), Ecology and the Environment, Israel, Iran, Kurdistan

Iran and the Western left

Cihan Tuğal — 2026-05-06T11:50:26Z

As occupations and wars intensify, anti-imperialism has become a key priority for the global left. This has raised questions about how to organise and mobilise a mass anti-imperialist movement.

- Features / Iran, Anti-imperialism

Iran Between the Russian and Chinese Models

Gilbert Achcar — 2026-05-04T09:32:37Z

Donald Trump claimed to pursue “regime change” in Iran, but in a manner distinct from the George W. Bush administration's use of the term to justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq, which was framed as bringing democracy after Saddam Hussein's overthrow. As we have repeatedly argued in these pages, even before the joint U.S.-Israeli aggression against Iran (see, for example, “Washington Will Not Bring Democracy to Iran” [Arabic], 10 February 2026), Trump's objective was – and remains – to replicate his Venezuelan strategy: abducting the president to pave the way for a successor willing to cooperate with Washington and its oil interests. In other words, his aim was to “change the regime's behaviour”, not to change the regime itself.

- IVP616 - May 2026 / Russia, China, Iran

Reza Pahlavi speaks of a “revolution”, but what kind?

Houshang Sepehr — 2026-04-15T20:38:18Z

In Iran, the streets, morgues and cemeteries are now littered with corpses. Predictably, the Islamic Republic is carrying out summary executions of protesters with extreme brutality. It was a deliberate massacre aimed not only at stifling mobilizations, but also at deterring any dissent.

- IVP615 - April 2026 / Iran

Trump's barbarous war on Iran, part of a long history of war crimes

Dan La Botz — 2026-04-07T05:22:33Z

President Donald Trump's war on Iran is barbarous, cruel, vicious, undertaken and carried out without a bit of concern for the millions of human beings it is affecting in Iran, in the region, and throughout the world. The nature of the war was revealed on the first day, 28 February , when the United States hit a school in Minab and killed an estimated 175 people, 100 of them children. Attacks on civilians are a war crime, all too common a war crime in all modern wars. Now Trump is threatening an even greater war crime.

- IVP615 - April 2026 / United States (USA), Iraq, Vietnam, Iran