Coalition of the unwilling

Spain's Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, has gained many admirers for his unequivocal "no to war" stance in relation to the joint US-Israel bombing of Iran.

It is safe to say that Donald Trump cannot be counted amongst Sánchez's fan-base, saying "Spain has been terrible" and threatening to "cut off all dealings” with the country. One is tempted to observe that anything that annoys Trump should be counted a positive outcome and anyone who criticises him is likely to find themselves on the right side of history. Even Sir Keir Starmer, while signally lacking Sánchez''s clarity and charisma, has been cast in a more favourable light by provoking Trump's ire - and that is no small achievement.

While we may well concur with Trump's assessment of Starmer as being "no Winston Churchill", history is also likely to conclude that Trump is no Franklin D Roosevelt. However, as leftwing and small 'g' green commentator, George Monbiot, has pointed out, Churchill doesn't emerge well over his actions in Iran either. On BBC1's Question Time last night he reminded the audience of Churchill's culpability in the overthrow of Iran's democratically-elected leadership in 1953 when its Prime Minister, Mohammad Mosaddegh, was overthrown in a coup d'état that strengthened the authoritarian rule of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran. 

Operation Ajax had been instigated by Churchill, driven by British interests in reversing Mossaddegh's nationalisation of Iran's oil industry amid fears of a Soviet takeover. He persuaded US President, Dwight D Eisenhower, to support a covert Anglo-American MI6 and CIA plot to replace Mosaddegh with General Fazlollah Zahedi, strengthening the Shah's grip over the Iranian people. The unpopularity of the Shah led to his eventual downfall in the Islamic Revolution of 1979, paving the way for the iron rule of the Ayatollahs. Beware unintended consequences.

Monbiot also pointed out that there are only two legal justifications for a nation declaring war: self-defence or a United Nations Security Council resolution, neither of which obtain in the case of Iran. Trump may now claim a pre-emptive strike against a potential nuclear attack as his motivation but that is disingenuous given his previous claim that the US attack on Iran's three nuclear facilities as part of the Twelve-Day War in June 2025, under the code name Operation Midnight Hammer, had successfully destroyed any such capability. Either he was lying then or he is lying now.

Whatever the case, the stronger the international condemnation of his illegal war, the better.

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