The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
Week commencing 19th June 2026
The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
Week commencing 19th June 2026
The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
Tankers are now passing through the Strait of Hormuz as the guns fall silent in Lebanon and the Persian Gulf. The war, which began in late February with a barrage of Israeli and American drones and missiles on Iran that killed the Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei and many other members of the Iranian government, has ended following months of secret mediation efforts by Pakistani, Turkish and Qatari diplomatic teams.
The double blockade on the key global shipping choke-point has been lifted with the signing of a preliminary agreement between the USA and Iran to end the months-long conflict. The two sides are still working to reach a final peace deal during an extendable 60-day negotiation period that began on Tuesday. The 14-point Memorandum of Understanding calls for free passage through the Persian Gulf during the extended truce period, an Iranian commitment not to develop nuclear weapons, as well as sanctions relief and a $300 billion reconstruction fund for the Islamic Republic.
President Vladimir Putin welcomed the US–Iran agreement as a step towards permanently halting the conflict and which could serve as a model for future peace agreements. Speaking at the Russia–ASEAN summit in the Russian city of Kazan, Putin said stabilisation in the Middle East would be beneficial for global energy markets. People’s China also welcomed the framework agreement and expressed the hope that the deal will be signed as planned and that safe maritime passage will soon resume.
Trump says the deal has achieved all of the objectives the USA hoped to accomplish at the beginning of the war. Some talk of victory in Tehran. Others say wait and see.
A lot depends on what happens next. The talk of “regime change” and “unconditional surrender” has all gone in the American camp, and the Iranians have agreed to suspend their unilateral tolling of what until now had been an open international waterway. Both sides have compromised to get this far. One thing’s for sure – while there may not be any outright winners there’s one definite loser – and that’s Israel.
The deal calls for a cease-fire on all fronts – including Lebanon. And that’s where the first problem lies. The Israelis, who get nothing from the deal, want to hold on to the borderlands they recently seized from Lebanon.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli leader, had long dreamt of an Israeli-American onslaught against Iran. It was his mission. His place in history. But Netanyahu’s dream has turned into a nightmare with cities in ruins, hundreds dead and over 10,000 Israelis wounded in a war he helped to start but was powerless to end. He’s humiliated by Trump who foul-mouths him when he doesn’t do as he’s told and is dismissed as a “small partner” by his master in Washington who now has no further use for him. Neither have the Israeli people.
“The wars have brought nothing but destruction and ruin, slaughtering tens of thousands and devastating the lives of millions – in Israel, Iran, Lebanon and Palestine. All criminal attempts to sabotage agreements through more force and violence have crashed against reality on the ground” says Ofer Cassif, a member of the communist-led Hadash bloc in the Israeli parliament. “The spineless Zionist ‘opposition’ must internalise this: more force, more blood, and more destruction will achieve nothing. The only path forward is the establishment of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel, and a just, true peace. The road there begins with overthrowing this bloody government. We will not back down until justice prevails.”