Our Position
Virginia Defenders condemn US/Israeli attack on Iran& call for Emergency Protest onSunday, March 1, in Richmond
Issued Feb. 28, 2026
Early this morning, the United States and Israel launched a massive attack against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Multiple cities have been hit in what is being called Operation Epic Fury, including the ancient cities of Esfahan, Shiraz, Qom and the country’s capital, Tehran. The bombs are hitting both military and civilian targets, including an elementary school in the southern city of Minab, killing at least 85 children.This attack comes as the U.S.and Iran were in the middle of negotiations aimed at reducing tensions between the two counties, with more talks supposed to take place soon. And the attack is by Israel, still carrying out its genocidal war against the people of Gaza, and the U.S., fresh off its bombing of Venezuela and the abduction of President Niclas Maduro and ”First Combatant" Cilia Flores.
In a social media post, Trump said that today’s attack was to ensure that Iran cannot build a nuclear weapon - something the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), says there is no evidence that it’s doing. Trump further called on the Iranian people to rise up and overethrow their government.
Except in retaliation for being itself attacked, Iran hasn't attacked another country in some 250 years. For its part, the U.S. has been in almost continuous wars since its founding, from its genocidal attacks on Indigenous people through its predatory wars in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Middle East. And it has been trying to bring down the Iranian government since its founding in 1979, through military attacks, cyber-warfare, sanctions, internal subversion and more.
Meanwhile, here at home, Trump has unleashed what amounts to his own private army - ICE - against immigrants and peaceful protesters in an attempt to make sure the U.S. remains a predominantly white country.
This attack - in violation of both U.S.and international law - isn’t about nuclear weapons or any alleged threat to the United States. It’s about taking down an independent country that has been an obstacle to the U.S. achieving complete control over the oil-rich Middle East. That, and eliminating what it considers to be a dangerous example: that, like Cuba and Venezuela, it’s possible for a country to free itself from subservience to and exploitation by the U.S. and chart its own path among the countries of the world.
The Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality has a long history of educating the public about the true nature of Iran and U.S.-Iranian relations. In 2007 we organized a five-person delegation that traveled 1,200 miles through the country by van, meeting Iranians from all walks of life. Our book, “In Defense of Iran: Notes from a U.S. Peace Delegation’s Journey through the Islamic Republic,” played a major role in educating the U.S. antiwar movement about the reality of Iran and how that reality directly contradicts the lies of the U.S. government and media propaganda machine.
The Virginia Defenders condemn in the strongest possible terms this predatory and imperialistic war against Iran. We call for an immediate end to the bombings and an end to all hostility and aggression against Iran and any other country.
And we call on all Norfolk-based sailors, many of whom are now stationed on ships bombing Iran, to remember that they have the right and even the duty to refuse all illegal orders - and all illegal wars.
In response to today's attack on Iran, the Defenders are calling for an Emergency Protest at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 1, outside the Spottswood W. Robinson III and Robert R. Merhige, Jr. Federal Courthouse at 701 E.Broad Street in downtown Richmond.
STOP THE U.S/ISRAELI WAR AGAINST IRAN!
MONEY FOR JOBS & EDUCATION, NOT FOR WARS & OCCUPATION!
REGIME CHANGE AT HOME, NOT ABROAD!
Comments on the War Against Iran
By Phil Wilayto
March 14, 2026
When the United States and Israel opened the current war against Iran, it was not an anomaly. Israel, with U.S. support, has for three years been carrying out a genocide against the people of Gaza. The U.S. under Trump just bombed Venezuela and kidnapped its president and First Lady. Now, while it’s bombing Iran, it has cut off all oil to Cuba. trying to starve it into submission.
This is not just Trump. The United States emerged from World War II as the world's sole superpower. Then the Soviet Union developed nuclear weapons and China had a revolution and has grown its economy to be the second largest in the world, after the U.S.
The U.S. ruling class cannot reconcile itself to a multipolar world. But it’s still the dominant military force. Its military spending is more than the next seven or eight countries combined, including China and Russia. It has some 800 military bases in more than 70 countries, more than the rest of the world combined.
A powerful section of the U.S. ruling class has decided it's going to tip over the table where international relations have been worked out according to the rule of law, at least to some extent, and is now just going to project its strength around the world.
It is telling all other countries, “We're in charge, you do what we say or we are going to crush you.” It’s going after every country that has dared to stand up to the Empire. Even its friends aren’t safe, and are now suffering the effects of Trump’s tariffs.
But as powerful as the U.S. military is, Trump and Netanyahu have seriously misunderstood and underestimated the Iranian people, the Cuban people, the Venezuela people and I'm sure the people of many more countries around the world.
When someone’s country is attacked, they tend to rally around the government, not call for its overthrow. And that’s what we hear is happening in the targeted countries, with mass demonstrations taking place in Venezuela, Iran and Cuba. And also in Greenland, which Trump has threatened to take over.
In Iran. people are out in the streets even as the bombs are falling. They are showing their courage and their determination to keep their country sovereign and free. The Cuban people and Venezuelan people will do no less.
Meanwhile, the U.S. is afraid to send in ground troops in any war, because it knows that can last for years and the U.S. public has no stomach for that.
So at some point, I think, Trump will simply declare victory and stop the war against Iran. Unless he decides to drop a tactical nuclear weapon, in which case we are in an entirely new world.
Meanwhile, he hasn't overthrown the government in Venezuela, despite abducting its president. And we trust the Cuban people, who have survived so many years of blockade, will be able to defy this new escalation of aggression as well.
At the end of the day, we are dealing with a wounded tiger that is cornered and is desperately lashing out. That in no way means that it's going to win.
Phil WiIayto is editor of The Virginia Defender newspaper and author of “In Defense of Iran: Notes from a U.S. Peace Delegation’s Journey Through the Islamic Republic.” He can be reached at virginiadefendernews@gmail.com.
