Objectives of War:
War is the continuation of politics by other means (Carl von Clausewitz). When war breaks out, capital does not suspend or change its domestic policies — it simply continues them through different tools. In its drive for self‑expansion, profit maximization, and competition, capitalism is structurally pushed toward creating conflicts, from small clashes to full‑scale world wars. This shows that war and violence are embedded in the very nature of capital, giving rise to unchecked militarism. But what goals does capital pursue through war?
Economic interests and profit, both domestically and internationally
Strengthening its internal political position
Distracting society from domestic crises
Creating new geopolitical opportunities
Forming or reshaping alliances
Establishing or altering power balances or hegemony
Economic Interests of Capital
The economic interests of capitalism are tied to competition over power and control of wealth-producing resources. These interests are directly connected to the exploitation of the working class within its own society. They lead to wage cuts, growing inequality, and—when needed—war economies or so‑called “resistance economies,” which justify intensified exploitation. They also result in reduced social services, higher direct taxes on workers, lower taxes for capitalists under the pretext of “job creation,” and increased indirect taxes on the general population. Essential goods, medicine, transportation, and daily necessities become more expensive.
We can clearly see all of this today in Europe and the United States. In Iran, every version of this has been experienced—from ration‑based war economies to the newly revived “resistance economy,” which once again orders people to “consume less,” “use less water,” “use less electricity and gas,” all enforced through repression and silencing dissent under labels like “enemy agents,” “helping the enemy,” or “spying for foreign powers.” This atmosphere has brought not only suffocating oppression but also daily executions. The war that was once called a “blessing” truly was a blessing—but only for officials and capitalists. Through proxy forces and continuous funding of regional conflicts, that war has never really ended; it simply continues in new forms.
Strengthening Internal Political Power
Beyond profit, governments often use military operations to strengthen their internal position or, when necessary, to distract society from domestic crises. We can clearly observe this today in several countries engaged in war.
In Israel, for example, Netanyahu’s government — representing Zionist capital in the region — pursues not only long‑term goals such as gaining control over vast oil and gas resources under the banner of a “divine promise” to create a Greater Israel, but also uses war as a tool to divert public attention from corruption charges and the possibility of his own trial and imprisonment. The ongoing war, which has expanded from Gaza to Iran and Lebanon, provides him with political immunity and a way to prolong his government’s survival, even though his legal term ended last year. Global capital, especially far‑right governments, supports him financially and supplies the necessary military tools.
A similar pattern can be seen in the United States with Trump. Beyond slogans like “America First” and “Make America Strong Again,” there are corruption issues such as long‑term tax evasion and the horrific child‑trafficking scandal linked to Epstein’s island. These issues serve both as distractions from Trump’s personal legal troubles and as mechanisms to advance the economic interests of capital through official and unofficial wars — including tariff wars. His open statements about wanting Venezuela’s oil “to make America richer,” and now his openly expressed desire for Iran’s oil and gas, show how war and economic ambition are intertwined. He even speaks of wanting a share of the revenue generated through the Strait of Hormuz.
Creating New Geopolitical Realities
In international relations, war is used to create or advance new geopolitical realities, to form or reshape alliances, and to shift the balance of power. A clear example is the United States’ participation in World War II. At first, it was a way to escape a deep economic recession and the looming crisis caused by massive amounts of idle capital that had nowhere to be invested. Through the war, the U.S. not only revived its economy but also reshaped the geopolitical order of the world.
It replaced Britain as the dominant global economic, political, and military power. Through the Bretton Woods Conference, it exported its surplus capital to Europe and Japan via the Marshall Plan, rescuing itself from crisis. It established the U.S. dollar — which had been losing value due to excess liquidity — as the world’s reserve currency. Later, by creating the IMF, the World Bank, and eventually the GATT agreement, it institutionalized the new global order of free‑market capitalism.
At the Yalta Conference, Europe was divided into two opposing blocs, shared between the two superpowers of the time — the U.S. and the Soviet Union — laying the groundwork for the Cold War. NATO and the Warsaw Pact were formed, and a bipolar world order took shape, lasting until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Even after the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact, NATO continued its operations. Throughout these decades, its military interventions devastated societies, caused massive loss of life, and destroyed infrastructure — while placing enormous financial burdens on the working classes of member countries. Despite all this, NATO did not emerge victorious in its wars. It even failed against the Taliban, fleeing Afghanistan while leaving behind billions of dollars’ worth of weapons. This reflects the decline of a global power and the capitalist world’s need for a new order — one that, unfortunately, will not be revolutionary unless the global working class, despite its vast numbers, rises with enough force to reclaim society from the hands of a tiny minority. Only then can those who produce the world’s wealth redistribute it and build an equal and humane society where everything belongs to everyone.
The Islamic Republic and the Use of War
The Islamic Republic has also used war from the very beginning of its formation. First, it launched an internal class war to suppress revolutionary masses and stabilize its rule, and then tied this repression to the Iran–Iraq War to secure its survival. Later, with the goal of reshaping the region’s geopolitical landscape, it organized or supported proxy forces and placed enormous economic and political pressure on workers and the poor in Iran, believing this would weaken their ability to resist. Yet even with all this repression, it has not succeeded — and today we see these same policies continuing with even greater intensity.
A similar pattern is visible in Israel, which, as the representative of Zionist capital in the Middle East, pursues a policy of expanding “Greater Israel” under the pretext of divine promise. Its ambitions are not limited to Palestine, Lebanon, or Syria — the entire region is in its sights, driven by the desire to control vast oil, gas, mineral resources, and strategic waterways. Even the purchase of land in Cyprus and Argentina may be connected to these expansionist goals. For these aims, Israel has effectively turned the U.S. and parts of Europe — especially Germany — into its proxy forces, supplying it with weapons and financial support.
The Relationship Between War and Politics
Jean Jaurès, the French sociologist, said: “Capitalism carries war within itself, just as clouds carry rain.” This nature of capitalism does not appear only during economic crises; it can emerge whenever profit rates fall — especially among powerful states seeking to deflect crises, maintain hegemony, or outcompete rival capitals.
War policy shapes the course of war, and war shapes political decisions. It is not simply a series of political decisions that create war; rather, there is a constant interaction between political decisions and military operations. Both ultimately reflect the economic interests of capital, guided by its dominant sectors — especially finance and the military‑industrial complex.
War and Its Impact on the Working Class
Although workers have no role in deciding wars, the entire burden of war is placed on their shoulders by the bourgeoisie and its state. Workers are sent to the battlefield as the foot soldiers of capital, often manipulated through nationalism, religion, or economic desperation.
Sometimes this happens through coercion — like the quotas imposed on factories and offices during the Iran–Iraq War. In other cases, reserve soldiers are legally required to fight until a certain age, as in Israel. In Ukraine, the legal age for conscription has been lowered to 16, effectively sending children of the working class to die. Child‑soldier programs in Iran and parts of Africa follow the same logic.
Workers are also forced to contribute part of their wages to the war effort — something seen in Iran, where such “voluntary” contributions were in practice mandatory.
War brings destruction: factories are bombed, workers lose their jobs, homes collapse, and families become displaced. The suffering is entirely class‑based. Capitalists and officials do not lose their homes, do not stand in food lines, do not lose children in war, and always have the means to flee to safer areas or abroad. Workers, however, have no villas, no savings, and often not even a car to escape. When the home they spent decades paying for is destroyed, it is not just a building that collapses — it is their entire life’s hope.
Consequences of the Recent Israel–U.S. War Against Iran for the Working Class
• Mass Unemployment
Bombing of infrastructure and major industries has severely affected millions of workers, especially in Tehran, Khuzestan, and Bushehr. The destruction of key facilities triggered a domino effect: when primary industries stop, secondary industries collapse due to lack of raw materials or demand.
In Khuzestan alone, the shutdown of 35 industrial units left around 100,000 workers unemployed. In the steel sector, an estimated 20,000 direct and 50,000 indirect jobs were lost.
• Workforce Reduction
This occurred in several forms: Early retirement (forced unemployment of older workers)
Firing young workers with no job security; Termination of workers with no contracts or “blank‑signature” contracts
Part‑time work with half wages; Collapse of the construction sector, leaving daily‑wage workers jobless
• Disruption of Energy Infrastructure
Bombing of the Imam 1 & 2 and Razi power plants — which supplied energy to all 24 petrochemical complexes in Khuzestan — halted their operations.
Overall, estimates suggest 3 to 4.5 million people have become unemployed due to war‑related disruptions.
• Internet Shutdown and Forced Unemployment
Ten million people who relied on the internet for income — drivers, couriers, freelancers, small businesses — lost their livelihoods when the government cut off internet access. This sector accounted for 5–6% of GDP and generated $35 million per day.
The government then turned this crisis into a profit opportunity by selling “special business internet packages.”
• Daily‑Wage Workers
Millions of daily‑wage workers — including many Afghan migrants — lost their income and face extreme poverty, discrimination, and exploitation.
• Fishermen, Home‑Based Workers, and Informal Labor. Fishermen in the south lost their work.
Home‑based workers, domestic workers, and informal labourers lost income due to fear, displacement, and economic collapse.
War and Women Workers
Today, 14–15% of Iranian households are headed by women. Their number doubled from 3.5 million in 2020 to 6.5 million in 2025. Only a small portion receive minimal support from welfare institutions, and 70% live in extreme poverty.
Most women workers are employed in: street vending; domestic work; home‑based packaging and sewing; agricultural labor; caregiving; brick‑kilns; handicrafts; sex work (in extreme poverty).
War has worsened everything: Many women lost their jobs due to fear, displacement, or the collapse of informal markets. Domestic workers lost clients as millions fled to safer regions.Agricultural work is disrupted
Women in informal sectors have no insurance, no unemployment benefits, no healthcare. Rising prices push families into absolute poverty, leading to child malnutrition, school dropouts, and increased risk of child marriage. Lack of medicine and skyrocketing drug prices worsen health crises.
In many war zones (e.g., Somalia, Congo, Nigeria, Sudan), displaced women face sexual violence — a danger that always increases in conflict zones
What Should the Working Class Do?
War is the continuation of politics — and the working class must continue its own politics: the struggle against capital. War does not cancel class struggle; it intensifies it. History shows that war does not automatically weaken the working class. Sometimes it strengthens it — as in: the Russian Revolution during World War I. They formed workers’ councils with indescribable enthusiasm in those harsh conditions of war and repression and turned the ongoing war into a class war against capital. We have the workers’ councils in Iran in 1979, and We have also seen empty houses being occupied by homeless people .Today, the Iranian working class — with years of strikes and protests behind it — can use the extent of social discontent over runaway inflation, unemployment, and spreading poverty and misery that has torn the fabric of the masses’ lives apart has increased and could eventually lead to mass protests to build a more conscious and organized struggle against capitalism.
Workers must prepare for: prolonged war deeper unemployment, further destruction of infrastructure, collapse of transportation and supply chains. This moment may become a turning point — a chance for the working class to confront capital decisively.
Workers must always remember that the organised capitalist class, with the necessary tools of repression, particularly class repression against workers, demonstrates itself as an undeniable power. The working class must also appear as a counter-power against capital through organised struggle and do so in a way that neither side of warring governments benefits from it or exploits it for their own advantage. For such work, it is necessary to establish workplace councils as soon as possible, even if secretly. Take charge of abandoned factories with your own power and manage them. There have been many such examples in the world and they have been successful, including in Mexico and Argentina. In this path, workers’ solidarity, networked communication between councils, solidarity and support from the masses and by the masses play an important role. Some may say that street repression and control are so severe that nothing can be done, but the mass, coordinated workers’ strikes in Germany in the suffocating years of 1918 and 1919 show that under any circumstances, even very harsh conditions, struggle is possible and lessons must be learned from the experiences of the global working class, gaining strength and moving in a direction that would lead to victory. In this path, the practical support of the global working class also strengthens the courage of the workers and helps advance the struggle, and it must be utilised.
Farideh Sabeti May 2026
