This war was never about creating the conditions in which ordinary Iranians could organise, overthrow the dictatorship and establish a democratic society. Its real aims were to strengthen the control of US imperialism and Israel over the region, including to gain control of the oil and gas supplies, while the Iranian regime was determined to protect its dictatorship. It is further proof, if any was needed, of why a powerful internationalist anti-imperialist movement should be built based on a clear working-class political alternative to the capitalist system combined with the real material and political solidarity with those fighting the regime in Iran and elsewhere.