Rally for peace in Richmond
By Grady Rajagopalan and Eli Lerdau
On June 22, 2025 President Trump broke an over half-century long tradition of avoiding direct action against Iran. He broke this by ordering B-2 stealth bombers and attack submarines to use heavy munitions, including the 30,000 pound GBU-57 MOP (Massive Ordnance Penetrator) and Tomahawk cruise missiles. While the strikes reportedly killed no one, the United States claims massive damage to the Iranian nuclear facilities. American aircraft were joined by Israeli strikes on Iranian air defenses and other critical facilities, marking one of the few times that the USAF worked in tandem with the IAF. This all followed weeks of strikes on Iran by Israel, and the nearly two year long indiscriminate bombing campaign of Gaza beginning after October 7, 2023.
In 2015 Iran, the United States (then under Barack Obama), and other countries agreed to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) or Iran Nuclear Deal. The JCPOA would limit Iran’s nuclear program and in return the United States and other nations would remove economic sanctions that had crippled the country and its people. This changed in 2018 when President Trump pulled out of the Iran Nuclear Deal, instituted massive sanctions, and falsely accused Iran of continuing to secretly acquire nuclear weapons. While the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported that prior to Trump pulling out of the deal Iran was abiding by its restrictions, following the end of the JCPOA Iran began enriching uranium beyond levels needed for civilian use. While much of the U.S. intelligence community claimed that Iran was not intending to build a nuclear weapon, including Trump appointed Tulsi Gabbard, the president ordered the USAF to strike three primary nuclear facilities inside Iran.
The June 22nd strikes followed a week of speculation on the status of American intervention. As discussion of strikes became louder, the United States evacuated citizens in the Middle East, issued travel warnings, and began to withdraw non-essential embassy personnel. The USAF also deployed more air tankers, large aircraft used for refueling bombers mid-air, to Europe in preparation for a strike. Marco Rubio informed our allies that the U.S. wished to see a diplomatic solution to the Israel-Iran war, and Trump himself claimed just days before the strike that “I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks.” The days leading up the strike saw a shift at U.S. bases abroad as well, as Middle East bases were put on high alert and aircraft were moved off tarmacs and into protected hangars.
In response to the strikes, and the ongoing support of Israeli genocide in Gaza, members of the Richmond chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) organized a small rally on Sunday June 23rd. The rally took place under near 94 degree conditions, keeping it small but dedicated. Around 35 people were in attendance, with at least a quarter of them being PSL members. Speakers included a member of Veterans for Peace, a nonprofit Veterans group dedicated to stopping war; multiple PSL members; and Richmond community members. One notable speaker was Izzie (last name withheld on request), who spoke about the U.S. support for genocide in Gaza, her Jewish idenitty, and the war in Iran.
A B-2 Spirit bomber drops Mk.82 bombs during a training exercise. Image credit: Wikimedia commons, USAF.The strikes themselves took place over the course of over 35 hours, as seven B-2 Spirit bombers deployed from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri and flew nonstop to their targets. Six of the bombers targeted the Fordow facility, while the seventh struck the Natanz facility. They were joined by an unnamed submarine which fired 30 Tomahawk cruise missiles on the Natanz and Isfahan sites. As prior mentioned, Israeli aircraft had already knocked out Iranian air defenses, leaving the bombers clear to destroy the facilities. The actual level of said destruction is thus far unknown, as the U.S. claims massive destruction with little evidence to support it while Iran claims effectively no damage with no evidence on its side. There can be no doubt though that Trump put us on the fast lane to war with Iran.
Izzie, a member of the PSL and one of the speakers from the event.“When you have to speak up about something, you don’t get to choose what the conditions are!” Izzy exclaimed, “There’s other people elsewhere that are trying to stand up for themselves or stand up for other people, like in Gaza, and they’re being bombed, they’re being starved. We are lucky that all [we] have to worry about is how hot it is.” Speaking on the recent involvement in Iran and its support by those claiming to be acting on the principle of international democracy, she cites a 1953 coup in Iran called Operation Ajax, and actions taken in the 1980’s to arm Iranian terrorist groups, asking, “‘Who’s fault is that?’ It is the United States’ fault. Every time the United States gets involved, things get worse for the people in these foreign nations, they do not get better.” When asked about the PSL’s sustained removal from the left wing mainstream and those who claim that the far left should fall in line with the democratic party line, she said, “there are many movements that don’t associate with the Democrats or Republicans that are doing really good work, such as the DSA . . . some of us just happened to end up in the PSL because they had a louder voice wherever we were. Mainline opposition to Trump has been rolling over . . . when we look at how the Democrats handled issues in the Middle East, they just did it quietly . . . falling in line behind a system that upholds that violence and claims to be resisting Trump . . . really sacrifices the integrity of a movement that seeks to liberate people from violence . . . the answer to how we win is with mass mobilization of the people.” Finally, when asked about the common rhetoric of Israel being the safe haven from rising global antisemitism, she said, “It’s Israel’s fault. Read the Torah. Read the Talmud . . . God wanted us to be in the diaspora. The diaspora is what makes us strong, the diaspora is how we continue Judaism . . . Judaism was an enemy of the Nazis because of how progressive it is . . . it is a religion of caring for the world . . . Israel has turned it into a religion of bombing people in Gaza . . . and convinced a wide majority of people who are not media literate that Israel is the Jewish state . . . Antisemitism is increasing because there is a resistance to what Israel is doing, and an insistence by people in our Government that Israel is a Jewish state, instead of separating out Zionism from Judaism.”
While not all of these are opinions held by those at Justice Now, we must consider the words of those actively fighting. Many will make noise about the fight they would have, but not nearly as many are actually in the streets protesting. Whether or not you agree with Izzie and the PSL, one has to respect their willingness to gather in 95 degree weather to oppose the strikes in Iran.