Weapons of mass deception
Ever had a feeling of deja vu?
On Sunday (15th June) Rachel Reeves said on Sunday morning with Trevor Phillips “We’re sending in assets to both protect ourselves and also potentially to support our allies”. That one sentence is the clearest public signal yet that Reeves, and by extension, the Labour Government is laying the groundwork for direct UK military involvement in a war that Israel started: launched by pre‑emptive strikes deep within Iranian territory.
On 13 June, Israel launched 'Operation Rising Lion', an expansive strike across Iran, hitting the Natanz nuclear site, key military infrastructure, Tehran's intelligence command, missile depots, and Mashhad airport. The operation used over 200 aircraft targeting more than 100 sites, killing senior IRGC figures and hundreds of civilians. No matter how the headlines try to spin it, this was not self‑defence. It was state‑sponsored escalation, a declaration of war launched by Israel under a fabricated cloak of urgency.
Of course it won’t be the first time Israel has taken pre-emptive military action in response to perceived threats from Iran. In April 2024, there was an Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus. Iran responded with a drones attack, which expert agree was largely symbolic. That retaliation was framed as defensive by Tehran and condemned as escalation by the West, just as it is now. British fighter jets played an active role in helping intercept Iranian drones over Israeli airspace during the April conflict. Reeves’ comments suggest that once again, the UK could be compelled to take a side, not just diplomatically, but militarily, in a conflict that is spinning rapidly out of control. The repetition of this pattern shows that the UK’s entanglement in this conflict isn’t accidental; it’s being normalised. And it is anything but normal.
And what of Rachel Reeves. In the interview with Trevor Phillips, she revealed that the UK has redeployed RAF jets to the region, ostensibly to 'protect British personnel and bases'. But she didn’t stop there, saying that it was also “to potentially to support our allies”: a chillingly vague phrase that suggests Labour won’t rule out British engagement in an Israeli-led war that Israel itself initiated. She followed it with vague appeals for 'de-escalation', but the message was already clear: Labour is not standing in the way of war. It is holding the door open.
If this all sounds familiar, that’s because it is. The parallels with the run-up to Iraq in 2003 are undeniable. Then, Blair lied about Saddam Hussein possessing weapons of mass destruction to justify pre-emptive war. The British government joined an illegal invasion under the guise of defending the world from an imminent threat that never existed. Ministers parroted phrases like 'aggressive threat' and 'serious danger' and the media helped blur the lines between speculation and certainty.
Today, we see the same script: Israel manufactures a threat about Iran's nuclear capabilities, launches a first strike, and Labour calls it self-defence. It appears that we are, once again, being primed for a war of aggression by a Labour Government, dressed up as necessary intervention. Let us be very fucking clear here: there is no evidence that Iran has nuclear weapons. Multiple international watchdogs, including the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) have repeatedly confirmed that Iran has not produced or weaponised enriched uranium to a level consistent with a functioning bomb. Israel’s justification for its attack: that Iran was close to having enough material for 15 bombs, is eerily similar to Blair’s infamous '45 minutes' claim. We swallowed those lies once. Are we really going to fall for them again?
This cannot be viewed in isolation. You cannot discuss Iran without discussing Gaza. The same Israeli government now bombing Tehran is also under indictment by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Gaza. The same leadership responsible for dropping bombs on hospitals and starving out civilians in Rafah is now launching a pre-emptive regional war. Rachel Reeves, in publicly supporting the Israelis and hinting at UK military involvement, is essentially backing a state already accused of crimes against humanity. Do we really want to hitch our pony to this travelling circus?
This isn’t black and white, condemning Israel’s actions doesn’t mean supporting Iran, just like condemning Israel in Gaza doesn't mean supporting HAMAS. It’s not about taking Iran’s side. Iran is a repressive regime with its own long list of abuses. But the facts still matter. The simple, undeniable fact is this: Israel struck first. Israel launched this phase of war. Everything that follows must be understood through that lens. To ignore that is not neutrality; it is complicity. Reeves’ framing of the conflict tries to present it as symmetrical, as though both sides are equally culpable, equally aggressive. This is a lie. Iran responded to being bombed. It responded to Israeli warplanes violating its airspace and killing its generals. Yes, civilians have died on both sides. That is a consequence of Israel's first strike, not a justification for it.
More disturbing still is the speed with which Labour has aligned itself with escalation. There was no parliamentary vote. No public debate. No scrutiny. Just a Chancellor speaking in calm, diplomatic tones while hinting that British military assets may soon be used to support a war of aggression. This is the foreign policy consensus reasserting itself: a Westminster establishment that views the military alliance with Israel and the US as untouchable, no matter how many bodies pile up. No matter how unreliable the US currently is under Trump.
Reeves is not alone in this. Keir Starmer has consistently refused to call for a ceasefire in Gaza, refused to condemn Israeli attacks on hospitals, and now presides over a Government increasingly indistinguishable from the Tories on foreign affairs. The same moral cowardice that saw Labour whip MPs to abstain on Gaza is now enabling the quiet drift toward war with Iran. And there's the human cost of these decisions. The dead in Tehran, the children buried under rubble in Gaza, the refugees streaming into Lebanon and Jordan, these are not collateral. They are the consequence of political cowardice, of media complicity, of lies recycled from 20 years ago.
The Iraq war of 2005 was built on a lie. A lie created y Netanyahu and eagerly pursued by Bush and Blair
So let us be clear about what the Government is committing us to. With these words, Reeves is not just floating diplomatic solidarity or humanitarian support, she is opening the possibility of UK military engagement in a regional war that could spiral uncontrollably. Unlike in 2003, our military today is a shadow of its former self. Years of austerity, spending cuts, and underinvestment have hollowed out our armed forces. We have fewer troops, fewer planes, and less capacity to sustain prolonged engagement. Committing our diminished military to a potential confrontation with Iran, a state with powerful regional proxies and substantial retaliatory capability is not just reckless, it's dangerous. It risks lives, destabilises the region further, and stretches our already fragile defence posture past breaking point.
And this has wider geopolitical consequences that can’t be ignored. Russia has a dog in this race. Already emboldened by the West’s divided response to its invasion of Ukraine, and the see-sawing of Trumps regime in the US, it sees every regional conflict through the lens of opportunity. Iran, a supplier of drones and weapons to Russia, is now a direct target of Western-aligned forces. Any UK military involvement against Tehran allows the Kremlin to double down on its rhetoric: that NATO is waging a global war by proxy. By aligning ourselves with Israel’s offensive, we play directly into Putin’s hands. Moscow gains a propaganda gift and strategic leverage, painting itself as a stabilising counterforce to what it will claim is Western aggression. This war isn’t taking place in a vacuum. It is one front in an escalating cold-hot war dynamic, and we are sleepwalking right into it.
This is a moment of truth. If you opposed the Iraq War, if you remember the lies about WMDs, if you still carry the weight of that betrayal, you must oppose this. Do not be fooled by appeals to 'defending allies' or 'protecting regional stability'. There is no stability to be found in aligning with an indicted war criminal regime. There is no defence in backing a pre-emptive war. Labour should be demanding an immediate ceasefire. It should be calling for diplomatic solutions, not military deployments. It should be questioning the narrative, not echoing it. Anything less is a betrayal of principle, of truth and of the people who will suffer if another war begins.
This is not about siding with Iran. It’s about refusing to be lied to again. Refusing to let another generation be dragged into bloodshed under false pretences. Refusing to let those in power rewrite the story before the bodies are even buried.
We cannot let Reeves, or any part of the British establishment, gaslight us into another war. The time to resist is now, before the jets take off, before the bombs fall, before the lie becomes history.
The world has gone mad. If you enjoyed reading this, please feel free to look at the rest of the blogs on www.TetleysTLDR.com. They're free to view, there's no paywall, they aren't monetised and I won't ask you to buy me a coffee. Also please free to share anything you find of interest, we only get the message out if people are aware of it. Just a leftie, standing in front of another leftie, asking to be read. All the best, Tetley
