Holding banners with the slogan “Stop the war of aggression against Iran”, around 30 people held a vigil in front of the US embassy in Limpertsberg on Tuesday afternoon.
Organised by Luxembourg’s Friddens- a Solidaritéitsplattform (peace and solidarity platform) activist group, they protested for just under an hour against the air strikes jointly carried out by the US and Israel.
Speakers at the rally included Ali Ruckert, the former president of the Luxembourg Communist Party (KPL). “Now we see here how they are waging an illegal war, a war of aggression against Iran,” shouted Ruckert, who was interrupted by cries of “war criminal” and “Venezuela”.
Ali Ruckert (KPL) said that the strike against Venezuela had been waged in order to “seize” the South American country’s oil reserves © Photo credit: Marc Wilwert
Ruckert immediately picked up on this keyword and also denounced the military strike against Venezuela, which he said was carried out in order to “seize” the South American country’s oil reserves. There has also been a threat of war by the US against Cuba. A strong peace movement is therefore needed, which must be so loud “that the whole of Luxembourg hears it,” he said.
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Concerns about conflagration
Tom Rees from Déi Jonk Lénk (the young left) spoke of a dangerous development. The war against Iran is not self-defence, he said, “it is an escalation that is driving the entire Middle East towards war.”
The US wars against Iraq in 2003 and in Afghanistan from 2001 onwards were also advertised with grand words such as freedom and security. “But all they brought was destruction, instability and the suffering of millions of people,” Rees said.
David Wagner, MP and Luxembourg City municipal councillor (Déi Lénk), expects Luxembourg to clearly feel the consequences of the Iran war © Photo credit: Marc Wilwert
David Wagner, one of the founding members of Déi Lénk (the left party) in 1999, was among those taking part in the demonstration. The war is a catastrophe, said Wagner, who sits in parliament and the Luxembourg City municipal council. “It is about to spread like wildfire across the entire region.”
The US and Israel are concerned with dominance and control in the region, protestors alleged. If the war does not end soon, Luxembourg will feel the effects through rapidly rising oil prices and refugee numbers, they said.
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The Iranian-born photographer Nader Ghavami, who has lived in Luxembourg for several years, also joined the protest.
His family in Iran had been in favour of a US military operation just a month ago, he said. This was the attitude of many Iranians “who were so desperate that they saw no other solution than war”, Ghavami said. Even at the beginning of the air strikes, there were still pictures of people celebrating and rejoicing at the military intervention.
Many Iranians who had hoped for an end to the mullah regime are now disillusioned, says Nader Ghavami, a photographer in Luxembourg © Photo credit: Marc Wilwert
However, many Iranians who had hoped for an end to the regime are now disappointed and disillusioned by the developments, said Ghavami. “At the moment, all the war has brought the Iranians is destruction. And the old Khamenei has been replaced by a new one.”
He is very worried that the country is falling apart as a result of this war. Ghavami said has not been able to reach his family since the bombings began. “War is not a solution,” he said.
(This article was originally published by the Luxemburger Wort. Translated with the aid of an AI tool and then edited by Aaron Grunwald.)
