“The government should not even think about this,” he emphasized regarding potential Greek participation in operations in the Strait of Hormuz. “It is already involving our country, day by day, hour by hour, more deeply in this theatre of war, which is not far away—it is in our region.”
According to Koutsoumbas, Greece’s role is far from neutral. The operation of US and NATO bases on Greek territory, combined with logistical and political support for military plans, effectively turns the country into what he described as a “war hub,” exposing it to serious dangers rather than ensuring its security. He warned that this course makes Greece a potential target in the event of a broader regional escalation.
At the same time, Secretary Koutsoumbas extended this warning to the wider Eastern Mediterranean, pointing out that similar risks concern Cyprus, which is also increasingly entangled in imperialist planning through its role in regional military and energy arrangements. In this context, he highlighted that the involvement of both Greece and Cyprus in these strategic designs deepens instability in the region and ties the peoples of both countries to dangerous geopolitical confrontations that do not serve their interests.
At the same time, Dimitris Koutsoumbas addressed the internal situation in Iran, clarifying the KKE’s long-standing position in a way that underscores the distinction between criticism of a government and opposition to imperialist war. As he explained, the party has consistently exercised criticism toward the Iranian regime:
“We have always criticized the Ayatollahs and the Mullahs of Iran, the Iranian government, both for the way they govern and for everything else—the failure to defend even basic democratic popular rights, such as those concerning women, and especially their stance toward the Communist Party of Iran, the Tudeh Party, with which, as you know, we maintain very good bilateral relations and which has been illegal for decades. This was also the case under the Shah—not that Pahlavi was any better; after all, that is why the Iranian people overthrew him—but the course that followed with the Ayatollahs and all those in power also led to an unacceptable situation.”
However, he insisted that this reality cannot be used to legitimize foreign intervention. Drawing a clear line, he stressed:
“It is one thing to address these issues, and another to intervene in order to change a government—as the United States, Israel, Greece or anyone else, as NATO or as an international alliance—through an imperialist war, to overthrow a government or to do what they attempted in Venezuela, to abduct Maduro in order to appoint his vice president as president. These are unacceptable things.”
Within this framework, Secretary Koutsoumbas linked the war against Iran to the broader pattern of imperialist interventions that systematically violate even the basic principles of international law. As he pointed out, this is not merely a matter of legal formalities being ignored, but of a long-term process in which international norms have been openly undermined:
“It is not only that international law is being torn apart—which in any case they have shredded and degraded over the past decades, especially after the change in the international balance of power following the fall of the Soviet Union—but not even the most basic ‘logic’ of this law is being observed.”
This analysis feeds directly into his broader warning about Greece’s involvement. He argued that the country’s participation is not accidental or imposed solely from outside, but also reflects concrete interests of the Greek ruling class:
“We cannot remain indefinitely bound by agreements simply because certain powerful interests benefit from them. The Greek ruling class has its own interests. It participates in these agreements with the United States and Israel because it has something to gain—economic interests. It wants to take part in the division of the spoils that will follow the war, and this is the most dangerous aspect that the Greek people must understand.”
In this sense, he rejected the portrayal of government policy as merely submissive or passive, stressing instead that it is an active choice driven by economic and geopolitical calculations:
“Those in government are not simply incompetent or naïve or merely subordinate to foreign powers. They themselves have economic interests, which they support by participating in this war, putting peoples at risk—today economically, as the Greek people are suffocating, and tomorrow with their very lives.”
Comrade Koutsoumbas concluded by warning that the ongoing course represents a continuous and escalating involvement of Greece in a war with unpredictable consequences, calling for a decisive change in direction and disengagement from imperialist plans.
“The transformation of Greece into a war base,” he stressed, “is itself a factor of great danger and instability.”