Report on IPC #145, by EIR staff

The 145th consecutive online weekly meeting of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) featured a surprise guest, Ambassador Abolfazl Pasandideh who represents the Islamic Republic of Iran in Mexico. This was a unique opportunity for people who live in an environment dominated by war propaganda, to hear an unfiltered message from the nation the U.S. government is attacking.

Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Schiller Institute founder and IPC initiator provided an update. She posed the question, Why did U.S. President Donald Trump start this war? Reportedly, it was U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, U.S. Secretary of State/National Security Advisor Marco Rubio, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, and the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner who convinced him that Iran was on the verge of attacking U.S. forces or bases. She noted that we have reached a new phase in neocon aggression, typified by targeted eliminations of heads of state, such as the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro or the assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. She added that this situation can still escalate to nuclear war, citing an editorial in The Hill by Harlan Ullman, senior adviser at the Atlantic Council, who bills himself as the principal author of the doctrine of shock and awe. Ullman suggests that the United States nuke Iran as the only way to achieve the requisite shock and awe. Zepp-LaRouche also reported on her Letter to Pope Leo XIV, calling on him to intervene in the spirit of Nicholas of Cusa’s De Pace Fidei. It has come to her attention that a ranking Shiite cleric from Iran, Ayatollah Seyed Mostafa Mohaghegh Damad Ahmadabadi, has issued a similar appeal to the Pope. She concluded by saying, “The danger to humanity, in my view, has never been more grave than right now.”

Ambassador Abolfazl Pasandideh spoke next, called the present war “one of the most irrational wars in history… a betrayal of diplomacy. For the second time, we were attacked in the middle of negotiations… It was a blatant symbol of the use of power in the place of international law.” It was expected that the internet would usher in an age of humanism, he said, but instead, racists and radical nationalists have successfully exploited the internet. On the topic of the neocon “regime change” agenda, he said, “It is not clear who will be next after Iran—Mexico, or China?” He ended on an optimistic note: “With the pen and the word, it is possible to neutralize the effects of guns.”

Zepp-LaRouche described the motives of the IPC for inviting the Iranian ambassador: we have observed the discrepancy between reality, and the narrative being promoted by Western sources. She recalled the declaration by U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, that the United States had intentionally engineered the collapse of the Iranian economy in order to trigger regime change, and referred also to Trump’s former Director of the CIA in his first administration Mike Pompeo’s tweet about the Mossad agents accompanying each Iranian demonstrator.

Former President of Guyana (2011-2015) Donald Ramotar conveyed to the Ambassador his admiration for the tenacity and courage of the Iranian people in the face of the attempts to destroy their nation. For some time now, he said, there has been an effort to destroy international institutions and international law. Iran is under attack because it is the only country standing up for the Palestinians, and because it is the main obstacle to Israel’s efforts to re-shape the Middle East. Iran’s fight is also a fight for Cuba, which is now under “almost unbearable” economic pressure in a similar mad attempt to incite regime change.

Pasandideh said that he wishes to thank Zepp-LaRouche for going to the “roots of this problem.” He thanked Ramotar for his expression of solidarity.

Father Harry Bury, a catholic priest for 70 years, a lifelong peace activist, and active in the Twin Cities Nonviolent and the U.S. Catholic Priest Association spoke, saying “Our hearts are breaking, truly breaking, at what is happening to Iran,” he said. “Jesus said that we are to love our enemies!” He stressed that history has shown us that violence does not resolve problems. He reiterated his endorsement of the Oasis Plan and the BRICS as an exemplary approach to peace. He asked all participants to add their names to Zepp-LaRouche’s open letter to the Pope.

Pasandideh responded by saying Bury’s beautiful words had touched his heart. He offered his view that Donald Trump is hiding behind religion, and this is an aggression against all religions.

Jack Gilroy, of Veterans for Peace, Pax Christi – Upstate NY, and Pax Christi International, commented on the contrast between what Father Bury is saying, and the endorsement of violence by the Christian Zionists. The stance of the Christian Zionists flies in the face of the non-violent message of Christ and the Jewish commitment to justice.

Pasandideh responded again that if we search for the origins of these problems, we find unilateralism. The UN Charter established a world based on laws and rights to say “never again” to the injustice that had led to World War II, and now these precepts are being ignored. He asked how can we return to multilateralism, which would rule out regime change operations. When we achieve multilateralism, we accept the cultural differences among nations.

Zepp-LaRouche recalled the role of President of Iran Mohammad Khatami, who brought about a revival of culture and the introduction of modern technologies to Iran.

Discussion

Gilroy called U.S. foreign policy “perverse,” substituting gunboat diplomacy for real diplomacy. He said that we must call upon religious leaders to preach the truth like Father Bury does. There are 20 million Christian Zionists in the United States, which is why the Israeli flag is flying over the White House. Where are the religious leaders who say we must stop murdering fishermen in the Caribbean?

Nuclear weapons expert Dr. Theodore Postol, Professor Emeritus of Science, Technology and National Security at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in a video contribution, said the Iranians may be able to continue the war for a very long time, manufacturing drones in underground facilities. The United States is unable to manufacture interceptors at a pace that can match Iranian drone production. And the interceptors are not working, they are unable to perform their functions as advertised.

A question was sent in for Father Bury: what can Catholics do about those in South America and elsewhere who reduce their faith to mere ideological anti-communism? He replied that we must educate ourselves, and then educate other people.

Diane Sare reminded the participants that she is an independent U.S. presidential candidate. She noted that nearly two thirds of the U.S. population are unable to read above a sixth-grade level. The key to deaf and blind Helen Keller’s liberation from her sensory prison was language. Sare noted that Ultimate Fighting Championship fighters are now training the FBI. Our U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and FBI agents need to be able to think, instead of being mindlessly violent.

A participant asked, can Israel be stopped from using nuclear weapons on Iran? Co-moderator Dennis Speed warned that the Jeffrey Epstein Class is not restrained by moral limits. They believe themselves to be above them; they are essentially Satanic. This mentality must be exposed and confronted in order to stop the use of nuclear weapons. Speed recalled that according to Russian intelligence, France and Britain are plotting to bring nuclear weapons to Ukraine.

Congressional candidate in New York’s 15th congressional district (Bronx), Jose Vega reported on his campaign’s petition drive to achieve ballot status, knocking on over 4,500 doors over the past few weeks and bringing a message of peace through development.

See the full transcript here.

Feb. 27, 2026 (EIRNS)—The 143rd consecutive weekly meeting of the International Peace Coalition on Friday, Feb. 27, put a spotlight on the creation of the United Nations and the ongoing sabotage of the system of law that it begat. The meeting began with remarks by IPC initiator Helga Zepp-LaRouche, who opened with the assessment that “Unfortunately, the clouds of war are massing over our heads.” She noted that U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee advised U.S. embassy personnel to evacuate Israel immediately. Other nations did the same. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has admitted that the United States has intentionally provoked the crisis in Iran via economic warfare measures. There is talk of a British-French initiative for providing Ukraine with nuclear weapons, an insanely provocative move.

There have been additional resignations by European leaders who are implicated in the Jeffrey Epstein files. Zepp-LaRouche pointed out that it is not merely depraved sexual activities that are at issue here; these activities betray a mindset which does not respect human life and human reason, and this mindset is integral to their support for neocon brutality toward Iran, Gaza, Cuba, etc. Alluding to the “America First” slogan, she emphasized, “National interest is fine, but it must be coherent with the idea of the One Humanity First…. We will not allow that the image of Man is dragged into the mud.” She reminded the participants of her longstanding proposal for a New International Security and Development Architecture. EIR is organizing a special emergency conference of the Movement of World Citizens on Monday, March 2 to address the urgent actions needed now.

Jonathan Kuttab is a Palestinian-American international human rights lawyer, expert on international law, and Executive Director of Friends of Sabeel North America, as well as Co-Founder of Nonviolence International. He bemoaned the “collapse of international law and international institutions,” and acknowledged Zepp-LaRouche’s proposal for a new security and development architecture. But he said that he has a different view. He reviewed the history of the creation of the UN and related institutions, and said the structure created at the end of World War II has actually worked quite well for 70 years. Admittedly there are some flaws in it, such as the veto granted to members of the UN Security Council. “I don’t think we should be in a hurry to give up on international law,” he said. “We need to find ways to put some teeth in it.”

Zepp-LaRouche hastened to correct the record, stating that the IPC and Schiller Institute are not recommending an end to international law, but seek to preserve and strengthen it.

Elisabeth Martens, organizer of the petition “For an Immediate Reactivation of the UN Charter In Favor of Multilateralism”, described her organization’s efforts to stop environmental crises, proxy wars, and the danger of nuclear weapons. She said that some people join mystical or spiritual movements to escape the reality of the situation, but we must address that reality. “We can no longer allow the interference of the United States into the affairs of the UN,” she said, and we reject their unipolar world. She also addressed the question of economic policy and the need to restrict financial speculation. With the end of the Cold War, she said, the Western nations created a mafioso-type economy and imposed it on the world. “When money does not serve the real economy, it becomes an uncontrollable machine which spawns wars … the tyranny under which millions of lives are pulverized.”

Father Harry Bury of Minnesota is a member of Twin Cities Nonviolent and the Association of U.S. Catholic Priests; he is also the author of Maverick Priest: A Story of Life on the Edge. He described the murder by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operatives of two Americans in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Members of his organization have invited Pope Leo XIV to go there to provide spiritual leadership. They learned that, due to prior commitments, he is unable to come; they had hoped to discuss the Schiller Institute’s Oasis Plan with him. Father Bury praised the dialogue process, and said that he has learned much from those who disagree with him. Addressing the assembled activists of the International Peace Coalition and the Schiller Institute, he said, “We’re joyful that we can work with you!”

Discussion Among the Featured Speakers

Zepp-LaRouche reviewed the history of the Schiller Institute’s 40-year campaign to rectify the underdevelopment of the Global South, something which the UN has failed to do. “In the West, people have to abandon the idea that the West is somehow superior to the Global South,” she said. “There can be no peace without development.”

Zepp-LaRouche discussed the concept of natural law, the idea that there are laws implicit in the universe which are higher than positive law established by humans. We root our campaign for a new architecture in these ideas, she said.

Kuttab said that the advocates for international law are weak and disorganized, while its opponents have the money and influence. “This is a huge challenge, and I think about it all the time.” The powers-that-be used to insist that they were for human rights, but now they have dropped the pretense.

Diane Sare, an independent U.S. Presidential candidate, recounted recent news reports of a refugee from Myanmar, Nurul Amin Shah Alam, who was nearly blind and could not speak English. He was detained in Buffalo, New York by ICE operatives, and then released at night in front of a closed coffee shop, where he subsequently froze to death. In order to avoid accountability, they classified his death as due to “natural causes.” This is the downfall of American culture, Sare insisted. We have embraced the idea that you cause people to change their behavior through force. President George Washington warned that if the citizenry, after becoming politically empowered by our Constitution, became debased, immoral, and obsessed with revenge, then the nation could fail. We must bridge the gap between the general state of mind of the population, and the true, fully matured nature of humanity.

Martens said we are moving from one system, from one world, to another. There is an economic change which must happen and is happening in other parts of the world. China has shown that it is possible to end poverty. The BRICS organization, the Belt and Road Initiative, these will lead the world forward. Zepp-LaRouche said that China is now the “American System” country, the country of Friedrich List. The Chinese model of cooperation is succeeding; the United States has 800 military bases around the world, and they are becoming more unpopular day by day. Britain’s King George III lost his marbles because he could not live with the success of the American Revolution, and we are seeing a similar phenomenon among the “Epstein class” today.

General Discussion

Sare insisted that “If we fail to prosecute anyone in the Epstein files, our nation will cease to exist,” because the moral depravity of the “Epstein class” is consistent with a willingness to accept the consequences of nuclear war.

A participant asked why the UN General Assembly Resolution 377, “Uniting for Peace” option has not been exercised in the current crisis, why is there no move to relocate the UN Headquarters, when the U.S. refuses visas to people they don’t like, and why there is no effort to enforce UN resolutions regarding Israel? Sare responded that diplomats have received mafia-style threats that prevent them from taking action. But Zepp-LaRouche said that she is totally convinced that these reforms can still happen in the short term.

Zepp-LaRouche concluded by expressing her belief that people will come to recognize that China’s practice of win-win cooperation is much more successful than the “zero-sum-game” model of geopolitics. We must first go through the vale of tears to reach a higher level of development. [eir]