SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT

Israel and the US launched a joint attack on Iran yesterday as the US President confirmed “major operations”, which eventually induced retaliatory attacks by Iran on Israel and several other regions of West Asia. Late-night reports also confirmed the death of the supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Let’s have a gist.

Iran is a West Asian country and the cradle of the widely known Persian civilisation. And Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been the supreme leader of this Islamic Republic since 1979. Recent geopolitical tensions, especially with Israel, aggravated by internal unrest, have been largely impeding the country’s stability. Now that the US has entered Israel’s escalation with a browbeating attitude, its agenda lies in rooting out the threat of what they allegedly call a “terrorist regime” and serving a long-awaited justice of Freedom for the people of Iran, whilst ensuring it has no hands on nuclear weapons. Israel has its own personal issues with Iran, which is known for supporting rebel groups such as Hamas in Palestine, one of its most formidable enemies, and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

But the history of these sorts of regime-change invasions and attacks speaks more. One cannot help but ask if this war being waged on Iran has more to do with just the policy of ensuring regime change. At present, the Strait of Hormuz, a critical lifeline of West Asia, is reported to be blocked, prompting several countries, including India, to call for restraint, while others are presumably taking sides. The Iran escalation is brimming with global tension and warrants close scrutiny. Iran is an oppressive state; however, Western narratives about the liberation of West Asia often hide a shadow narrative stemming from profitable agendas to regulate political power and control over resources. Well, History has been teaching us how war largely works on this machinery. And every time, the stake for “liberation”, “peace” and ”stability” often takes the form of thousands of citizens on the altar of sacrifice. The drag of this escalation is felt by every country, in every corner of the world. Violence has the power to ignite more violence. Two great World Wars have taught this. With Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, reportedly being declared the new supreme leader, the concern remains whether this gamble on peace and justice will have the opposite effect.