FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
Countries such as Argentina, Albania, Australia, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, India, Kenya, Sweden, Thailand and the United States have accused Iran and the Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) of plotting assassinations or attacks on their territory.
One line of commentary, prevalent on both the isolationist right and the anti-interventionist left, insists on portraying the military campaign against Iran as “Israel’s war.” This claim is compelling in its simplicity and serves a familiar political function: it feeds into a broader campaign to demonize Western power and delegitimize its use. But it is wrong. The confrontation with Tehran reflects American and Western interests that would demand attention even if Israel were to disappear from the map tomorrow.
First, the nuclear issue. A nuclear-armed Iran would pose a direct strategic challenge to the United States. It would transform the balance of power in the Middle East, fuel the proliferation of nuclear weapons among the Gulf states, and place the world’s most important energy corridor under a nuclear “umbrella” controlled by a theocratic regime. Such a development would limit U.S. freedom of action in the region and undermine the security architecture that Washington has built over decades. Preventing this scenario, therefore, is not a favor to allies but a matter of America’s own strategic interest.
The China factor is another dimension. Chinese purchases account for about 90% of Iranian oil exports, providing Tehran with tens of billions of dollars in annual revenue that supports the state budget and military activities. Iran functions as an energy supply hub in China’s broader strategy to defend itself from American maritime dominance. Russia and China are strategic partners of Tehran, and neutralizing this configuration is part of a great-power rivalry with consequences that go far beyond the Israeli issue.
Critics rightly point out that Iran closed the strait in retaliation, meaning that the disruption is a consequence of the campaign rather than its cause, and rightly so. However, this closure shows precisely why Iran’s military capability threatens global interests far beyond Israel’s borders. The resulting shortage is approaching 20% of global oil supplies, and a regime willing to hold a fifth of global energy trade hostage, by that very act, confirms that it poses a threat to every economy.
The Islamic Republic’s hostility to the West predates the current conflicts by nearly half a century. When Thomas Jefferson faced Barbary pirates, whose representative told American diplomats that their religion gave them the right to plunder and enslave, he faced a similar challenge: a hostile force claiming divine legitimacy to threaten international navigation. American maritime interests are older than the state of Israel itself.
In addition, Iran’s special operations unit, the Quds Force, provides weapons, training, and financial support to militias and political movements throughout the Middle East, including in Bahrain, Iraq, Lebanon, Gaza, Syria, and Yemen. This infrastructure stretches from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean and is designed to project Iranian power and destabilize U.S. partners. Tehran’s ambition is regional hegemony, and the network it has created to achieve this goal threatens U.S. interests and regional stability.
The regime’s history with global terrorism reinforces this argument. Countries such as Argentina, Albania, Australia, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, India, Kenya, Sweden, Thailand and the United States have accused Iran and the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of plotting assassinations or attacks on their territory. The director general of MI5 has announced that since January 2022, British authorities have faced twenty Iranian-backed plots targeting citizens and residents of the United Kingdom. From the Burgas bombing to the Paris assassination plots and the recruitment of operatives in the Caucasus, Iranian operations targeting the sovereignty of Western states bear all the hallmarks of a regime whose stated mission is to destroy Western influence and the “Great Satan,” as it calls the United States, and it pursues this mission in alliance with Moscow and Beijing.
Those who insist that this is “Israel’s war” participate, consciously or not, in a broader campaign to demonize Western power and delegitimize its use. The same voices remain notably silent about Iran’s alliances with Russia and China, its expansionist ambitions, and its four-decade campaign of state terrorism that has stretched from Buenos Aires to Baku.
Israel, of course, benefits from this campaign. Reasonable people may question the timing, scope, and strategy of the exit, and much of the criticism of the current administration has legitimate basis. However, reducing this confrontation to an Israeli project ignores the underlying causes of the war. Every Western country whose economy depends on open sea lanes, stable energy markets, and a Middle East free of nuclear blackmail has a vested interest in this outcome. This is America’s war and the world’s. /Adapted from Pamphlet from Washington Examiner /
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