World cannot afford another forever war
We're deeply alarmed by the United States forcing itself into Israel's war on Iran after days of provocative rhetoric. Early Sunday, the US Air Force's B-2 Spirit stealth bombers struck three key nuclear sites in Iran, using the powerful GBU-57 "bunker buster" bombs. President Donald Trump later claimed the strikes had "totally obliterated" these sites, although the extent of the damage is yet to be established. Fordow, Iran's most heavily fortified uranium enrichment site buried under 80 metres of rock, was reportedly hit with a full payload; Natanz and Isfahan were similarly targeted. While both the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Iranian authorities have confirmed that no off-site radiation has been detected so far, the strategic and psychological toll of this attack is undeniable.
First of all, it marks a dangerous escalation in the ongoing war. Iran, which condemned the attack as "outrageous," warned of "everlasting consequences." Although by now Iranians appear degraded in their military capabilities thanks to the persistent, targeted Israeli attacks over the past week, "they have all sorts of asymmetric ways that they can respond [to the US attack]," as a former Middle East negotiator for US administrations has said. The US strike and threats of further attacks could, according to some analysts, provoke Tehran into retaliating by closing the Strait of Hormuz, attacking US military bases in the Middle East, stepping up its missile barrage on Israel, activating proxy groups against American and Israeli interests, etc. Of course, this is just a hypothetical scenario, as there is no telling what the reactions of a weakened, desperate, but still-resolute Iran will be in the long run.
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The US-Israeli strikes, we must say, should be viewed as part of an overall continuum that began with Israel's genocidal campaign in Gaza—which received full US backing—and then continued with Israel's attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon and the fall of the Iran-backed Assad regime in Syria. The irony with the latest episode is that although Israel attacked Iran based on unfounded claims about the latter's nuclear programme, it likely has little to do with Iran actually acquiring nuclear weapons. As per an observer, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been claiming for over 20 years that Iran was "merely weeks, months, or a few years away" from obtaining them—much like how the US falsely cited the development of weapons of mass destruction to justify its war on Iraq.
It is deeply shameful that such false claims are being repeated to commit war crimes while the world watches on silently. This has to stop. Israel and the US must end their illegal campaigns in Iran and Palestine. We urge the international community to intervene decisively to stop such deadly geopolitical power games and manoeuvres that bring suffering not only to civilians in the affected regions but across the world.
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