World War Three Tracker Thread

Wolf

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Nazis backing the Jews........well I never.....:ROFLMAO:

Germany’s Merz praises Israel for doing ‘dirty work for us’​

The German chancellor has endorsed the ongoing Israeli strikes against Iran
Germany’s Merz praises Israel for doing ‘dirty work for us’

FILE PHOTO: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. © Omer Messinger / Getty Images

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has lauded Israel’s military strikes against Iran, saying the Israeli government and army are doing the “dirty work” of Western nations.
Merz made the remarks in a series of interviews on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada, attended by all guarantors of the original 2015 Iran nuclear deal, except for Russia and China.
“This is the dirty work that Israel is doing for all of us. We are also victims of this regime,” he said in an interview with ZDF, claiming that “this mullah regime has brought death and destruction to the world.”
I can only say: The greatest respect for the fact that the Israeli army and the Israeli leadership had the courage to do this.
“I assume that the attacks of the last few days have already weakened the mullah regime considerably and that it is unlikely to return to its former strength, making the future of the country uncertain,” Merz said in a separate interview with Die Welt.

Germany is part of the P5+1 group, which negotiated the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal, in 2015. Despite his support for the strikes, Merz stated that Berlin is ready to back new negotiations to ensure Iran never obtains nuclear weapons.
West Jerusalem justified its attack on Friday by claiming Iran is on the brink of obtaining nuclear weapons. Tehran has repeatedly denied the accusations, maintaining that its nuclear program is entirely peaceful.
Iran retaliated by firing dozens of ballistic missiles into Israel, with both sides exchanging attacks ever since. Iran has reported at least 224 deaths since the hostilities began. Israel has reported 24 deaths.
In a joint statement on Monday, the leaders of the G7 called Iran the “principal source of regional instability and terror,” adding: “we have been consistently clear that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon.”

US President Donald Trump, who abruptly cut his stay at the G7 summit short, demanded an “unconditional surrender” from Iran on Tuesday.
Washington previously demanded that Tehran stop all uranium enrichment, which Iranian officials described as “completely detached from reality.”
Iran currently enriches uranium to 60% purity, far above the 3.67% cap set under the now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal, which was rendered null and void after Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from it during his first term.
Russia has condemned Israel’s initial airstrikes and called for deescalation. President Vladimir Putin spoke with Trump by phone over the weekend, and according to Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov, the two discussed the possibility of reviving negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program.

 

Wolf

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Reported.
What's good for the goose etc.:cool:
 

AN2

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Reported.
What's good for the goose etc.:cool:
You realise that your post (in which you unsolicitedly mentioned/lied about me) came before mine?
 

Wolf

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Trump eyeing conflict with Iran – media​

Earlier in the day, the president boasted that US jets have unchallenged primacy in Iranian airspace
Trump eyeing conflict with Iran – media

US President Donald Trump at the G7 Leaders' Summit, Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada, June 16, 2025. © Getty Images / Chip Somodevilla

US President Donald Trump is considering involving the US directly in the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict, Axios has reported, citing three anonymous officials familiar with the situation.
The US president left the G7 summit early on Monday and is scheduled to meet with his national security team on Tuesday.
Trump has lauded the Israeli bombing campaign against Iran’s nuclear facilities, but has so far held off on taking part in offensive operations.
“Trump was seriously considering joining the war and launching a US strike against Iran's nuclear facilities, especially its underground uranium enrichment facility in Fordow,” Axios wrote. West Jerusalem believes that the US will “enter the war in the coming days,” the outlet said, citing Israeli officials.

While a potential intervention will be discussed at Tuesday's meeting, there are differences of opinion among Trump’s closes advisers, CBS News wrote, citing five sources familiar with the matter.
US forces deployed in the region have the bunker-buster bombs Israeli lacks that could destroy Iran's uranium enrichment plant at Fordow, Axios wrote on Sunday.
There is no indication that the facility, built deep inside a mountain, has been damaged, according to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi.

According to Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi, the campaign against Iran “will not end without damaging the Fordow nuclear facility.” Israel is in constant communication with Washington on the matter, he said in an interview on Tuesday.
A few hours prior to Tuesday’s security meeting, Trump delivered a chain of posts on Truth Social, claiming that the US now has unobstructed primacy in Iranian airspace, boasting that he could assassinate Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and demanding that Tehran capitulates.




On a side note, can someone have a word with the Dutch Gold addict about its constant baiting, trolling and derailing of this thread please?
TIA.
 

AN2

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Trump eyeing conflict with Iran – media​

Earlier in the day, the president boasted that US jets have unchallenged primacy in Iranian airspace
Trump eyeing conflict with Iran – media

US President Donald Trump at the G7 Leaders' Summit, Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada, June 16, 2025. © Getty Images / Chip Somodevilla

US President Donald Trump is considering involving the US directly in the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict, Axios has reported, citing three anonymous officials familiar with the situation.
The US president left the G7 summit early on Monday and is scheduled to meet with his national security team on Tuesday.
Trump has lauded the Israeli bombing campaign against Iran’s nuclear facilities, but has so far held off on taking part in offensive operations.
“Trump was seriously considering joining the war and launching a US strike against Iran's nuclear facilities, especially its underground uranium enrichment facility in Fordow,” Axios wrote. West Jerusalem believes that the US will “enter the war in the coming days,” the outlet said, citing Israeli officials.

While a potential intervention will be discussed at Tuesday's meeting, there are differences of opinion among Trump’s closes advisers, CBS News wrote, citing five sources familiar with the matter.
US forces deployed in the region have the bunker-buster bombs Israeli lacks that could destroy Iran's uranium enrichment plant at Fordow, Axios wrote on Sunday.
There is no indication that the facility, built deep inside a mountain, has been damaged, according to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi.

According to Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi, the campaign against Iran “will not end without damaging the Fordow nuclear facility.” Israel is in constant communication with Washington on the matter, he said in an interview on Tuesday.
A few hours prior to Tuesday’s security meeting, Trump delivered a chain of posts on Truth Social, claiming that the US now has unobstructed primacy in Iranian airspace, boasting that he could assassinate Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and demanding that Tehran capitulates.

On a side note, can someone have a word with the Dutch Gold addict about its constant baiting, trolling and derailing of this thread please?
TIA.
Stop stalking and stop lying
 

AN2

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If this site had an audience of millions or even thousands, and there was no anonymity, one might understand your constant angst, but as it is it just appears childish and insecure.
Quit piling on and derailing
 

jpc

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Nazis backing the Jews........well I never.....:ROFLMAO:

Germany’s Merz praises Israel for doing ‘dirty work for us’​

The German chancellor has endorsed the ongoing Israeli strikes against Iran
Germany’s Merz praises Israel for doing ‘dirty work for us’

FILE PHOTO: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. © Omer Messinger / Getty Images

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has lauded Israel’s military strikes against Iran, saying the Israeli government and army are doing the “dirty work” of Western nations.
Merz made the remarks in a series of interviews on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada, attended by all guarantors of the original 2015 Iran nuclear deal, except for Russia and China.
“This is the dirty work that Israel is doing for all of us. We are also victims of this regime,” he said in an interview with ZDF, claiming that “this mullah regime has brought death and destruction to the world.”

“I assume that the attacks of the last few days have already weakened the mullah regime considerably and that it is unlikely to return to its former strength, making the future of the country uncertain,”
Merz said in a separate interview with Die Welt.

Germany is part of the P5+1 group, which negotiated the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal, in 2015. Despite his support for the strikes, Merz stated that Berlin is ready to back new negotiations to ensure Iran never obtains nuclear weapons.
West Jerusalem justified its attack on Friday by claiming Iran is on the brink of obtaining nuclear weapons. Tehran has repeatedly denied the accusations, maintaining that its nuclear program is entirely peaceful.
Iran retaliated by firing dozens of ballistic missiles into Israel, with both sides exchanging attacks ever since. Iran has reported at least 224 deaths since the hostilities began. Israel has reported 24 deaths.
In a joint statement on Monday, the leaders of the G7 called Iran the “principal source of regional instability and terror,” adding: “we have been consistently clear that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon.”

US President Donald Trump, who abruptly cut his stay at the G7 summit short, demanded an “unconditional surrender” from Iran on Tuesday.
Washington previously demanded that Tehran stop all uranium enrichment, which Iranian officials described as “completely detached from reality.”
Iran currently enriches uranium to 60% purity, far above the 3.67% cap set under the now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal, which was rendered null and void after Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from it during his first term.
Russia has condemned Israel’s initial airstrikes and called for deescalation. President Vladimir Putin spoke with Trump by phone over the weekend, and according to Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov, the two discussed the possibility of reviving negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program.

Bookmark this hubristic clowns comments.
He has painted a huge target signal on Germany.
Just incredible vanity and egotistical posturing.
 

Wolf

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Correct.

Erdogan backs Iranian response to Israel​

Tehran has a legal right to defend itself from West Jerusalem’s “banditry and state terrorism,” the Turkish president has said
Erdogan backs Iranian response to Israel

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. © Getty Images / Yavuz Ozden; dia images

Iran has a legitimate right to respond to Israel’s attacks, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said, accusing West Jerusalem of engaging in “banditry and state terrorism.”
He also compared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler.
Israel began bombing Iran on Friday, claiming Tehran is nearing the completion of a nuclear bomb. Iran dismissed the accusations and retaliated to the Israeli military operation with waves of drone and missile strikes on the Jewish state.
“It is entirely natural, legitimate, and lawful for Iran to defend itself against Israel’s banditry and state terrorism,” Erdogan stated on Wednesday during a parliamentary group meeting in Ankara.
The Turkish president strongly criticized Israel’s leadership for its acts of aggression, claiming that Netanyahu has “long surpassed the tyrant Hitler in the crime of genocide.”
He also condemned the global inaction over Israel’s aggression in Gaza, seen by the UN rights committee as characteristic of genocide, stating that “the blood of massacred civilians, murdered babies, and children is splattered not only on the hands and faces of those who support Israel’s arrogance, but also on those who remain silent.”
Türkiye is doing “everything we can” to stop what he called “inhumane aggression” not only against Iran, but also Gaza, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen, Erdogan insisted.
“Stopping Israel’s aggression is essential for the world and humanity,” he said.
Ankara is staying vigilant and “closely monitoring Israel’s terrorist attacks on Iran,” he said.


The government is committed to safeguarding the country’s interests, peace and security and is prepared for “every possible negative development and scenario.”
Russia has condemned the Israeli campaign as illegal and warned that strikes on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure could trigger a “nuclear catastrophe.” In a statement on Tuesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Israel’s attacks on peaceful atomic sites violate international law and threaten global stability.
US President Donald Trump, however, has backed Israel and demanded Iran’s “unconditional surrender.”
On Tuesday, he claimed that American forces and allies have achieved “complete and total control of the skies over Iran,” and said the US knew the location of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, calling him an “easy target.”


 

clarke-connolly

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Correct.

Erdogan backs Iranian response to Israel​

Tehran has a legal right to defend itself from West Jerusalem’s “banditry and state terrorism,” the Turkish president has said
Erdogan backs Iranian response to Israel

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. © Getty Images / Yavuz Ozden; dia images

Iran has a legitimate right to respond to Israel’s attacks, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said, accusing West Jerusalem of engaging in “banditry and state terrorism.”
He also compared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler.
Israel began bombing Iran on Friday, claiming Tehran is nearing the completion of a nuclear bomb. Iran dismissed the accusations and retaliated to the Israeli military operation with waves of drone and missile strikes on the Jewish state.
“It is entirely natural, legitimate, and lawful for Iran to defend itself against Israel’s banditry and state terrorism,” Erdogan stated on Wednesday during a parliamentary group meeting in Ankara.
The Turkish president strongly criticized Israel’s leadership for its acts of aggression, claiming that Netanyahu has “long surpassed the tyrant Hitler in the crime of genocide.”
He also condemned the global inaction over Israel’s aggression in Gaza, seen by the UN rights committee as characteristic of genocide, stating that “the blood of massacred civilians, murdered babies, and children is splattered not only on the hands and faces of those who support Israel’s arrogance, but also on those who remain silent.”
Türkiye is doing “everything we can” to stop what he called “inhumane aggression” not only against Iran, but also Gaza, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen, Erdogan insisted.
“Stopping Israel’s aggression is essential for the world and humanity,” he said.
Ankara is staying vigilant and “closely monitoring Israel’s terrorist attacks on Iran,” he said.


The government is committed to safeguarding the country’s interests, peace and security and is prepared for “every possible negative development and scenario.”
Russia has condemned the Israeli campaign as illegal and warned that strikes on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure could trigger a “nuclear catastrophe.” In a statement on Tuesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Israel’s attacks on peaceful atomic sites violate international law and threaten global stability.
US President Donald Trump, however, has backed Israel and demanded Iran’s “unconditional surrender.”
On Tuesday, he claimed that American forces and allies have achieved “complete and total control of the skies over Iran,” and said the US knew the location of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, calling him an “easy target.”


Will the Jews ~ Kill Erdogan ? !
 

Wolf

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No proof Iran is working on a nuclear bomb – UN watchdog​

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi’s statement refutes claims made by Israel and US President Donald Trump
No proof Iran is working on a nuclear bomb – UN watchdog

FILE PHOTO: Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Mariano Grossi answers questions from journalists. © Getty Images / Askin Kiyagan


The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has found no evidence that Iran is making a “systematic effort” to produce a nuclear weapon, according to the agency’s chief, Rafael Grossi.
Israel began bombing Iran on Friday, asserting that the country was on the brink of developing a nuclear bomb. The sides have been exchanging retaliatory strikes ever since.
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he believes Tehran was “very close” to obtaining the nuclear weapon, contradicting early statements from his director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, who stated that Iran “is not building” one. Iranian authorities insist that their nuclear program is purely peaceful and that they have every right to pursue it.
In an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Tuesday, Grossi said that, currently, “there is this competition about who is wrong or right about the time that would be needed” for Iran to produce a nuclear bomb.
“Certainly, it was not for tomorrow, maybe not a matter of years,” he noted.

The Iranians may have enough enriched uranium, but in order to turn it into a nuclear weapon, technology and extensive testing is also required, the IAEA chief explained.
Despite inspecting Iran’s nuclear sites for more than two decades, the UN watchdog “did not have… any proof of a systematic effort to move into a nuclear weapon” on the part of Iran, he said.
“What we are telling you is what we have been able to prove. The material is there. There have been, in the past, some activities related to the development of nuclear weapons, but we did not have, at this point, these elements,” Grossi stressed.
A day before Israel’s initial attack on Iran, the IAEA passed a resolution declaring that Tehran was not complying with its obligations concerning nuclear non-proliferation. Among other things, the agency noted that Iran had “repeatedly” been unable to prove that its nuclear material was not being diverted for further enrichment for military use.
READ MORE: Macron contradicts Trump on regime change in Iran
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said last weekend that Tehran will limit its cooperation with IAEA due to the agency’s reluctance to condemn Israel’s attacks on the country’s nuclear sites. The UN watchdog’s conduct “makes no sense,” he stated.
 

Wolf

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Hey Bob the Builder, how do you find time to build anything when you spend almost every waking hour spamming this site with long, boring articles that nobody reads?

You sap.
Good man, jimmy
 

Esatdigiwank

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Muslims should not be bombing hospitals. Even if they are Jew hospitals.
It was a legit target. An Israeli military hospital.
 

AN2

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Wolf

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The filthy jews are attacking nuclear facilities now but where's the outrage?
Where's the usual anti-Russian idiots who pollute this board with their propaganda?
Where's Trump?
The jew moneylenders control every single American politician.


Ex-Russian president warns of new Chernobyl​

The escalation of the Israel-Iran conflict poses serious radioactive contamination risks, Dmitry Medvedev says
Ex-Russian president warns of new Chernobyl

Deputy Chair of Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, St. Petersburg, May 20, 2025. © Aleksey Danichev / Sputnik


Israeli attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities could result in a nuclear disaster akin to the 1986 Chernobyl meltdown, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned on Thursday.
His comments come amid reports that the US is weighing a potential strike on Iran's heavily fortified Fordow nuclear installation, which was built deep into a mountain to withstand airstrikes. The US is reportedly considering the deployment of its GBU-57 bunker-buster bombs to target the site. Israel has no comparable military capability.
”Everyone, even the Israeli defense minister, with his loud declaration about Khamenei's fate, must understand that attacks on nuclear facilities are extremely dangerous and can lead to a repeat of the Chernobyl tragedy,” said Medvedev, who is currently deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council, in a social media post.
Earlier Thursday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz referred to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as a “modern-day Hitler” who “can no longer be allowed to exist.”

The Guardian reported on Thursday that US officials doubt whether the GBU-57s would be effective. According to the report, some officials have said that only a tactical nuclear weapon could damage Fordow — a scenario President Donald Trump is reportedly not considering.
The White House has dismissed the claims. Fox News cited an anonymous official who said the US military is “confident bunker busters can complete the job, and NO OPTIONS have been taken off the table.” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has said a final decision on possible US military action would be made within two weeks.
Speaking in a Q&A with journalists on Wednesday night Russian President Vladimir Putin said that despite the attacks, Iran’s underground infrastructure remained operational. Moscow is calling for deescalation of tensions and has offered itself as a mediator.
On Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called reports about possible US use of tactical nuclear weapons “speculative” and warned that such a move would be “catastrophic.”
READ MORE: Pentagon and US intel chiefs sidelined from Iran‑Israel discussions – media
Tensions flared last Friday when Israel launched unprovoked airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear sites and assassinated multiple Iranian nuclear scientists and high-ranking military officers.
West Jerusalem claimed the operation was a “preemptive” effort to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Iran denies its nuclear program has a military dimension, and the International Atomic Energy Agency has said it has seen no signs of imminent weaponization.

 

AN2

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The filthy jews are attacking nuclear facilities now but where's the outrage?
Where's the usual anti-Russian idiots who pollute this board with their propaganda?
Where's Trump?
The jew moneylenders control every single American politician.


Ex-Russian president warns of new Chernobyl​

The escalation of the Israel-Iran conflict poses serious radioactive contamination risks, Dmitry Medvedev says
Ex-Russian president warns of new Chernobyl

Deputy Chair of Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, St. Petersburg, May 20, 2025. © Aleksey Danichev / Sputnik


Israeli attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities could result in a nuclear disaster akin to the 1986 Chernobyl meltdown, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned on Thursday.
His comments come amid reports that the US is weighing a potential strike on Iran's heavily fortified Fordow nuclear installation, which was built deep into a mountain to withstand airstrikes. The US is reportedly considering the deployment of its GBU-57 bunker-buster bombs to target the site. Israel has no comparable military capability.
”Everyone, even the Israeli defense minister, with his loud declaration about Khamenei's fate, must understand that attacks on nuclear facilities are extremely dangerous and can lead to a repeat of the Chernobyl tragedy,” said Medvedev, who is currently deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council, in a social media post.
Earlier Thursday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz referred to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as a “modern-day Hitler” who “can no longer be allowed to exist.”

The Guardian reported on Thursday that US officials doubt whether the GBU-57s would be effective. According to the report, some officials have said that only a tactical nuclear weapon could damage Fordow — a scenario President Donald Trump is reportedly not considering.
The White House has dismissed the claims. Fox News cited an anonymous official who said the US military is “confident bunker busters can complete the job, and NO OPTIONS have been taken off the table.” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has said a final decision on possible US military action would be made within two weeks.
Speaking in a Q&A with journalists on Wednesday night Russian President Vladimir Putin said that despite the attacks, Iran’s underground infrastructure remained operational. Moscow is calling for deescalation of tensions and has offered itself as a mediator.
On Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called reports about possible US use of tactical nuclear weapons “speculative” and warned that such a move would be “catastrophic.”
READ MORE: Pentagon and US intel chiefs sidelined from Iran‑Israel discussions – media
Tensions flared last Friday when Israel launched unprovoked airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear sites and assassinated multiple Iranian nuclear scientists and high-ranking military officers.
West Jerusalem claimed the operation was a “preemptive” effort to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Iran denies its nuclear program has a military dimension, and the International Atomic Energy Agency has said it has seen no signs of imminent weaponization.

"Hey Bob the Builder, how do you find time to build anything when you spend almost every waking hour spamming this site with long, boring articles that nobody reads?

You sap."

- Not me
 

Wolf

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Fyodor Lukyanov: Here’s how the West made Israel-Iran war possible​



The fantasy of liberal reform has given us the ruins of war

Fire and smoke rise into the sky after an Israeli attack on the Shahran oil depot on June 15, 2025 in Tehran, Iran. © Getty Images / Getty Images
Israel’s attack on Iran, which began last Friday, is the culmination of nearly 25 years of relentless transformation across West Asia. This war was not born overnight, nor can it be explained by simplistic moral binaries. What we see now is the natural outcome of a series of miscalculations, misread ambitions, and power vacuums.
There are no neat lessons to be learned from the last quarter-century. The events were too disjointed, the consequences too contradictory. But that doesn’t mean they lacked logic. If anything, the unfolding chaos is the most coherent evidence of where Western interventionism, ideological naivety, and geopolitical arrogance have led.

Collapse of the Framework​

For much of the 20th century, the Middle East was kept within a fragile but functioning framework, largely defined by Cold War dynamics. Superpowers patronized local regimes, and the balance – while far from peaceful – was stable in its predictability.
But the end of the Cold War, and with it the dissolution of the Soviet Union, dissolved those rules. For the next 25 years, the United States stood uncontested in the region. The ideological battle between “socialism” and the “free world” vanished, leaving a vacuum that new forces quickly sought to fill.
Washington tried to impose the values of Western liberal democracy as universal truths. Simultaneously, two other trends emerged: political Islam, which ranged from reformist to radical, and the reassertion of authoritarian secular regimes as bulwarks against collapse. Paradoxically, Islamism – though ideologically opposed to the West – aligned more closely with liberalism in its resistance to autocracy. Meanwhile, those same autocracies were often embraced as the lesser evil against extremism.
Iran in the fight: Why Moscow is watching – and waiting
Read more
Iran in the fight: Why Moscow is watching – and waiting

Collapse of Balance​

Everything changed after September 11, 2001. The terrorist attacks did not just provoke a military response; they triggered an ideological crusade. Washington launched its so-called War on Terror, beginning with Afghanistan, and quickly expanded it into Iraq.
Here, the neoconservative fantasy took hold: that democracy could be exported by force. The result was catastrophic. The Iraq invasion destroyed a central pillar of regional balance. In the rubble, sectarianism flourished and religious extremism metastasized. Islamic State emerged from this chaos.
As Iraq was dismantled, Iran rose. No longer encircled, Tehran extended its reach – to Baghdad, to Damascus, to Beirut. Turkey, too, revived its imperial reflexes under Erdogan. The Gulf states, meanwhile, began throwing their wealth and weight around with greater confidence. The US, the architect of this disorder, found itself mired in endless, unwinnable wars.
This unraveling continued with the US-imposed Palestinian elections, which split the Palestinian territories and empowered Hamas. Then came the Arab Spring, lauded in Western capitals as a democratic awakening. In truth, it hastened the collapse of already brittle states. Libya was shattered. Syria descended into a proxy war. Yemen became a humanitarian catastrophe. South Sudan, birthed under external pressure, quickly fell into dysfunction. All of it marked the end of regional balance.

Collapse of the Margins​

The end of authoritarianism in the Middle East didn’t usher in liberal democracy. It gave way to political Islam, which for a time became the only structured form of political participation. This in turn triggered attempts to restore the old regimes, now seen by many as the lesser evil.

Egypt and Tunisia reimposed secular order. Libya and Iraq, by contrast, have remained stateless zones. Syria’s trajectory is instructive: the country moved from dictatorship to Islamist chaos and now toward a patchwork autocracy held together by foreign patrons. Russia’s 2015 intervention stabilized the situation temporarily, but Syria is now drifting toward becoming a non-state entity, its sovereignty unclear, its borders uncertain.
Amid this collapse, it is no coincidence that the key powers in today’s Middle East are non-Arab: Iran, Turkey, and Israel. Arab states, while vocal, have opted for caution. In contrast, these three countries each represent distinct political models – an Islamic theocracy with pluralist features (Iran), a militarized democracy (Turkey), and a Western-style democracy increasingly shaped by religious nationalism (Israel).
Despite their differences, these states share one trait: their domestic politics are inseparable from their foreign policy. Iran’s expansionism is tied to the economic and ideological reach of the Revolutionary Guard. Erdogan’s foreign escapades feed his domestic narrative of Turkish resurgence. Israel’s doctrine of security has shifted from defense to active transformation of the region.

Collapse of Illusions​

This brings us to the present. The liberal order that peaked at the turn of the century sought to reform the Middle East through market economics, elections, and civil society. It failed. Not only did it dismantle the old without building the new, but the very forces meant to spread democracy often empowered sectarianism and violence.

Now the appetite for transformation has dried up in the West, and with it the liberal order itself. In its place we see a convergence of systems once thought irreconcilable. Israel, for instance, no longer stands as a liberal outpost surrounded by authoritarian relics. Its political system has grown increasingly illiberal, its governance militarized, and its nationalism more overt.
The Netanyahu government is the clearest expression of this change. One may argue that war justifies such measures – especially following the October 2023 Hamas attacks. But these shifts began earlier. The war simply accelerated trends already in motion.
As liberalism recedes, a new kind of utopia takes its place – not democratic and inclusive, but transactional and enforced. Trump, the Israeli right, and their Gulf allies envision a Middle East pacified through military dominance, economic deals, and strategic normalization. The Abraham Accords, framed as peace, are part of this vision. But peace built on force is no peace at all.
We are witnessing the result. The Iran-Israel war is not a bolt from the blue. It is the direct consequence of two decades of dismantled norms, unchecked ambitions, and a deep misunderstanding of the region’s political fabric. And as always in the Middle East, when utopias fail, it is the people who pay the price.


 

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