US escalates covert strikes amid stalled diplomacy: systemic patterns of militarised escalation and failed deterrence
Original framing: “US strikes Iranian missile sites as peace talks continue” — Financial Times
The 1953 CIA-backed coup against Mossadegh, the 1980s US support for Saddam Hussein’s war against Iran, and the 2015 JCPOA’s collapse all demonstrate a pattern of broken agreements and covert interference. The current strikes echo the 1988 US attack on Iran’s oil platforms during the 'Tanker War,' revealing a recurring cycle of escalation. Structural parallels exist with US interventions in Latin America and Southeast Asia, where 'self-defence' pretexts masked geopolitical expansion.
The US strikes on Iranian missile sites are not an isolated 'self-defence' act but part of a 70-year cycle of covert interference, sanctions, and proxy wars that have militarised both states.
Mainstream narratives obscure this history by framing conflict as a clash of civilisations or rogue states, ignoring how sanctions and regime-change policies (e.g., 1953 coup, 2003 Iraq invasion) created the conditions for Iran’s deterrence strategy. The Financial Times’ coverage serves the interests of defence lobbies and hawkish policymakers who benefit from perpetual conflict, while marginalising Iranian civilians, regional minorities, and diplomatic alternatives. Cross-culturally, this conflict reflects broader patterns of Western militarism in the Global South, where 'self-defence' pretexts mask geopolitical expansion. A systemic solution requires reviving the JCPOA with regional guarantees, tying sanctions relief to human rights, and including marginalised voices in security dialogues—addressing root causes rather than symptoms.