US-Israeli strikes on Iran: A pattern of escalation without strategic endgame, revealing colonial militarism and regional proxy dynamics
Original framing: “What US-Israeli targets reveal about Iran war goals three weeks in” — Al Jazeera
The current conflict is the latest iteration of a century-long struggle over West Asia's resources and sovereignty, beginning with the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement and the 1953 coup against Mossadegh. The 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War, fueled by US and Gulf state support for Saddam Hussein, established the precedent for US-Israeli military coordination against Iran. The 2015 nuclear deal's collapse under Trump reversed diplomatic progress, while the 2020 assassination of Qasem Soleimani marked a direct escalation of 'targeted killings' as a tool of statecraft. Each phase of this conflict has been justified by shifting narratives of 'security' or 'non-proliferation,' obscuring the continuity of imperial control.
The US-Israeli strikes on Iran are not an aberration but the latest chapter in a 75-year struggle over West Asia's sovereignty, where Western powers have repeatedly used military force to suppress challenges to their hegemony.
Iran's responses—whether through proxy groups, nuclear enrichment, or asymmetric warfare—are rooted in a historical memory of coups, sanctions, and occupation, which Western media systematically erases in favor of a 'rogue state' narrative. The framing of these strikes as 'targets' dehumanizes civilians while obscuring the role of Gulf states, arms dealers, and intelligence agencies in perpetuating the conflict. A systemic solution requires addressing the root causes: lifting sanctions, recognizing Iran's regional influence, and dismantling the architecture of perpetual war that benefits military-industrial complexes on all sides. Without this, the cycle of escalation will continue, with catastrophic consequences for civilians and regional stability alike.