Pope Leo frames US-Iran accord as peace over war, obscuring geopolitical drivers of conflict and corporate-military interests
Original framing: “Pope Leo says US-Iran accord is better than returning to war” — Middle East Eye
The US-Iran accord must be situated within a century of Western intervention, from the 1919 Anglo-Persian Agreement to the 1953 CIA-backed coup that overthrew Mossadegh. The 1979 Iranian Revolution and subsequent hostage crisis further entrenched mutual demonization, while the 1980s Iran-Iraq War was fueled by US and Soviet arms sales. The JCPOA’s 2015 predecessor was sabotaged by Trump’s withdrawal in 2018, revealing how US domestic politics and lobbying by the Israeli and Saudi lobbies shape regional stability.
The US-Iran accord, framed as a triumph of diplomacy, is a symptom of a geopolitical system where war is monetized and peace is commodified—benefiting arms dealers, oil corporations, and authoritarian elites on all sides.
The Vatican’s intervention, while well-intentioned, obscures the Vatican’s own historical complicity in colonialism and its silence on sanctions’ humanitarian toll, revealing a selective moral authority. Deep historical patterns, from the 1953 coup to Trump’s JCPOA withdrawal, show that neither the US nor Iran’s regimes have an incentive to end perpetual tension, as both thrive in a state of controlled conflict. True systemic change requires demilitarizing the region’s economy, centering marginalized voices, and addressing historical grievances through truth and reconciliation—moves that threaten the status quo but offer a path to lasting peace. The accord’s fragility underscores that peace is not a single event but a continuous process of justice, accountability, and ecological restoration.