By Destine Nde
The war between the US-Israel and Iran has sent shock waves through the Middle East, and increasingly – due to the globally interconnected economy — the rest of the world.
Besides Palestine, Israel has always considered Iran its worst enemy, and since the Islamic revolution of 1979, the US has shared the same sentiment. Thus the US and Israel have become close allies on this issue — as the old saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my ally. Iran’s leaders too, according to the BBC, have ‘consistently called for Israel’s elimination and denounced the US as its greatest enemy’.
Shortly after Donald Trump began his second term in office, he gave close attention to rumours — or intelligence — that Iran either had nuclear weapons or were busy building them in secret locations. Iran repeatedly denied these allegations. Negotations continued, but Trump said he was ‘not happy’ with the results.
When the latest talks broke down, the US and Israel believed they had no other choice but to use force, and started to bombard Iran. Forget diplomacy. Forget international laws. Forget global peace. Forget the economic repercussions and the sanctity of human life.
US-Israeli forces have destroyed Iran’s military and capital infrastructure, with huge loss of life. Among the casualties are Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameni, who had been in power since 1989; Ali Shamkhani, Head of its National Defence Council; Mohammad Pakpour, Commander in Chief of the IRGC; and Azia Nasirzadeh, its Defence Minister.
Trump went live on camera, boasting how they had ‘killed that evil man’, Ayatollah Khameni. The US Defence Secretary also went live, boasting that the hits on Iran would not diminish but only increase; and that it was only a matter of time before Iran ran out of resources.
This is a truly terrifying threat, not only to Iran but the entire world. Distance is no longer safe. Today, any country in the world can be hit, if not with military force, then socio-economically.
Not being able to reach the US, Iran turned to US military bases and embassies in the Middle East, among others in the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Oman, and a British military base in Cyprus, thus effectively widening the scope of the war.
In the latest phase of the war – which, apparently, surprised the US — Iran has effectively stopped the free flow of gas and oil through the Strait of Hormuz, a global lifeline in the energy sector. Oil and gas prices have already spiked and, if traffic through the strait is not restored soon, can only increase further. This could lead to an energy crisis that could have an escalating global impact, especially on poorer countries.
While the US has destroyed much of Iran’s navy, the Gulf is now kept closed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which is more decentralised, and much harder to contain. (Among others, they have begun to plant mines in the Strait from smaller boats, which are much harder to find and disarm). So the war and its consequences may drag on for far longer than the US has anticipated.
Finally – and perhaps most importantly — what is the UN doing? Just a few months ago, Trump abducted Venezuela’s president and imprisoned him in the US. Now he has killed Iran’s president and is busy destroying the country, all because he wasn’t ‘happy with the way talks are going’. In terms of international law, these are both illegal acts which undermine the very definition of a rules-based international political order.
The UN was established after World War Two with one overriding mission, namely to to maintain international peace and security, and is meant to enforce this with measures ranging from economic sanctions to international military action. Yet – as evidenced by the Israeli-Gaza conflict and the Iran war — it has become toothless and irrelevant, effectively pushed to the periphery of global affairs.
The same can be said of the African Union. Most countries in Africa have been crippled by wars and countless human rights violations, but the AU is doing almost nothing.
The gist of it all is that America and her allies have set a terrible precedent: the powerful can do as they will with impunity. Distance is no longer safe: it can no longer protect anyone in a globalised world. It is no more a reason to remain indifferent and apathetic in the face of global crises than weakness is an excuse to condone injustice.
FEATURED IMAGE: A satellite photo of the Strait of Hormuz, which separates the Middle Eastern nation of Iran from the Arabian Peninsula nations of Oman, United Arab Emirates, and Qatar, and provides the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean. In 2023–2025, 20% of the world’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) and 25% of the seaborne oil trade passed through the strait every year. (NASA ON FLICKR)