CounterPunch Exclusives

CounterPunch Exclusives

Harvest of Chaos: The U.S. and Israel War on Iran

Photo by Thiébaud Faix

As stakeholders navigate the catastrophic war launched by the United States and Israel on 28 February 2026, it is difficult to project how it will end.  It is, however, safe to say that West Asia will not be the same.  Also, it is most likely that the Islamic Republic of Iran has it in its power to reshape the politics of the region.

For more than 70 years, the United States has used its alliance with Israel to project power and control the geopolitical landscape of the region.  And since the 1979 Revolution, Iran, unlike its Arab neighbors, has challenged their hegemony and refused to be a U.S. client state.  

Washington and Tel Aviv want complete monopoly.  As long as Iran stands in the way, Israel will be unable to fulfill its colonizing mission.  The current all-out-war on the Islamic Republic is a last ditch effort to complete their scheme.  

It is, therefore, not surprising that for a second time, the U.S. and Israel blindsided Iran during peace talks, choosing war over peace.  And yet again, they demonstrated an arrogant ignorance of the country they unjustifiably attacked, believing they could overpower and bombard it into submission.   

Both countries hubristically believed they could achieve an early and easy victory; simply remove a single leader and the entire system would collapse. For them it is an hegemonic war of choice.  For Iran it has been a war of survival; to finally put an end to decades of U.S. economic sanctions and perpetual efforts to balkanize the country, as they have done in Lebanon, Iraq and Syria.  

The sustained military campaign against Iranian officials, critical infrastructure and cultural sites has triggered a severe regional crisis with profound consequences for global energy security, and for West Asian and international economic stability.  

After three months, the war has morphed into what can be described as an environment of “controlled chaos” that transcends traditional military tactics and exceeds geopolitical boundaries.  It has generated technological, geopolitical and economic shifts that are altering the traditional international operating system; one that has, until now, favored and privileged the United States, Israel and their allies.  

Technology has impacted every aspect of this asymmetrical war.  It has become both a tool and a target. The conflict has also demonstrated that advanced military technology and hardware have not guaranteed an easy victory for the U.S. and Israel.    

In its response to the overwhelming assault, Tehran has shown that in a technical world, “physical” war is no longer required to render a more powerful enemy helpless.  It simply needed to disrupt global shipping by dominating the Strait of Hormuz. By establishing control of this vital chokepoint, through which roughly one-fifth of global energy supplies pass, Iran has gained critical strategic leverage.  

It bears pointing out that Iran’s historical and geopolitical identity has always been fused with the Strait of Hormuz.  The designation bears the legacy of thousands of years of Persian civilization. Long before it became an artery of the modern global economy, this narrow stretch of water was the sacred and strategic maritime gateway to the Persian empire.  

Its very name is tied to the Sassanian dynasty (224-651 CE), the last great pre-Islamic Persian empire and initiator of Zoroastrianism (one of humanity’s oldest monotheistic faiths) as........

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