THE US-Israeli assault on Iran has sparked a regional conflict which has plunged the Middle East into chaos. The widening war has engulfed the entire region and has global consequences. Israel has also launched attacks in Lebanon. Washington’s war of choice has exposed Gulf states to retaliatory attacks by Iran, which have inflicted widespread damage. If President Donald Trump thought military action against Iran would be a quick win leading to regime collapse that hasn’t happened — as if governments can be toppled from the air. His administration certainly did not expect Iran’s fierce response and its painful blows to GCC countries.

Trump’s Middle East gamble is a throwback to America’s past imperial forays — in Iraq, Libya and elsewhere — that sought to ‘remake’ the region to serve American interests, but which ended in disaster. The lessons of regime change in Iraq and Afghanistan have not been learnt. This regime-change war is likely to meet the same fate but at higher cost to the region and world.

The US-Israeli action laid bare that Washington negotiated in bad faith with Tehran before it attacked Iran. This was a replay of last year when the US joined Israel in bombing Iranian nuclear installations in the midst of negotiations with Tehran. The foreign minister of Oman, mediating indirect talks this time, said a deal was “within reach”. Instead, Trump opted for war. The Iranian side made significant, unprecedented nuclear concessions including the commitment not to possess material to make a nuclear weapon. But Trump had other objectives. The talks were used as a smokescreen to complete military preparations for an assault that the massive........

© Dawn