The unfolding crisis involving United States, Israel, and Iran marks one of the most volatile moments in contemporary international politics, with profound implications for global security, energy markets, and the future of multilateral diplomacy. 

What began as pre-emptive strikes on Iranian nuclear infrastructure, justified by Washington and Tel Aviv under the doctrine of anticipatory self-defence, has spiralled into a cycle of retaliation that now threatens to engulf the broader Middle East. Iran’s counterstrikes, including missile attacks on Israeli territory and U.S. military installations across the Gulf have demonstrated both its strategic reach and its willingness to escalate. The subsequent assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader by U.S. forces reportedly aimed at triggering regime change, has further entrenched hostility, transforming a geopolitical confrontation into an existential struggle for legitimacy and sovereignty.

The targeting of civilian infrastructure, particularly the reported killing of 168 schoolgirls, represents a grave violation of international humanitarian law and underscores the erosion of normative constraints in modern warfare. Such actions, regardless of the perpetrator, weaken the moral standing of states that claim to uphold a rules-based international order. Iran’s retaliatory closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint........

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