Every time the situation between the United States and Iran flares, the public conversation collapses into the same predictable imagery: grainy drone footage, dramatic explosions, and breathless commentary about "the brink." It's theatre. It paints a picture of villainy and heroism. And while it might hold attention, it doesn't hold water. It certainly doesn't help the people who actually want clarity, including the young Australians - like my son - weighing up a future in Defence, trying to understand what they may be stepping into.

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As is usually the case, the reality is far less cinematic and far more human.

The US-Iran relationship isn't a story of good versus evil. It's a story of two nations locked in a long, exhausting feedback loop of fear - each convinced it is acting defensively, each interpreting the other's defensive behaviour as aggression. If we want to understand what's happening now, we have to start there.

The roots of this loop go back to 1953, when the CIA helped overthrow Iran's elected prime minister, Mohammad Mossadegh, after he nationalised the country's oil industry. For Iranians, this wasn't a geopolitical manoeuvre; it was a national trauma. It taught them that foreign powers, especially the United States, would intervene decisively when their interests were threatened. When the Islamic Revolution toppled the US-backed shah in 1979, the new government defined itself in opposition to that history. The hostage crisis that followed cemented the United States as Iran's primary adversary.

This is what happens when one world power assumes the role of international policeman

Assassination shouldn't become........

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