A DESPOTIC supreme leader clinging to power; a rabid religious fundamentalist ruling class; the suppression of dissent, with citizens butchered by the state.

Of course you’d want to see regime change.

But no, I’m not talking about Iran. The scenario I’ve set out applies to the United States, and it could equally apply to its comrade in arms, Israel.

What happened at the weekend, the cold-blooded murder of a country’s leader in an unlawful and unjustified assault on a sovereign independent state, must be condemned.

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This coordinated attack by the US and Israel was no more or less than a crime against humanity.

As Senator Bernie Sanders pointed out, even within the law of the US, this war on Iran is “illegal, premeditated and unconstitutional”.

There should and must be consequences for Donald Trump and his allies.

This wilful decision to plunge the region into an unnecessary state of war is yet another stain on Trump’s soiled record.

Innocent people are dead and injured. Both Trump and Netanyahu have blood on their hands.

Rather than heading up their respective nations, they should be standing in the dock in the International Criminal Court.

© The Irish News