EDITORIAL: US strike on Iran risky but could deliver freedom
It could be one of the great moments of modern history which delivers the Iranian people freedom from an Islamist regime which has brutally repressed them.
The drums of war are once again beating in the Middle East.
Conflict sparked by the murderous attack by Iranian proxy Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023 has been followed by the 12-day War between Iran and Israel and Operation Midnight Hammer in June, when the United States launched a bomb and missile strike at Iranian nuclear facilities.
Yet the region has remained on a knife’s edge, with further US military action against Iran seemingly imminent — just as the 35th anniversary looms of the ground war component of the US-led Gulf War against Iraq in 1990-91.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.On Wednesday the Wall Street Journal confirmed US President Donald Trump had been briefed on possible military action against Iran, which sources claimed could begin this weekend.
An enormous US military build-up has been established near Iran, with warships, fighter jets and refuelling craft now sitting ready across strategic locations and bases in the Middle East, Africa and waters of the Gulf region.
Mr Trump has repeatedly warned Iran over its nuclear ambitions and also ramped up the rhetoric amid the regime’s recent violent suppression of internal protests.
The Iranian protests were initially driven by economic grievances late last year, but turned into a mass movement against the Islamic republic.
The regime’s response was brutal. The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency puts the number of protesters killed at more than 7000.
The private Persian-language news channel Iran International based in London put the death toll at more than 36,500.
In mid January Mr Trump had encouraged Iranians to keep protesting and said “help is on its way”.
It now appears he may be poised to deliver, although the scale of any US strike is unclear, with speculation ranging from it being aimed at nuclear and ballistic-missile facilities, through to targeting Iranian political and military leaders and forcing regime change.
Modern history shows recent western interventions in the Middle East have had mixed outcomes.
The first Gulf War achieved its initial aim of driving Iraq out of Kuwait, but left Iraqi president Saddam Hussein in power, with the US-led Iraq War launched in 2003 which ousted Saddam leaving a highly unstable legacy.
Iran has been a major sponsor of terrorist groups in the region such as Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthi rebels in Yemen. Iran’s tentacles also extended as far as Australia.
In August Australian intelligence agencies presented the Government with evidence that Iran was behind arson attacks including on the Adass Synagogue in Melbourne, leading Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to expel Iran’s Ambassador and move to list the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation.
A US attack on Iran would not be without risk and could unleash other forces in the region.
But it could also be one of the great moments of modern history which delivers the Iranian people freedom from an Islamist regime which has brutally repressed them for years.
