This is Part 1 of a 2 part series of the Iran War, Part 1 can be found here:
This is a continuation of War on China’s previous in-depth Middle East coverage. The earlier pieces are available here:
Author’s note: This article was completed on 18 June 2025, and some of the writing within may have been overtaken by events by the time you read it.
Superpower Struggle
This ongoing conflict also is part of the wider global struggle between the Western bloc and everyone else. Israel is the tip of the Western spear in the region, as a lavishly equipped and bankrolled colonial policeman to help force the region into submission. Israel is the Western bloc’s most important and loyal regional player as they are far more reliably pro Western given that they are an alien people totally dependent on outside aid for the mere survival of their state. Creating pro-Western regional alignment by jamming Israel more and more into regional affairs has been a long term goal of the West, with the recent Abraham Accords and wars showcasing this. With the prospects of the world’s greatest oil producing region firmly under Western control seemingly within their grasp, Western leaders have provided unequivocal support for Israel’s war of choice. Support for Israel is not just of cold blooded interest though. Ideologically speaking, Western powers also see Israel as one of them, a civilized white country beating down the brown subhumans, and supporting them is part of the white solidarity that is the real driving engine of Western politics. This kind of support is very clearly not extended to other Western satraps, it is not as if officials get sacked and blacklisted for “Saudiphobia” if they criticize MBS or his govt. Those other pro US satellites in the region are far less keen on this war. The Gulf Arabs are terrified of what a potential war could do to their countries, and are busy calling for de-escalation and diplomatically condemning Israeli aggression, though they are either unwilling or unable to restrict Western activities in support of Israel conducted from their soil. 1
Iran on the other hand has long been a target of the West. Ever since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 overthrew the pro-Western Shah, Iran has been considered a threat to Western interests. Zbigniew Brzezinski, former national security advisor to US President Carter, stated that in the long term the most likely threat to US global dictatorship was an alliance of Russia and China and possibly Iran, united by common anti-US grievances rather than shared ideology like during the first Cold War.
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