The War On Iran

THE WAR ON IRAN

PART 1: HOW IT ALL UNFOLDED

I’m back after months of absence. Why wasn’t I here?

I was in a country where the communication infrastructure isn’t like in my country, the Netherlands, particularly when it rains or the sun is getting too hot. This is because the infrastructure is above ground, whereas in my country everything is underground, even the internet.

I am following developments in the Middle East as they unfolded, not since February 28th but since 2010, the year when the Israelis started to target Iran in line with a doctrine.

The doctrine was introduced in 1968, a year after the Israeli general Moshe Dayan wanted to use a nuclear bomb on Egypt during the Six-Day War. The doctrine carries the name of the then-Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin, who introduced it by stating that one must make sure that no enemy has a nuclear reactor. Well, the Israelis had a secret reactor built based on the blueprint of the US-funded Soreq reactor, while no country at that time saw another country as a nuclear enemy but the Israelis.

But “making sure that no enemy has…” is hasbara, as it means no other than attacking any neighboring country preemptively that dares to launch its own nuclear weapons program. So, the Israelis were then already seeking a nuclear monopoly in the Middle East. And so they became the first and only nuclear power in the region, and they do everything to ensure that. This is the real reason behind the two wars on Iran, not Iran, as the country is just a scapegoat.

As I wrote earlier, the Israelis started targeting Iran in 2010. The targeting included the assassination of nuclear scientists and high-ranking figures, and sabotage through cyber attacks. In 2013, the Israelis began attacking Iranian presence in Syria, which lasted even during Assad’s last year in power. This has never been mentioned in the Western media, while they are the root of the two wars of 2025 and 2026.

So, how did the war of 2025 start and how did it unfold in 2026?

On June 13, 2025, Netanyahu started the preemptive 12-day war by claiming, with no evidence, that Iran was accelerating its nuclear program. Three days later, he claimed, also with no evidence, on Fox News that Iran tried to kill Donald Trump twice, and called during an interview with ABC News on the US for help in the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei, while knowing that Hezbollah would respond. In December 2025, Netanyahu vowed that he would attack Iran again in 2026.

Soon after his call on the US for help, the Israeli Mossad sought contact with the CIA, and both agencies began to prepare the assassination, which included a months-long observation of Khamenei’s whereabouts. The Mossad couldn’t do this alone due to a lack of technology. Both agencies also knew that Hezbollah would respond.

In the last week of February 2026, Jared Kushner, who was with Steve Witkoff at Oman’s diplomatic mission in Vienna for (peace) talks with Iran, while also in contact with the Israelis, told his father-in-law Donald Trump that Iran was going to attack. Netanyahu then took the initiative and started the resumption of his 12-day war on Iran in June 2025 by assassinating the Iranian leader on February 28, 2026.

In a phone call, Netanyahu lured Trump into his resumption of the 2025 war on Iran by promising that the war would bring the Iranian regime to collapse, which would never happen. That is why Trump declared war on Iran while Netanyahu is supposed to do as he started the war. However, you can’t declare war twice if you haven’t lifted the declaration of war from 1967.

On March 1st, Hezbollah reacted to the assassination by vowing revenge, which it carried out the following day. This was the moment when Netanyahu spilled over his war on Iran into Lebanon and dragged Hezbollah, not Lebanon, into his war.

When the Israeli invasion of Lebanon turned into a Gaza-copied occupation, it was clear to me that there were more things on Netanyahu’s agenda than regime change in Iran and making sure that the Israelis are the only nuclear power in the Middle East. It’s about Greater Israel.

But I’m not finished yet, as there is also something to say about Trump’s part in the resumption of the war on Iran, and the role US allies in the region are playing in this war.

Since he declared war on Iran, he has always been motivated by saying that Iran must not have nuclear weapons. Well, that is a political, not military-related motive, which makes his participation in Netanyahu’s war a violation of Iran’s sovereignty. I am referring to the UN Charter, in which this violation is stipulated.

I also remember the demands from US politicians who wanted proof showing that Iran was a threat to their country’s security. Trump is only showing evidence that he is not attacking Iran from US territory, but what international law describes as war across borders, meaning he is attacking Iran from countries on another continent. That is illegal because Iran isn’t attacking the territory of the United States.

Trump’s war on Iran is illegal for another reason: he has no approval or mandate from the UN Security Council to start a war outside the United States.

In part 1 of my article, I wrote that Trump is waging a war across borders, meaning that he wages war on another continent to attack a country on that continent. Then, Trump didn’t take the initiative but was lured into a war that is not his but Netanyahu's. So, there were two attacking parties. You then certainly need approval from the UN Security Council. They didn’t have that approval. That is why the war is illegal.

If you decide to start a war on a continent other than yours, you need help from countries on that continent. No problem for the United States, as they have a lot of airbases, army camps, and even a whole Fifth Fleet there. But their presence could put hosting countries at risk, while these countries could fuel risk too. How?

I put it this way:

If GCC countries and Jordan engage in military agreements with a military power from another continent, knowing that the alien military power wants to be on their soil for its own interest, these countries contribute to insecurity and instability in the region already brought to the region by the military power.

But what if the alien military power turns out to be a belligerent in a war? The answer depends on the decision each of the hosting countries then makes. Bahrain, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia are saying that they don’t allow the United States to use their territory for attacks on Iran.

Well, let me say this:

When the United Kingdom under Keir Starmer didn’t allow the US to attack Iran from British soil, including from San Diego Island in the Indian Ocean, Starmer met sanction threats from Trump. So, as the then-prime minister of Britain, Starmer backtracked and allowed the US, but only for “defensive attacks” on Iran.

However, you can only speak in terms of “defensive attacks” when Iran targets a US presence on British soil, which has never been the case. Tehran has only attacked US presence in neighboring countries.

So, what role was the United Kingdom playing in the war on Iran?

Trump had deployed B-1 long-distance bombers and stationed them at RAF Fairford Airbase, from where he attacked Iran. Allowing the use of the airbase for attacks across borders on Iran is facilitating and complicity in the violation of the UN Charter regarding the sovereignty of Iran. Britain has made itself a co-belligerent of the United States, which is a belligerent. The British under Starmer were at least responsible under states’ responsibility laws.

It goes the same for Italy, when Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto responded to Rutte by saying the air bases were used exclusively for “ technical and logistical activities.”

But these activities were preparatory activities for attacks on Iran, and they have made Italy a co-belligerent of the US as the attacking belligerent.

Then we have the US Ramstein Airbase in Germany, which is (also) known for military flights to the Middle East. There were Flight24 posts collected showing military flight tracking from Ramstein to the Gulf states. So, I consider Germany a co-belligerent.

The role European countries were playing, the GCC countries and Jordan do no differently. But the Arab countries are all defending themselves by claiming that Iran violated their sovereignty, the UN Charter, and international law when they came under attack. However, as a co-belligerent, they can’t defend themselves because they allow the US to carry out attacks from their soil. That gives Iran the right to consider the GCC countries and Jordan military objectives.