We are here to rule! Whoever gets in our way, will pay the price!
-Washington’s indirect message to Tehran/ The Author
The United States has a tradition of building its military posture, strengthening its defense capability, provoking a country, and finally engaging in a war with it [If it’s a militarily disabled country, then Washington certainly would like to invade it]. Whenever the empire felt the need to justify its actions against a nation, it would blame the "strategic competition," and its authoritarian models for national security. In his statement on "Worldwide Threat Assessment" in the United States Senate Armed Service Committee back in 2022, the director of Defense Intelligent Agency Scott Berrier accused the US's four enemies or strategic competitors namely China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran of "intensifying" the "strategic competition" to "advance their ambitions." Berrier claimed that the "competitors" for its actions to "challenge, limit, or exceed" the US military by "developing new capabilities." He further claimed that the "competitors"- not only "state" but "non-state" actors pose a threat to the US in all warfighting domains via its "campaigns of aggression":
"The United States faces challenges from competitors who have and are developing new capabilities intended to challenge, limit, or exceed U.S. military advantage. These state and nonstate actors are selectively putting those capabilities into play globally and regionally. The threats those capabilities pose span all warfighting domains—maritime, land, air/air defense, electronic warfare (EW), cyberspace, information, and space/counter space. They include more lethal ballistic and cruise missiles, growing nuclear stockpiles, modernized conventional forces, and a range of gray zone measures such as ambiguous unconventional forces, foreign proxies, information manipulation, cyberattacks, and economic coercion. Such gray zone measures are below traditional combat thresholds and often afford plausible deniability, but they enable actors to wage campaigns of aggression."
Back in April 2022, accused Iran of being "the leading source of instability in the Middle East." Deputy Secretary for Defense Dana Stroup confirmed that the US DOD is "leaning into multilateral security cooperation to effectively deter against Iran and Iranian backed threats." In an interview with Jerusalem Post in mid-2023, Stroul confirmed US-Israel military cooperation including "exercises and military sharing." In the name of security and stability in the Middle East, the empire and occupying forces have undergone many exercises to "increase interoperability to be able to respond to a variety of contingencies and threats." Addressing Jupiter Oak 23.2 [the largest exercise that took place in the Mediterranean and Israel], Press Secretary Pat Ryder promoted the Biden administration’s "ironclad and enduring" support toward the Israeli regime. Ryder claimed the partnership is meant to respond to a "variety of contingencies and threats." Israel is very familiar with the word threat. They are facing threats day in and day out by murdering Palestinians via its terrorist forces that operate together with the Pentagon.
Among other priorities, "protecting" the US homeland against the "threats" from Iran is one of the main priorities for the US. In 2022 National Defense Security, the US Defense Secretary made it crystal clear that deterrence against Iran in its "attacks" in the Middle East required increased "partnership capability and resilience." To "expose Iranian gray zone operations," the DOD expressed the importance of collaboration with other partner nations while increasing or enhancing [Putting it in a proper context] their "capability" in air and missile defense.
Alongside its missile program and "nuclear advances," the US government is on the same page with the Israeli regime about its "concerns" toward the Islamic Republic for supporting terrorism. The US DOD chief confirmed their commitment to "Israel's security" in a "closed meeting" with former Israeli defense minister Benjamin "Benny" Gantz back in December 2021. They don’t have any concern about occupying forces or their actions toward the Palestinians as they end up promising to maintain "Israel's qualitative military edge." Being the champion of democracy and "the only democracy in the Middle East," the former Israeli Defense Minister tagged Iran as a "tyrannical regime" that is intended to "destroy" the peace process in the region. Labeled the US as a "global power," Gantz trusted the US to prevent Iran's nuclear program to "restore stability" across the Middle East:
"Iran is not just a threat to our physical security. Iran poses a concrete threat to our way of life, and our shared values. In its aspirations to become a hegemon, Iran seeks to destroy all traces of freedom, human dignity, and peace in the Middle East and beyond... I am confident in the commitment of the administration of the United States as a global power to prevent Iran from gaining nuclear weapons... The international community, with the United States' leadership, has an opportunity to act against Iran's hegemonic aspirations, restore stability, and prevent the oppression of nations across the region."
In the wake of October 7 [The day Hamas attacked and took hostage Israeli civilians], the empire constantly made obnoxious claims about Iran's intention to destabilize the Middle East. The Hamas attack gave the White House a free pass to protect US "interests in the region" in its "four lines of efforts." In the name of Israel's right to self-defense, Washington enhanced its military posture in the region.
Hailed the US and its "will to act," the US Central Command Commander Kenneth Mckenzie Jr. applauded US President Donald Trump's decision to kill Iranian Maj. Gen Qaseem Soleimani. Speaking at the Middle East Institute webinar titled "Centcom and the Shifting Sands of the Middle East" back in June 2020, Mckenzie accused Iran of funding terrorist organizations; propping up the "murderous regime" of Syrian President Bashar al-Asad; gifting advanced weapons to the Houthis and for attacking the US forces in Iraq for carrying out mass murders of Iraqi civilians [Which of course the Centcom boss didn't mention]. Tagging Iran as the "greatest threat to stability and security" in the Middle East, the Centcom Commander promised to "deter" Iran from taking actions" against the US and its allies. Mckenzie vowed to keep an eye on the "ball" by which he meant the "entities in the theater to develop attacks against the United States homeland." Keeping an eye on the ball, and to prevent "attacks" against the US or its allies, the Centcom chief confirmed the optimization of US force posture in the region.
Put forward his predecessor's legacy, the Incumbent CENTCOM chief Michael "Erik" Kurilla confirmed its "priorities" which is to "deter Iran." Reminding the organization's charter which was to "direct and enable military operations and activities with partners to increase regional stability" in the name of US interests, in his opening remarks at the House Armed Services Committee back in March 2023, Kurilla confirmed that the Islamic Republic "remains the main focus for the CENTCOM." Accusing Iran of being the "primary destabilizing element in the region," the organization's chief warned of the growing military capability of the regime. Kurilla won't mind the fact that Washington strengthens its military capability every year in the name of global stability. Knowing "people" as the "greatest asset" [Not its Intelligence Agencies, not the military, not even the puppet regimes working for the White House], he acknowledged that the US put its forces "in harm's way" and strengthening partnerships which helps "deterring Iran from its most destructive behavior."
In May last year, US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Capabilities Mara Karlin confirmed that the White House shifted its focus on "integrated deterrence" when its comes to the Middle East by using its military forces "swiftly and effectively." At the Annual Middle East Institute CENTCOM Conference, Karlin confirmed that Washington has committed itself to over 200 military exercises in the Middle East to "defend" its "partners" and its own "interests." Based on the 2022 National Defense Strategy, the US Department of Defense is involved in multiple exercises in the region. The live-fire exercise JUNIPER OAK in which there are more than 110 aircraft and 12 naval vessels involved in the Mediterranean Sea, the Multilateral exercise Eagle Resolve 2023 is endorsed to "improve interoperability" with Gulf friends and Co. to fulfill Biden's agenda to the Middle East region as the US President believes "the region is vitally important" with "American interests."
In the name of security and regional stability, the US DOD decided to strengthen its force posture in the Middle East. Back in July last year, the US Secretary of Defense deployed a portion of the BATAAN Amphibious Readiness Group/Marine Expeditionary Unit [ARG/MEU] comprised of the USS BATAAN, USS Carter Hall in the USCENTCOM area of responsibility [AOR], with the USS Thomas Hudner [DGG-116] in response to the "Iranian destabilization activities in the region." Following the event of October 7, the Pentagon decided to deploy US warships in the region for Israel's "right to defend itself" and to stop further regional "instability." Pentagon continued providing its military help to Israel even after it was crystal clear that the Netanyahu government engaged in a genocide campaign against Palestinians in Gaza. The DOD deployed the USS Dwight Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Ike Carrier Strike Group in the Philippine Sea, USS Gerald R. Ford [CVN- 78] which was involved closer to Israel following the Hamas attack on Israel, USS Carter Hall [LSD-50] which joined the USS Mesa Verde in the Red Sea. The US DOD not only defended but lauded its action to deploy the Carrier Strike Groups in the Middle East to stop the Islamic Republic of Iran from creating further instability in the region and for "rules-based international order":
"The United States is demonstrating commitment to ensuring freedom of navigation and deterring Iranian destabilization activities in the region. We will continue to work with like-minded allies and partners who are committed to the free flow of commerce to take appropriate, coordinated actions against threats to this fundamental principle of the rules-based international order."
With a heavy heart, in its report titled "Iran Military Power," the US Defense Intelligence Agency [DIA] accused the Islamic Republic of its opposition to the empire's "presence in the Middle East," and its "support to Israel." The US acknowledged the fact that the Islamic Republic has focused on "preparing and equipping its military forces" as it certainly wants to prevent "air attack and ground invasion by a technologically superior" Washington. Iran has mistrusted the US and feels that Washington poses the "greatest enduring threat" to the Islamic Republic. The US certainly understands that anyone can't trust a power that uses its Intelligence Agency to successfully stage a Coup that leads to a regime change in a particular country. Tehran regime’s distrust of Washington comes from its 1953-led Coup which resulted in the ousting of a democratically elected leader of Iran. The incumbent Supreme leader of the Islamic Republic certainly feels the same way about losing its power by a manipulative empire that in the name of regional stability wants to instill a puppet regime in Tehran for its "national interest." In its report, the US claimed that the Tehran regime has focused on "four enduring strategic objectives" namely ensure continuity of Clerical rule, secure the nation from internal and external threats, become a dominant regional power, and attain economic prosperity to confront "oppressive and cruel United States," and its "malicious policy." In recent years, the US has decided to strengthen the military of its nations of interests that would be useful for Washington’s made-up enemies. Whether it’s using Ukraine as bait to provoke the Russian Federation or using Taiwan to provoke the People's Republic of China, the White House justifies its war drive against its self-appointed arch-rivals in the name of bringing back democracy and security of its nations. Washington accuses Iran of supporting proxy Islamic resistance groups like Hizballah, Houthi by strengthening its military power to destabilize the Middle East. To put hard-hitting sanctions against Iran, the White House blamed Iran for funding terrorist groups and providing Russia with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles [UAVs] in Ukraine.
Playing the role of cheerleaders of all the actions of the US against its made-up enemies, Washington-sponsored think tanks have played a pivotal role in shaping the public minds, or more aptly the liberal minds against one of its enemies named Islamic Republic of Iran, and justifies the West's provocation against the Khamenei regime. DC-based think tank Atlantic Council advocated for the ousting of Iran's Supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei. Last month, the think tank's paid propagandist Khosro Isfahani called out to build an alliance "with Iranians and the International community" in order to make "meaningful change" in Iran. And, for the "meaningful change," Isfahani claimed that Khamenei "has got to go." The Foundation for Defense of Democracies [FDD] has developed what they referred to as a "comprehensive plan" for the American warmongers to "confront" the Tehran regime deploying "multiple elements of national power," and also providing "actionable recommendations" for US agencies. FDD urged the Biden administration to take a similar path to former US President Ronald Reagan's policy toward the Soviet Union in the 1980s to make US citizens "understand and support" it unconditionally. The think tank advised the US President to "awaken" the policymakers to make no mistake when it comes to the Islamic Republic by addressing the "aspect of the Iranian menace," and by embracing the complete "disarmament" policy. Cheering the pre-JCPOA Obama Treasury Department and Trump's "warfare campaigns" against Iran, FDD indirectly proposed hard-hitting financial sanctions against Iran. DC-based think tank understands the importance of the Islamic Republic's relationship with Russia and China. They insisted the Biden administration to be involved in a "pressure campaign" on Iran. The campaign must consist of "use of force" if the Tehran regime won't bow down to the empire or disagree with its terms and conditions. The think tank suggested the White House to intensify "the pressure on the mullahs" in Reagan style to wage war against "another dogged enemy" in the Middle East. The Washington Institute claimed that Iran "poses the most serious and urgent threat set of security challenges" to Washington and its allies in the Middle East. They further accused the Islamic Republic of its “export of radical ideology" by using terrorist forces in the region and "in the Muslim world" since the 1979 revolution. The institute considers the US interventions "in the Muslim world" as peaceful interventions that aim to bring democracy to the countries they have invaded. Since the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran, the empire has intervened in several "Muslim world" nations namely Lebanon, Libya, Iraq, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria not to export its "radical ideology," but based on the ground of bringing back democracy. The world has already witnessed how the empire brought back democracy in "the Muslim world" by killing thousands of innocent lives. The DC-based think tank acknowledged the fact that the Americans still won’t understand the "Iranian political scene." The people in the US can’t fully grasp Washington’s provocation against the Tehran regime. With the intention to spread anti-Iranian propaganda, The Washington Institute wants to "generate critical analysis, private dialogue, public debate, and operational recommendations" in front of Americans whom the elites would like to use as a tool to fight against the Khamenei regime.
The US is not only getting help from its number one ally in the Middle East Israel, but Washington managed to get on board the Gulf Cooperation Council [GCC] to isolate Iran. One of its partners in crime in the Middle East and its young murderous prince Mohammed Bin Salman warned Iran in September last year not to have nuclear weapons. If the Islamic Republic gets a nuclear weapon, then MBS warned them that Saudi Arabia would certainly "have to get one." Using its GCC-US Strategic Partnership, both the US and GCC member States reaffirmed the "shared commitment to regional security" in March 2020. With a particular focus on air and sea domains, US-GCC stressed the importance of "bolster defense cooperation":
"The United States and GCC member states stressed the importance of strengthening the ability of the GCC countries to collectively address these threats. They developed a common vision for deterring the most pressing threats in the region from air, missile, and maritime threats… Members of the GCC briefed on their efforts to bolster defense cooperation, in concert with the United States. The United States and GCC member states agreed on the importance of advancing integrated defense initiatives to defend against and deter air, missile, and maritime threats. The United States and GCC member states welcomed opportunities to work together – including through joint training and exercises to prevent Iran from holding the region at risk through its proliferation and direct use of advanced ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, maritime weapons, and Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), which pose a clear threat to regional security and stability."
Based on "accumulation facts" and "disturbing patterns of behavior," the Lil Bush administration accused Saddam Hussein of having Weapons of Mass Destruction to invade Iraq back in 2003. The Biden administration now using the tool to wage wars against its self-appointed competitors. The Islamic Republic being one the competitors and enemies of the US tagged the Tehran regime "as a persistent threat." Washington accused the Khamenei regime of having "the capacity to produce" nuclear device "within two weeks." To "strengthen" the ability to "achieve" its "objectives" which has always been to find a way to isolate its global arch-rivals. The US is worried sick of the "state actors" that according to the empire are "capable of limiting" its propaganda, and already have proved to be burdens to its imperial agenda. To strengthen its force posture on different parts of the globe, and to counter the "real" and "urgent" threat from the "key actors" whom Washington accused of having WMD, the Biden administration is using the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction strategy to "curtail the cooperation, development, possession, proliferation, use and effects of WMD." In the name of Mass Destruction, back in 2023, in its "Strategy for Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction," the US DOD decided to prioritize its six "effective strategies" with "ways" and "means" to strengthen its defense capabilities and make the Allies do the exact same for a hegemonic world by providing credible options to deter WMD use and assure Allies and partners; building a Joint Force that can campaign, fight, and win in a Chemical, biological, and nuclear [CBRN] environment; enabling Allies and partners to counter WMD proliferation and use; degrading actor capability to develop, acquire, or use WMD; taking action, as part of whole-of-government efforts, to prevent proliferation and respond to use of WMD; and pursuing advanced research and development efforts to counter future chemical and biological threats.
Iran is proved to be a pain in the ass for the Israeli regime, especially after the Netanyahu administration started its genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Since the beginning of Israel's genocide campaign in Gaza, Iranian officials have been very vocal about their regime. The Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian blamed Israel for destabilizing the Middle East. He further criticized the Biden administration for being complicit in the Gaza genocide and firmly advised the US President not to "tie their destiny" to Isareli’s commander-in-chief. Back in January this year, in his interview with CNBC, the Iranian Foreign Minister labeled the Israeli Primer Netanyahu a "thug" with whom "the cooperation" of the White House "is the root of insecurity in the region." At the end of January, Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kannani called on the Islamic nations to "cut off the economic and political arteries of the Zionist regime." He further addressed that people in Gaza have expected "Islamic nations" to "use their tools to exert pressure on Israel and support Palestine." Kannani rejected the hypothesis that the "tensions between Iran and the US" are not the reason behind the regional conflict, instead he believed that the "crisis in the region" is a result of "Israeli war crimes and its genocide against Palestinians in Gaza." The Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman assured that the Islamic Republic will continue to push for "stability and security" in the region for the "interest" of the international community. Kannani further assured that the Tehran regime doesn't want to "seek tension with any party," instead it "will continue diplomatic efforts to reduce tensions." Israel's genocide and its position as an independent Palestinian state infuriated Iran's Foreign Spokesman. Back in February Kanaani showed his frustration with Israel for its "warmongering" and occupying nature." He accused the Israeli regime of "ignoring the inalienable and undeniable rights of the Palestinian nation." To allow Palestinians to exercise their rights, Kanaani advocated for a national referendum. He believed the regional conflict and bloodshed will only stop by respecting "ballots and the decision to original inhabitants of Palestine" for a peaceful Middle East.
As the US has promoted Israel's right to self-defense since October 7, the empire didn't condemn the Netanyahu regime’s terroristic act of killing five Iranian civilians, including four military advisers of the Tehran regime. The Biden administration didn't forget to condemn Iran's counterattack against Israel. Washington doesn't believe in the Islamic Republic's right to self-defense despite Israel's Damascus attack. The White House showered its condemnation on the "reckless" and "unprecedented" attacks on Israel by the Khamenei regime. They warned the Khamenei regime to "immediately halt any further attacks including from its proxy forces, and to de-escalate tensions." At Biden's direction, the US military moved aircraft, and ballistic missile defense destroyers to the region to "support the defense of Israel." The US President vowed to "take all necessary action to protect" his chosen people. Days after Iran attacked Israel, the United States in coordination with the United Kingdom imposed sanctions on several military organizations, and individuals whom the empires claimed to be involved in "Iran's unprecedented attack on Israel." Defending the sanctions against Iranian leaders the US commander-in-chief assured that he has directed the Treasury to impose further "sanctions" to isolate Iran's military. Earlier this April, the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control [OFAC] targeted Oceanlink Maritime DMCC to disrupt Iran's "ability to finance its proxy and partner groups." US Secretary of the Treasury Jenet Yellen vowed to impose more sanctions on Iranians in the coming days for further isolation in the name of financing terrorist groups:
"We will continue to deploy our sanctions authority to counter Iran with further actions in the days and weeks ahead. Over the last three years, we have targeted over 600 individuals and entities connected to Iran’s terrorist activity, its human rights abuses, and its financing of Hamas, the Houthis, Hizballah, and Iraqi militia groups. We have also vigorously enforced our sanctions, including by levying historic fines and exposing sanctions evasion schemes and networks. Our actions make it harder and costlier at every turn for Iran to continue its destabilizing behavior."
In the wake of the Second World War, America emerged as the new global superpower and the main competitor of the Soviet Union. The US shifted its focus toward Iran as US President Dwight Eisenhower took an oath to office. The Eisenhower administration wanted to instill a pro-Western Iranian government by removing the Islamic Republic’s leader Mohammad Mossadeq from power. After trying several options to ouster the democratically elected Iranian government, Eisenhower turned toward the Central Intelligence Agency for the task to "embark on an International gamble." Targeting the former Iranian President and his government, the CIA via "legal or quasi-legal" methods, prepared to replace the Mossadeq government with a "pro-Western" regime under Shah's dictatorship. One of its four-phase plans was to prove to the Iranian people that their leader was in "collaboration with the communists." Allen Dulles, the CIA chief at the time never admitted US hands behind the ouster of a leader who refused to be a slave of the US. As a successor of Mossadeq, the empire put a Western sympathizer in Tehran named Shah Reza Pahlavi. A 1943 OSS report described Shah as someone who "thinks along Western lines," and was "inalienably attached to his Iranian army." The pro-Western leader whom the US embassy in 1951 described as a person filled with "Christian ethics and philosophy":
"It is important to observe that Shah, in ten years of political wavering, has never turned against intellectual interests, sports, and hobbies which he learned from European sources. His mind remains alert and his principles, although often betrayed, retain great similarity to Christian ethics and philosophy. The tragedy in the conflict of this healthy intellectual against the vicious Persian scene carries some triumph since the Shah, so far, has not become corrupted."
Alongside its similarities of global hegemony, the Democrats and Republicans are on the same page on the Islamic Republic of Iran. Both are the top leaders of the two biggest political parties in the US who desperately want a regime change in Iran by isolating, provocating, and wagging war against the Tehran regime. Presenting the WikiLeaks Files on Iran, investigative journalist and historian Gareth Porter described that the US government no matter who rules in Washington, is "bound by the past commitments to preserve Israel's military dominance in the region." Washington's policy toward Tehran has long been shaped by political, bureaucratic, economic, and imperial agendas in the Middle East. Days after the Khamenei regime's counterattack on Israel, US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy John Plumb in his "Missile Defense in an Era of Strategic Competition" at the 16th Ronald Reagan Missile Defense Conference claimed that the Islamic Republic of Iran "continue to seek to disrupt the rules-based international order to suit their interests." Plumb accused the Tehran regime of disrupting the region via its "offensive air and missile capabilities." He further accused the Ayatollah regime of "supporting Russia with armed drones to carry out attacks in Ukraine." The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy confirmed that the US is "constantly improving and upgrading the performance" of Ground-based Midcourse Defense [GMD] for potential threat from Iran "if it were to develop this capability."
Okay
Excelent. The Empire's ability to create an Owerlian narrative to justify its acts of war is impressive. Fortunately, this capacity is matched by the rigorous work of historians of the present moment, including Rumi, who here draws, using quotes from the actors themselves, the way in which the Empire carries out hybrid warfare on the Middle Eastern stage. Empires fade away, taking - or sometimes not taking - with them the civilizations within which they exist. The article leads us to a fundamental question: "Will the current Empire destroy the current civilization in its struggle not to fade away?"