Right to Defend… or Right to Destroy?
-by Sazid
I wrote pages last night, I attempted to write pages with the utmost neutrality on the Israel Iran conflict. I failed. How can I be neutral when the whole world isn’t? And honestly, I have not read a single neutral opinion on this issue. Now, here is the question – why not?
Just a day ago, the United States gave Iran a two-week timeframe for diplomatic negotiations. At the time, I thought the doors of hope were open.
As I type this, U.S. President Donald Trump is sitting in the Oval Office following an address to the nation. “Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success,” he said. . “There will be either peace, or there will be tragedy for Iran far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days.”
The U.S. expected that, after their attack on three prime Iranian nuclear enrichment facilities, Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, Iran would cooperate.
In response to the U.S.’s attack Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu commented that U.S. attacks create a “pivot of history.” Now, as people continue to speculate amidst ongoing developments, I want to draw your attention to what’s really happening beyond the headlines.
On June 13, Israel, backed by its Orwellian euphemism “right to defend itself,” attacked Iran. At the time, Mumtahina Khatun — a Bangladeshi student studying in Al-Zahra University of Iran — was sleeping in her dorm. Just a day ago, she was fond of Tehran, she said. Now, frightened and thousands of miles away from home in a country under the threat of another country’s “right to defend itself,” she fled from the campus to a border area near Turkey, she explained. She plans to return to the country when it is convenient, she said. Khatun’s story is one fragment of millions of civilian stories of suffering. However, the active mass genocide going on in Gaza means that stories such as Mumtahina’s barely resonate as we go on saying, “at least she is alive!”
UN Chief Antonio Guterres described the U.S. attacks on Iran as a “dangerous escalation,” warning that the conflict in the Middle East could quickly get “out of control.”
Is this not already out of control? Is this not high time we ask where is Mumtahina’s right to defend herself? Or the 639 Iranians who were killed by foreign entities – where is their right to defend themselves?
Israel doesn’t want to limit itself to destroying Iran’s nuclear centrifuges and missile capabilities, rather it wants to shatter the foundation of Khamenei’s government and collapse it to the ground, according to Israeli sources. Israel’s actions have nothing to do with defending itself. Instead, they represent a desire to conquer the Middle East region.
Israel understood that its objective — destroying Iran’s Nuclear Enrichment Plant — could only be achieved through U.S.-produced, 15-tonne bunker-buster bombs carried by B-2 bombers. Netanyahu reminded the world how desperate Israel was for U.S. intervention. “I leave the US position to the US. What are they going to do now?” he stated on June 15. I find it certain that Netanyahu’s manipulation and Israel-first policy pushed Washington to engage directly, creating an all-out Israel–American war on Iran.
Currently, the Western agenda – the agenda of the U.S. and Europe – is establishing the Israeli agenda. The U.S. and Israel “worked as a team” and have “gone a long way to erasing this horrible threat to Israel,” Trump said.
Despite efforts, the U.N. stands idle amid the worst humanitarian crisis, silent as Israel continues to receive support and endorsement. Even some countries lacking a true backbone are proud to support the U.S. and Israel. Yesterday, Switzerland announced it would temporarily close its embassy in Tehran, adding that it would continue to fulfill its role representing U.S. interests in Iran. Why would a sovereign entity stick to the principles and agenda of another country blindly — is it not time we question that?
Following today’s U.S. intervention there is a real possibility of an all-out war — maybe even a world war. Any war backed by ideology, belief, “ism” or blatant lies of “right to defend itself” will only destroy whatever peace is left.
The Middle East is already on fire. One misstep could collapse the entire house of cards. Global economic and political stability now depend on our understanding that light can exist even in the darkest of times — if we know how to say “Lumos Maxima.”
Israel took the first step, violating all pre-existing protocols. Iran did what it felt it needed to do. Yesterday, Britain, France, Germany and the European Union held talks in Geneva with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, offering the possibility of a diplomatic solution
And yet, as in 2003, we’re watching history repeat itself — only this time, with better cameras and harmonious “right to defend.”
Israel claims defense. The U.S. claims success. Iran claims survival.
But who claims Mumtahina? Who speaks for the 639? Who gave America the authority to define what “tragedy” looks like for someone else’s soil?
If this is what justice looks like, maybe neutrality was never the answer — maybe resistance is.
