Twenty-three years ago, the occupation that began with a missile strike on the government district in Baghdad—based on the falsehood that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction—was carried out by violating the UN Charter and trampling international law. Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary-General at the time, described this occupation as a "violation of international law."

In the world order it has spearheaded since World War II, the USA has used the UN when deemed necessary and cast it aside when viewed as an encumbrance. We have arrived at these days through US President Trump, who does not recognize the International Criminal Court’s decision declaring Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu a "war criminal" for the genocide in Palestine. Together with Netanyahu, he violated ongoing negotiations for a second time and launched an attack on Iran.

Today, allegations regarding Iran's nuclear weapons capacity have been used as a justification to first encircle and then target it with advanced warfare technologies. We are witnessing the second attack by Israel, which possesses nuclear bombs, alongside the USA, against Iran, which does not.

For the last quarter-century, the USA has been forcibly altering the Cold War era balances and the power architecture of the Middle East and the Arab geography in line with its own interests. In this strategic plan, Israel functions as the regional strike force of the USA. Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, and Iran… This attack, supported by Israel’s security and US regional interests and embellished with the goal of "saving the Iranian people from a dictatorial regime," is simultaneously a war of hegemony against Russia and China.

When looking at Iran in terms of the natural resources it possesses, the picture is as follows: Ranking third in the world for proven oil reserves, Iran also holds the world’s second-largest natural gas reserves. Additionally, Iran is a country rich in minerals such as zinc, copper, iron, uranium, lead, chromium, manganese, coal, sulfur, and gold. Iran possesses the world’s largest zinc reserves, the second-largest copper reserves, and the ninth-largest iron reserves. For a long time, the USA has been calculating how not to share these mouth-watering riches with China and Russia.

While the attacks driven by the motivation to seize these massive resources are decorated with promises of freedom for the Iranian people, we have witnessed the massacre of 85 schoolgirls in a school and the deaths of workers.

Within this entire picture, we see the consequences of a regime that has deepened its own decay by oppressing its people, carrying out countless executions, and not hesitating to massacre tens of thousands in recent protests—essentially transforming itself into a power shell devoid of its people. The fact that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has ruled the regime for 37 years after Khomeini, lost his life at the beginning of the attacks—failing to be protected despite being a known target—appears to be a result of the regime's security vulnerability rather than lethargy caused by self-confidence.

What Happens Next?

In an article published following the attacks targeting Iran, our columnist Ela Eva continued by pointing to three fundamental lines within Iran:

"The first is the pro-Pahlavi faction and those supporting the Israel-US attack, whom the center-right and the petty bourgeoisie are convinced by. The second is the scenario prepared for Iranian Kurdistan by PAK and the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan in direct communication with Israel, alongside PJAK. Here, it was possible to observe the deployment of armed forces days in advance. The other consists of those who have perpetually struggled on three fronts against the regime, the USA, and the monarchy during this process. Namely, the Communist Party of Iran, various left and socialist groups, the National Council of Resistance of Iran—which includes the People's Fedayeen and the People's Mujahedin—the Azerbaijan Democratic Party operating in Iran's Azerbaijan region, and labor organizations. That is, independent unions and various workers' councils like the Union of Iranian Workers have struggled on three fronts throughout this process. The extent of these groups' effectiveness in Iran will be tested more clearly in this period."

Likely, power struggles within the regime will also accelerate from now on. Both popular dynamics and organized opposition forces, as well as the interventions of the USA and Israel, will influence the course of developments at different levels.

In the face of this entire landscape, the persecution of our colleagues in Turkey—through 'detention' warrants on the grounds of broadcasting live from the Incirlik Base, where countless broadcasts have been made to date—describes the point the current regime in the country has reached. In such a period, the activity at US and NATO bases in the countries surrounding Iran is a news subject the public wishes to know. Journalists, whose job is to inform the public, have fulfilled this requirement. The example of the saying "In war, the truth dies first" has thus come from Turkey in this war.