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Kassioun Editorial 1267: A New Round and the American Retreat Will Deepen
Both “Israel” and the US began a new round of aggression against Iran on Saturday, 28 February 2026, about eight months after the end of the first round of aggression, which has come to be known as the “12-Day War”. As was the case the first time, the aggression was launched amid ongoing negotiations—indeed, just one day after the Omani mediator announced that significant progress had been made—once again making clear that neither the American nor the “Israeli” side can ever be trusted, and that nothing can be expected from them but destruction and chaos.
The new round began with the killing of leaders whom Washington was supposedly negotiating with, foremost among them Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei. Past experience shows that the “decapitation” policy pursued by “Israel” has become less effective with repetition, and ultimately produces the opposite results.
Although the war is still only in its second day and it is too early to talk about its outcomes, the following points can already be established:
First: The declared US and “Israeli” objectives—related to Iran’s nuclear program, missile program, support for militias, and internal freedoms—are merely pretexts unrelated to the real goals. Those who support a people’s freedoms do not begin their war by killing more than 100 girls in a primary school. In this context, it is useful to recall the position of the opposition Iranian Tudeh Party, which has paid a heavy price for opposing the Iranian authorities since 1979—through killings, imprisonment, and exile—yet has not lost its national and class compass. In its statement issued after the aggression began, it said: “The military aggression of US imperialism and the Israeli government…, is not only not a harbinger of Iran’s freedom from the yoke of the current tyranny and dictatorship, but is an attempt to destroy Iran as a capable regional country and replace the current government with a dependent and despotic regime that has already announced its program of bloody suppression of its opponents”.
Second: The overthrow of the regime in Iran is a clear objective of this war, but it is not the final goal. Rather, it is a means to spread chaos within Iran itself, leading to its division along ethnic lines and to the spread of chaos and internecine conflict across the entire Middle East and Central Asia.
Third: The desired chaos simultaneously targets two fundamental strategic goals: first, obstructing the rise of emerging powers—especially China and Russia—by sabotaging the Belt and Road, the North–South Corridor, and the Eurasian project; and second, redrawing maps to manufacture a “Greater Israel” and to subjugate the peoples and states of the region across their different ethnicities, religions, and sects.
Fourth: The spreading of chaos in our region, the attempt to obstruct the projects of rising powers, and the attempt to impose “Greater Israel” are not the product of surplus Western-American-“Israeli” power, as may appear on the surface. Quite the opposite, they are a flight forward from a deep structural crisis—especially in its economic dimension—and an attempt to curb the global decline of US power, and “Israel” therewith.
Fifth: The divisions within the American elite—and the Western elite in general—will express themselves more clearly alongside Zionist activity that has set a trap for Trump through this new war, whose certain result on the American side will be further decline and internal division, whatever its outcomes.
Sixth: As for “Greater Israel”, it too is a flight forward and an attempt to break the new regional system that has begun to take shape—the “ring of the ring” system—which this war will only push toward further consolidation, regardless of temporary media positions. We call it a flight forward because “Israel”, as a Zionist project, now faces two possibilities: everything or nothing—either “Greater Israel” or disappearance. And disappearance is more imminent and more probable, based on the real balance of forces at both the international and regional levels.
Finally: In Syria, which today appears marginal, secondary, and weak, the victory of the “Israeli” entity would mean its enslavement and that of its people, and would raise the likelihood of its final partition. On the other hand, the only way to halt deterioration and weakness is to close the major internal gaps, beginning with genuinely unifying the Syrian people, through real participation grounded in a general national conference that is comprehensive, inclusive, and fully empowered, and that would serve as an instrument in Syrians’ hands to determine their own destiny.
