Israel's war of regional supremacy will not end with Iran | David Hearst

David Hearst, editor in chief of Middle East Eye, says that the US and Israeli strike that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and much of the country’s leadership marks the start of a war aimed not at Iran’s nuclear programme, but at regime change. He says Iran had just made what Oman described as a “substantial offer” in negotiations with Washington to dilute its stock of highly enriched uranium, yet the talks served as cover for what he describes as a pre planned decapitation strike. Hearst says Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu immediately appealed to Iranians to rise up against their government, but the crowds that gathered were largely mourning the dead. From the outset, he adds, it was clear the objective was to dismantle the Iranian state itself, targeting the entire political elite and seeking to turn Iran into “a weak, pliant confederation of ethnic cantons”. He says that weakening Iran is central to a broader Israeli project increasingly described as “Greater Israel”, the idea that Israeli power should extend across the region. Netanyahu, Hearst writes, sees this moment as an opportunity to crush Iran and expand Israel’s military and technological dominance in the Middle East. Iran has responded by widening the conflict, closing the Strait of Hormuz and striking economic and military targets across the Gulf. Hearst says Tehran is seeking to make the costs of the war global, raising energy prices and threatening key infrastructure in order to internationalise the conflict. He concludes that the war could either break the Iranian state or trigger a renewed revolutionary mobilisation, but warns that the stakes go far beyond Iran itself. The outcome, he says, could reshape the map of the Middle East and determine whether Israel can redraw the region’s balance of power in its favour. Support stories that matter. Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR0fZh5SBxxMNYdg0VzRFkg/join Catch previous episodes of MEE LIVE, our biweekly news programme exploring the stories shaping our world through breaking coverage, expert analysis, and hard-hitting interviews. Originally airing Tuesdays & Thursdays at 12pm ET | 5pm BST Got a story tip or question? Reach us at [email protected] Subscribe to our channel: http://ow.ly/AVlW30n1OWH Subscribe to MEE Telegram channel to stay up to date: https://t.me/MiddleEastEye_TG Middle East Eye Website: https://middleeasteye.net Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@middleeasteye Follow us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/MiddleEastEye Like us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/MiddleEastEye Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MiddleEastEye