Provocation, not prevention

EDITORIAL: Israel's war on Iran didn't begin with missiles — it began with impunity. And what makes it dangerous is not just how far Netanyahu is willing to go, but how far Washington is willing to let him.
The assault on Iran was not a response. It was premeditated. The so-called 'Operation Rising Lion' wasn't a defensive action — it was a coordinated, high-intensity blitz on over a hundred sites across Iran: command structures, nuclear research centres, civilian infrastructure, even state TV and hospitals. That's not pre-emption, that's provocation. And it's precisely what kicked off the most serious regional war in years.
Yet it's Iran's response that now dominates headlines and policy briefs. Tehran has hit back hard, and deliberately. Its 'True Promise' operations have battered Israeli cities with drones and missiles, caused civilian deaths, and disrupted air traffic. But this didn't come out of nowhere. It was a direct, calculated answer to an illegal war launched without warning and without justification.
The silence from Washington says everything. Not a word about the legal standing of Israel's first strike. No serious attempt to restrain further escalation. Instead, the familiar reflex: shield Israel, no matter the cost. That cost is now being measured in lives, oil prices, and regional fallout. Trade routes are being rerouted. Embassies are evacuating. Diplomats are calling for calm even as the only power that can enforce it looks the other way.
And this time, the consequences will not be containable. Tehran has made clear that it won't accept a one-sided war. Its retaliation was not symbolic — it was strategic. The strikes show capability, coordination, and a willingness to keep going if necessary. The message is unambiguous: this will not end on Israeli terms.
Much of the international community is in no doubt that this war was long planned and recklessly pursued. Netanyahu has been itching for escalation, partly to reassert deterrence, partly to serve domestic political ends. It's no coincidence that the most provocative Israeli strikes in years come when the government is politically weakened and socially divided. But regional war is not campaign material.
Still, Israel pushes on. And the United States follows. By refusing to draw red lines around Israeli aggression, Washington effectively underwrites it. That's how you get strikes on consulates and hospitals. That's how you get a war that spins out of control, drags in other powers, and threatens to unravel what little diplomacy was left around Iran's nuclear programme.
The danger now is that the window for de-escalation is closing. Every day this war drags on makes it harder to pull back. Every Iranian missile into Tel Aviv increases pressure on the Israeli government to double down. Every Israeli strike on Iranian soil makes it harder for Tehran to justify restraint. And every American shrug gives Israel more room to operate.
This war can still be stopped—but not by pretending both sides are equally at fault. The war began with an Israeli assault that broke every legal and diplomatic norm. The response was entirely foreseeable. The longer Washington refuses to acknowledge that, the longer this war will burn. And if it does, it won't stop at Tel Aviv or Tehran. It will spill into the Gulf, into shipping lanes, into oil markets, into global supply chains. It may even spill into US bases.
That's the real price of impunity. And it's one the world can no longer afford.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025

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