2 h. ago Iran’s devastation has hardened hearts towards the west – even for those with no love of the state | Hossein Hamdieh

The double standards and hypocrisy used to justify Israel’s aggression will not be forgotten here, or in other countriesA trembling ceasefire has brought a pause to what had become the familiar sounds of explosions over Tehran. I was born in 1988, a year before the Iran-Iraq war came to an end. For my generation, war was something that belonged to the past – an impossible event, until this summer.For 12 days, we lived in the capital under incessant Israeli attacks, and what we saw has changed us for good: dead neighbours, buildings gutted and worry – endless, deep-etched worry – on the faces of people.Hossein Hamdieh holds a joint PhD in Geography and Anthropology from Humboldt University of Berlin and King’s College London. He is currently based in Tehran, where he works as a social researcherDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please ...

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65 h. ago Watch: MP recalls Starmer defended ‘activist’ who broke into RAF base 21 years ago in court

Independent MP Zarah Sultana drew a sharp comparison between Keir Starmer’s past and present when recalling how, as a barrister, he defended an activist who broke into RAF Fairford to prevent war crimes in Iraq—calling it “not terrorism, but conscience.”

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3 d. ago How Labour welfare vote rebellion compares to previous revolts by MPs

Keir Starmer has suffered a blow inflicted by his own Labour MPs, but how does it stack up against previous votes under other prime ministers, including Tony Blair’s controversial policies on university tuition fees and the Iraq war?

Politics

7 d. ago Iraq War architect Condi Rice heaps praise on Trump admin for Iran strikes

Bush era official says bombing raid delivered ‘shot in the arm for American credibility’ but president unlikely to welcome applause from ‘neocon’ unpopular with his MAGA base

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1 week ago Why dreams of regime change in Iran will end in a rude awakening | Rajan Menon

It would be naive to believe that the US could take a wrecking ball to the Iranian state and walk away unaffectedDuring his three presidential campaigns, Donald Trump lambasted “forever wars” and “regime change” interventions. More than any candidate, he sensed the war-weariness of Americans after the fiascos in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, and especially the dismay of military veterans, 60% of whom voted for him over Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Trump’s maverick, anti-interventionist “America First” narrative also resonated strongly with those in the Maga movement who have never served in the military, particularly blue-collar workers.Now, Trump, once an unsparing critic of military misadventures, has bombed the nuclear enrichment installations of Iran, a country that hadn’t attacked the US, wasn’t preparing to and didn’t even threaten war. Since the bombing, Trump has gone further: he has ruminated about regime change in Iran. His transformation has startled many ...

Politics

1 week ago The maps and numbers you need to know after US intervene in Iran

The IDF launched ‘Operation Rising Lion’ on Friday with the largest attack on Iran since the 1980s Iraq war

Politics

1 week ago Like George W Bush, Trump has started a reckless war based on a lie | Mohamad Bazzi

The Iraq war was built on a lie. Now history is repeating itselfIn May 2003, George W Bush landed on the deck of a US aircraft carrier to deliver a triumphant speech, declaring that major combat operations in Iraq had ended – six weeks after he had ordered US troops to invade the country. Bush spoke under a now infamous banner on the carrier’s bridge that proclaimed, “Mission Accomplished”. It would turn into a case study of American hubris and one of the most mocked photo-ops in modern history.As Bush made his speech off the coast of San Diego, I was in Baghdad covering the invasion’s aftermath as a correspondent for a US newspaper. It was clear then that the war was far from over, and the US was likely to face a grinding insurgency led by former members of the Iraqi security forces. It would also soon become clear that Bush’s rationale for invading Iraq was built on a lie: Saddam Hussein’s regime did not have weapons of mass destruction and was not intent on developing them. And I...

Politics

1 week ago Hegseth’s call for ‘peace’ shows Trump thinks he can have it both ways despite his punishing Iran ‘Hammer’ strike

How US could now be headed for another Iraq War-style 'break it, you bought it' involvement in Middle East, writes John Bowden

Politics

2 w. ago We’re on the brink of a disastrous, illegal conflagration in the Middle East. Trump must be stopped | Fawaz Gerges

This is a war of choice, based on misinformation. If the US and UK join it, they risk a rerun of the Iraq debacle of 2003Like the US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003, Israel’s war on Iran is neither legal nor just. It is a war of choice, not of necessity – and should the US or its European allies, particularly Britain, join in, they risk being dragged into another disastrous and unlawful conflict in the Middle East.A US military intervention would be in direct contravention of international law. Already, the US, once the architect and guardian of the international order, is now among its chief violators. Instead of pressuring Benjamin Netanyahu to end his siege and destruction of Gaza, Donald Trump has fully sided with Netanyahu and called Israel’s attacks on Iran “excellent”. He has demanded Iran’s “unconditional surrender”. Trump is considering military strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Doing so is explicitly prohibited under article 56 of the additional protocol to...

Events

2 w. ago America made a catastrophic mistake with the Iraq war. Is it about to repeat it in Iran? | Stephen Werthheim

If the United States joins Israel’s fight to try to finish Israel’s job, it will enter into a war of unknowable scope against a country of 90 million peopleTwo decades ago, as Americans debated whether their country should invade Iraq, one question loomed the largest: did Saddam Hussein possess weapons of mass destruction? If so, the implication was that the United States should disarm and overthrow his regime by military force. If not, Washington could keep that option in reserve and continue to contain Saddam through economic sanctions and routine bombings.In time, the implications of the Iraq war far exceeded the boundaries of the original debate. Saddam, it turned out, had no weapons of mass destruction. But suppose he had possessed the chemical and biological agents that the war’s advocates claimed. Invading his country to destroy his regime would have given him the greatest possible incentive to use the worst weapons at his disposal. The war would have been just as mistaken — ...

Events

2 w. ago US debate over whether to bomb Iran recalls anguish of Iraq war

Shadow of intelligence debacle two decades ago hangs over Donald Trump as he considers joining Israeli attacks

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2 w. ago Dubya Dubya II: Democrats see echoes of Bush Iraq War push in Trump’s Iran nukes rhetoric

“If this president wants to completely ignore the intelligence community, we are playing in dangerous ground,” one senator warned

Politics

2 w. ago Gulf companies prepare contingency plans amid fears of conflict spillover

Risk advisory firms report rise in inquiries since start of Israel-Iraq war as groups consider crisis management strategies

Events

2 w. ago What are the legal issues around Britain helping Trump bomb Iran?

Keir Starmer is weighing up whether to back the US and – as a lawyer – will be aware of the legal landscapeMiddle East crisis – live updatesUK politics live – latest updatesAs Keir Starmer considers whether Britain should support the US if Donald Trump decides to bomb Iran, the attorney general, Richard Hermer, has reportedly warned him that UK involvement could be illegal. The prime minister was an outspoken opponent of the Iraq war when he was a human rights lawyer in 2003 and will be well aware of the thorny legal issues around engagement in strikes against Iran. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Israeli attacks revive bitter Iranian memories of 1980s Iraq war

Even some critics of the Islamic regime have rallied to the government in the face of a common enemy

Events

3 w. ago Student jailed for life for trying to stab MP to death after being radicalised online by extremist preacher is to be freed after just 15 years

Roshonara Choudhry was just 21 when she was jailed for life at the Old Bailey in 2010 for trying to murder Labour MP Stephen Timms because he voted in favour of the Iraq War.

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3 w. ago Blix Not Bombs review – former UN weapons inspector revisits the Iraq war

Greta Stocklassová’s documentary films Hans Blix, aged 97, and asks about his role in the war, WMD, and why his world of diplomacy has now disappearedAt the age of 97, entirely lucid, still writing books and physically spry enough to be shown swimming in a Norwegian lake, former UN weapons inspector Hans Blix has given an extended interview to the Czech-born Swedish film-maker Greta Stocklassová about his life and times, about George W Bush Jr, Saddam Hussein and the weapons of mass destruction that were not there. The result is insightful and a vivid time capsule for the grim and mendacious era of the “war on terror”, during which Blix was tasked with discovering the truth about Saddam’s supposed weapons. The film is also unexpectedly spiky, with Blix at one stage threatening to walk out, as Stocklassová presses him on his apparent fence-sitting, then as now, insisting on an absence of evidence for WMD but also reluctant to commit himself definitively to this being evidence of abse...

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