Iran has the right to defend itself.
Sure, but shooting rockets at everyone in the neighbourhood including civilians isn’t defending oneself. What Iran is doing is terrorism, attacking civilians in an effort to pressure the governments in the region.
Which is exactly why I used the phrase typically used to excuse Israel’s actions.
Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis all fire rockets at civilian population centers in Israel. Counter-attacking them can be considered Israel defending themselves.
Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan and Oman have not fired rockets (or weapons of any kind) at Iran. Counter-attacking the US and Israel would be defending themselves. What Iran is doing by not limiting themselves to counter attacking those attacking them is creating terror in the region. They’re being terrorists.
So your whole argument is about labelling this or that side “terrorist”? This is about moralizing an illegal war? Cry me a fucking river.
Do you think if someone commits a crime against you, you are entitled to commit crimes against any bystander you feel like?
That’s what Iran is doing, committing crimes against the peoples of Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan and Oman.
My behaviour is judged by the laws of the country I live in.
The behaviour of countries is judged by international law.
When the USA and Israel launched this war of choice, they stepped outside international law.
In the absence of credibly enforced international law, the only thing we have to go by is historical precedent.
Historical precedent says that junior allies being attacked in retaliation for the acts of their senior allies is extremely commonplace. So Iran is not being “terroristic” in any kind of historically exceptional way. We don’t talk about Napoleon being a “terrorist” for invading Portugal in 1807 to get at the UK. The Iranians are fighting a war the same way wars have been fought since Hannibal laid siege to Saguntum. Retaliatory attacks against offshored military facilities and materially participating coalition partners are just a recurring feature of warfare. To be clear: I’m not justifying Iran here, I’m de-exceptionalizing their conduct of warfare.
If somehow enforcement of international law were to be re-instated, and I absolutely would want that to be the case, then Iran’s war crimes (such as any targeting of civilians) should be judged with exactly the same severity as the ones of the USA and Israel who actually started this war in the first place.
If you actually care about civilian casualties, and you’re not just being a campist for the US/Israel, you should be condemning the entire illegal war to begin with. Without US/Israeli adventurism, none of this would have happened. Are you anti-war? Or just anti-Iran?
The US attacks while Iran lashes out huh? I already hate the linguistic slant.
The distinction is that Iran didn’t attack the US back. It attacked its neighbors.
But Iran did attack the US back.
Iran usually attacks US military bases, equipment and personal which are harboured by their vassal states surrounding Iran.
The USrael usually mass murder school girls, flatten hospitals or call civilians terrorists to excuse their slaughter.
Also, AP frames it as if the initial attacks stem from Iran towards ships in the Strait of Hormuz, all the while ignoring, that part of the MoU was for Israel to stop the ethnic cleansing and annexation of southern Libanon, which of course they didn’t adhere to.
Sure no one doubts Iran’s motivation is outrage. So calling their actions as “lashing out” seems appropriate. If they only hit the US back, it would be called a “counter-attack” or something along those lines. Firing rockets at everyone in the neighbourhood is a strategic mistake, obviously emotionally motivated.
Good to look at other sources and claims. AP news has been getting more shoddy with their editing and language. They’re not as unbiased as they used to be even a few years ago.
In response, the Guards said they had destroyed a command-and-control centre and drone hangars in U.S. ally Jordan, targeted a U.S. radar site in Kuwait, attacked U.S. aircraft carrier support and refueling platforms in Oman and destroyed a jet maintenance centre and command facility in Qatar.
Note: and Reuters published this a full day before AP news. So this claim and quote from the IRGC was already available and public knowledge, but AP news took a full day to get more information and not include it.
Agreed, if they’d struck back at US the headline would read-
‘US attacks Iran over ship being hit in Strait of Hormuz; Tehran Retaliates’
