Israel and the US continued to attack Iran for the tenth consecutive day on Monday, with explosions reported in Qom and Tehran hours after Israeli strikes on oil facilities sent toxic smoke across the Iranian capital. The scale of the devastation is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. According to the Iranian health ministry, at least 1,255 people have been killed in Iran, including around 200 children. Civilian casualties on this scale underline the brutal human cost of a conflict that is rapidly spiralling beyond the bounds of law, restraint, or reason. The war has already crossed dangerous thresholds. When news emerged on Sunday that a consensus had been reached on the successor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei following his martyrdom, the Israeli military issued a chilling threat: it would pursue every successor to Khamenei. In a defiant move, Iran selected Mojtaba Khamenei – the son of the slain leader – as its new supreme leader. The 56-year-old cleric, whose wife was also reportedly killed in the same strike that martyred his father, has assumed leadership despite strong opposition from Washington.
In a recent video message, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian apologised to neighbouring countries for attacks that had taken place across the region, stressing that they would not be targeted unless attacks originated from them. Yet this attempt to reassure neighbouring states was immediately twisted by Washington, with Trump taking to his Truth Social platform and saying that Iran had apologised and effectively surrendered to its Middle Eastern neighbours. Meanwhile, the war itself is pushing the limits of international law. Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi has rightly condemned the US attack on Iran’s freshwater desalination plant and warned Washington of “grave consequences”. Targeting water infrastructure is a humanitarian catastrophe in the making. History offers grim lessons about what happens when water supplies are disrupted for millions of civilians. Reports from elsewhere in the region are equally troubling. The US is said to be pressuring Sri Lanka not to repatriate survivors from an Iranian warship that was sunk last week, as well as the crew of another Iranian vessel currently in Sri Lankan custody. The truth is that the usual legal and moral boundaries have already collapsed and this happened during Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Israel and its closest ally are now repeatedly committing actions that amount to war crimes while simultaneously destabilising the international system. There is also the grim reality of what happens when an unjust war unfolds: the violence quickly exceeds even the expectations of those who once supported it.
The regional fallout is already becoming evident. Iranian missiles and drones have continued targeting facilities linked to US military presence across the Gulf, and the conflict is now threatening neighbouring states. Bahrain’s state oil company declared force majeure on Monday after its refinery caught fire following an Iranian strike. The danger now is that Gulf Cooperation Council states could become active participants in the conflict. If that happens, the consequences will extend far beyond the Middle East. Countries such as Turkiye and Pakistan could find themselves drawn into an expanding confrontation they did not seek. The economic implications are equally alarming. The Strait of Hormuz has effectively been shut down. Oil and gas production across parts of the Gulf region is being disrupted. Oil prices are rising sharply, supplies are tightening and financial markets are reacting with visible anxiety. From crashing markets to surging energy costs, the ripple effects of this war could test the resilience of the global economy in ways not seen for decades. The war increasingly appears to be driven by Israeli strategic objectives, with the US providing decisive military backing. If international institutions, regional powers and global leaders fail to intervene diplomatically, this war could reshape the geopolitical landscape in profoundly dangerous ways. The humanitarian toll is already severe and the economic fallout could affect billions of people far beyond the Middle East. The world must come together to stop this escalating and illegal conflict before its costs become irreversible.
