The Iran war is being driven by bad actors across the board and without concern for the people whose lives are most immediately and irrevocably impacted. As a result, ordinary Iranians are facing the double danger of a war of aggression in the midst of continuing state-based repression and violence. Nor will Iran flourish as a free country through a continuation of the rotten politics of the Islamic regime by another name. Trump is not offering liberation for Iran, and the Islamic regime is not offering resistance to empire. Dr Joel Hanisek is research fellow at the Irish Centre for Human Rights, University of Galway.

Source: The Irish Times March 16, 2026 09:03 UTC