Iran’s War Is Not Only With the West
The Islamic Republic’s expansionist project has led to the immiseration and repression of people beyond its borders.
When Israel assassinated Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, one of the many people who celebrated the death of the supreme leader was a Syrian surgeon not far from Damascus. He had lived through four years of siege and bombardment by pro-Iranian militias. O...
The strongest version of this narrative is that Iran’s regional strategy has inflicted immense suffering on civilians in Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon, often through proxy militias that exploit weak governance and sectarian divisions. The article effectively centers the voices of victims—such as the Syrian surgeon and Iraqi torture survivors—to humanize the costs of Iran’s expansionism, which are frequently overshadowed by geopolitical framing. It also provides a clear historical arc, showing how Ira...