THE festive mood from the New Year’s celebrations had not even begun to wear off, when the world appeared ready to plunge headfirst into another round of violence and war.
With protests against economic hardships turning into a bout of serious civil unrest in Iran, US President Donald Trump had on Friday issued an unwarranted threat to “respond” if Iran’s security forces killed protesters, prompting Tehran to respond with the ‘warning’ that such a development would destabilise the entire region. What was being said between the lines does not need to be spelt out for anyone.
The two countries had come face to face during the Twelve-Day War between Iran and Israel in June this past year, when the US had bombed three Iranian nuclear sites, and Iran had retaliated by hitting America’s Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar before a ceasefire was reached.
Unsurprisingly, Israel also features prominently in the recent flare-up between them.
But Mr Trump’s interventionist aspirations have not been limited to Iran.
On Saturday, after a night of bombs and terror in Venezuela, the US president announced on his social media platform that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, had been captured and flown out of the country.
A US official later told the media that special forces troops had taken part in America’s first direct intervention in Latin America since 1989.
It is worth mentioning that Mr Maduro had just days ago attempted to engage with Mr Trump on narco-trafficking and illegal migration, both of which had been sore issues in Mr Trump’s relationship with his southern neighbour. However, Mr Maduro personally believed that Mr Trump was really after Venezuela’s considerable oil reserves — a perception that was reinforced by multiple leaders from the Trump administration making varying claims on Venezuela’s resources.
The Venezuelan context is important for Iran and, indeed, the Middle East. It establishes that there are no limits or international laws when the powerful decide to seize what they want.
There is no doubt that the Iranian people are unhappy with their government for the economic misery they have been suffering. But whatever their grievances, they are for the people of Iran to settle amongst themselves.
That Israel is attempting to fan the unrest and the US is publicly providing guarantees to protesters suggests that the old playbook is being used again: yet another country is to be destabilised as an insurance policy for the state of Israel. The wider region and Iran’s neighbours, in particular, should take a stand against such interventionism, lest they want chaos and unrest at their own doorsteps.
Whatever the Iranian government’s failings, it has kept order despite being placed under immense economic strain by those now pretending to be friends of its people.
Published in Dawn, January 4th, 2026
