Iran Claims Gulf Aluminum Plant Attacks Amid Expanding Regional Conflict
Reports emerging Sunday from Tehran claim successful attacks on two significant aluminum plants in the Persian Gulf. This assertion arrives as the broader conflict, initiated on February 28th by a joint US-Israeli offensive against Iran, continues to metastasize across the region, pulling in groups like Yemen's Ansarullah, commonly known as the Houthis, into direct action. Mainstream outlets like
Al-Monitor, dutifully reporting on these developments, present the US involvement as an ongoing 'war that began on February 28 with US-Israeli attacks on Iran,' yet often frame the US role as merely supportive or reactive rather than outright aggression. This conveniently sidesteps decades of destabilization and Washington's consistent military posturing in the Gulf, allowing The New York Times,
for instance, to label US actions as 'defensive' even as B-52s patrol the Strait of Hormuz. The US has been fighting alongside Israel in this military operation since its inception, making it a direct participant and joint aggressor, not an innocent bystander. What the headlines consistently miss is the dollar amount. The US military maintains an estimated 45,000 to 60,000 personnel deployed
across dozens of bases in the Middle East, costing taxpayers billions annually to project power and enforce a regional order beneficial primarily to Washington and Tel Aviv. This includes over $3.8 billion in annual military aid to Israel, a sum guaranteed even during a manufactured 'ceasefire.' Remember the USS Vincennes' deliberate shootdown of Iran Air Flight 655 in 1988, killing 290 civilians,