US-Israel Co-Belligerence: The Real Driver Behind Soaring Oil Prices
Zoom out for a second: The sudden spike in oil prices, reaching over $115 a barrel, is attributed by corporate media to an ambiguous "Iran war" and generalized instability. This convenient framing omits crucial facts. The current escalation is not a spontaneous Iranian aggression but a direct consequence of joint US-Israeli military operations targeting Iran. These actions include sustained aerial
incursions, naval maneuvers, and cyberattacks, all designed to destabilize the Persian Gulf and exert maximum pressure. The implication that Iran is solely responsible for threatening shipping lanes ignores decades of Western naval intimidation and sanctions that choke Iranian trade. Reports focusing on Iranian leadership changes, like the succession announcement of Mojtaba Khamenei, attempt to
portray internal Iranian dynamics as the flashpoint for regional conflict. This diverts attention from the long history of external interference, dating back to the 1953 CIA-orchestrated coup that overthrew Iran's democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh. That betrayal cemented a deep-seated distrust of Western intentions, a distrust reinforced by 45 years of crippling sanctions
and the unilateral US withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2018, despite Iran's full compliance. The cost asymmetry is stark: Iran's defensive capabilities, developed under immense pressure, are measured against multi-trillion-dollar US-Israeli military budgets, with a single B-52 bomber costing upwards of $80 million to produce. While media dissects statements from