German Chancellor Friedrich Merz faces a delicate task on Tuesday when he visits Washington for a meeting with President Donald Trump, now overshadowed by the U.S.-Israeli attack that killed Iran‘s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei at the weekend.
Merz will be the first European leader to meet Trump since the start of the operation, which has blocked one of the world‘s key oil shipping lanes and thrown global air transport into chaos.
Iran poses no remotely plausible threat to the United States, the Constitution prohibits presidents from going to war without congressional approval, and only 21% of Americans support Donald Trump’s attack on the country. He doesn’t care about any of that.
Trump’s brand of gangster imperialism is at its most reckless. This attack is about regime change, but regime change by bombing has never succeeded. The history of the last 25 years is strewn with examples of supposedly bringing peace and democracy at the end of an American missile, and every time it has failed: in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, it has brought much greater death and destruction and created chaos and civil war – and ended in US defeat. In Syria, the new government is compliant with the US, but that took a decade and a half of civil war and bombing for the US to achieve and has left the country divided and wrecked. They will not care if Iran suffers the same fate.
The idea that the state responsible for a genocide in Gaza, aligned with one that has the overwhelming advantage in military power anywhere in the world, and has invaded far more countries than any other, is going to do anything to improve the lives of Iranians, would be an absolutely sick joke if it were not so dangerous. The assassination of Khamenei is in breach of international law, as was the Maduro kidnap.
Someday, this president may be known as the End-Times president, since he and his Republican confederates (and I use that word advisedly) seem remarkably intent on ensuring that this planet will indeed become a hellhole for our children and grandchildren.
President Trump has told the New York Post that he will not rule out sending U.S. troops into Iran.
„I don‘t have the yips with respect to boots on the ground. Like every president says, ‚There will be no boots on the ground.‘ I don‘t say it,“ Trump said, according to the New York Post. „I say, ‚probably don‘t need them,‘ [or] ‚if they were necessary.'“
The Israeli army has issued expulsion orders for 18 Lebanese villages and towns, claiming they are being used by Hezbollah. These include locations in the Nabatieh area, Tyre district and the Beqaa valley.
„During active combat – that included attacks from Iranian aircraft, ballistic missiles, and drones – the US Air Force fighter jets were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defences,“ it said in a statement.
„All six aircrew ejected safely, have been safely recovered, and are in stable condition. Kuwait has acknowledged this incident, and we are grateful for the efforts of the Kuwaiti defence forces and their support in this ongoing operation.“
Preliminary figures are 555 dead in Iran, at least 10 in Israel, four US soldiers and five killed in Gulf states.
Civilian deaths are growing as more attacks are reported in the capital and other parts of the country.
Kabul claims 55 civilians were killed in fighting sparked by retaliatory operations along the border, while Pakistan says more than 400 Afghan Taliban forces have died and denies targeting civilians.
Mohammad Raad, head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc ‚The Loyality for the Resistance,“ was killed in recent Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon, Israeli and Arab media reported on Monday, marking a sharp escalation in the ongoing confrontation along the Lebanese-Israeli border.
According to the Lebanese Health Ministry, the death toll since Israel launched its strikes at dawn on Monday has risen to 31 people across southern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs, with 149 others injured.
In the pre-dawn hours of Monday morning, Hezbollah opened a new front in the US-Israeli war against Iran when it launched “missiles and a swarm of drones” at a military base in northern Israel.
The Iran-backed militant group, which has its power base in southern Lebanon, called it revenge for the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Never mind that Israel says the attack did no damage. One projectile was intercepted, while others fell in open areas.
Or that Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam called it “an irresponsible and suspicious act,” and banned Hezbollah’s military activities.
Israel has been poised for this moment for months.
For these three men — Lapid, Golan, and Bennett — no task is supposedly more urgent than replacing Netanyahu’s blood-soaked, Kahanist government, which has led the country to unprecedented depths. They understand how dangerous he is. They know the devastation another term would bring.
Yet the moment the smell of war fills the air, all these insights evaporate, replaced by automatic reverence to the Israeli war machine. It is as if the very idea that a war can be opposed simply does not exist within their cognitive framework.
The survey also found that Keir Starmer’s approval rating has hit a record low, with just 15% of respondents approving of his leadership, giving him a net score of -49. The figure is lower than that of Theresa May, Boris Johnson, or Rishi Sunak at the least popular points in their premierships.
This poll follows Labour’s crushing defeat in the Gorton and Denton by-election earlier this week, where the Green Party captured a seat it had never won before
As news of the military action broke, the 43-year-old London Assembly member wrote on social media: „This is an illegal, unprovoked and brutal attack that shows once again that the USA and Israel are rogue states.“
„The UK must end our cosy relationship with the USA and our ongoing support for Israel.
He added: „There is only one nuclear armed state in the Middle East. It is Israel.“
(March 1, 2026)
Green Party leader Zack Polanski has condemned the recent US military strikes on Iran, calling them ‘illegal and unprovoked’. The strikes, which resulted in the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have led to retaliatory missile attacks across the Middle East. Polanski argued that international law is eroding and criticised the UK government’s failure to condemn America’s actions. He called for the UK to sever ties with the US over these military actions and urged Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to take a stronger stance in supporting international law and de-escalation.
„We have taken the decision to accept this request to prevent Iran from firing missiles across the region, killing innocent civilians, putting British lives at risk and hitting countries that have not been involved.
„The basis of our decision is the collective self-defence of long-standing friends and allies, and protecting British lives.“
The UK reportedly shot down a missile heading towards a base housing its service personnel in Iraq on Saturday.
Only one in four Americans approves of the U.S. strikes that killed Iran’s leader, while about half — including one in four Republicans — believe President Donald Trump is too willing to use military force, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that concluded on Sunday.
Some 27% of respondents said they approved of the strikes, while 43% disapproved and 29% were not sure. About nine in 10 respondents said they had heard at least a little about the strikes, which began early on Saturday.