The reckless, unjustifiable war we must have nothing to do with
Monday, 9 March 2026
Donna Miles is an Iranian-Kiwi columnist and writer based in Christchurch, and a regular opinion contributor.
OPINION: On Saturday evening, as exhausted but exhilarated visitors to Electric Avenue in Christchurch made their way home amid a spectacular fireworks display lighting the night sky, I learned that skies in my home country of Iran were ablaze too - but for a profoundly different reason.
For those closely following events, it was evident that the US-Israel war on Iran would devastate the region and far beyond. As I write this on Friday morning, more than 1000 Iranians have died, including 168 in a school bombing where many victims were young girls aged 7–12. They had all been told, “look up, we are bringing you democracy”.
The US has stated it is investigating the school bombing. Even if an Iranian interceptor caused the tragedy (Iran firmly denies this), those children would still be alive today had this illegal war of choice never begun.
Iran's restraint throughout last year’s 12-day conflict - to prevent wider regional escalation - was wrongly interpreted by the US and Israel as weakness. Despite decades of maximum sanctions, Iran has methodically strengthened its military capabilities in preparation for exactly this moment, aware that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has relentlessly pressed the US for war over the past 20 years, repeatedly claiming Iran was mere months from a nuclear weapon.
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Now, with the war underway, and the Iranian regime fighting for its survival, its missiles and drones have targeted the entire Gulf Cooperation Council states: Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, striking US military bases on their territory along with economic and civilian infrastructure.
Worse still, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Azerbaijan and Cyprus have all been drawn in. Hezbollah's involvement has plunged Beirut into chaos, with thousands fleeing southern suburbs following Israel's unprecedented full evacuation order. Iranians trapped in their homes (Trump said there will be bombs everywhere) are already exhausted and scared of relentless strikes that are traumatising their children.
The conflict's effects on the Strait of Hormuz - driven by Iranian threats, halted shipping, and insurance cancellations - have severely disrupted oil (roughly 20% of global supply) and LNG flows. The resulting surge in energy prices will soon hit here at home.
All of this stems from an unjustifiable, unnecessary war launched in the midst of negotiations that Oman's neutral foreign minister publicly described as having achieved a breakthrough.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio explained the US decision to enter the war on Iran as a preemptive measure driven by intelligence indicating that Israel was poised to launch its own strike against Iran, which would have inevitably provoked Iranian retaliation against American military bases and personnel in the region. His explanation appeared to concede that American foreign policy was being effectively dictated by Israel.
US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth has vowed “death and destruction from the sky all day long”, declaring “no stupid rules of engagement, no nation-building quagmire, no democracy-building exercise, no politically correct wars”.
Now Donald Trump speaks of boots on the ground - whether American, Israeli, Kurdish, or some combination - though details remain unclear. Such ground forces would not deter the Islamic regime, whose committed core (around 200,000 Revolutionary Guards and nearly 1 million Basij forces) stands ready to avenge the reckless killing of the elderly Supreme Leader, Khamenei.
His death has transformed his legacy from a figure overseeing repression, executions, and widespread economic hardship to a martyr killed by external enemies on Iranian soil - a fate no other modern Iranian head of state has shared.
Naser al-Din Shah was assassinated in 1896 by a domestic radical. Mohammad Ali Shah died in exile in San Remo, Italy; Ahmad Shah, the last Qajar monarch, died near Paris. The previous Shah and his father both died in exile - the latter in Johannesburg, the former in Morocco.
Unlike Iraq's Saddam Hussein, dragged out from his hiding hole in the ground, or Libya's Gaddafi, pulled from a drainage pipe, Khamenei was killed in his home - bestowed by the US and Israel the supreme honour in Shia tradition: martyrdom.
Khamenei's elimination removed a rigid leader who nonetheless restrained the regime's more reckless military elements, such as expanding the conflict to neighbouring Gulf states.
As the war unfolds and exposes its full horror, it will reshape the political outlook of diaspora Iranians who initially hailed it as liberation. They will soon see that neither fundamentalism nor imperialism can deliver democracy.
Had that same pro-war diaspora instead focused on easing maximum sanctions to let civil society breathe, genuine change might have followed. The remarkable Women Life Freedom movement of 2022 already secured a major victory for Iranian women by effectively ending compulsory hijab enforcement.
External attack does not erase internal grievances. This war is illegal, and we must demand our Government state its illegality with absolute clarity - not just to uphold New Zealand's proud tradition of defending international law, but to decisively shut the door on any future Kiwi involvement in this reckless Israeli war of choice.