US attacks on Iran push the world towards chaos
Trump wants to decapitate the Iranian regime. But the danger now is a proliferating conflict that runs out of control
I am obviously staying across the US/Israel vs Iran war very closely right now, in-between finishing the final copyedit of my book Reds: A Global History of Communism, which comes out 27 August 2026. I’m posting below the text of yesterday’s article for The New World, (where I am a contributing editor) whose own Substack is available here. This is a subscriber-only post. If you want to sign up to The New World please go here.
The sight of an Iranian missile crashing into the US 5th Fleet’s base in Bahrain, just hours after Trump declared war on the Islamic Republic, should be a stark reminder of the danger the regime poses: not just to its own citizens but to us.
Iran’s ballistic missiles can hit Greece; its cruise missiles can reach Sicily – putting key Nato allies within range, as well as British bases on Cyprus. All it would take to extend that range to London would be for China or Russia to hand the regime one of their own long-range missiles, or the technology to build one. Add to that the nuclear weapon the mullahs have been trying to build and there is clear jeopardy.
