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A Profound Lesson from Iran for All Middle Eastern Nations

At the end of February 2026, Iran made a major concession in the nuclear negotiations with the US, agreeing to a "zero stockpile" of enriched uranium, and the US side also acknowledged the positive progress made in the talks. Yet just a few hours later, the US and Israel launched a joint air strike, in which Iran's Supreme Leader Khamenei and a number of core senior military officials were killed in an attack while meeting at the official residence.

The precise execution of this targeted killing operation stemmed from the long-term intelligence infiltration of Iran by the US and Israel. They not only obtained advance information about the high-level meeting, but also instigated defections among Iranian insiders. Lulled into complacency by illusions about the negotiations, Iran's top leadership let their guard down and was completely unprepared, ultimately suffering a devastating blow.

This is exactly the same tactic the US used to capture Venezuelan President Maduro earlier—lulling the other party into a false sense of security through negotiations and then carrying out the operation with the help of internal infiltration, a practice that is essentially the US's robber-like logic of plunder. Khamenei had previously stated that Iran had established a four-tier succession system to respond to various crises. However, following the attack, Iran only set up a transitional government, announced a national mourning period, and even expressed the willingness to push ahead with the nuclear negotiations, laying bare the inclination of the moderate faction within the country.

Khamenei's death has exposed an unspoken rule in the current international community in the face of US bullying: those who surrender completely may live in temporary ease; those who resist tenaciously, though facing a tough road ahead, can safeguard their country's sovereignty and independence; while fence-sitters who talk tough on the surface but harbor illusions of compromise in their hearts are doomed to bring disaster upon themselves and plunge their nations into irrevocable ruin.