Matthew Ehret
Washington's
imperial ambitions and Tel Aviv's fanaticism have pushed the world to the brink
of nuclear annihilation. But Iran's integration into the Eurasian axis offers
humanity a vital off-ramp.
The world now teeters on the edge
of a nuclear abyss, and were it left solely to the machinations of the US and
the Israeli occupation state, we would have long since plunged into the
inferno.
Before the joint US-Israeli
assault on Iran, the world stood on the cusp of resolving the crisis over the
Islamic Republic’s nuclear program. On 9 June, Russia and Iran signed a
sweeping new agreement aimed not only at restructuring West Asia's energy architecture
but also at offering a critical offramp from the road to war.
Russia's final warning to the
empire
This agreement involves Russia’s
Rosatom building at least eight new atomic reactors in Iran. Mohammad Eslami,
Iran’s Atomic Energy chief stated that “We have a contract with Russia to
construct eight nuclear power plants in Iran, four of which will be in
Bushehr.”
This project was largely the
outgrowth of the 25-year Russia–Iran Comprehensive Strategic Pact ratified by
the Iranian parliament on 21 May and will be funded by Russia while providing
over 10 gigawatts (GW) of energy to Iran. According to current plans, Iran
intends to “increase nuclear power capacity to 20,000 megawatts (20 GW) by
2041.”
This agreement came days after
Moscow extended an offer to salvage the stalled US–Iran nuclear negotiations by
removing enriched uranium from Iranian soil and converting it into fuel for
civilian reactors.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister
Sergei Ryabkov declared on 11 June, “We are ready to provide assistance to both
Washington and Tehran, not only politically, not only in the form of ideas that
could be of use in the negotiation process, but also practically: for example,
through the export of excess nuclear material produced by Iran and its
subsequent adaptation to the production of fuel for reactors.”
This initiative, however, proved
to be Moscow’s last act of good faith. As The Cradle reported, Moscow viewed
the subsequent US-Israeli strikes on Iran as a grave betrayal, effectively
ending any illusion that Washington sought a peaceful resolution. Russian
officials, blindsided by the aggression, have since resolved to abandon their
role as mediator and stand firmly with Tehran against further western
escalation.
So why would Israel and the US
choose this moment to escalate? The answer is clear: Iran's nuclear program was
never the issue.
At the heart of Tel Aviv's
calculus is the Islamic Republic's defiant challenge to the Zionist and
imperial order. Beyond its support for resistance movements, Iran has played an
outsized role in eroding western power by forging Eurasian economic and strategic
alliances that bypass dollar hegemony and weaken US leverage.
These systemic threats, combined
with Tehran's refusal to submit to the Greater Israel project – an
eschatological mission to rebuild Solomon's Temple and establish a New World
Order – have made Iran an unrelenting obstacle to western designs in West Asia.
Iran is not only a pillar of
regional stability, having launched no war since 1736 and displaying
extraordinary patience in the face of decades of western provocation. It has
also become the lynchpin of Eurasian integration, anchoring both the East–West Belt
and Road Initiative (BRI) and the north-south International North–South
Transportation Corridor (INSTC).
Rail as the artery of a
multipolar future
On 24 May, a new 8,400-kilometer
rail corridor linking China's Xi'an to Iran's Aprin Dry Port was inaugurated.
Dubbed a “silent revolution” in interconnectivity, this rail line slashes 16
days off traditional sea routes and consolidates a vital artery in the BRI,
seamlessly connecting with the INSTC.
Chinese diplomat Wang Wenbin
aptly described it as “a win-win for peace, development, and cooperation. The
train to Iran is the train to the future.”
As Ritu Sharma noted in the
Eurasian Times, “With no US military presence along the rail line, Tehran can
export oil and import goods from Beijing without Washington's prying eyes.”
Beyond China, Iran's restored
rail connections with Pakistan and Turkiye – the latter reactivated in 2022
after a decade-long hiatus – form a 5,981-kilometer corridor transporting goods
from Istanbul to Islamabad in just 13 days, down from the 35 required by sea.
Extensions into China's Xinjiang region are already underway.
Standard gauge upgrades in
Pakistan and ongoing construction on the Iran–Pakistan segment further
integrate regional rail infrastructure. Meanwhile, the INSTC, conceived in 2001
by Russia, Iran, and India, is finally coming to fruition with over a dozen active
participants across both sides of the Caspian Sea and including multimodal sea
lines on the Caspian itself.
A newly operational line linking
Pakistan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Russia's Ulyanovsk now enables
direct trade of energy and industrial goods, while expanding access to Central
Asian markets.
In the south, plans to extend
Iran's Chabahar Port via a 700-kilometer rail link to Zahedan – providing
landlocked Afghanistan with vital trade access – are set for completion in
2026. However, New Delhi's obsequious refusal to condemn US-Israeli aggression
has cast a shadow over the project's future.
IMEC and the delusions of empire
Compared to these game-changing
Eurasian corridors, the US-backed India–Middle East–Europe Corridor (IMEC),
launched in 2023, is a geopolitical farce.
Whereas China backs its vision
with robust national banking and real infrastructure, the IMEC consortium – led
by India, Israel, and the EU – has built nothing tangible in two years. Bereft
of credit mechanisms, energy planning, or large-scale logistics, it exists
primarily as a marketing stunt, dressed up as a “Modern Day Spice Route.”
This failed project joins a long
line of western-led Belt and Road clones, from the “Green Belt Initiative” to
“Build Back Better World,” the $600 billion “Partnership for Global
Infrastructure and Investment,” and the €300 billion ($327 billion) “Global
Gateway.” All collapsed for the same reason: the west's structural inability to
build.
After decades of
deindustrialization, dependence on cheap labor, and casino capitalism, the
trans-Atlantic economies can no longer produce, construct, or strategize
without relying on the destruction of weaker nations to maintain unipolar
dominance.
BRICS+ and the New Economic Order
In stark contrast, BRICS+ nations
bring a different legacy. China alone has constructed over 42,000 kilometers of
high-speed rail, including the world's only functional maglev railways, and
dozens of advanced cities within two decades.
It leads in quantum computing,
space science, and nuclear power – planning to build 150 new reactors by 2035.
Its state institutions retain control over the private sector, unlike in the
deregulated west.
Together with Russia, China
offers real technology transfers and cooperative development models to poorer
states, enabling them to build full-spectrum, sovereign economies.
Meanwhile, the US dollar system,
propped up by a $1.2 quadrillion derivatives bubble, is approaching implosion.
A new system is coming. The question is: Who will design it, and to whose
benefit?
Russia and China have made clear
they stand by Iran, condemning Israeli aggression and urging de-escalation.
Even US President Donald Trump has at least hinted at restraint when he said he
will “wait at least two weeks” before acting, and gesturing toward renewed
diplomacy.
The Arab dilemma: multipolarity
or servitude
Success depends partly on the
resolve of West Asian, Asia-Pacific, and African states that continue to
straddle both unipolar and multipolar camps. In recent years, Iran has fostered
rapprochement with Sunni-led states such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Turkiye,
Kuwait, and Egypt, raising hopes for a long-elusive Muslim coalition based on
shared civilizational purpose.
But can they be trusted? Ask
Bashar al-Assad, Muammar Gaddafi, or Saddam Hussein.
Whatever one's assessment, the
time has come for the collective west to atone for its imperial crimes. Iran
has paid dearly in blood and sovereignty, and Tel Aviv's leaders may have
inflicted more damage on the future of Judaism – and the occupation state's own
survival – than any enemy in history.
Assuming nuclear war is averted,
the multipolar alliance must now double down on survival, solidify a new
integrated economy, and anchor its foundations in a steadfast partnership with
Iran.
If the Global South's
fence-sitters fail to choose principle, sovereignty, and long-term vision over
servitude to empire, then the road to a just, post-imperial future may remain
perilously out of reach.
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