In one of the most decisive turning points of our time, the United States and Israel launched a military campaign against Iran that marked the death of Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader who for more than three decades embodied a theocratic and bloodthirsty regime, an opponent of every ideal of freedom and openness to the West.

This is no mere episode of war in the Middle East, but a historic junction of civilisation. For too long, Iran – a country with a millenary culture, a rich scientific tradition and a presence at the heart of human history – has been ruled by a political system that represses individual freedom, persecutes dissidents, harbours military apparatuses comparable to states within states and uses its influence to destabilise its neighbours.

The nuclear node

The decisive action of the United States and Israel, often misunderstood as mere ‘war’, must be read in the broader light of preventing nuclear proliferation and defending a world order that believes in the peaceful coexistence of peoples.

For decades, attempts have been made, by diplomatic means, to defuse Tehran’s atomic ambitions: talks, sanctions, multilateral mediations. But faced with the systematic denial of transparency and the continuing militarisation of the regime, diplomacy has gradually lost effectiveness.

Thejoint military intervention – based on a shared strategic vision of defence and deterrence – was conceived precisely to break the nuclear threat spiral, which could never remain just a regional issue.

Iran’s nuclear programme is not just a technical dossier. It is the expression of a political vision incompatible with the security of European nations and the aspiration of young Iranians for a future of rights and opportunities.

A clash of visions

Today, part of the Western debate reduces this campaign to an exercise in imperialist force. This is a superficial reading.

Here we are facing something deeper: a clash between a political model founded on individual freedom, pluralism, the rule of law – and a theocratic system that concentrates religious, military and political power in a single structure impervious to dissent.

It is not a ‘religious war’. It is a clash between those who consider the individual as a holder of rights and those who subordinate the individual to a totalising ideology.

The voice of the diaspora

Beyond the military dynamics, what matters most is the prospect of internal transformation. The protests of recent years – often led by women, students, young professionals – have shown that there is a silent but powerful force in Iran: the desire for freedom.

In many Western cities, diaspora communities expressed support for the weakening of the regime, seeing it as a historic opportunity. Not out of a spirit of revenge, but out of hope for a different Iran: secular, open, integrated into the international community.

The idea that a people cannot free themselves because their regime is ‘too stable’ is a form of cynicism that history has already disproved many times.

Peace as a courageous choice

The challenge before us is not an easy one. The risk of regional escalation exists, and we are feeling it in these hours. The mistakes of the past teach caution.

But I strongly reject the idea that the defence of freedom is a rhetorical pretext. Nuclear non-proliferation is not an empty word: it is a barrier against catastrophe.

Peace has never been the absence of conflict. It is the result of difficult choices, sometimes painful, but geared towards preventing greater threats.

If the weakening of a theocratic regime opens a window for a political transition led by the Iranians themselves, then the action of these days could be remembered not as the beginning of a war, but as thebeginning of a possibility.

A chance for the Lion People – and for a Middle East finally free of the nuclear threat.

Read also:

Iran, a change of faces is not enough: regime change is needed (or China will come); P.Falasca, L’Europeista

Missiles with closed markets: Iran and the synchronisation of war and global finance; F.Zangheratti, L’Europeista