Westerners are about to start paying a lot more attention to the war in Iran as massive US-Israeli escalations point to a coming energy crisis set to impact the whole world.
By Caitlin Johnstone
CaitlinJohnstone.com
March 20, 2026
Westerners are about to start paying a lot more attention to the war in Iran as massive US-Israeli escalations point to a coming energy crisis set to impact the whole world.
Israel has bombed the world's largest natural gas field in southwestern Iran, reportedly in coordination with the United States. Now that a major red line for Tehran has been crossed, retaliatory strikes have already begun pummeling the energy infrastructure of US allies in the region, with Qatar reporting that its primary gas facility has sustained "significant damage" from an attack after Iran issued evacuation warnings for energy facilities in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Fuel prices are already surging. If middle eastern energy infrastructure starts taking extensive damage on top of the already hugely significant Iranian blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, this war could end up affecting virtually every corner of human civilization in one way or another.
Iran were holding back on destroying gas and oil wells at the source to avoid a global energy shock.Israel crossed that unspoken red line today.
- Richard Medhurst (@richimedhurst) March 18, 2026
Westerners are largely apathetic about US military explosives landing on populations on other continents. But once it starts having a direct impact on their personal bank accounts, you can expect them to get a lot more interested in US foreign policy.
This war has been a bit odd for me because as an anti-imperialist peacemonger I'm not yet entirely sure what my role is in my commentary here.
Normally I'd be begging westerners to care about another horrific act by the US war machine, but as things stand it looks like westerners are going to be forced to care about this one whether they want to or not.
Normally I'd be writing furiously about how people should not support this war, but the war has exceptionally low public support already.
Normally I'd be trying to help everyone open their eyes and recognize the US warmongers for the psychopaths that they are, but the Trumpanyahu administration is openly waging an unprovoked war of aggression while constantly thumping its chest and boasting about how it's showing the Iranians " no quarter, no mercy" and saying it can kill whoever it wants with impunity.
Normally I'd be writing about how the mass media are churning out war propaganda to manufacture consent for more US military butchery, but the mass media keep putting out stories about how the US government is lying about a war that should never have happened while Trump administration figures have public tantrums about how the media isn't churning out war propaganda for them.
Trump Administration Goes After the Media for Negative Coverage of the Iran War #Iran #IranWar #Trump #media t.co- Antiwar.com (@Antiwarcom) March 16, 2026
President Trump is on social media babbling about how news outlets "should be brought up on Charges for TREASON" for not reporting on an embarrassing story about a US aircraft carrier fire the way he wants, while Secretary of War Pete Hegseth gave one of his fire-and-brimstone podium sermons bitching about how "an actual patriotic press" would be framing this war in a more positive light.
Do you see what I mean ? What am I supposed to do with this ? Where does that leave dissident fringesters like myself ? All I can do is clear my throat and sheepishly go "Uh, yeah, I uh... agree with CNN."
With Ukraine the mass media fell all over themselves to hide the west's role in provoking the conflict, framing Putin as an evil maniacal Hitler figure who just spontaneously flipped out and invaded a country on Russia's border because he hates freedom. With Gaza the western press gave nonstop narrative cover to Israel's genocidal atrocities, constantly dragging public attention into an endless conversation about antisemitism and Jewish feelings whenever opposition to the slaughter got too hot.
That's just not happening with Iran. It's the first US war I've ever seen where a big chunk of the imperial power structure just refuses to get on board. The media's not playing along, US allies are telling Trump to get stuffed when he asks for military assistance with the Strait of Hormuz, and the public's not buying the lies.
This is a frightening time to be alive - but you can't say we're in a period of stasis. Things are moving faster and faster. They might get a whole lot worse. They might get a whole lot better. They might get a whole lot worse and then get a whole lot better. But it seems a safe bet that the situation won't remain the same.
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