RT.com – March 1, 2026
The US-Israeli strikes on Iran are unlikely to trigger regime change and risk escalating into a wider geopolitical confrontation, former Pentagon security policy analyst Michael Maloof has told RT.
Washington and West Jerusalem launched what they described as a “preemptive” attack on the Islamic Republic after nuclear talks failed to produce a breakthrough, prompting retaliation from Iran. Tehran responded with missile and drone strikes targeting Israel and US military bases across the region.
In an interview with RT on Saturday, Maloof said the timing of the attack had likely been finalized during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Mar-a-Lago on February 12, despite President Donald Trump publicly insisting that negotiations with Tehran were ongoing.
“The United States has always done Israel’s bidding. Netanyahu basically controls Trump,” Maloof claimed, adding that the US president has effectively pursued the Israeli PM’s vision of “a greater Israel to encompass all the Arab countries.”
Trump openly declared his goal to force regime change in Tehran, but efforts to topple Iran’s government would face major obstacles, according to Maloof.
“Regime change is something that is going to be difficult, especially in Iran, where they’re very, very set. They have a government in place,” he said. Even with the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps would likely keep the country functioning as a “cohesive nation-state.”
At the same time, he described the strikes as part of a broader strategic confrontation extending beyond Iran’s nuclear or missile programs, noting how the US president has been openly critical of BRICS and China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
“And Iran just happened to be a very critical component to that, with Russia and with China,” Maloof said. “I think Trump bit off more than he could chew on this one.”
“These attacks are gonna affect the whole economic world order, literally overnight. So we’re in for a long, hard slug here,” Maloof said, adding that “it’s easy to start a war, but [it’s harder to know] how to stop one.”
a scottish charity to install paediatric operating theatres in West Bank amid rising demand from the wounded
Story by Neil Pooran • 7h •A Scottish charity is to install three paediatric operating theatres in the West Bank to help hospitals meet demand for children’s surgery “for many years to come”.
This is so necessary to see the injured kids being carried in, and there was little we could do for them
one unnamed UK pop star paid for a fully operation ambulance for gaza, it was a wonderful gesture within the week the IDF blew it up
The Kids Operating Room has committed to establishing theatres in Bethlehem, Hebron and Jericho in existing hospitals. Medics in the Palestinian territory say the current hospital infrastructure is struggling to cope with a rising need for paediatric surgery.
The charity uses a hub in Dundee to assemble medical equipment for paediatric facilities in countries experiencing humanitarian crises.
It recently installed six theatres in Ukraine which can be powered by solar energy, meaning they can continue working during blackouts
The first theatre in the West Bank will be built at Al-Ahli Hospital in Hebron.
Kids Operating Room is launching an appeal to raise £320,000 to help fund the facility.
Staff have already visited the site to assess how the new theatre will function.
David Cunningham, chief executive of Kids Operating Room, said: “Safe surgery is not a temporary requirement, it is a permanent part of a functioning health system.
“Children across the West Bank face significant barriers to accessing safe surgery after being bombed and starved and these operating rooms are designed to international clinical standards and built to serve communities for decades.
We wish to thank the scottish people in particular for their generosity
Iran should remind Trump he was warned many times his naked aggression would set off a series of events. First they’ll use up the old munitions then start sending the new, then they’ll turn Israel into Gaza and force a US capitulation. That process has only just begun.
Which part of f**ked up does Trump not understand?
you may be right but which party do you represent that would explain much
Yet again the US engages in so-called ‘Talks’ while planning a surprise attack. The world now understands that nothing that America says can be trusted. This will effect every deal that America tries to do. The US is now a pariah state.
NO PEACE PRICE YOU BIGMOUTH !
GO TO HELL WITH SATANJAHU !
From RT:
“RT Arabic office in Tehran evacuated after nearby strike!” No one hurt and the “strike” was a gas leak in the building.
“Put-in holds crisis calls with Gulf leaders – “Put-in also held a phone call with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, with both sides expressing serious concern over the risks of escalation of the conflict and stressing the urgent need for diplomacy”, after “Muzzy friendly fire” knocks down 3 F15’s in the troubled region but no one was hurt!
Yeah that’s what the world needs, right? “A return to the political and diplomatic sphere”. Remember “diplomatic spheres” of Bone saw Bin’s past? Or of Trumpy “inviting” a head of State for dinner or rocket man a great Iranian General and leader to hell? YES! That’s what we the world needs. Return to Kosher Diplomacy!
Remember WWII? Remember Dresden? Hamburg? Dortmund? Yeah, that was Diplomacy and masses died for a better and far more peaceful world – Now on everyone’s personal brainwave screens! Hail Nutjobyahoo! And let Jermany keep you safe. At least until the Pole shift (in Jewish power) occurs!
@Anonymous:
“Yet again the US engages in so-called ‘Talks’ while planning a surprise attack”
This is a very Jewish, “time honored” way of dealing with non Jews, not only in politics but also in every aspect of life.
Always so treacherous