Source: Washington Post
by Shadi Hamid
“Tuesday’s strike was an odd but telling maneuver: kill the people you’re trying to negotiate with to prolong the war you say you’re trying to end. But it wasn’t the first time. In strikes on Tehran in June, Israel tried to assassinate Ali Shamkhani, the Iranian official overseeing nuclear talks with the Trump administration. … There is indeed a double standard at play, but not in the way that is often assumed. Israel is the only country in the Middle East that appears to have an unlimited right to defend itself, while simultaneously denying that right to others. It can act with impunity across international borders, violate sovereignty and disrupt diplomatic processes — consequences be damned. No other country in the region, or anywhere else, enjoys such latitude. This isn’t only about Israel, though. It’s about us — about America’s willingness to enable behavior that we would condemn from any other nation.” (09/11/25)