America’s attack on Iran turns a taboo into a method

America’s long-running quarrel with the Islamic Republic has become a war. On Feb 28, the United States and Israel

launched coordinated strikes across Iran

; the regime in Tehran responded with missiles across the region; and President Donald Trump urged Iranians to “take over” their government – nudging the declared aim from nuclear restraint towards regime change.

Yet the real threshold had been crossed earlier. In June 2025,

Operation Midnight Hammer

sent B-2 bombers and Tomahawk missiles into Iran’s main nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan, ending half a century of American reluctance to strike directly at Iran’s strategic core. That campaign broke a taboo that had been in effect for decades despite bloody Iranian-sponsored attacks against Americans in Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. This one has turned a broken taboo into a method for a new era.