Letters to The Editor — March 2, 2026

Iran attacked

The U.S.-Israel assault on Iran is best understood as an economic war, not merely a security operation. The architecture goes back to Richard Nixon’s petrodollar deal of 1973 — oil priced in dollars, OPEC surpluses recycled into US Treasuries. The 1979 Iranian Revolution was intolerable precisely because it shattered this arrangement, creating the first major oil state outside dollar subservience. Since then, the pattern is consistent — Iraq in 2003, Libya in 2011, Iran today — each had challenged dollar dominance. U.S. President Donald Trump is defending the same financial order, whatever his rhetoric. Until we debate this economic dimension honestly, we will keep misreading these conflicts entirely.

Gopalaswamy J.,

Chennai

The U.S. has this tendency to call North Korea, Iran and others as rogue states because they challenge America’s hegemonic ways. In fact, rogue nations are not those that intend to or possess nuclear weapons, but those which attack others on flimsy or unfounded grounds. At a time when the Russian war in Ukraine is on, the strikes on Iran will prove catastrophic for security in West Asia.

It is the U.S. that always indulges in aggressive sabre-rattling and unprovoked military interventions across the world.

Prabhu Raj R.,

Bengaluru

The killing of Iran’s Ali Khamenei is a blatant violation by the U.S. The U.S. under Mr. Trump is becoming a rogue country. With the UN long valueless, the world is becoming a dangerous place.

V. Ganapathy Subramanian,

Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu