The Lead
Ceasefire, Or Only a Pause in the Drive to World War III?
by Dennis Small (EIRNS) — Jun. 29, 2025
Over the weekend, the Director General of the watch-dog International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi took to U.S. national television to demand that Iran submit to international inspections of the very nuclear facilities which the United States massively bombed on June 21. The Iranian nuclear program may have survived the attack, he stated. “If we don’t get that clarification, this will continue to be hanging, you know, over our heads,” he warned, darkly hinting at the fact that both Israel and the United States have threatened to launch further attacks to finish off Iran.
The Iranian government flat out rejected Grossi’s demand “until the safety and security of our nuclear activities can be guaranteed,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated. He added that Grossi’s proposal is “meaningless and possibly even malign in intent.”
Also over the weekend, the Russian Federation delivered the greatest air strikes yet of the entire war with Ukraine, including the use of Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, while making significant advances on the ground against Ukrainian forces in the Donbass.
Is there a connection between the developments in these two theaters of war, each of which can escalate to full-scale thermonuclear warfare faster than most people are willing to admit to themselves?
In comments to the plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on June 19, Russian President Vladimir Putin responded to a question about Russia possibly starting combat operations in defense of Iran. “Start some kind of combat operations, is that it? We already have combat operations going on against those whom we consider opponents of the ideas we defend and who pose a threat to the Russian Federation,” he said, adding that these opponents are “far behind the frontline” and are “basically the same forces—with Iran and in the case of Russia.”
How, then, to solve both crises at once? How to stop the cause of war?
Readers of this Editorial will be familiar with Schiller Institute founder Helga Zepp-LaRouche’s repeated calls for the establishment of a concert of international voices to bring into being a dramatically different international security and development architecture, in order to meet the security and development needs of all nations, at the expense of none.
Readers may be less familiar with the comments to identical effect made by Russian President Vladimir Putin back on Nov. 7, 2024, speaking in Sochi at the Valdai Discussion Club:
“The rise of nations and cultures that have previously remained on the periphery of global politics for one reason or another means that their own distinct ideas of law and justice are playing an increasingly important role. They are diverse. This may give the impression of discord and perhaps cacophony, but this is only the initial phase.
“It is my deep conviction that the only new international system possible is one embracing polyphony, where many tones and many musical themes are sounded together to form harmony. If you like, we are moving towards a world system that is going to be polyphonic rather than polycentric, one in which all voices are heard and, most importantly, absolutely must be heard. Those who are used to soloing and want to keep it that way will have to get used to the new ‘scores’ now.”
Contents
Strategic War Danger
- Russia Delivers Greatest Air Strikes Yet on Ukrainian Targets (↓)
- Iran Rejects IAEA Inspections of Nuclear Sites (↓)
- Lavrov: Collective West Will Fail To 'Inflict a Strategic Defeat on Russia' (↓)
- Zakharova Asserts, Someone Is Deliberately Placing Descendants of Nazis in Power in the West (↓)
- Haaretz Writes, ‘IDF Soldiers Ordered To Shoot Deliberately’ at Gazans Seeking Food (↓)
- NATO's New Plan Is To Spend Immense Amount To Fuel War Buildup (↓)
U.S. and Canada
Science and Technology
- Five African Nations May Join in Building Lunar Nuclear Power Station (↓)
- Israeli Scientist Issues Call of Hope for Joint Israeli-Iranian Collaboration (↓)
Collapsing Imperial System
- Iran President Warns, the NPT Has Been 'Irreparably Undermined' by U.S.-Israel Attacks (↓)
- U.S. Bankruptcies Surge (↓)
Harley Schlanger Update
Watch The Daily Update with Harley Schlanger, a short video update available every weekday morning from The LaRouche Organization.
