We are in a grave situation of uncertainty and extreme danger regarding what will be the Washington policy decisions toward Iran. Any attack from the United States, or in combination with Israel, can trigger escalation far beyond the region, toward all-out nuclear exchange. The gravity comes from the combination of extreme geopolitical lines of conflict, which could be rolled back, plus, there is the additional factor of the White House “personality” of extreme unpredictability and unilateralism.
The latest word is that talks between Iran and the United States might again take place this week, possibly Feb. 26 in Geneva. Meantime, even more U.S. force is flowing into the region. For example, there is an influx of fighter and support aircraft from the U.S. into Bulgaria. South Korea today called on their nationals to depart Iran immediately, as have many other nations including India, Australia, Poland and more. President Trump meantime messaged today on social media that there is no truth that he has opposition in the U.S. military to his giving the order to attack. This afternoon, he defended Gen. Dan Caine, Chief of Staff, from rumors that he opposes a U.S. assault on Iran.
We wait in “solemn anticipation” for what will happen next, as described today by Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Schiller Institute founder and leader. Moreover, she cited the several other fronts of conflict—in the Caribbean, the western Pacific, and especially regarding Ukraine, that are dangerous, wrong, and threatening to break out of control. Missiles from Ukraine were sent 1,300 km deep into Russia the night of Feb. 20-21, targeting the Voitinsk Arms Factory there.
Zepp-LaRouche points out that a timeline of recent Western actions regarding Iran, shows a blatant record of deliberate lies and unlawful interventions, setting up Iran for attack, besides, of course, the outright Midnight Hammer U.S. air strikes of June, 2025, and Israeli bombing. Consider just three summary points from such a timeline:
December, 2025. Economic and financial tumult in Iran included the sharp plunge in currency value, and inflation of basic goods, with outside intervention from the U.S., the UK, and others, on top of years of sanctions, and foreign financial warfare. (In October, for example, the Ayandeh Bank had failed under pressure.) After demonstrations in Tehran, merchants and others conferred with President Pezeshkian, who pledged to “not spare any effort for solving problems” of the acknowledged difficulties.
January, 2026. Demonstrations continued in Iran, with blatant involvement of foreign-coordinated interventions to cause maximum chaos and disruption. Former U.S. Secretary of State and CIA Director Mike Pompeo publicly stated, “Happy New Year to every Iranian in the streets. Also to every Mossad agent walking beside them.” President Trump issued the threat to attack Iran, if Tehran harmed its demonstrating citizens. An international media campaign took off with disinformation, featuring claims of thousands of dead from Tehran government murder, reaching a claim of 30,000 fatalitie, carried, for example, by Time magazine. One of the chief propagandist agencies, however, eventually said these figures were false. On Feb. 15, HRANA (Human Right Activist News Agency, based in the U.S.) [issued corrections]( https://www.en-hrana.org/day-50-of-the-protests-intensification-of-security-prosecutions-and-uncertainty-regarding-the-status-of-detainees/)), offering a number in the range of 6500.
February, 2026. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Feb. 5 bragged to the Senate Banking Committee, of the success of economic warfare operations against Iran, from the combination of years of U.S. and other sanctions against the country, and from special operations over the past year—at least since April 2025. He said, “What we have done is created a dollar shortage in the country. It came to a swift and, I would say, grand culmination in December, when one of the largest banks in Iran [Ayandeh Bank] went under. There was a run on the bank. The central bank had to print money, the Iranian currency went into free fall, inflation exploded, and hence we have seen the Iranian people out on the street.” During February, the scare of Iran building a nuclear weapon was reignited by the White House and the West, despite on Feb. 18, the UN International Atomic Energy Agency’s Director Raphel Grossi stating there was no such indication. On February 18 President Trump nevertheless gave Iran 10 days to agree to the U.S. terms or “bad things will happen if it doesn’t.”
How can such a sequence of lies, propaganda and intervention continue? Look for the answer in the full meaning of what the “Epstein Files” reveal about the elites of the Collective West. The depravity of conduct is now on display from the bedroom, to the board room, to the war room. The latest dramatic event is this morning’s arrest in England, for misconduct in public office, of Peter Mandelson, former UK Ambassador to the United States, January-September 2025. His nomination as ambassador for the U.S. was approved by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, his credentials were accepted by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and by President Donald Trump.
For a perspective on sane intervention, be sure to review the State of the Union given Monday evening, Feb. 23 by Diane Sare, independent candidate for U.S. President. On March 2, a day-long [online conference]( https://schillerinstitute.com/blog/2026/02/13/register-emergency-zoom-conference-of-the-movement-of-world-citizens/), hosted by the Schiller Institute, will feature leading statesmen and institutions on mobilizing the needed emergency measures to address today’s crises. It is titled, “Epstein and the Bottomless Depravity of the ‘Elites;’ Urgent Need for a Cultural Renaissance!”
