Regime change and blowback in Iran
Scott Burchill

Regime change and blowback in Iran

According to US political scientist Chalmers Johnson, in the 1950s the CIA coined the term “blowback” to refer to “the unintended and unexpected negative consequences of covert special operations that have been kept secret from the American people and, in most cases, from their elected representatives.

Bombing Iran is part of the US' repetitive compulsion for war, war, war
Norman Solomon

Bombing Iran is part of the US' repetitive compulsion for war, war, war

As we have seen yet again in recent hours, the political and media culture of the United States is heavily inclined toward glorifying the use of the US’ second-to-none destructive air power.

Is Albo reverting to compulsive secrecy?
Jack Waterford

Is Albo reverting to compulsive secrecy?

Anthony Albanese is falling back into the sort of bad habits that could bring him down as Labor leader.


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Is there any hope for a fairer carve-up of GST between the states?
Saul Eslake

Is there any hope for a fairer carve-up of GST between the states?

When the Western Australian Government handed down its state budget on Thursday, it showed a balance sheet solidly in the black with a $2.5 billion surplus. But, as it has for seven years, the state has received an outsized boost to its coffers from the federal government.

Iran retaliating against US inevitable as window for diplomacy narrows: analysts
Tom Hussain

Iran retaliating against US inevitable as window for diplomacy narrows: analysts

Tehran’s options include striking US military assets with ballistic missiles and exiting a nuclear treaty to save face.

Israel’s war with Iran exposes fragility of Jewish supremacy
Miko Zeldes-Roth

Israel’s war with Iran exposes fragility of Jewish supremacy

Netanyahu’s government is ceding violence against its own people in order to obscure its lack of political power.

War is the worst thing in the world
Caitlin Johnstone

War is the worst thing in the world

War is the worst thing in the world. It is the single craziest behaviour exhibited by humans. The most destructive. The most traumatising. The least sustainable. The least conducive to human thriving.

Trump’s disruption in Canada leaves the G7 at a crossroads
Alan S Alexandroff

Trump’s disruption in Canada leaves the G7 at a crossroads

It could have been worse – much worse. US President Donald Trump’s early exit from Kananaskis and the G7 Summit — that he declared was necessary to deal with the Israel–Iran war — left Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney with his summit largely intact.

Neocolonialism, media propaganda, never-ending wars: Served with ketchup and fries - Part 2
Chandran Nair

Neocolonialism, media propaganda, never-ending wars: Served with ketchup and fries - Part 2

In the 20th-century the American empire realised it could no longer rely solely on military might despite its need to grow the Military Industrial Complex, which remains central to its economy and its political hegemony.

Peace no more war: A permanent solution for United Nations
Ka Sing Chua

Peace no more war: A permanent solution for United Nations

It is so sad to see that wars keep flaring up here and there. We are all supposed to be living in a modern civilised, well governed world order under the GUIDANCE of the almighty PEACE Charter of United Nations designed by our farsighted forefathers after the Second World War.

Bombing Iran a clear breach of international law
Greg Barns

Bombing Iran a clear breach of international law

usa world

As the world reacts to the entry of the US into Israel's attack on Iran, Greg Barns says the actions betray the rules-based order.

Latest on Palestine and Israel

IDF actions in Gaza directly contradict Jewish ethical tradition
Paul Komesaroff,  Jeremiah Kenner

IDF actions in Gaza directly contradict Jewish ethical tradition

The Israeli response to the Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023 has been massive and all-encompassing.

Speaking out from within: Jewish voices confront Israeli aggression
Raghid Nahhas

Speaking out from within: Jewish voices confront Israeli aggression

As Israel's military campaign in Gaza reaches unprecedented levels of destruction, a global wave of protest has emerged.

Now is the time for humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza
Mara Kronenfeld

Now is the time for humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza

Israel recently launched a brutal new offensive in Gaza, followed by an expanded ground offensive, killing and injuring thousands of beleaguered Palestinians.

Stop Netanyahu before he gets us all killed
Jeffrey D. Sachs,  Sybil Fares

Stop Netanyahu before he gets us all killed

We could soon see several nuclear powers pitted against each other and dragging the world closer to nuclear annihilation.

Imposing meaningful sanctions against Israel is not difficult
Margaret Cassar

Imposing meaningful sanctions against Israel is not difficult

For decades, the Israeli Government has revealed itself impervious to pressure from international bodies like the United Nations and the International Criminal Court of Justice.

Why targeted measures on Israeli officials won’t stop the war in Gaza
Raghid Nahhas

Why targeted measures on Israeli officials won’t stop the war in Gaza

On 14 June 2025, five Western nations — Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Norway, and the United Kingdom — jointly imposed sanctions on two senior Israeli ministers: Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.

Australian society and the conflict for Palestine
Bob Bowker

Australian society and the conflict for Palestine

Australia’s symbolic actions on Palestine may not change the course of the conflict, but they matter deeply at home.

Sanctioning Ben-Gvir and Smotrich is but a tiny, sad step in ending the Gaza massacre
Gideon Levy

Sanctioning Ben-Gvir and Smotrich is but a tiny, sad step in ending the Gaza massacre

Alas and alack! Woe be unto us, for we have sinned: Five countries have imposed sanctions on Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. The war in Gaza will now stop immediately, and maybe the occupation, too, certainly the apartheid.


John Menadue's book on Israel's war against Gaza

Israel's war against Gaza

Media coverage of the war in Gaza since October 2023 has spread a series of lies propagated by Israel and the United States. This publication presents information, analysis, clarification, views and perspectives largely unavailable in mainstream media in Australia and elsewhere.

Download the PDF

Latest on China

Aboriginal-Chinese roots of reconciliation: China’s first cultural envoys in Australia
Marina Yue Zhang

Aboriginal-Chinese roots of reconciliation: China’s first cultural envoys in Australia

As Australia marked Reconciliation Week (27 May – 3 June ), a landmark exhibition at the National Museum of Australia reminds us that Indigenous–Chinese bonds helped forge the links between the two peoples long before Canberra and Beijing formalised diplomacy in 1972.

News Corp’s China obsession: why beating the drum is easier than thinking
Fred Zhang

Anti-China Media Watch

News Corp’s China obsession: why beating the drum is easier than thinking

Introducing our new columnist Fred Zhang, who brings you his take on the way the Australian media reports and/or mis- and under- reports on China.

People of Pacific Rim say 'no' to US-China war
Bevan Ramsden

People of Pacific Rim say 'no' to US-China war

The Pacific and Pacific Rim countries have a geographical commonality. They are encircled by, or have a border with, the vast, blue, peaceful Pacific Ocean.


John Menadue

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More from Pearls and Irritations


Latest letters to the editor

Regime change: who has the right?

Dieter Barkhoff — Box Hill North

Andrew Thomas has the gall to tell us how to bring about regime change in Iran and quotes that bastion of moral genocide, Netanyahu, to reinforce his righteousness. Even more wow is that P&I publishes this example of how the Western world, led by a country not at war for just 17 years of its history, considers it has the right to determine who is allowed to rule a country anywhere in the world. Thomas seems unaware that it was British/US meddling — the overthrow of Mossadegh in 1953 — that gave birth to subsequent regimes, and that...
Restoring diplomacy

Bruce Wearne — BALLARAT CENTRAL

Halfway through Fred Zhang's apt exposé of the modus operandi of News Corps' agitprop rabble-rousing with regard to China, he rightly asks: Where is the discussion about diplomacy, multilateralism, or economic interdependence as part of national resilience? Good question. But that leads to the question: Where is diplomacy? Bloated, over-reaching major political parties with a trust us outlook won't be too interested in reminding us that state-crafting responsibilities, also for international relations, are inherent in our citizenship. Trust us too often shows itself with appointments to important ambassadorial posts – where are the open statements of policy by these...
Running a country is a full-time job

Bob Pearce — Adelaide SA

Replying to the press gallery about cancelled meetings with Trump, Anthony Albanese should say: “He has his country to run and I have mine, we are both busy. I look forward to him taking time out of his busy schedule to ring me sometime and I will answer if I am not otherwise engaged running Australia.
And then there was Indonesia...

Bob Pearce — Adelaide SA

There was a time when learning Indonesian was a priority and defence against Indonesia was taught at our military academy and it still should be. With a large population living on an archipelago under the threat of climate crisis and rising seas, the time may well come when the Indonesians are looking for somewhere safe to go and the already crowded North doesn’t appear an option. While male Anglo puppet governments in Australia continue with their US/Murdoch-promoted China fixation, the lemmings march ever onward towards the cliffs.



Latest from Al Jazeera

US attacks on Iran risk global conflict, Russia and China warn
Russia called the US strikes on Iran 'unjustified' and 'unprovoked', while China warned they 'set a bad precedent'.
Israel bombs southern Lebanon amid conflict with Iran and assault on Gaza
Israel has carried out near-daily violations of the November ceasefire that ended its 14-month war with Hezbollah.
Iran says launched attack on US troops at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar
Flares were visible over Qatar’s capital, Doha Monday, explosions were also heard.
Israel kills at least 43 Palestinians in Gaza, including aid seekers
Among the dozens killed are 20 aid seekers, as NGO warns Israel is also deliberately blocking energy access.
US, Israeli strikes on Iran nuclear sites: How big are radiation risks?
The attacks on Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities have not increased radioactivity so far.