The Israel-US-Saudi coalition: Iran is an illegitimate existential threat

The position holds that Iran is an illegitimate, existential threat, and that its nuclear ambitions and its armed proxies justify the pressure applied by Israel, the United States and Saudi Arabia. Its advocates describe the Islamic Republic as illegitimate, speak of regime change and a democratic transition, and cite the crackdown on protesters and the Iranian opposition.

The position appears across Iran's confrontation with its region and the wider world, the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf maritime security, Iran-linked armed groups, Iran's nuclear programme, the Yemen and Red Sea front, sanctions on Iran, missile and drone strikes on Gulf states, and the US-Iran ceasefire talks. It is carried mostly by outlets grouped with the United States, 27 to 37 publishers on the main topics, and by a handful of Israeli outlets on succession and sanctions.

Two positions answer it. One holds that Iran's nuclear programme, political system and stance on Hormuz are sovereign rights no outside power may curtail. The other presents the Axis of Resistance as a legitimate movement of liberation. The events of recent months are dominated by exchanges of strikes around the Strait of Hormuz, including US strikes on Iranian oil tankers and Iranian missile attacks on Jordan, and by President Trump's rejection of an Iranian ceasefire proposal.