OCOC ORIGINAL
In Furious Skies
Greg Taylor With Mary Otto-Chang
The Deeper Story
The United States and Israel have commenced military action against Iran. The pretext was a preemptive strike, to take out Iran’s ballistic missile operations and to stop development of nuclear weapons. But there is a deeper story that provides a backdrop to why this action seemed almost inevitable. This is a look into the path of hard choices.
A Brief Modern History of Iran
For decades Iran has been an important territory for globalist causes. In 1953 the CIA and MI6 engaged in Operation Ajax, a plot to remove the legitimate government of Iran that had nationalized oil interests, and put the Shah back in charge. The reason then was oil, and a condition that came with the Shah’s takeover was that American giant Standard Oil, was gifted a huge tranche of Iran’s oil business.
Move forward to 1979. The same people profited from the regime change that the Carter Administration had, perhaps unwittingly, allowed to happen. And the upshot was the same: the price of oil spiked, and the oil barons won another jackpot, alongside the bankers. Strange how this always plays out the same.
Look closer in history and you have pallets of cash, billions paid by the Obama Administration, that rewarded Iran for something, even as they continued to develop nuclear weapons. The Obama administration was, after all, the first to work alongside the rules-based international order, transferring monetary and foreign policy authority upward, while also agreeing to the Paris Accords and turning a blind eye to China’s Belt and Road Initiatives.
Iran has been a long time in the making, and the elite of Washington that morphed into the elites of Davos have played their role over decades.
Now the script has been flipped.
Our previous Newsletter explained the rise of China, guided and built by technocratic elites. January’s Davos gathering provided evidence of the rise of China within the rules-based international order, and the “rupture” as President Trump signaled a return to U.S. sovereignty.
Energy amplifies this: Iran exports 80-90% of its oil to China (1.38 million barrels/day in 2025, ~13% of China’s seaborne imports). Disrupting this flow weakens Beijing, especially amid dependencies on sanctioned partners like Russia. The RBIO’s asymmetries, World Trade Organization (WTO) accession favoring Chinese subsidies while opening Western markets, fueled this, turning energy into leverage.
In addition, following the 2025 U.S. and Israeli strikes, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), ramped up production, repairing wartime damage and boosting missile inventories while adding over 1,000 drones in January 2026 alone.
Aside from China’s influence, there is of course Iran’s sponsorship of terrorism and proxies (Hezbollah, Houthis, Hamas) that has claimed countless lives, fueling regional instability, as well as finding their way to the Western Hemisphere via Venezuela in the case of Hezbollah.
Venezuela’s integration into the BRI since 2018, with over 600 cooperation projects in energy, infrastructure, and mining, turned it into China’s key Latin American foothold, much like Iran’s CCWAEC role in Eurasia.
These actions tie directly to the Trump administration’s 2025 National Security Strategy (NSS 2025), which prioritizes reasserting U.S. preeminence in the Western Hemisphere via a revived Monroe Doctrine, countering foreign incursions like Chinese economic leverage and Iranian proxies, and treating economic security (e.g., disrupting discounted oil dependencies) as inseparable from national security. NSS 2025 rejects global burdens, favoring “peace through strength” with quick, decisive wins—precisely the precision model applied to Venezuela and now Iran to fracture the RBIO-China axis without protracted wars.
While Israel shares these goals, removing existential threats from its borders, the strikes align with Trump’s long-standing “America First” priorities, as articulated in NSS 2025 and his own statements.
This echoes his approach in Venezuela: decisive action to counter foreign influence and proxy threats without endless entanglement. Shared objectives with Israel do not equate to subordination; they reflect convergent interests where U.S. security imperatives drive the policy. At best, Israel is a capable partner in a mutual fight against common adversaries, proving once again that Trump acts to protect American sovereignty and strength, not to serve foreign agendas.
This hypocrisy underscores a deeper failure: if the international community had shown earlier courage to protect innocents and challenge dictatorships in places like Venezuela or Iran, perhaps the cycles of repression and escalation could have been broken.
NATO members walk a fine line here, balancing long-term alliance with the U.S. against growing economic dependence on China and an ideological drift toward the RBIO’s managed “harmony” model that Beijing increasingly embodies.
Quiet incentives (trade flows, supply chains, investments) pull European partners toward de-escalation with Iran and accommodation with China, even as human rights rhetoric rings hollow when U.S.-led actions disrupt the status quo. This structural tension hints at why the RBIO’s European core hesitates to fully confront the very alignments it helped foster, prioritizing stability and profits over consistent defense of liberty.
We must stand up for freedom, making hard decisions when threats to liberty and national interests become clear, lest the innocent pay an even greater price in a world of managed decline and enforced “harmony.”
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SOURCES / REFERENCES
Operation Epic Fury (U.S.) and Roaring Lion (Israel) joint strikes on Iran began February 28, 2026, targeting missile sites, nuclear facilities, IRGC assets, and leadership.
CSIS: Operation Epic Fury and the Remnants of Iran's Nuclear Program (February 28, 2026) – https://www.csis.org/analysis/operation-epic-fury-and-remnants-irans-nuclear-program
Wikipedia overview (citing multiple reports): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Israeli%E2%80%93United_States_strikes_on_Iran
Historical Operation Ajax (1953 CIA-MI6 coup in Iran for oil interests, benefiting Standard
Oil. Standard historical accounts (declassified docs and analyses) are widely available; for modern context see Britannica or U.S. State Department archives.
1979 Iranian Revolution and subsequent oil price spikes benefiting Western interests. General historical reference; economic impacts detailed in various sources.
Obama administration $1.7 billion cash transfer to Iran (2016) amid nuclear talks, often criticized as enabling continued nuclear development. Fact-checks and reports (e.g., FactCheck.org, State Department releases) confirm the payment structure.
Paris Accords (2015) and U.S. policy shifts under Obama, including perceived leniency toward China’s BRI. UNFCCC official site for Paris Agreement; broader critiques in policy analyses.
Iran’s role in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), specifically CCWAEC corridor as land bridge. CGTN and BRI official maps; Reuters and think tank reports on Eurasian connectivity.
Iran oil exports to China: 80-90% of exports, 1.38 million bpd in 2025 (13% of China seaborne imports).
Reuters: China’s heavy reliance on Iranian oil imports (January 13, 2026) –
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/chinas-heavy-reliance-iranian-oil-imports-2026-01-13
Kpler data cited in multiple reports (e.g., Vision Times, February 28, 2026) –
Iran nearing deal for Chinese CM-302 supersonic anti-ship missiles (reported February 24, 2026).
Reuters: Iran nears deal to buy supersonic anti-ship missiles from China (February 24, 2026) –https://www.reuters.com/world/china/iran-nears-deal-buy-supersonic-anti-ship-missiles-china-2026-02-24/
Times of Israel: Complete game-changer: Iran close to buying supersonic anti-ship missiles from China (February 24, 2026) – https://www.timesofisrael.com/complete-gamechanger-iran-close-to-buying-supersonic-anti-ship-missiles-from-china/
IRGC ramp-up in missile/drone production post-2025 strikes (adding 1,000+ drones in January 2026).
JINSA report: Iran Evolving Missile and Drone Threat (February 2026) – https://jinsa.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Irans-Evolving-Missile-and-Drone-Threat.pdf
RAND:Hezbollah Networks in Latin America (March 2025 update) –
https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/perspectives/PEA3500/PEA3585-1/RAND_PEA3585-1.pdf
FDD: Maduro Venezuela is a Playground for America Adversaries (November 24, 2025) – https://www.fddaction.org/policy-alerts/2025/11/24/policy-alert-maduros-venezuela-is-a-playground-for-americas-adversaries
Venezuela oil exports to China (2025): 50-89% (avg. ~642,000 bpd, 75% of total), discounts $14-15/bbl, debt repayment for $100B+ loans.
Reuters: Venezuelan oil exports to China set to drop as US blockade limits cargoes (January 14, 2026)– https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/venezuelan-oil-exports-china-set-drop-us-blockade-limits-cargoes-2026-01-14/
Columbia Energy Policy Center: US Action Threatens Venezuela-China Oil Flows (January 2026) –https://www.energypolicy.columbia.edu/venezuela-china-oil-ties-severely-impacted-by-us-action
White House: 2025 National Security Strategy (December 2025) – https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2025-National-Security-Strategy.pdf
EU response to strikes (von der Leyen/Costa/Kallas); Maximum restraint, international law, diplomacy focus. Euronews: Europe reacts to US and Israeli attack on Iran(February 28, 2026) –https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/02/28/europe-reacts-to-us-and-israeli-attack-on-iran-as-military-operation-spills-into-wider-reg
Times of Israel: World leaders urge restraint; as US-Israel strikes on Iran draw concern –https://www.timesofisrael.com/world-leaders-urge-restraint-as-us-israel-strikes-on-iran-draw-concern
Iran 2025–2026 protest crackdowns: Thousands killed (estimates 3,117–36,500+), 50,000+ arrests, torture, executions.
HRANA: The Crimson Winter report – https://www.en-hrana.org/the-crimson-winter-a-50-day-record-of-irans-2025-2026-nationwide-protests/Amnesty International: Warnings on death sentences and crackdowns (January–February 2026)
Iran: Children among 30 people at risk of the death penalty amid expedited grossly unfair trials connected to uprising
HRW: Iran: Human Rights Situation Spirals Deeper into Crisis (February 4, 2026) – https://www.hrw.org/news/2026/02/04/iran-human-rights-situation-spirals-deeper-into-crisis