The war being waged by the United States and Israel against Iran in the Middle East is not only engulfing that region but also risks spreading to the Indian Ocean region.

Last week, an Iranian warship returning home after participating in an international naval exercise in Visakhapatnam, South India, was sunk by a US submarine in the Indian Ocean —2,000 miles away from the Middle East and just 40 nautical miles off the southern coast of Sri Lanka. Another Iranian vessel was brought to port by the Sri Lankan Navy on humanitarian grounds.

Donald Trump, who stands out as the most egregious warmonger among presidents in the White House in recent decades, and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, who has been named a genocide suspect by the International Criminal Court, may have swiftly initiated the war against Iran. However, a quick conclusion to that war is not in sight.

While Trump celebrates the killing of Iran’s Supreme Spiritual Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a bombing on the very first day of the war, he has announced that he should be involved in selecting Iran’s next spiritual leader. Trump’s stance is that the appointment of Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the slain leader, as the new spiritual leader cannot be accepted.

His objective is to ensure that the next government formed in Iran serves as his puppet. Trump’s plan is to install someone in power in Iran who will fulfill Washington’s wishes, similar to Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, who took over the reins of government after Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was kidnapped and taken to New York by US forces in January.

He has declared that he cannot accept a new Iranian leader who follows the policies of Ayatollah Khamenei. However, it seems impossible to find such a henchman among the current leaders of the Iranian government.

The United States and Israel, which expected the Iranian state to collapse following the death of Ayatollah Khamenei, have met with disappointment so far. While carrying out barbaric bombings and causing destruction in Iran, Trump is simultaneously calling on the people of that country to topple the government.

Despite the killing of the Defense Minister and several military commanders, Iran continues to launch missile attacks on Israel and US military bases, assets, and embassies in neighboring Arab countries and beyond. Iran has also closed the Strait of Hormuz, which is vital for the world’s 20 percent oil supply and trade to Asia.

While Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian stated last Friday that some countries are engaged in mediation efforts to end the war, Trump asserted that Iran must surrender unconditionally. His stance is that there is no room for any deal with Iran other than unconditional surrender.

The United States and Israel, which claim to have launched the attacks preemptively to thwart a massive military plan Iran was hatching, have not presented any evidence to the world to prove their allegations.

Trump, who claimed that all of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure was neutralized in bombing raids last June and that Iran could not maintain any nuclear program thereafter, noted that the attacks had to be resumed last week to prevent Iran from manufacturing nuclear weapons.

Under the United Nations Charter, it is lawful for any country to use military force in self-defense against an imminent threat. Otherwise, attacks can only be carried out with the approval of the UN Security Council. Meanwhile, the US President must obtain Congressional approval to declare war. Trump has not fulfilled any of these conditions.

The current problem is not just that Trump’s war is destroying Iran. He is weakening all the legal systems that underpin global stability. It is noteworthy that when condemnations arose after the kidnapping of Maduro in violation of Venezuela’s sovereignty, he stated that he does not care about international laws and that the world order created after World War II (the United Nations) is an unnecessary burden on the United States.

If the preemptive use of military force becomes normalized, any state could use force whenever it wishes against any country it suspects might pose a long-term threat. In today’s era of weapons of mass destruction, this would set a dangerous precedent. Illegal wars would become commonplace.

It appears we have been living under the illusion that the current world is multipolar. That is, we believed that since many countries have developed relatively strong economically and militarily, the world order would no longer be under the hegemony of a single superpower like the United States.

World nations find themselves in a pathetic state, unable to do anything against the international thuggery carried out by the United States over the past year. Under the leadership of Trump who is unpredictable, the US has continued to disregard international laws.

Within a span of two months, the US has carried out aggressions against two of China’s closest allies. While China was able to condemn the abduction of Maduro from Venezuela and the killing of the Iranian spiritual leader in bombings last week as violations of international law, it could not do anything substantial beyond that. Russia is in the same position. Both countries remain unable to intervene militarily in support of Iran.

Even after a week, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not come forward to condemn the American-Israeli war against Iran. India expressed its condolences for the passing of Ayatollah Khamenei only after a delay. Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri visited the Iranian Embassy in New Delhi to sign the condolence book.

The Modi government is so deeply concerned about not offending the US that instructions were reportedly issued to Indian ambassadors in various world capitals advising them not to visit Iranian embassies to sign condolence books.

The incident where an Iranian warship was sunk by an American submarine off the coast of Sri Lanka has raised serious questions about India’s capability to exert influence in the Indian Ocean. It is clear that the American submarine had been monitoring the Iranian warship from the moment it left Visakhapatnam after participating in naval exercise. India’s inability to detect the presence of a foreign submarine in a maritime region it claims as its sphere of influence—and where the Indian Navy regularly patrols—or to ensure the safety of an allied ship invited for exercise, raises uncomfortable questions about India’s regional authority.

Meanwhile, when Trump threatened to make Greenland a part of the US and stated he would not hesitate to use military force if necessary, European leaders accused him of defying international law. However, those same leaders have not come forward to condemn the American aggression against Iran or offer condolences for the killing of the spiritual leader.

World nations stand by helplessly, watching the international thuggery of today’s ‘Nazis’, Trump and Netanyahu. There is a grave danger that this war could create a situation where Middle Eastern geopolitics is shaped entirely by Israeli interests. At the same time, it may become impossible to prevent US military interventions in various countries for the purpose of plundering resources, as Trump has already been threatening.

The time has come for the nations of the world to unite against Trump’s warmongering. Every minute of delay pushes humanity further toward destruction.