| Sumario: | This essay argues that the US–Israeli attack on Iran in February 2026 should be understood as a continuation of a broader transformation in imperial power dynamics following the collapse of humanitarian legitimacy in Gaza. While earlier forms of humanitarian imperialism relied on multilateral authorization and moral persuasion, the present conjuncture is marked by their erosion. The war on Iran demonstrates how coercion now proceeds under conditions of legitimacy scarcity, through minilateral alignment, economic pressure, and narrative management rather than global consensus. Drawing on critical traditions of humanitarian imperialism, the essay extends these frameworks to account for a phase in which humanitarian discourse persists but no longer secures consent. By situating Gaza and Iran within a single regional formation, the analysis shows that contemporary imperial power operates beyond multilateralism—through escalation, fragmentation, and coercive adaptation rather than normative authority. At the same time, the essay demonstrates that Iran's response—grounded in legal invocation of self-defense, political resolve, and mass societal mobilization—represents an active challenge to this evolving mode of imperialism and signals the emergence of a potential rules-making moment in international order.
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