Prof. Wu Bingbing analyzed the joint military strikes by the United States and Israel against Iran on February 28, 2026. He examined the strategic transition from diplomatic negotiations to the military operation codenamed “Epic Fury” by the U.S. and “Roaring Lion” by Israel, which resulted in the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several high-ranking officials. Professor Wu situated this conflict within the broader context of failed nuclear negotiations and the structural contradictions between U.S. regional hegemony and Iranian sovereignty.
Prof. Wu’s central argument is that U.S. military preparations were a calculated buildup designed to facilitate a limited aerial campaign rather than a protracted ground war. While the U.S. deployed the USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike groups alongside advanced missile defense systems like THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) and Patriot batteries, the primary objective remained “regime change” without the entrapment of “endless wars.” However, Prof. Wu noted a critical disconnect: the U.S. and Israel demanded “zero enrichment” and the cessation of Iran’s ballistic missile program—red lines that Iran viewed as essential to its national defense and “legitimate rights to peaceful nuclear energy.”
Furthermore, Prof. Wu emphasized that this unilateral military action has shattered the fragile mediation efforts of regional actors, such as the “third camp” led by Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Qatar. He highlighted the Chinese diplomatic stance, which condemns the assassination of a sovereign state's leader and the forced pursuit of regime change as “unacceptable.”
Prof. Wu concluded that the international community must resist such violations of international law, cautioning that allowing major powers to attack others based on military superiority risks returning the global civilization to a primitive “law of the jungle” and eroding the fundamental norms of international relations.
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