Why it matters:
The tragedy at Minab is being framed as the human face of Mearsheimer’s own theoretical warnings. When an American scholar calls his country “deeply cruel,” his words echo powerfully in a moment that turned classrooms into ruins.
The big picture:
Mearsheimer’s theory of “offensive realism” argues that powerful states pursue dominance through aggression. In the case of the United States, this has translated into wars, sanctions, and wide-scale destruction the world over.
What he’s saying:
“We are a remarkably cruel country. The level of slaughter and chaos we have caused across the world is unbelievable… U.S. sanctions from 1971 to 2021 have killed 38 million people, thirty-eight million people! We are using this enormous economic lever basically to keep people starving and suffering so they rise up against their governments—that is what we’re doing in Iran… Given all this, it’s very hard for me to talk about the United States as a decent country.”
Key points:
- Mearsheimer, known for the theory of "offensive realism", describes America as lacking moral restraint. - The attack on Minab’s girls’ school, resulting in 168 deaths, is being presented as a physical embodiment of that cruelty.
- The link between U.S. and Israeli military cooperation in this incident highlights what Mearsheimer himself calls a system of “indecency.”
- Protection of leaders’ own families contrasts starkly with the mass casualty inflicted on others, revealing an imbalance Mearsheimer deems inherent to U.S. power.
Go deeper:
To Iranian observers, Mearsheimer’s confession is not just a moral statement—it’s strategic evidence that American realism has devolved into what they call “suicidal barbarism.” They contend the Minab massacre represents the point where systemic cruelty reached a dead end.
The deaths of schoolchildren, they say, will become the catalyst for a new regional awakening against “systematic indecency,” cementing the narrative of Iran’s moral and cultural resilience.
M.Majdi - Mahboubeh Habibi
