Pope Leo XiV also condemned "jihadist violence" but that didn’t make for a headline.
Second of all - popes have made more or less clear comments about "jihadist violence" for decades now - in a way, it's nothing new, pope condemning violence in some part of the world is just what he does on Sundays.
What is new is a "christian" country waging war "in the name of Jesus Christ", to the extent that is happening right now. Secretary of Defence saying that everything is preordained and if missiles fall on infidels then clearly it's gods plan. The pentagon preacher saying that since the bible ordered israelites to kill entire cities to purge them of sin, then obviously a missile killing 100+ schoolgirls is part of god's plan too, in the scale of things described in the bible it's hardly a blip.
That's why the Pope is speaking out in a way that few other popes have spoken out before. The previous wars in the middle east have killed 1M+ people but the portrayal as "holy war" is new(or returning, depending on how you look at it).
Good read on why this situation is new:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/apr/...
Indeed. I see things like this:
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/jan/27/i...
Where the current Iranian government is slaughtering its own citizens. It is also fairly well known, and generally not disputed, that women, and non-binary people are slaughtered at whim, abused, even beaten to death in the street by the murderous Morality Police in Iran.
They literally fund recognized terrorist groups as well, and no one not even Iran disputes this. And yes, many Islamic and Middle Eastern states state so as well.
Yet there's a weird collection of people running around, screaming about how Iran is apparently immensely innocent of... well, everything and anything ever. I can only presume that any actuon the Trumo cabal take, is just immediately presumed bad.
Which is of course absurd. Even a broken clock is correct, twice a day.
And if you're non-binary, or support non-binary people, or if you are a feminist, you'd be insane to behave as of the current Iranian regine is "good" or "innocent" in any way. There isn't even the tiniest comparison to how you are treated in the West, or the US compared to Iran. In Iran, basically, you're dead, or rotting in jail until you die.
That doesn't make this war correct. But there is a vast difference between speaking out against military aggression, and supporting Iran. These are two different things.
Iran, the state is terrible. The world will be a far better place if it is replaced with a new regime. And no, that doesn't make the war right.
See how easy that is?
It's called nuance. Not black and white, binary thinking.
Ah well. It only takes one person to appear as 1000s today, so grain of salt.
Iran is obviously not innocent (nobody is), but their population is currently being hit for no particular reason beyond "Israeli vibes". That's not a broken clock being right, that's a broken clock telling the wrong time.
"There are dozens of murderers out there. Who cares if Bob murdered"
The point is that invading them and/or killing a ton of their people is not the solution.
I literally said this, so thanks for agreeing with me.
Iran is obviously not innocent (nobody is)
No one is innocent! John has speeding tickets! Therefore, Bob killing people isn't a big deal!
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The entire point of my comment was that supporting Iran by saying it is "good" or "innocent" is insane, whilst conversely, "war isn't good".
Are you arguing against this premise?
The main point remains: this war is stupid, illegal, and immoral. End of story.
Your response highlights how some are unable to live with the nuance of reality, and require black and white, binary viewpoints of the world.
I have said that Iran is a murderous, evil regime, while simultaneously saying war is not right here. I have said that my issue is with people trying to claim that Iran is a poor, innocent actor, instead of simply saying they do not agree with this war.
From this you infer weird things, simply because I presume you need Iran to be good, innocent, for the war to be wrong, bad.
It's not binary.
I haven't seen any of these people.
And if the goal was to overthrow the Mollahs and the IRGC, why not wait for Khomenei natural death and avoid martyring him? The IRGC is tightly tied to the Khomenei clan, and no Khomenei main branch member is a Mollah, so the succession would have been a disaster under normal circumstances. The US war just robbed Iran a chance at a natural regime change.