© 2025 FdR / RESY CANONICA
It hardly matters whether the United States actually dropped the GBU-57 bunker-buster on Iranian nuclear sites—or what the real consequences were. The true purpose of the super-bomb lay elsewhere: to provide Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with an “honorable” exit from a war that was proving costly for his country. Iran, on the other hand, seems in no rush to bring the confrontation to a close.
For several days, the GBU-57 became the most showcased and admired object in the world. We saw it from every conceivable angle. It is a hallmark of fetishism to sublimate desire into the worship of a part or detail—allowing one to sidestep the complexity of the whole.
Prime Minister Netanyahu cast himself as the savior of Israel from the Iranian nuclear threat. The GBU-57 fetish served one key function: to give him the only face-saving way out of a conflict he had entered recklessly, betting on unwavering U.S. support.
Tehran, for its part, proved a tough adversary. It suffered losses and damage but showed no urgency in calling a ceasefire. Iran knows—as it always has—that the nuclear issue can only be resolved at the negotiating table. The ayatollahs have deconstructed the GBU-57 fetish: the part cannot replace the whole.
This is one possible reading of a war that has lasted twelve days so far. The days ahead will tell whether that reading holds—or not.
(gianluca grossi)
Over the course of the day the situation gradually became clearer: at the moment the truce holds on both fronts.