Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is dead and the international system is entering a far more dangerous phase than many appear willing to acknowledge.
伊朗最高领袖阿里-哈梅内伊遇刺身亡，国际体系正步入一个远比许多人愿意承认的更危险的阶段。

One may hold any opinion about the Islamic Republic of Iran, about its ideology or ruling elite. There are ample grounds for criticism, some severe. Yet one basic fact remains: Ali Khamenei was the legitimate head of a UN member state, recognized by virtually the entire international community, and a lawful participant in international relations. This included ongoing political negotiations with those who ultimately organized the attack, negotiations that continued until the moment the hostilities began.
人们对伊朗伊斯兰共和国、其意识形态或统治集团可以持任何观点。批评的理由是充分的，有些甚至相当尖锐。但一个基本事实依然存在：阿里-哈梅内伊是一个联合国成员国的合法元首，得到几乎整个国际社会的承认，是国际关系中合法的参与者。这包括与最终策划此次袭击方持续进行的政治谈判——这些谈判一直持续到敌对行动开始前的那一刻。

The targeted destruction of a state’s leadership by another state as a matter of deliberate policy marks a fundamentally new stage in world politics. This is not merely another episode of regime change. Even when compared with the brutal ends of Muammar Gaddafi or Saddam Hussein, the difference is stark. Gaddafi was killed by Libyan opponents amid internal collapse; Hussein was executed following a trial conducted by an Iraqi court, however flawed one may judge it.
一个国家将蓄意摧毁另一国领导层作为既定政策，这标志着世界政治进入了一个全新的阶段。这不仅仅是又一次政权更迭事件。即使与穆阿迈尔-卡扎菲或萨达姆-侯赛因的惨烈结局相比，其差异也极为明显。卡扎菲是在国家内部崩溃时被利比亚反对者所杀；侯赛因则是在伊拉克法庭审判后被处决——无论人们认为该审判存在多少缺陷。

Iran’s case is different. It resembles the method Israel has used against the leadership of Hezbollah and Hamas: Direct elimination by external force, without intermediaries, without legal framing, and without the pretense of internal process.
伊朗的情况则截然不同。它类似于以色列针对真主党和哈马斯领导层所采取的手段：通过外部力量直接清除，没有代理人，没有法律框架，也无需伪装成内部程序。

What is being dismantled here are the remaining restraining mechanisms of international relations inherited from earlier eras. Because this erosion has been gradual, many political elites treat these events as sharp but understandable manifestations of geopolitical rivalry. They are mistaken.
正在被瓦解的，是国际关系中承袭自早期时代的剩余约束机制。由于这种侵蚀是渐进的，许多政治精英将这些事件视为地缘政治竞争的尖锐但可理解的表现。他们错了。

Opponents of the US are entitled to draw two clear conclusions. First, negotiating with Washington is pointless. The only viable options are capitulation or preparation for a force-based resolution.
美国的反对者有权得出两个明确的结论。首先，与华盛顿谈判毫无意义。唯一可行的选择只有屈服，或准备以武力方式解决问题。

Second, there is no longer any safe retreat and nothing meaningful left to lose. In these circumstances, any remaining instruments, be they literal or figurative, become legitimate.
其次，不再有任何安全的退路，也不再有任何值得失去的东西。在这种情况下，任何剩余的、无论是字面意义还是象征意义的工具，都变得具有正当性。

These conclusions will hold regardless of how events in Iran unfold in the coming days. Even if some version of the Venezuelan model emerges, a backstage power transfer designed to satisfy all external stakeholders, the damage will not be undone. The method has been demonstrated. The mechanism for forcibly changing governments and bringing them under control has been openly displayed.
无论伊朗未来几天的事态如何发展，这些结论都将成立。即使出现某种版本的委内瑞拉模式——一种旨在满足所有外部利益相关者的幕后权力交接，所造成的损害也无法挽回。方法已被展示。强行更迭政府并将其置于控制之下的机制已公开展现。

Resistance to this model will now harden, not soften. It will become more determined, more desperate, and potentially more destructive.
对这种模式的抵抗将会加强而非减弱。它将变得更加坚定、更加绝望，并可能更具破坏性。

In this context, there is little point in invoking international law, even as irony.
在此背景下，即便是出于讽刺目的，援引国际法也已没有什么意义。