There can be no daylight between the U.S. and our most cherished ally as Israel faces down an evil regime that calls for its destruction and relentlessly pursues the means ...

I n the early hours of June 22, the world watched as the full weight of American resolve thundered down on Iran’s nuclear weapons program.

In one of the most daring and successful military operations in modern history, Operation Midnight Hammer struck at the very heart of the Iranian nuclear threat. It demonstrated the longstanding position of the American people: that Iran will never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon. And thanks to the decisive leadership of President Donald Trump and the courage and professionalism of our armed forces, the world knows we meant it.

I am grateful for the president’s support for Israel in this dire hour. America’s moral and strategic support must remain firm. There can be no daylight between America and our most cherished ally as it faces down an evil regime that calls for its destruction and relentlessly pursues the means to carry it out. This moment demands moral clarity.

However diminished the Islamic Republic of Iran is in the wake of successful U.S. and Israeli military action, it remains the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. Its leaders chant “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.” It has funded Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis. It has murdered Americans, plotted to assassinate former U.S. officials (including President Trump), on our own soil, and used its proxies to destabilize governments across the Middle East.

Worst of all, for decades the regime in Tehran has pursued nuclear weapons under the preposterously transparent veil of civilian uranium enrichment programs. It has lied to international inspectors and repeatedly violated its commitments.

When President Trump and I took office in 2017, we ended the Obama-Biden policy of appeasement. Our administration withdrew from the disastrous Iran nuclear deal. We imposed crushing sanctions that strangled the regime’s revenue. And when the Iranian military escalated, we responded with decisive force — including the strike that took out the terrorist mastermind Qasem Soleimani. And it worked.

By 2020, Iran’s economy was in free fall. Its proxies were in retreat. The regime was more isolated than ever before. And the world knew that the United States would never allow Iran to possess a nuclear weapon.

But over the last four years under the Biden administration, all of that progress was squandered. The Biden administration returned to the failed strategy of endless negotiation without result. It lifted pressure and asked for nothing in return. It turned a blind eye as Iran ramped up its enrichment program far beyond civilian levels and edged ever closer to the threshold needed to produce a nuclear weapon.

The inevitable result of appeasement and Iranian recalcitrance forced Israel to act to prevent its own annihilation. After the horrific October 7 massacre – the deadliest attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust – Israel was more than justified in confronting the ultimate source of that terror. Iran’s support for Hamas, its coordination with Hezbollah, and its campaign of regional destabilization made clear that Israel was already under attack.

And when President Trump’s 60-day ultimatum to Iran expired, with Tehran defiantly accelerating its nuclear ambitions, Israel had no choice but to take the fight to the regime responsible — not just for October 7, but for decades of bloodshed and terror.

America stood with Israel in this battle. Going forward, American policy must be equally unambiguous. That means ending any further negotiations with the Iranian regime unless it meets the only standard that matters — permanent abandonment of its nuclear program.

There can be no compromise on this point. We must demand an irreversible end to all uranium enrichment — weapons-grade or otherwise. If Iran attempts to reboot its centrifuges, enrichment from civilian use levels to weapons-grade uranium takes just months to complete. Such lethal potential in the hands of a terrorist regime is totally unacceptable.

We must insist on the verified destruction of all existing nuclear sites and a continuous presence of inspectors on the ground to ensure permanent compliance.

We must return to the maximum pressure campaign that drained the regime’s coffers and devastated its ability to fund terrorism abroad.

And if Iran retaliates further and claims a single American life, we must continue to make it clear that such action will be met with overwhelming force and the full might of the United States military.

Operation Midnight Hammer was not the start of a war. It was the end of dangerous delusions: that this regime can be reasoned with, or that it will ever change its ways on its own accord, or that it doesn’t mean what it says when it calls for the extermination of Israelis and Americans. The world knows better now.

This is a defining moment – not just for the Middle East, but for the free world. As Americans, we must remember that our security is inextricably tied to the security of our allies. If Israel is threatened, freedom is diminished everywhere. If the mullahs ever obtain a nuclear weapon, the Israeli people, the American people, and the free world will never be safe.

Iran’s path to peace does not run through centrifuges and missiles. It runs through the final abandonment of its nuclear ambitions, the end of its terrorist sponsorship, and the embrace of new leadership that allows the Iranian people to flourish in freedom.

So finally, we must support the brave Iranian people who yearn for freedom and self-determination. I have witnessed firsthand the resolve of freedom-loving people across the Iranian diaspora who personify the aspiration for democracy in the hearts of millions of Iranians trapped under dictatorship these past 49 years. Their cause deserves not just our sympathy, but our strategic backing. Iran and the free world will only truly be safe when the people of Iran reclaim their freedom.

The world has not forgotten the rich history of the Persian people spanning more than 2,500 years — a story of a people who have made great contributions to art, music, literature, science, and commerce. That story is far from over. Old spirits are stirring once again in Iran.

In 2009, when the people of Iran rose up in the Green Movement, the free world turned a blind eye. A different American president, Barack Obama, remained silent until, as a congressman, I drafted a resolution supporting the movement that passed the Congress overwhelmingly — but not before the uprising was crushed.

We must not make that mistake again. If freedom is indeed rising in Iran, we must raise our voices in support. We must meet the courage of the Iranian people with moral clarity of our own.

America must stand unwaveringly with Israel today. And as we do, perhaps one day soon, America, Israel, and the Free World may witness the rebirth of freedom in a free and democratic Iran. Let that be our prayer. So help us God.