This month, Israel successfully did the dirty work for the free world in defanging a nuclear Iran. Thanks to President Donald Trump’s leadership, the U.S. stepped in to finish the job.
About time. For nearly half a century, the Islamic Republic of Iran has declared itself the sworn enemy of the United States. Not metaphorically, not diplomatically, literally. “Death to America” has not been merely a slogan for the regime. It has been its anthem. And its policy.
Recommended Stories
- US leaders should stop seeking the Nobel Peace Prize
- Yes, Iran has sleeper cells in the United States
- The shortest world war of all time
From the storming of our embassy in Tehran in 1979 and the 444-day hostage crisis, to the bombing of our Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983, to the assassination plots against American officials in recent years, Iran has conducted itself as an adversary in a war of its own choosing — a war on civilization, liberty, and the West.
This is not just Israel’s problem. This is America’s fight.
The blood-stained record is long. For months, Iran’s Houthi proxies in Yemen have launched missiles at U.S. ships, disrupted global trade routes, and raised insurance rates for the shipping of the entire free world.
Egregiously, Iranian agents have plotted to assassinate American officials, including Trump himself. This week, Iranian missiles damaged the U.S. Embassy branch in Tel Aviv, the first attack on a U.S. diplomatic facility in this conflict. And these are the people to whom we are told we must entrust nuclear weapons?
There are those who still speak of managing Iran’s nuclear program under the model of former President Barack Obama’s failed “Iran deal.” But Iran barreled ahead with its nuclear and ballistic missile programs as the West eased economic pressure.
The theory that Iran will abandon its core ideology and military aims in response to trade and normalization incentives has been tested. Again and again, it has failed.
Now imagine such a regime with atomic weapons. It wouldn’t just threaten Israel, against which Iran makes regular threats of genocidal obliteration. It would end deterrence in the Middle East and put global stability at risk. It would mean nuclear umbrellas for terrorist proxies such as Hezbollah and Hamas. It would mean regional extortion, global blackmail, and the legitimization of a regime that jails poets, rapes protesters, and dreams of apocalypse.
A nuclear Iran is not a future we can adapt to. It is a future we must prevent. Trump did just that.
One key target was the nuclear site at Fordow, buried deep in a mountain and impervious to all but the most advanced American firepower. Iran placed it there to evade scrutiny, and only the U.S. had the capacity (in B-2 bombers and “bunker buster” bombs) to take it out.
Iran responded by attacking Israel with hundreds of missiles and drones. In contrast to Israel’s pinpoint targeted attacks on military and nuclear threats, Iran had exclusively targeted civilians, including apartment buildings, life sciences laboratories, hospitals, and energy infrastructure.
Let us be clear: Iran has been the great regional destabilizer. Israel acted as the tip of the spear in a global struggle against a regime that threatens us all. And in doing so, it helped advance America’s interests more directly than any United Nations resolution or diplomatic cable ever could.
There is another truth we must remember: The Iranian people are not our enemy. Millions have taken to the streets in the “Women, Life, Freedom” mass protests in the last decade alone, demanding liberty, opportunity, and dignity. Many have paid for it with their lives.
These are not the actions of a strong regime. They are the convulsions of a dying one. And now, as the regime reels from Israel’s blows, the Iranian people are watching. Many, such as Iran’s exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, are calling for an uprising and regime change.
In 2009, Obama stood aside as the end-times Ayatollahs stole another election, when the “Green Movement” opposition begged for our support. This time, America must not blink.
This isn’t just about Israel. It’s about protecting American citizens, soldiers, and values. It defends the principle that genocidal regimes should not possess the world’s deadliest weapons. And it affirms, finally and without apology, that when a nation says it intends to destroy us, we take it at its word. And we acted accordingly.
WHAT WOULD VICTORY LOOK LIKE FOR ISRAEL OVER IRAN?
That’s why Trump was right to say on June 17 that he wants not just a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, but “a real end” to Iran’s nuclear problem, with Tehran “giving up entirely” its enrichment activities. After the Fordow operation, Trump said that he would strike Iran again if it restarts its nuclear or ballistic missile programs.
“America First” means stopping our enemies before they can harm us. This is not just Israel’s war. This is a war for the future of the free world. And America is right to finally treat it that way.
Ryan Fournier is the executive director of Radical Alert and served as the chairman of Students for Trump.