RUTHFULLY YOURS

The war initiated against Israel on October 7 by the Iranian regime, along with its proxies and terrorist groups — Hamas, the Houthis, Hezbollah, and Iraqi Shia militias — is far more than a minor skirmish or an isolated act of aggression.

The conflict appears to be a meticulously orchestrated campaign aimed at the total annihilation, at this point, of the Jewish state.

The Biden-Harris administration does not yet seem aware of the real gravity of the situation. Although it has recently provided much extremely welcome support to Israel, it has not shown until last week the unwavering support that would have acted as a real deterrent. That is what would have caused the Iranian regime to have second thoughts, stopped them dead in their tracks.

This conflict is a battle for survival not only for Israel but for the region, and ultimately for Europe and the United States.

Israel understands the stakes: Iran’s belligerency requires an unequivocally committed response from the United States. In that part of the world, wishy-washy means a green light, open season. The consequences are assumed to vary from minimal to non-existent – and often even a profit!

Apart from extremely generous supply ships and materiel, rhetorically there has been just another unelectrifying “Don’t.” Where is the message that if Iran or any of its sidekicks goes anywhere near Israel — or anyone else — what a shame it would be if a country as magnificent as the Islamic Republic of Iran, along with its distinguished regime, were actually to be returned to the seventh century?

Iran has no interest in becoming a sand dune. That is why it has proxies, so that they will do the attacking and take the incoming retaliation, ensuring that their devoted patron, Iran, will not have to. Iran’s proxies are its human shields.

The Gaza war, was, after all, started by Hamas, with the direct support from Iran. Hamas, with funding from Qatar, the consigliere of all Islamic terrorist groups, and orchestrated by Iran, brazenly invaded a sovereign nation. This was not just a military operation, but a brutal campaign of torturing, mutilating, raping, murdering and kidnapping innocent civilians — not only Israelis but people from other countries. The war was initiated by unprovoked, bloodthirsty acts of violence that disregarded the very foundations of international law and human rights. Its aim seemed only to express psychopathic behavior and reap as large a ransom as one could dream up.

The war has since evolved into a dangerous seven-front jihad against Israel, conducted by an array of militias and terrorist organizations, directed and funded by Iran. And this is the hospitality Iran is offering before it has nuclear weapons.

The Iranian regime, since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, has made its goal unmistakably clear: the complete destruction of the State of Israel. The objective is not merely political, but deeply rooted in the Islamist ideology that drives the regime’s actions. From the founder of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, to the current Supreme Guide Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, there has been a consistent prophecy, demanding first the eradication of Israel, then of the United States. As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “the Churchill of the Middle East,” reminded the US Congress:

“In the Middle East, Iran is virtually behind all the terrorism, all the turmoil, all the chaos, all the killing….. When he founded the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Khomeini pledged, ‘We will export our revolution to the entire world. We will export the Islamic revolution to the entire world.’ Now, ask yourself, which country ultimately stands in the way of Iran’s maniacal plans to impose radical Islam on the world? And the answer is clear: It’s America, the guardian of Western civilization and the world’s greatest power. That’s why Iran sees America as its greatest enemy.

Last month, I heard a revealing comment… from the foreign minister of Iran’s proxy, Hezbollah, and he said this: ‘This is not a war with Israel. Israel,’ he said, ‘is merely a tool. The main war, the real war, is with America….’

“But Iran understands that to truly challenge America, it must first conquer the Middle East. And for this it uses its many proxies, including the Houthis, Hezbollah and Hamas….

“That’s why the mobs in Tehran chant ‘Death to Israel’ before they chant ‘Death to America.’ For Iran Israel is first, America is next. So, when Israel fights Hamas, we’re fighting Iran. When we fight Hezbollah, we’re fighting Iran. When we fight the Houthis, we’re fighting Iran. And when we fight Iran, we’re fighting the most radical and murderous enemy of the United States of America.

“And one more thing. When Israel acts to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, nuclear weapons that could destroy Israel and threaten every American city, every city that you come from, we’re not only protecting ourselves. We’re protecting you.”

The US might scoff, but to Iran’s leaders, the plan is a deadly serious one that shapes Iran’s foreign policy to this day.

It must have just as easy to think that Hitler could not really have wanted to exterminate the Jews. Does anyone imagine that if Hitler had acquired nuclear weapons, he would not have used them? He would not even have had to use them; he could just have reminded everyone of the threat. Has anyone noticed how Russian President Vladimir Putin’s threat of using nuclear weapons succeeded in intimidating the Biden-Harris administration? Why wasn’t the Biden-Harris administration intimidating Putin?

General Hossein Salami, the chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), openly articulated the regime’s aggressive stance. “Our strategy is to erase Israel from the global political map,” he declared on Iran’s state-controlled Channel 2 TV in 2019. If that was insufficiently convincing, try Khamenei’s 416-page roadmap to destroying Israel, Palestine. The book emphasizes the regime’s unwavering dedication to its goal in the future where Israel ceases to exist.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who holds the ultimate authority over all of Iran’s domestic and foreign policies, has gone as far as proclaiming to the youth of Iran that they will soon witness the downfall of both Israel and American civilization. His statement is a helpful reminder of the regime’s long-term ambitions:

“You young people should be assured that you will witness the demise of the enemies of humanity, meaning the degenerate American civilization, and the demise of Israel.”

One of the key objectives of Iran’s sponsorship, training, and arming of proxies is the targeting of Israel. As Salami boasted, Iran has empowered its Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah, to such an extent that it now has the capability to “wipe out Israel” on its own.

The Iranian regime and its proxies appear to believe they have the perfect opportunity to eradicate Israel. They perceive a weak administration in the United States under President Joe Biden and VP Kamala Harris: the US has released billions of dollars that mainly assist Iran in arming its proxies. The Biden administration has been purposefully lax in enforcing sanctions, by allowing Iran to sell oil at record highs, which in turn also funds its terrorist activities. The lack of full military and political support behind Israel, until a few days ago, has only emboldens Iran and its allies, and created a dangerous vacuum that Tehran would be only too happy to exploit.

The Biden-Harris administration has taken action to provide Israel with the ammunition, political backing, and military assistance it needs to defend itself against this existential threat. Israel may need more. The US should make it unequivocally clear that any entity that attacks Israel will face costs it cannot even imagine. Sanctions should be enforced rigorously, and financial lifelines cut off the that enable Iran and its proxies to continue their war efforts. The time for half-measures is over; the U.S. must stand firmly with Israel and the Free World to ensure their survival in the face of what will otherwise be a never-ending onslaught.

The Iranian regime seems to believe that it has found an opportune moment, with the window possibly closing, to fulfill its Islamist and fundamentalist prophecy of first annihilating the low-hanging fruit: “the little Satan,” Israel. The stakes could not be higher. The United States must prevent Iran’s unfathomably dangerous prophecy from becoming a lethal reality.

Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a business strategist and advisor, Harvard-educated scholar, political scientist, board member of Harvard International Review, and president of the International American Council on the Middle East. He has authored several books on Islam and US Foreign Policy. He can be reached at Dr.Rafizadeh@Post.Harvard.Edu