President Donald Trump’s statement explaining the military strikes he ordered on Iran detailed how the Iranian regime has “waged an unending campaign of bloodshed and mass murder targeting the United States” for 47 years. Forty-seven years. That is a long time. But why strike now?

The answer is not nuclear weapons. Trump destroyed Iran’s nuclear program in June 2025. Trump mentioned that Iran has “long-range missiles that can now threaten our very good friends and allies in Europe,” and that is true. But it is not new.