Sometimes it’s important to zoom out. As much of the news media microanalyzes specific elements of the U.S.-Israeli military operation against Iran’s regime, it’s vital not to lose sight of the overarching case for, and purpose of, the conflict.
The regime has been violently anti-American since its very inception, nearly half a century ago. “Death to America” isn’t just a favored chant — it’s an animating and acted-upon ethos. It has pursued nuclear weapons for years, lying through its teeth about that ambition every step of the way. After a devastating setback to that program last summer, the regime has escalated its work to erect an umbrella of conventional weapons, including missiles and drones, to shield the nuclear malfeasance it is attempting to reconstitute. It has lied about that, too, revealing that even very recent public assurances about the types of weapons it has, and supposedly has not, developed were fraudulent. Its missiles can reach most of Europe, something it swore was not the case, until it demonstrated the opposite reality.
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In just over one month, the United States and Israel have pummeled thousands of regime targets, further degrading and destroying its ability to project power and launch attacks. Many within the regime’s upper echelons have been liquidated, including the long-serving, murderous “supreme leader.” The replacement “supreme leader” hasn’t been heard from, with rumors circulating of his incapacitation or death. Most of Iran’s Navy sits at the bottom of the sea. Its airspace has been thoroughly dominated for weeks on end. Even when it managed to shoot down a single American plane, among the thousands of missions flown, our military managed to rescue both downed airmen. This heroic feat entailed successfully deploying a makeshift air base on Iranian soil to execute the exfiltration. A naval blockade is now strangling the regime’s already-decimated economic lifelines.
Despite these disastrous, lethal outcomes for the regime, its remnants reportedly rejected, out of hand, America’s demands to end the war during recent talks. Per Fox News’s Lucas Tomlinson, these were the U.S. “red lines” delivered by Vice President JD Vance during abortive talks held in Pakistan. Consider each of them, piece by piece.
End all uranium enrichment and dismantle all major nuclear enrichment facilities
These are interconnected, of course, and they go to the crux of the matter. The regime has long insisted, falsely, that it does not want nuclear weapons, just as it said it didn’t want missiles that can strike Europe. Some of its apologists misleadingly cite the bogus regime claim that the now-deceased “supreme leader” issued a fatwa, or religious edict, against nuclear weapons. If that’s true, it should happily surrender its nuclear capacity, especially if it’s a fundamental matter of survival. It has repeatedly been offered the option of being gifted all the benefits of a civilian nuclear program. It has declined. This isn’t about peaceful nuclear capacity. It never has been. Even as it has been pushed to the brink like never before, cornered into its weakest position in memory, it remains intransigent on this point. It wants the bomb, period. It’s its intractable, fanatical aim, seemingly above all else. Forcibly blocking an irrational, theocratic, belligerent, America-hating, American-murdering regime from achieving that goal practically defines the national interest.
Retrieve highly enriched uranium
America’s leaders rightly insist that Iran’s so-called “nuclear dust” must be retrieved and removed from Iranian territory. This is the highly enriched uranium, far, far beyond the threshold of any legitimate civilian use, that regime negotiators previously boasted about having. According to Trump administration envoy Steve Witkoff, the opening salvo from regime officials at a meeting was to brag that they have sufficient nuclear material for almost a dozen bombs. This is, quite plainly, a rogue government that cannot be allowed to possess highly enriched uranium or the ability to produce more. Hand it over, in exchange for peace, America says. Hard no, they reply. The implications of that choice underscore the righteous purpose of this entire fight.
Accept a broader peace, security, and de-escalation framework that includes regional allies
This is not just essential for Israel, for whom this battle is existential, but also for the Gulf States that are finished tolerating the regime’s destabilizing and deadly interference across the region. The governments of these Muslim nations have, in several cases, been far more helpful and resolute in this war than several traditional U.S. allies in Europe.
End funding for terrorist proxies Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis
The regime clinging to its pet terrorist groups further exemplifies its malignant worldview and toxic intentions. Funding and directing terrorists to harass, threaten, and kill on its behalf is integral to the regime’s self-perception and identity. If it still refuses to relinquish its role as the head of the terrorist snake, why agree to anything short of full compliance from these surviving (for now) regime leaders?
Fully open the Strait of Hormuz, charging no tolls for passage
Shutting down the Strait of Hormuz and charging exorbitant “tolls” can be interpreted as an act of international blackmail — imagine how much more potent its ability to twist global events and dynamics in its favor if it had nuclear weapons — of desperation, and of self-preservation. It needs some money flowing into the coffers, after all. The corresponding U.S. naval blockade has flipped the script on this maneuver, applying even more intense pressure to the regime — and also raising the stakes for leaders in Beijing, Islamabad, Ankara, and elsewhere. This could be the key to the sort of negotiated capitulation that regime officials have heretofore stubbornly stiff-armed.
At this stage, however, Iran is still dug in, issuing ludicrous counterdemands. Among them are the closure of all American bases in the Gulf, reparations for attacks on Iran, a new order for the Strait of Hormuz that would allow Iran to collect fees from ships that transit the waterway, guarantees that the war wouldn’t restart, stopping Israel’s strikes against its terrorist proxy groups, lifting all sanctions on Iran, and permitting Iran to keep its missile program with no negotiations to limit it.
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This Wall Street Journal-reported list reflects the breathtaking, pig-headed gall of people who’ve apparently grown accustomed to American administrations cajoling and enriching them. A smoldering military infrastructure and waves of dead regime leaders evidently haven’t fully delivered the message that things are different now. That its rhetoric and actions haven’t budged, especially in light of the events of the last year, highlights how fanatical, irrational, and dangerous this regime continues to be. Its conduct speaks for itself, and U.S. red lines are, and ought to be, nonnegotiable.
Iran’s still-alive leadership can either awaken from its collective jihadist trance and accommodate America’s eminently reasonable demands, or those outcomes must be violently imposed upon it.
