Ayatollah Khamenei is dead, his body found in the rubble of what was once his compound. President Donald Trump has again shown Iran the devastating might of the U.S. military. The United States has acted with overwhelming force, a commitment to justice, and unwavering resolve to decapitate a terrorist regime that has spent decades waging war against the U.S., our allies, and the Iranian people.
The most recent strike against the Iranian regime, executed in coordination with our ally Israel, is a decisive turning point in world history. It is the clearest signal yet that the leader of the free world will no longer tolerate endless provocation, usurpation, and bloodshed from a government that has made hostility toward the U.S. the hallmark of its rule.
The regime in Tehran was given countless opportunities to repent and abandon its campaign of violence against the West. For decades, administrations of both parties pursued diplomacy, concessions, and restraint, with the sincere but misbegotten hope that Ayatollah Khamenei might choose a different path. Instead, the Iranian regime answered mercy with malice, arming its proxies and watching gleefully as they targeted U.S. servicemembers and civilians abroad and crushed peaceful dissent at home with bullets and unchecked violence.
The history of Iran’s Islamic Republic is red with blood. Iranian-backed forces facilitated the deaths of hundreds of Americans in the Middle East, including more than 600 troops in Iraq. Those within Iran have fared little better, as the regime has met protesters, including women and young children, with prison, torture, and execution.
During the Trump-Pence administration, the regime found ever-new red lines to cross: plotting the assassination of senior U.S. officials, including the national security adviser, the secretary of state, and more recently, putting a bounty on Trump.
America First means that tyrants abroad cannot injure or kill American troops, harass our allies with missile barrages targeting civilians, or try to obtain nuclear weapons to wipe Israel off the map.
No nation, no matter how patient and merciful, can endlessly ignore such threats.
Some critics have rushed to describe the president’s decision as “preemptive,” as though it were based on vague speculations about the future. The facts could not be clearer. This strike was a response to a long, vicious, and cowardly campaign of violence against the public and our allies. It was a sober act of self-defense and a clarion call of freedom for the Iranian people.
History teaches its students a difficult lesson: peace comes through strength, not acquiescence. Khamenei has learned the hard way. Tyrants such as Khamenei, wrongfully interpreting American self-restraint as weakness, grew emboldened, and the world has witnessed the consequences: from Russia’s destruction of Ukraine to the brutal terrorism inflicted on Israel, which even included the abduction of U.S. citizens. The president knows what these isolationists do not: failing to confront aggression in the present only invites greater evils and suffering in the future.
“There is a time for everything,” including peace and forbearance. But now is the time for action and resolve. The U.S. has rightfully made it clear that its days of patience are behind us. We will no longer tolerate Iran’s aggressions.
The public understands what is at stake. Public sentiment polls show a majority support for decisive action against the Iranian regime. Thanks to polling from the Vandenberg Coalition, we know that those who supported the president in the polling booth are even more clear-eyed: stopping Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon is of paramount importance.
The people of Iran understand it too, and they are crying out for deliverance. They are the first (and often most frequent) victims of this regime. Psiphon, which created one of the VPNs that allow internet access amid regime-induced blackouts, has conducted polling showing that more than 60% of Iranians would see the country leave the Islamic Republic behind, with more than 2-in-5 Iranians convinced that this will only come about through regime change. The Iranian people long to build a free and democratic future for their country, free from the fetters of the Islamic Republic.
This moment must not be wasted.
A single strike, no matter how powerful, will not secure lasting peace if the regime is allowed to regroup, rearm, and resume its campaign of terrorism. The president should sustain this campaign, however necessary, to ensure that the Iranian regime is no more. If the Islamic Republic survives, it will come at the cost of more precious people’s lives.
TRUMP CLOSED THE GAP BETWEEN RHETORIC AND ACTION ON IRAN
Operation Epic Fury is not about vengeance. It is about defending the U.S.; it is about justice for the survivors of the Iranian regime. It is about defending innocent lives. And it is about demonstrating the U.S.’s firm commitment and ironclad resolve to sustain its status as the leader of the free world.
John Shelton is the vice president of Policy at Advancing American Freedom. Jonah Wendt is the Communications Director at Advancing American Freedom.
