The sudden downfall of the Assad dictatorship in Syria has further opened the door for the collapse of another totalitarian regime in the Middle East. Iran has all the potential to be next.
For the past decade, Iran had convoyed weapons and military equipment through northern Iraq, en route to Syria. What was not absorbed by the Syrian government was shipped to Iranian proxy forces, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. To a great part, this was made possible by the tens of billions of dollars released to Iran by the Obama and Biden administrations. Their quest for a nuclear weapons deal that Iran was never going to honor was just another attempt to find “peace in our time.” The end result was no better than it was for British Prime Minister Chamberlain’s 1938 appeasement of Hitler.
Iran had a strategy prior to the proxy attack on October 7, 2023. The Hamas assault was intentionally so barbaric that it would draw the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to its southern border for a prolonged fight. Once Israel was tied up with fighting Hamas, Iran’s intent was for Hezbollah to attack Israel from the north.
It is beyond comprehension that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei thought Israel, led by former Army commando Netanyahu, was not going to protect itself 360 degrees. Hezbollah started out conducting only piecemeal operations, waiting for an opportunity that never came.
After decimating Hamas, IDF exercised a methodical strategy against Hezbollah. Exploding electronic communication devices, ground assaults, air attacks, artillery, and precision hits on Hezbollah left the organization without means to command, communicate, and conduct an effective offensive.
Iran’s missile and drone attacks on Israel were blocked by Iron Dome, David’s Sling, Arrow, and Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense systems. In response to effective IDF strikes on Iran and fear of further pin-point accuracy, Ayatollah Khamenei disappeared into “a safe and undisclosed location.” Wherever he went, it wasn’t by air. Whether Israel has anything to do with it or not, the death of President Raisi and Foreign Minister Amir-Adollahian in May’s helicopter crash limited Khamenei’s selection of travel to heavily armored ground transport.
Multiple informants inside Iraq have reported that Tehran relocated headquarter operations of all its critical infrastructures and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to Baghdad. The sources also relay that Iran moved its mobile missile systems and heavy artillery into Iraq’s Kurdistan region to avoid Israeli strikes. Iraqi Prime Minister al Sudani objected and was told by his Iranian handlers to be silent.
Syrian rebels recognized and exploited the opportunities created by Israel. They knew that while hiding the IRGC could not continue its mission of reinforcing Assad’s stranglehold. Neither Hezbollah, nor Russia, could offer necessary support as both had done just a few years ago. Hezbollah is decimated, and Russia is bogged down in Ukraine.
The United States needs to exploit these same opportunities. Just like the Syrians, the citizens of Iran are ready to overthrow the tyranny of an oppressive government. One thing is certain, there is no chance the Oval Office will take any action to support the plight of Iranian citizens until after January 20th.
Obama and Biden had numerous chances to do so in the combined 12 years of their presidencies. Instead, every time the Iranian people rose up to free themselves from the shackles of tyranny, Obama and Biden threw lifelines to the religious extremists controlling Tehran.
Then came those tens of billions of dollars to help finance the No. 1 nation state exporter of terrorism and internal suppression. The money also went to funding Iran’s nuclear weapons development. Tehran now claims its uranium enrichment is at 90 percent weapons-grade. The government is further advancing its development of delivery systems and working on nuclear detonators.
The citizens of Iran do not want nuclear weapons nor religious oppression. Both have already been renounced by the National Council of Resistance to Iran (NCRI), the principal opposition group to the ruling religious extremists. The U.S. State Department has been undermining the NCRI since the Clinton presidency. Deep State actions have often been identical to those against Nelson Mandela’s movement for equality in South Africa.
Iran has been the No. 1 nation-state exporter of international terrorism since its 1979 Revolution. The United States has been a major victim of the attacks, including Khobar Towers in 1996. In 2019, the Pentagon released a report confirming that 608 American service-member deaths in Iraq were directly attributed to the IRGC. Without Iran’s current regime in power, Hezbollah and Hamas will receive no funding to rebuild; Iraq will become free of Tehran’s control, and the Houthi movement will wither into non-existence.
Time is of the essence. In his first administration, Trump successfully ordered the elimination of Iranian Quds Force Commander General Qassem Soleimani. There is no doubt Trump once again will stand firm against the Iranian Regime. The sooner he openly supports the Iranian people, the sooner they will have the encouragement to rise up and end the tyranny they have long endured. In turn, a major milestone for regional and global security will have been achieved.