Iran’s state broadcaster published the statement by the council’s secretary, Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, who is also a commander in the powerful Revolutionary Guard…
The United States must never threaten Iran again, the statement said, and must permanently end the war with Iran and its armed allies in the region. The U.S. must lift the naval blockade of Iranian ports and withdraw its military from the area. It also must “completely compensate” Iran for war damage, lift sanctions and “unconditionally” release frozen assets…
A vessel owned by Abu Dhabi’s state-owned ADNOC oil and gas company was attacked while transiting the Strait of Hormuz, Emirati authorities said earlier Saturday. The Foreign Ministry said Iran fired the missile as part of attacks on commercial shipping.
What a shocking development!
Iran is presenting the United States with an ultimatum—as
though we are the ones who have been defeated and have no
choice but to agree to its demands or suffer the consequences of its military
wrath.
I cannot understand why the president is allowing Iran to
get away with this.
The courage the president showed in doing what needed to be
done—something previous presidents were afraid to do—was clearly justified. It
is difficult to argue that Iran had not become an increasingly serious, even
existential, threat to the United States and the Western world.
Forty-seven years ago, the Iranian Revolution violently
overthrew a government and a society that had been moving in a decidedly
Western direction and replaced it with a hardline, repressive Islamist regime.
That was only the beginning.
Since then, Iran has built what amounts to an army of
Islamist terrorist organizations in the region in addition to its own IRCG. It
has armed and funded anti-Israel and anti-American proxies responsible for some
of the worst atrocities of our time. It has attacked American cyber
infrastructure. It has developed increasingly sophisticated ballistic missiles
capable of carrying nuclear warheads. And it has accelerated uranium enrichment
to dangerously high levels.
Iran has also terrorized its own population, brutally
suppressing and killing protesters who dared to challenge the regime - labeling
THEM terrorists.
I don’t think it is seriously arguable that Iran needed to
be confronted. The threat posed by a fanatical regime willing to use mass
murder of its own people to achieve its objectives is real. Anyone paying
attention should understand that.
And yet Iran was tolerated for decades while all of this was
happening.
Eventually the United States and its European allies imposed
punishing sanctions against Iran. They wanted them lifted and an agreement was
reached with the US and its allies that was supposed to delay Iran’s nuclear
ambitions in exchange for sanctions relief and the release of frozen assets.
But that agreement did nothing to eliminate Iran’s other malign activities—and,
as we now know, Iran continued working toward its ultimate objectives even
before the current president tore up that deal.
When Trump withdrew from the agreement and restored
sanctions, much of the world condemned him. The critics insisted that the
agreement was working. But what kind of agreement was it if it merely allowed
Iran to bide its time until it could resume its nuclear program? ,,,and because
the deal was limited to Uranium enrichment - continue pursuing its terrorist
objectives without fear?
The president eventually saw the writing on the wall and
decided to act – after Israel weakned them with an attack of their own..
Iran’s military infrastructure was mostly devastated. But,
sadly, not all of it. Iran is still able to use what remains, and it is now
doing so with great bravado. Claiming to have the upper hand in the war.
Most troubling of all is the Strait of Hormuz.
By interfering with shipping through this vital artery for
the world’s oil and goods, Iran has created economic pain for Americans and
others around the world. And that has inevitably caused some Americans to sour
on the war. Even if they continue to support its objectives.
That distinction is important…
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