The Trump administration finds itself at a crossroads with the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI), which has ruled since overthrowing the Shah in 1979. The US began its current war on Iran on February 28, 2026, launching strikes only after years of pressure, sanctions, and diplomacy failed to shift Tehran from its 47‑year pursuit of ballistic‑missile expansion, a nuclear arsenal, proxy warfare, Israel’s destruction, and the export of its Sharia‑based ideology westward. The regime has maintained power through the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a security force separate from the regular army and built to protect the leadership. It has crushed dissent through systematic repression, killing an estimated tens of thousands of political opponents, dissidents, and protesters.

Of Iran’s roughly 93 million people, about one million have a vested interest in keeping the regime in place. The vast majority of Iranians oppose the government’s policies, preferring a non‑belligerent foreign policy and prioritizing national development over military expansion and proxy warfare. But because Iran is not a functioning democracy, even overwhelming public opinion has no influence on government policy; only ideology and self‑interest matter. The IRI’s hostility toward Israel, openly calling for and pursuing its destruction, stems not only from its support for the Palestinian goal of dismantling the Jewish state, but primarily from Israel’s status as the only Middle Eastern country aligned with Western and US values: democracy, pluralism, women’s rights, free courts and press, along with political accountability. Branding Israel “the Little Satan” and the US “the Great Satan,” the regime rejects normal relations with Washington and instead seeks to export its revolution by backing anti‑US movements, Shi’a fundamentalist groups, and efforts to weaken pro‑Western governments across the Middle East.

Iran’s foreign policy has poured billions of dollars into arming and funding its terrorist proxies, Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and others. These groups function as states within states, occupying forces that are destructive both internally and externally.........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)