For all the noise, fury, and tragedy that define the current Middle East landscape, the path to a calmer future is not as mysterious as it sometimes appears. There is a workable arrangement in which every side, Iran, Lebanon, Gaza, Yemen and Israel could benefit, and in which the region could finally exhale. But that future depends on a single, immovable condition: the rejection of an Islamic fundamentalist ideology that elevates the destruction of Israel above the welfare of the very societies these regimes claim to take responsibility for. This ideology has shaped their choices for decades, not the pursuit of Palestinian statehood, not economic development, not regional stability. Instead, it has fueled proxy conflicts, empowered militias, and destabilized neighbors. Peace cannot emerge while that ideological engine endures, because its followers are locked into a worldview that cannot coexist with it. Western pragmatism, effective in many Western disputes, is ineffective when confronted with dogmatic Islamic fundamentalism.

Iran: Before 1979, Israel enjoyed warm relations with Iran. After the Islamic Republic seized power, however, the regime adopted an uncompromising fundamentalist agenda. Internally, the well-being of its citizens has long been subordinated to the regime’s overriding priorities: preserving its grip on power while also advancing its radical external policy. Externally, its policy is aimed at exporting its revolution across the region, destabilizing pro‑Western governments, and rejecting Israel’s right to exist. To advance these goals, Iran built and funded a network of armed proxy groups, including Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis, each responsible for severe harm, loss of life, and human rights violations. Iran itself is linked to violent attacks and widespread abuses, including the estimated killing of more than 900 Americans, the highest U.S. death toll attributed to any state sponsor of terrorism since 1979. Beyond seeking control over the strategic international Strait of Hormuz, Iran has also pursued two especially dangerous capabilities: one of the region’s largest offensive ballistic‑missile arsenals, with ambitions to eventually reach U.S. territory, and a military nuclear program it has refused to abandon.

Whatever idealistic hopes Iranians or Western observers may........

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