Latest news with #Mullahs
The Hill
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Trump can and should force Iran's unconditional surrender
Since the Mullahs seized power in Tehran in 1979, the U.S. has been playing for a tie in Iran. Now, it is time for President Trump to play for a win. For forty-six years, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his predecessors have been waging a war against the U.S. and our allies in the Middle East. 'Death to America' and 'Death to Israel' have not been just slogans but decades-long causes. Iran's war against Washington has at times been overt, as when the regime sanctioned Iranian students storming the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979. For 444 days, fifty-two Americans were held hostage. In the process, Iran also destroyed the second half of President Jimmy Carter's only term in the Oval Office. At other times, the war has been indirect. On October 23, 1983, 241 U.S. servicemen were killed and another 100 wounded in the Marine Barracks bombing in Beirut, Lebanon. Although responsibility for the bombing was claimed by the shadowy Islamic Jihad Organization, it is widely understood that Hezbollah was behind the attack, and that it had been planned and funded by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. The origins of Iran's proxy war against the U.S. and later Israel were born on that day. Other attacks would follow, including the June 1996 attack by Hezbollah Al-Hejaz — an Iranian-backed Shia terrorist group — on Khobar Towers in 1996 that killed 19 United States airmen. In October 2000, a suicide bomber hit the USS Cole using a small boat carrying C4 explosives, killing 17 sailors. In 2015, a U.S. court found that Iran was part of the al-Qaeda attack. Subsequently, Tehran's so-called 'Axis of Resistance' would repeatedly attack U.S. interests or allies. While Iran officially has been designated by the State Department as a State Sponsor of Terror since 1984, Tehran's proxies have actually been operating as paramilitary groups waging war on Washington. Operationally, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has been in command. Paramilitary groups under its umbrella of control include Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza, and the Houthis in Yemen. In Iraq, it controls Kataib Hezbollah, Asaib Ahl al Haq, Harakat Hezbollah al Nujaba, Badr Organization, and Kataib Sayyad al Hamas Shuhada. In Bahrain, it controls the al Ashtar Brigades and Saraya al Mukhtar. Washington's response across five administrations, between 1995 and 2022, has been to sanction Iran. It was not until Trump in 2020 that the U.S. responded in kind to Iranian violence by ordering, as he put it, 'a flawless precision strike that killed the number-one terrorist anywhere in the world, Qasem Soleimani.' Soleimani commanded the Quds Force, the wing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps responsible for funding, training and coordinating its 'Axis of Resistance Proxies.' Trump held that Soleimani was responsible for the Iraqi Shia militia that stormed the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq and the Kata'ib Hezbollah rocket strike on the K-1 Air Base in Kirkuk, Iraq. After decades of countless Iranian proxy-attacks on U.S. targets and allies across the Middle East, Oct. 7 changed everything. Up to that point, Iran's nuclear weapons program had been viewed as the greatest existential threat to Israel. But suddenly, given Hamas's tactical surprise with aid from Iran and Russia, Israel was forced to treat Iran's decades-in-the-making 'Axis of Resistance' as an existential threat too. The wolf closest to the sled was Hamas. Next came Hezbollah and the Houthis. Now, after eliminating Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps command and control groups in Syria after the fall of Bashir Assad, Israel is focusing on eliminating Iran's Armageddon-like nuclear threat. Getting to this point, however, has told us a lot about Iran's long-term intentions if left unchecked by Washington. Not only has Tehran expanded its partnership with Russia becoming a critical part of Russian President Vladimir Putin's Arsenals of Evil in his war against Ukraine by supplying Shahed drones, but Khamenei also ordered his militias to take the fight directly to U.S. forces stationed in the Middle East. By November 2023 — just a month after Oct. 7. — those same paramilitary forces had attacked U.S. forces more than 50 times. This was on top of nearly 100 other attacks that resulted in Americans being killed by Iranian proxies since former President Biden had taken office in 2021. So Iran is not only in a hot war with Israel. It is also in a 46-year-old hot war with the U.S. This war could get and has gotten worse, including when Kata'ib Hezbollah attacked Tower 22 in Jordan, killing three U.S. soldiers. Tehran has long been a destabilizing force throughout the region. Alex Plitsas, an Atlantic Council counterterrorism expert, notes that a key element of Khamenei's motivation for backing Hamas and Oct. 7. was to scuttle the Saudi-Israeli normalization process. In addition to undermining regional diplomacy, Iran has also destabilized the Egyptian economy by encouraging Houthi rebels to attack commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. Consequently, at times, Suez Canal traffic and revenues have grinded to a halt as shipping companies avoid the area. Given Iran's nuclear ambitions, and given Khamenei's use of his ballistic missiles and drones to target Israeli civilians, it is time for Trump to demand the country's unconditional surrender. No more wash and repeats — rather, regime change. This would not only eliminate Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile threats, but it would also, as make CENTCOM's task of ensuring the security of U.S. allies and interests in the Middle East far more manageable — especially given Beijing's rising economic and military involvement in the region. If Khamenei's regime survives and Iran achieves nuclear breakout, CENTCOM's ability to safeguard both will become exponentially more difficult. Why take that chance? Iran and its proxies have effectively been at war with the U.S. since 1979, and the possibility of a lasting peace in the Middle East is right there, dangling. Why also risk letting Tehran entering into a grand alliance to create an 'Islamic Army,' as Mohsen Rezaee is suggesting — possibly involving a nuclear Pakistan as well — when this decades old U.S. and Middle East nightmare can be swept aside into the ash heap of history right now? Trump must enable Israel to complete its mission. It is time for Trump to say, 'no deal' — to put Khamenei and his regime down for the count. Trump can achieve that by providing Jerusalem with the munitions to destroy Fordow and to help Israel topple Khamenei's regime. Doing so would transform the Middle East, putting wins on the board against Russia, and sending a strong message to China and our Asia-Pacific allies. Mark Toth writes on national security and foreign policy. Col. (Ret.) Jonathan Sweet served 30 years as an Army intelligence officer.
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
ANDREW NEIL: Iran's dictators have one final suicidal weapon they are now threatening to unleash. It will spell the end for them - but will also plunge millions of us into chaos and suffering
A senior commander in Iran 's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warned at the weekend that the beleaguered regime in Tehran, reeling from Israel 's relentless onslaught on its leadership, military assets and energy infrastructure, might move to close the Strait of Hormuz. It's a threat the Mullahs regularly resort to at times of tension or when their backs are against the wall.
Spectator
5 days ago
- Politics
- Spectator
This is Netanyahu's Churchill moment
History may not repeat itself, but it certainly rhymes, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu now finds himself in precisely the same strategic position that Winston Churchill was in in 1940: he needs to draw a reluctant USA into a war with a mortal enemy bent on his nation's destruction. Although some may think it dubious to draw a comparison between the controversial and embattled Israeli Prime Minister and the British statesman widely seen as the saviour of freedom and western democracy, their respective positions today and early in the second world war are practically identical. Like Churchill back in the day, Netanyahu now needs America's power and active participation in the war to ensure that a decisive blow is turned into a final victory As soon as he was brought to power in May 1940, Churchill was clear about his principal aim: to get the might of the neutral United States under President F.D. Roosevelt into the battle to save Britain, Europe and the world from Hitler's genocidal tyranny. Similarly, 'Bibi' Netanyahu has to bring US power to bear on the Islamic Republic of Iran to ensure Israel's survival in the face of the existential threat posed by the murderous Mullahs of Teheran. In particular, if the danger to Israel posed by Iran's nuclear weapons programme is to be permanently removed, only the deep penetration 'bunker busting' GBU-57 bombs deployed by America's B52 stealth aircraft can reach the underground vaults where Iran's nukes are stored. So far, despite the damage inflicted on Iran's nuclear facilities by Israel's devastating raids on the Islamic Republic, these bunkers remain largely untouched and inviolate and only the US super weapons can reach them. Like Roosevelt in 1940, President Trump is deeply reluctant to get the US involved in another conflict. Indeed, he was elected on the promise of not entering another 'forever war' in the Middle East. A war weary American public is deeply sceptical of sending more US boys into another war like the disastrous interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan. So far, President Trump has put his faith in negotiations with the Ayatollahs to achieve a 'deal' to halt Iran's drive to acquire nuclear weapons. Those talks were due to have resumed this weekend, but the process was rudely interrupted by Israel's attacks on Iran which Netanyahu declared was the only way that Israel's safety and security could be guaranteed. But, as Iran's lethal retaliation raids on Israel with drones and missiles proves, Iran's military capability may have been crippled, but it retains an ability to hit back hard. Like Churchill back in the day, Netanyahu now needs America's power and active participation in the war to ensure that a decisive blow is turned into a final victory. Eighty-five years ago, it took Japan's direct assault on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor in December 1941 to finally draw America into the struggle against the Axis powers and ensure a final Allied triumph. Like Trump today, Roosevelt had been willing to supply a desperate Britain with military help – ships and weapons – but it took the surprise raid on Pearl Harbor to actually bring the US into the war. Trump has written on his Truth Social site that, 'If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the US Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before.' If Iran carries out its threats to hit US bases in the Middle East, then and only then will Donald Trump be dragged kicking and screaming into Israel's war for sheer survival.
Sky News AU
6 days ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Israel sees Iran as an ‘existential threat'
Sky News host James Morrow says Israel sees Iran as an 'existential threat' and is using strikes to force a regime change. 'I think the push now on Israel is simply they want to create regime change in Iran – they want to get to the point where the Mullahs are forced to flee the country.' 'They see Iran here as an existential threat.'
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Once again, Israel proves it has the most impressive military in the world
However bellicose the Mullahs in Tehran are this morning, they know they have been absolutely hammered by a superior military power. Operation Rising Lion was the second extraordinary military operation within a few days, which like Ukraine's Operation Spider's Web by Kyiv's secret service will have a strategic impact across the world. This operation has been years in the planning and, with the autocratic Iranian regime's frightening intransigence over nuclear weapons, amid warnings it has enough material to build 15 nuclear bombs 'within days', Israel had run out of patience. The IDF has likely been preparing this battlefield in detail for a decade. The level of intelligence required to take out key military and political leaders suggests that the Israeli security services have a huge network of spies on the ground, probably at the very heart of military and political command, to produce a comprehensive set of strategic targets. The precursor to this strike was the annihilation of the main Iranian proxy Hezbollah last year, when pagers and radios blew up in the pockets of operatives, an audacious attack which struck Iran's heart and soul. In the months previously, I was briefed about the complete domination of Syria and Lebanon by Hezbollah, which evaporated with their pagers, paving the way for the fall of the Bashar al-Assad. Israeli jets and missile destroyed part of Iran's air defence around many key military sites last year, which will have been pivotal to the apparent success of these latest attacks. The main nuclear development site at Natanz seems to have been comprehensively attacked and its many centrifuges likely destroyed. Without centrifuges you cannot enrich uranium, and without enriched uranium you cannot make nuclear weapons. But this wasn't just about enrichment and crushing the nuclear weapons programme. It was also an attack on senior military and political decision-makers. The intensity and complexity of these strikes is on a level not seen in living memory, and if Ukraine is given the wherewithal to replicate this, we might see a very different outcome in the fight with the Russians. The axis of evil in its entirety ought to be afraid. Israel does nothing in half measures and like them or not,when it comes to military operations against legitimate targets, they show the rest how it is done. This operation will be studied by military experts and historians for generations, as a way to achieve military success when you have no limits to the risks you are prepared to take and must care little for what others – even your purported allies – may say. The world holds its breath. Iran has few allies. Perhaps the silent majority in this evil regime may see this as an opportunity to remove the war like clergy from the helm for a more moderate leadership. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
