RUTHFULLY YOURS

Often lost in the media frenzy is that Iran, unprovoked, initiated hostilities against Israel. The seeming dispute was not about territory, policy or any disagreement that states normally have. It was about ideology. For nearly five decades, Iran and its proxies have waged a war against Israel and the United States, calling for their destruction. From their point of view, neither country, as “disbelievers,” has a right to exist. Full stop.

For nearly five decades, Iran’s theocratic regime, while denying the Holocaust, has been funding terror groups, including Hezbollah , Hamas and the Houthis, and at the same time accelerating its uranium enrichment program.

Iran, which wanted Israel annihilated, invested virtually all its national assets into encircling Israel, roughly the size of the US State of New Jersey (22,000 sq.km) with a “noose of fire,” so that since October, 2023, Israel has been forced to defend itself against attacks from seven fronts: Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, Iran, Iraq, and its own West Bank.

From the earliest days of the Islamic Revolution, its goal has been stated openly and its doctrine deeply embedded in the regime’s identity. No other issue, domestic or foreign, was as consistent, prioritized, or systematically pursued as Tehran’s hostility toward Israel, the country blocking its way to destroying the United States. To that end Iran for decades had been preparing “forward bases” in South America, especially Venezuela.

Attacking Israel appears to have been seen by Iran’s regime as the first step toward defeating the entire West. “Death to Israel” and “Death to America” were chanted after every Friday prayer, taught in schools, and plastered across the country’s public spaces. Every major street had murals promoting hostility toward Israel and the U.S. In Tehran, there is even a “countdown clock” in a public square marking the days until Israel’s destruction.

In 1979, Khomeini, Iran’s first Supreme Leader, declared Israel the “Little Satan” (the U.S. was the “Great Satan“) and framed opposition to Israel as a core Islamic duty. His successor, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called Israel a “cancerous tumor” that must be removed. In 2005, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (then President) called for Israel to be “wiped off the map“.

Iran’s long record of targeting Jews and Israelis has been well documented. In 1992, Iran bombed the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, killing 29, and wounding 200. Two years later, a truck bomb leveled the AMIA Jewish center, killing 85. In 1993, Iran assisted in bombing the U.S. Marines barracks in Beirut Lebanon, in an attack that murdered 241 marines. Iran was found guilty of participating in the attacks of 9/11/2001. In 2006, during the Second Lebanon War, Hezbollah with help of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard fired thousands of rockets into Israel.

In October 2023, Hamas terrorists (long supported by Iran – and Qatar — with funds and weapons) launched an unprecedented attack on Israel, killing around 1,200 Israelis and taking 250 hostages.

If a terrorist regime, openly committed to wiping another nation off the map, is pursuing a nuclear bomb, how could any responsible government trust it?

In 1996, Iran test-launched the Shahab-3 missile, capable of reaching Israel. In 2002, its secret nuclear program was exposed. By 2011, Iran was enriching uranium to 20% and shifting operations to underground bunkers such as Fordow.

By 2015, Iran had a robust nuclear infrastructure. The JCPOA failed to address the fundamental nuclear threat, focused on temporary technical limits while ignoring the regime’s long-term ambitions, and actually agreeing to a “sunset clause” that would have allowed Iran’s regime legitimately to have as many nuclear weapons as it liked — starting this October. When, after the 2015 agreement, Israel optimistically declared a 25-year period free of war threats, perhaps hoping for reconciliation, Iran responded ominously: Supreme Leader Khamenei asserted that Israel would not survive the next 25 years.

The administration of U.S. President Barack Obama, while funding Iran to the hilt, also neglected Iran’s missile programs and regional proxies. Even after Iran openly tested ballistic missiles, the Obama administration responded weakly, backing off planned sanctions after Tehran warned it might jeopardize secret talks over a prisoner swap.

This encouragement allowed Iran to further develop advanced centrifuges, missile technology, and strengthen nuclear infrastructure investments.

In April 2018, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu revealed that the Mossad had obtained Iran’s secret nuclear archive—proof that Tehran had researched nuclear weapons and lied about it. President Trump wisely pulled the U.S. out of Obama’s deal – which, it turned out, had not only been fraudulent but totally illegitmate .

In 2020, President Trump brought about the Abraham Accords between Israel and several Arab states — a historic achievement, and at least partially induced by the Shiite Iranian regime tendency to eye its Sunni Arab neighbors for their oil in addition to their alleged “heresy.”

The Biden administration unfortunately repeated Obama’s errors., perhaps under the illusion that if it were nice to Iran, Iran would be nice back. Instead, Iran seized on its good luck to escalate its uranium enrichment to 60% by April 2021 and near weapons-grade (83.7%) in 2023.

On October 7, 2023, the Hamas terrorist group, funded mainly by Qatar and by Iran, attacked Israel, thereby putting the brakes on expanding the Abraham Accords, especially the efforts of bringing Saudi Arabia on board.

Iran itself, in a pattern of consistent aggression and in addition to all the aggression by its militias and proxies, also fired missiles directly at Israel in April and October of 2024, during its operation “True Promise“.

Israel has lived under the threat of destruction since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 – which also kidnapped and held hostage American diplomats for 44 days until election of President Rinad Reagan appears to have persuaded them otherwise. No other country has faced such sustained, existential hostility. Given Israel’s small size and population, the last thing it must want is war. From facilitating Iran-Contra dealings in the 1980s between US and Iran, expressing optimism after the 2015 JCPOA deal, to the Abraham Accords, whenever possible, Israel has tried to improve relations with Iran and basically any country that would talk to it.

Israel’s preemptive assault on Iran on June 13, 2025 did not happen in a vacuum. It is the result of 46 years of Iranian hostility, escalation and deception.

On May 31, 2025, the International Atomic Energy Agency’s report confirmed that Iran has enough enriched uranium to build nine nuclear weapons. On June 12, 2025, United Nations nuclear watchdog formally declared Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations, the first such ruling in nearly 20 years. The resolution cited Tehran’s repeated refusal since 2019 to cooperate with inspectors over undeclared nuclear material and secret activities.

Iran’s nuclear program, according to its own words – “Death to Israel” — is an existential threat to Israel and the West. Israel had every reason to act.

Under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, countries have the right to self-defense against armed attacks.

Israel’s Operation Rising Lion on June 13, 2025, was a preemptive act of self-defense. Israeli forces hit military targets: nuclear facilities, military bases, missile depots, and air defense systems. At least 10 IRGC commanders were killed, (at the time of this writing), as well as nuclear scientists. Iranian cities saw explosions, although with remarkably few civilian deaths. Israel has been warning civilians to evacuate intended target areas — further evidence of Israel’s careful planning, and ethical approach.

Iran responded with ballistic missile and drone attacks primarily on civilian areas. Most of Iran’s weapons were shot down; the few that slipped through killed 10 Israeli civilians (at time of writing). What stood out was Iran’s deliberate targeting of civilian areas, homes and crowded cities, showing the regime’s total disregard for innocent lives.

Iran, apparently used to having its proxies front for it, was evidently not equipped for large-scale war. Its military was outdated. The air force relied on aging F-14s and lacked modern fighter jets. Israel had earlier damaged Iran’s air defences. Missiles, such as the Shahab-3, are not accurate. Iran’s navy was obsolete. Even the threat to close the Strait of Hormuz appears mostly talk. Doing so could have triggered an international backlash.

Since President Trump’s reelection, sanctions have gutted Iran’s economy, inflation has been high, the rial in free fall, oil exports limited, and, for years before that, nearly half the population has unfortunately been living in poverty. Khamenei’s age, 85, questionable judgement and his uncertain succession all make the regime more fragile. Brutal crackdowns only deepened the divide between rulers and ruled. Mass protests in 2019 and 2022 showed the public’s rage at repression and economic failure. Recent videos from inside Iran show people celebrating and thanking Israel for the strikes.

Iran has also become increasingly isolated. The Assad regime in Syria was driven out. Iran’s proxies have been degraded by Israeli forces, and reluctant backing from Russia and China have left the regime exposed. Its Shiite territorial aggression has alienated all of its Sunni-majority neighbors except Qatar, which has funded — and then pretends to negotiate objectively! — every Islamic terrorist group, including al-Qaeda, the Taliban, Hamas and Islamic State.

Meanwhile, reportedly most Iranians, trapped under their repressive tyrannical government who do not afford them free or fair elections, have for years been calling for regime change. Nearly 80% (79.9%) of Iranians favor His Royal Highness, Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi. His daughter’s recent marriage to a Jewish American symbolized Iran’s deeper historic ties to the West, an alliance the regime has tried to extinguish.

Who got us here? Western governments, especially the United States and Europe. By treating Iran as if it were a benign country, and clinging to failed illusions such as the disastrous JCPOA, which promised Iran unlimited nuclear weapons — starting this October! — they encouraged Tehran develop its nuclear and missile programs unchecked. When they had many chances to stop Iran early on, they passed them up.. Now Israel is paying the price.

Does the world really want a terrorist state to have nuclear weapons? If you look at the damage Iran has been doing without nuclear weapons, you image the damage it could do with them. A nuclear-armed, ideology-driven regime threatens everyone. Right now, Israel is on the front line doing what others –whose lives and countries Israel is saving — criticize it for doing. Israel’s actions are not about starting a war; they are about stopping a war that has been underway for 46 years before the theocratic tyranny who initiated it enlarge it further.

Best of all, China, Russia and North Korea are looking on. If they ever had thoughts about making mischief during President Trump’s term, perhaps now they are having second thoughts. Netanyahu and Trump’s resolve is not only creating the opportunity for a new, golden age for the Middle East but possibly also providing a deterrent — remember them? — to other enemies of the West that have expressed wishes for its demise.

Critics in the United States, NATO and Europe would do well to abandon their half-hearted support for a despotism that would most certainly soon be coming for them, and instead, back Israel for doing whatever it has to do. If and when Iran’s savage tyranny collapses, the great people of Iran can finally take back their country and restore freedom, regional security and peace.

President Donald J. Trump’s Churchillian defence of the Free World and the West will place him at the forefront of history. Both he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – ans well as the extraordinary Israel Defence Forces — deserve the Nobel Peace Prize for rescuing the world from one of the most toxic regimes since the Third Reich and the Former Soviet Union. Failure by the Norwegian Committee to do so will probably tell us more about them than about one of the greatest triumphs for freedom of all time.