November 26, 2018

In recent weeks we have witnessed yet another round of deadly horrific rocket attacks by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip against innocent Israeli civilian cities nearly. A Christian Zionist friend of mine contacted with a sense of hopelessness and worry about Israel’s future security and almost inability to fight back against the Hamas terror group which has embedded itself among Gaza’s innocent civilian population. My response to him was simple…  the ultimate solution to the current wars waged against Israel and moderate Arab countries in the region is the demise of the Iranian regime. The current regime of the ayatollahs is perhaps the largest financier of Hamas, Hezbollah and other terrorist groups targeting Israel and the Arab world today. The regime not only provides billions of dollars in free cash to these terrorists, but also arms them with advanced weaponry and rockets. When this heinous regime is overthrown in Iran today, so will these key terrorist groups be greatly weakened or possibly destroyed forever.

While the current Trump administration and previous U.S. administrations for the last 40 years have refused to carry out a policy of regime change in Iran, the ayatollahs in that country have only strengthened in power. They have continued their nefarious terrorist actions against Israel and the rest of the Arab world. Earlier this year, Sigal Mandelker, the U.S. Treasury under-secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, stated in a speech that Iran provides upwards of $700 million a year to their Shiite terrorist organization Hezbollah, which is based in Southern Lebanon.  Likewise earlier this year, out-going Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot also reported that Iran spends a combined $100 million per year supporting Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza.

One is left wondering what would happen to these terrorist groups if the Islamic Republic of Iran no longer existed and billions of dollars would not be funneled to them? No doubt, the Hamas grip of power in Gaza would collapse and their ability to launch rockets into civilian Israeli cities would stop. Perhaps with a weakened Hamas or a Gaza without Hamas, a more moderate Palestinian regime could take control of that area and even negotiate a lasting peace with Israel instead of seeking constant war and destruction? Perhaps Hezbollah would be driven out of their stronghold in Southern Lebanon by moderate Lebanese groups and eventually collapse without the backing of their parent country, Iran.  Perhaps the Shiite terrorists who control parts of Yemen would cease to exist without funding and weapons from the Iranian regime. Even to a mere child, it is obvious that without the money and military backing of the ayatollahs in Iran, a great deal of the terrorism and conflict in the Middle East would significantly be reduced. Therefore in my humble opinion, the road to peace in the Middle East is largely possible if there is regime change in Iran.

A new free, secular, democratically elected government in Iran which is not corrupt and answers to the people of Iran, would perhaps become a beacon of peace in the Middle East instead of a source of instability in the region. Today we hear Iran’s majority young population protesting in the streets of the country chanting “Not Gaza, No Lebanon, My life is only to be sacrificed for Iran”. This proves that Iran’s population has no taste for funding terrorist groups and would prefer to use the country’s oil and gas revenues to improve their own living conditions. Regime change in Iran today could crush the Iranian-back terrorist groups and encourage moderate Arab forces in the region to encourage Palestinians to make a real compromising peace with Israel. Today much of the Arab world’s leaders do not see Israel as their enemy but rather their friend in light of the Iranian regime’s threat to their stability. It seems as if Arab leaders and many Arab intellectuals want some sort of resolution to the conflict with the Palestinians, in an effort to enjoy the economic benefits of trade with a technology powerhouse like Israel. What stands in their way? Iran’s funding of terrorist groups that continue to perpetuate the conflict with Israel.

Many on the political left in America and much of Europe disapprove of regime change in Iran because they believe they can do business with the ayatollahs in Iran and the regime is not a threat to the Middle East. They claim that regime change in Iran is not a path to be taken because “the world” should not interfere with the internal affairs of other countries. Some on the political left and in Europe even claim that regime change in Iran means a violent military overthrow of the ayatollahs in Iran. This is NOT my interpretation of regime change in Iran! The U.S., Europe and the entire free world must bring tremendous economic pressure on the current Iranian regime to expedite its collapse from within. The ayatollahs in their radical revolutionary guard corps must be weakened financially to the point where they have no means to neither operate in Iran against their own population nor fund terrorism in the Middle East. Economic suffocation of the Iranian regime and its thugs will embolden forces of democracy in Iran to internally overthrow their radical Islamic oppressors without any interference from outside governments or sources. Today, the Trump administration refuses to carry out a policy of regime change in Iran. However the administration has rightly taken steps to increase sanctions and economic pressure on the Iranian regime. Yet more of such steps are still needed to push the ayatollahs to brink of collapse financially. Just as the Soviet Union collapsed from within due to dire economic conditions applied to them by America and the West, so too must the radical Islamic Iranian regime collapse from within due to dire economic conditions.

The ultimate overthrow of this radical Islamic regime in Iran is the ONLY path to helping to bring about peace in the Middle East because without the ayatollahs in power in Tehran, their many terrorist proxies in the region cease to exist. Today Iran is a major stumbling block to stability in the Middle East and when it is removed from the equation, the possibilities for Middle East peace and prosperity are endless. The only thing we need now are bold and courageous leaders in America and the western world who are willing to carry out steps that will lead to the ultimate collapse of this Iranian regime.