Some individuals mistakenly view Hamas, Hezbollah, and other Islamist terrorist organizations as acting independently, failing to recognize Iran as the puppet master pulling their strings. Iran’s regime rejoiced in the unprovoked Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, which sparked the ongoing conflict. Terrorists invaded Israel from the Gaza Strip, murdering approximately 1,200 people and committing atrocities. They abducted 250 hostages and transported them to Gaza, where approximately 130 remain, including five American citizens.
Iran has poured billions of dollars and a vast arsenal of weapons into Hamas and other terrorist groups for decades, fueled by its genocidal agenda of eliminating as many Jews as possible and eradicating Israel. To end the Israel-Hamas conflict and avert a full-scale war between Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah, Iran must be compelled to restrain its terrorist proxies. However, this will only occur if Iran faces severe consequences for its refusal.
Iran also poses a military threat to America’s significant Arab allies, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Bahrain. If it acquires nuclear weapons, Iran would jeopardize the stability of the globe. The fanatic Iranian regime is dedicated to the destruction of both the United States and Israel. It oppresses its own people, imprisoning and frequently executing those who oppose it. Women can face beatings and imprisonment simply for refusing to fully cover their bodies and hair.
Iran’s ability to bankroll terrorist activities stems from its oil and natural gas sales to other countries, with China receiving 90% of its oil exports. Despite U.S. sanctions, Iran claims to have earned $35.8 billion from oil exports in the year ending March.
The United States must counter Iran’s ability to fund terrorism by大幅增加 our own oil and natural gas production, as advocated by former President Trump, to reduce the demand for Iranian fossil fuels. Regrettably, President Biden and certain state governments are aiding Iran by prohibiting oil and gas drilling in expanding areas of the United States.
The United States should also exert pressure on Iran by明确表示 we fully support Israel and our Arab allies. This would deter attacks by Iran and its terrorist proxies. The United States, Britain, France, and some of our Arab partners collaborated to assist Israel in shooting down approximately 300 drones and missiles fired by Iran in an unprecedented attack in April. This is the proper approach to ensuring the safety and security of our Middle Eastern allies.
However, Biden’s shocking decision last week to postpone the delivery of 3,500 heavy bombs and artillery shells to Israel undermined this positive step. According to Biden, this action could save civilian lives by persuading Israel to refrain from a full-scale assault on Rafah, Hamas’s last stronghold in Gaza.
Nevertheless, Israel intends to intensify its strikes on Hamas in Gaza, recognizing that failing to eradicate the terrorist organization would be disastrous. Hamas may regain control of Gaza after Israel withdraws, fulfilling its repeated threats of launching further October 7-style massacres.
Israel has made extraordinary efforts to prevent civilian casualties during the conflict, advising numerous Rafah residents to evacuate to safer areas. Approximately 450,000 people have done so. Despite this, Hamas terrorists firing rockets into Israel conceal themselves in and beneath schools, mosques, hospitals, and apartment buildings to maximize Palestinian casualties and portray Israel negatively on the global stage.
Iran shares the aim of increasing suffering and fatalities among Gazans. This immoral and bloodthirsty propaganda approach is succeeding, as anti-Israel rallies on U.S. college campuses and cities worldwide – as well as condemnations from the United Nations – overwhelmingly criticize Israel rather than Iran, Hamas, or Hezbollah. Many demonstrators foolishly praise Hamas and its terrorist allies while spewing anti-Semitic rhetoric.
Biden’s suspension of certain munitions deliveries to Israel emboldens Iran and Hamas to continue their aggression against Israel and encourages Hezbollah to join in the attacks. Hamas responded by launching rockets into southern Israel from Rafah, while Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel, with the goal of inflicting maximum casualties.
As a staunch supporter of Israel, I was among seven U.S. individuals and five firms sanctioned by Iran on May 2. I consider it an honor. I also earned Iran’s enmity by serving as President Trump’s Middle East special envoy and participating in the development of the historic Abraham Accords under his leadership, which established diplomatic relations between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco.
Iran opposes the establishment of ties between Israel and Arab countries. One reason Iran supported the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel was to derail efforts to establish Israeli relations with additional Arab states, particularly Saudi Arabia.
Replacing Iranian fossil fuel exports with American oil and natural gas, ending Biden’s partial arms embargo against Israel, and allowing Israel to eliminate Hamas are the most effective ways to combat Islamist terrorism globally and weaken the Iranian regime. Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel is the source of suffering for Gazans. The quickest path to ending this nightmare is to pressure the Iranian puppet master to force Hamas to release all Israeli hostages, relinquish control of a demilitarized Gaza (with security oversight by Israel) to Palestinians willing to accept that the only way forward is to coexist peacefully with the Jewish state of Israel, even if a peace agreement between the two parties is more distant than ever. This should be the guiding principle of U.S. policy.
