Stronger Action Needed Against Iran
by Majid Rafizadeh • October 28, 2023 at 5:00 am
Removing even just one oil refinery might also "send a message" and persuade Iran's ruling mullahs to rethink their plans.
The Biden administration, it appears, has been funding both sides of two wars: Hamas's invasion of Israel, and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
When the Iranian regime says, "Death to Israel" and "Death to America," they mean it. The US, by trying to bribe Iran not to carry out at least the American part of that threat, has, in reality, been financing Iran's ability to do exactly that. Instead of neutralizing the avowed murderers of Americans, the US is bankrolling them.
The US needs to resume, even step up, enforcing sanctions to cut off the flow of funds to the Iranian regime. If not, the next war, when Iran has nuclear weapons, will make this one look like one of those five-star hotels in Qatar.
With the Biden administration's deference towards the ruling mullahs of Iran, its regime — called the world's "top state sponsor of terrorism" — is so far still the winner of Hamas's barbaric massacre on October 7. The invaders from Gaza killed at least 1,400 people in Israel, including at least 31 Americans, wounded 4, 500 people, and abducted more than 222 people who were taken back to Gaza as hostages. Thirteen US citizens are still unaccounted for.
Iran has targeted US forces in Syria and Iraq 83 times since January 2021, when President Joe Biden took office.
When the US finally launched retaliatory strikes on Syria on October 26, Iran itself was carefully avoided.
One can only hope that a strong enough message was sent to the Iranian regime and its proxies -- Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hizballah, the Houthis in Yemen -- many of whose leaders are tucked safely away in five-star hotels in Qatar.
