Email from Zionist Organization of America   ZIONIST ORGANIZATION OF AMERICA IN THE MEDIA     USA Today Op-Ed by ZOA's Klein/Berney: We Cannot Accept the Deceit of Iran’s Terror Regime Morton A. Klein Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) National President Elizabeth A. Berney ZOA Director of Research & Special Projects (July 29, 2026 / USA Today) The Islamic Republic of Iran was born through deception. Nearly five decades later, it faces its greatest challenge because an American president has concluded that the regime's deception can no longer be tolerated. Documents declassified in 2016 show that Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini secured power by making promises to President Jimmy Carter that he never intended to keep. Today, President Donald Trump is responding to the same pattern of duplicity with a fundamentally different approach. Declassified diplomatic cables and government records from January 1979, including a first-person message from Khomeini, document how Carter was persuaded to help clear Khomeini's path back to Iran. Although the records were declassified in 2016, they received little public attention. At the time, Khomeini understood that the greatest obstacle to his rise was Iran's military, which remained loyal to Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and was prepared to prevent his return from exile. Khomeini also knew the United States could work with the Iranian military to stop his takeover. Through intermediaries in Paris, where he spent the final year of his 15-year exile, Khomeini offered Carter what amounted to a bargain. If the United States encouraged Iran's military to stand down and its constitutional government to step aside, Khomeini promised stability, a peaceful transition and gradual constitutional change. He assured Washington that Iran would remain friendly to America, maintain Western investment, continue selling oil, avoid Soviet influence, protect Iran's Jews, refrain from exporting revolution and pursue a policy of non-interference in other nations. His spokesman, Ebrahim Yazdi, even emphasized that Iran preferred closer relations with America than with the Soviet Union because, "You are Christians and believe in God and they don't." Khomeini also hinted at the consequences if his return were blocked, warning that violence could be directed at Americans in Iran if the military acted against him. The Carter administration accepted these assurances. Carter urged the Shah to leave Iran, while U.S. Air Force General Robert Huyser persuaded Iran's military leadership not to intervene and to abandon plans for a coup. The result was a smoother path for Khomeini's return and eventual seizure of power. Iran's promises never came to fruition The promises unraveled almost immediately.  Within two weeks of returning to Iran on Feb. 1, 1979, Khomeini ordered the summary execution of four senior Iranian generals despite the military's concessions. He then eliminated Marxist allies who had helped bring him to power and sidelined moderates as insufficiently revolutionary and too sympathetic to the United States. On April 1, Khomeini publicly called for the execution of the Shah's supporters without trial, declaring there was "no reason why a criminal should be tried." He demanded that every aspect of Iranian society be reshaped according to Islamic principles, called for eliminating "all remnants of westernization" and urged Islamic nations to unite against Western influence. He soon abandoned any pretense of limiting his ambitions to Iran. Khomeini declared, "We shall export our revolution to the whole world." Iran's new constitution established the continuation of the Islamic Revolution at home and abroad as a central mission, assigning both the army and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps responsibility for advancing Islamic sovereignty worldwide. Continue Reading   Share This Email Share This Email Share This Email   DONATE   www.zoa.org   Copyright © Zionist Organization of America 2026. All rights reserved. Zionist Organization of America | 633 Third Ave 31 B | New York, NY 10017 US Unsubscribe | Update Profile | Constant Contact Data Notice