The countdown for the ayatollahs’ regime has begun. We will explain shortly. Sometimes opinion pieces, like dreams, come true.
I believe I was among the first here to call for striking Iran. Not merely to eliminate nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities, but to topple the regime itself. The underlying assumption was simple: Iran heavily arms its proxies, but internally it is a crumbling power. Its army is outdated, its air defense system is one the IDF could dismantle without great difficulty, and above all, its population is waiting for an opportunity to overthrow the regime.
These arguments were laid out here about a year and a half ago, in a series of articles beginning in August 2024.
The target was Tehran. The destruction of the ayatollahs’ regime. There is no alternative.
Iran was once a wealthy country. The Dubai of Asia. Rich in natural resources. But trillions of dollars were squandered on destruction and ruin, and today Iran’s proud and educated population has been reduced to poverty.
The most prominent segment of Iranian society is its educated, intellectual elite, heirs to a civilization more than 3,000 years old. The hijab protests that brought masses into the streets in September 2022 came from this elite, and that is precisely why they failed.
Iran is made up of dozens of minorities, many of them impoverished Shiite fundamentalists, who did not identify with a protest framed as permissive and feminist. Remember the slogans at the time: “Women, life, freedom.” Nothing that would draw the majority of Iran’s fundamentalist population into the streets.
The three conditions for revolution
Students of history know that modern Iranian history teaches a clear lesson: for a revolution to occur in Iran, three conditions must be met. Fifty years must pass since the previous revolution. Students, fundamentalists and blood must be in the streets. And there must be foreign intervention.
Consider the last Iranian revolution, the Khomeini revolution. The foreign factor was Democratic President Jimmy Carter, the ideological forefather of Obama and today’s progressive blinders, who warned the shah not to use force against protesters. The shah fell, and his fall caused enormous political, economic and moral damage to the world.
Israel is essentially the only foreign actor that can intervene immediately in Iran without being accused of meddling in its internal affairs. Under international law, Israel is the only country with a clear justification to strike Iran, which has declared war on it and continues to prepare for its destruction.
That same misguided moral purism was practiced by Barack Obama in Egypt when he forbade Hosni Mubarak from using force against protesters. Mubarak fell, Mohamed Morsi rose, and only because Egyptians later defied Obama and removed Morsi did the region avoid total collapse.
In every wave of protests in Iran over the past decade, there was no foreign power that the masses openly called upon to intervene. That is why the regime survived.
Then Israel entered the picture.
Look how the stars align once again. Jews might call it divine providence.
The formula is now complete: fifty years have passed, students and fundamentalists are in the streets alongside bloodshed, and Israel is the only foreign power capable of stepping in.
Israel is the only country that can intervene immediately in Iran without being accused of foreign interference. Under international law, Israel alone has cause to act against a state that has declared war on it and is actively working toward its destruction.
And almost forgot, Israel is also the only country with experience.
Israeli technology has stripped Iran of its defensive layers and offensive capabilities, systems built with the most advanced Russian and Chinese technology. Beyond Trump’s personal affinity for Israel and its prime minister, these facts explain the tightening coordination with Trump’s America.
The United States is preparing for a confrontation with China. Israeli technology that dismantled Chinese systems is now a key component of American national security.
Whoever strikes Iran now will bring about the collapse of the regime within days and will reap all the glory. That is why it appears the United States will once again join Israel.
After all, this is glory worth trillions of dollars.
Destroy the tools of repression
The masses are already in the streets. Israel needs only to destroy the regime’s tools of repression and control.
These are relatively easy, lightly defended targets from the air: Revolutionary Guard bases, prisons led by the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran, Basij headquarters, communications systems, computer and control networks.
That is enough.
Without its instruments of repression, the clerics are stripped of their power. The rest will be done by the masses in the streets.
During the 12-day war, most sorties were rightly devoted to neutralizing missile capabilities and crippling the nuclear program, eliminating Iran’s ability to destroy Israel. The remaining sorties targeted power stations, refineries and ports to create chaos and drive people into the streets.
Trump pressed, rightly, for a short war. We did not have time to generate sufficient chaos, and the masses did not emerge.
Now they already are.
All that is required is to eliminate the regime’s tools of repression so it cannot force them back indoors. The goal is empty, without even a net.
This strategy has another advantage. It avoids damaging critical state assets Iran will need for rapid recovery.
Israel must not hesitate.
Toppling the Iranian regime would propel Israel overnight from a strong regional power to a global one. The shockwaves would be felt worldwide, especially in Ankara’s presidential palace.
Rami SimaniErasing the Tehran regime is a vital national interest carrying exponential economic benefit. I challenge you to examine what Israel would look like one year after dismantling the ayatollahs’ regime.
The fall of Iran’s terror regime would be worth unimaginable sums to Israel’s GDP for two central reasons.
First, the restored Iranian state and people, most of whom admire Israel, would show gratitude to their liberators. In Iranian social media, Netanyahu is compared to Moses leading them to freedom. Israel would become a central player in rebuilding Iran’s economy, with its vast energy and mineral resources.
Second, Israel, already enjoying primacy in the Persian Gulf, would be embraced by the oil emirates. That would significantly shorten the path to a peace agreement with Saudi Arabia and beyond.
Who will explain how the Jewish state, once again defeating all its enemies, finds itself a beacon to nations, standing up and saying “Here I am” to the world?
As German Chancellor Merz put it: Thank you to Israel for doing the dirty work for all of us.
Mr. Prime Minister, this is history calling.
Strike. Strike Iran. Let the reign of darkness pass from the world. And let there be light.