Forty-six years ago, a man arrived in Tehran by a French plane and drove in an American car to a cemetery. In terms of personality and intellect, Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini was the essence of villainy and malevolence.
A month before Khomeini’s arrival, Robert Ernest Huyser – on a special mission – came to Tehran to assist the US government in making subsequent decisions and keeping informed about the situation in Iran. He wanted to prevent Iranian army and SAVAK (pre-revolution secret police) officials from staging a coup with the departure of the late Shah from Iran.
This four-star general left Tehran on February 3, 1979, after a month of a destructive mission. Of course, with his departure, Khomeini executed those senior army officials and SAVAK’s patriotic commanders.
Later, this general confessed in a hospital in Washington to Robert Armao that he felt guilty about what transpired, but what good was it now? Iran had been thrown into the graveyard of history. It seems as though the behind-the-scenes decision was that a backward and criminal mullah like Ruhollah Khomeini should merely witness the transfer of power and take control in Iran.
Tehran’s regime propaganda machine has called this turmoil of 1979 an Islamic revolution ever since and has deafened the world’s ears, but the fruit of this turmoil was the destruction of the country and a bloodbath.
Israel and the US lost their biggest friend and ally in the Middle East – the late shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi – and from that day, the nightmare of American and Israeli forces in the Middle East began, and the word terrorism became associated with Iran, with Marxist and Islamic terrorist groups celebrating the rise of political Islam in Iran.
The same Islamic Republic grew like a cancerous tumor, and today, the world faces a serious threat from Islamic terrorism. After Iran’s first dictator’s death, Ali Khamenei, 36 years on, has added to Khomeinism’s “Great Terror” in Iran and the Middle East. He is a criminal dictator who, for years, has committed atrocities against Israel and America on the one hand and repressed the Iranian people on the other, sparing no crime.
Uniting against Islamism
TODAY, NETANYAHU and Trump’s meeting takes place in Washington. At the National Press Club in the same Washington, a few days ago, the well-regarded and democratic son of the late shah, by accepting responsibility for the leadership of the transition period after the eventual collapse of the Islamic Republic of Iran, struck fear into the Islamic Republic and the terrorists linked to 1979’s revolt.
Secessionists, pro-regime reformists, Islamic and Marxist terrorist groups, and the core power always have a common enemy, and that is Iran’s Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi. They know he believes in democracy and human rights, and many of the apparent Iranian opposition do not want the collapse of the Islamic Republic as the Pahlavi name becomes more prominent.
However, the meeting between Trump and Netanyahu adds to Khamenei’s fears. Trump and Netanyahu will discuss issues related to the Islamic Republic, hostages, and developing relations with Saudi Arabia. But their meeting has special significance that will have various effects on the Islamic Republic of Iran.
From the moment Khomeini took power, Israel opposed diplomatic relations between the US and the Islamic Republic, and in the devastating war between two Islamic dictators – Iraq’s Saddam Hussein and Khomeini – both the US and Israel tried to arm them so they would destroy each other, and the Middle East would be rid of both.
From a security and intelligence perspective, such meetings in Washington are usually seen as opportunities for coordinating international policies and strengthening common positions against regional challenges. New CIA director John Ratcliffe and the new managers of the American intelligence community will gradually focus on their work in coordination with the Mossad and the IDF.
From a security and intelligence perspective, meetings like the Netanyahu-Trump summit to discuss Iran not only indicate the coordination of international policies but also provide opportunities to strengthen common strategic positions against challenges mostly created by the Islamic Republic.
These important meetings allow the new US and Israeli governments to have better and deeper insights into each other’s movements and intentions through the exchange of information and intelligence data. In this way, they can jointly plan more precise responses and quicker reactions to potential threats from the Iranian regime. Yet notably, the presence of Israel supporters in Trump’s new cabinet will align with Israel’s movements.
FOR EXAMPLE, regarding the Islamic Republic of Iran, intelligence coordination could include exchanging information about military capabilities, nuclear activities for building an atomic bomb, and the Iranian regime’s support for proxy terrorist groups in the region like the Houthis, Popular Mobilization Forces, Islamic Jihad, etc.
This information could help create a unified and integrated perspective that ultimately leads to stronger and more effective preventive or responsive measures. But certainly, Trump’s National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, etc., know Israel must, by any means possible, remove the nuclear card from the mullahs’ hands in Tehran.
In addition to the Trump-Netanyahu meeting, joint meetings between high-ranking Israeli and American intelligence and military officials act as opportunities for joint assessment and analysis of regional security threats and upcoming challenges.
These assessments include long-term consequences of military actions and sanctions, not empty diplomacy, all of which help strengthen intelligence and defense strategies and further isolate the collapsing regime of the Shi’ite mullahs in Tehran.
These meetings play an important role in strengthening bilateral security and intelligence cooperation between Israel and the US, and these collaborations are considered an essential part of the defense and national security strategy in dealing with complex global challenges.
Perhaps agreement on military action against Iran’s nuclear facilities, providing advanced military equipment like bunker buster bombs, or agreeing on the cessation of fruitless diplomatic relations with the terrorist-loving ayatollahs in Tehran can all impact the aggressive approach of the Islamic Republic of Iran and change the grounds for maximum pressure.
The world’s collective memory is not so weak as not to know that the Tehran dictator has repeatedly issued and even praised the assassination orders against Trump and Netanyahu. Now, he witnesses the meeting of these two strong leaders at the White House, and the same terror in Khamenei brings joy to the Iranian people who are counting the moments for regime change.
The writer is a counterterrorism analyst and Middle East studies researcher based in Washington, with a particular focus on Iran and ethnic conflicts in the region. His latest book, The Black Shabbat, was published in the US. You can follow him at erfanfard.com and on X @EQFARD.