There is a point of optimism as US President Donald Trump embarks on his second term in office: His administration has clearly distinguished between the Islamic Republic regime and the Iranian people.
Gradually, the world has begun to recognize that the brutal, occupying regime of corrupt, bloodthirsty, and anti-civilization clerics is fundamentally distinct from the noble, intelligent, and dignified people of Iran.
American media have started to realize the absurdity and offensive nature of referring to Iran’s delusional dictator, Ali Khamenei, with the title “ayatollah” – which ironically means “sign from God.” This grotesque title, created by the regime’s propaganda machine and uncritically adopted by global media, only serves to insult the intelligence of humanity.
Slowly, European outlets are coming to understand that the mullahs’ accursed doctrine offers nothing but terrorism, treachery, and murder. From this damned ideology of Khomeinism, no democracy, human rights, or progress shall ever emerge. Wherever their feet have trodden, they have left behind only destruction, despair, poverty, bloodshed, and grief.
After 46 years, the alarm bell has finally rung – and this is cause for hope. Simultaneously, the contents of President Trump’s letter to the Tehran tyrant have begun to leak in the media. But even before that, it was apparent: The specter of war looms over Iran, a nation that has been plunged into ruin and desolation under four decades of theocratic tyranny.
The vile and detested institution of Shi’ite clerical rule has turned a country with 5,500 years of civilization and history into a wasteland. A stubborn, arrogant, and deluded mullah – who has ruled for 36 years following the death of the ruthless Khomeini – has taken 86 million Iranians hostage and blocked every avenue for progress, reform, or hope.
This cowardly and malevolent cleric or Shi’ite mullah, a true believer in Islamic terrorism, has darkened the lives of the Iranian people. He dismisses peace and coexistence as humiliation, yet his very existence is a mark of disgrace and misery for the nation.
Oblivious to the costs of war, he has poured all of Iran’s wealth into the fires of terrorism. Every dollar transferred to him by the Democratic administrations in Washington has only fueled further conflict in the Middle East. Khamenei has not spent a single cent for the benefit of the Iranian people – because he is their sworn enemy.
In his twisted logic, if he cannot rule Iran, then he would prefer it burned to ashes and rendered uninhabitable. Such is the mind of a criminal mullah – a parasitic worm feeding off the body of the homeland.
Today, commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the Ministry of Intelligence and Security, and the Quds Force find themselves paralyzed, indecisive, and terrified, resorting to hollow threats and juvenile bluster aimed at Israel and the United States. They blindly follow the delusions of Khamenei, the so-called “supreme leader” of global Islamic terrorists, as he marches them toward annihilation.
The beginning of the Iranian tragedy
The Iranian tragedy began with the terrorist revolt of 1979. Following the exile of the late patriotic, compassionate Shah of Iran, a monstrous dictatorship seized power. Since then, neither peace nor stability has returned to the Middle East, and the world has reaped only sorrow from this temple of ignorance and barbarism.
Even in the White House, no one was ever serious about regime change in Tehran. There was neither the will nor even the thought of it. To this day, they are ready to talk about everything in the solar system and the Milky Way – except the idea of dismantling the Islamic Republic or regime change in Iran. But at last, this necessity has become undeniable. Perhaps this time, Trump is resolved to rid the world of this malignant tumor.
A second US aircraft carrier has been deployed to the Middle East. The potential for a US military strike against the Islamic Republic’s infrastructure is profound. Although no one desires war, America’s long-overdue mission to end terrorism must now be completed. So long as this regime survives, Islamic terrorism will continue to claim lives across the globe.
The prospect of an imminent US military operation targeting Ali Khamenei personally is serious and growing. Yet Khamenei, enamored with his own voice and obsessed with self-importance, continues to spew nonsense from behind his podium – rhetoric no different from the final ravings of Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi.
The Iranian people do not take him seriously. Thousands of videos circulate online daily, praying for his dreadful demise. His threats of retaliation are empty. His only recourse lies in activating dormant terrorist cells within the US and Europe.
Tehran’s dictator refuses to accept Trump’s conditions in the letter. Why? Because he is a deceitful, criminal Shi’ite cleric whose very identity depends on nuclear weapons development, arms exports to Islamic terror mafias, regional arson, and hatred toward Israel and the United States. Should he concede, everything would unravel. But he will cling to his delusions until the very end.
The impending assault by the US, Israel, and their military and intelligence allies – including the CIA, Mossad, US Army, IDF, and the Pentagon – will be comprehensive and multilayered.
Dismantling Khamenei's regime
The key objective must be to dismantle the regime’s ideological war machine through the elimination of Khamenei and his criminal thugs in the IRGC and Quds Force. For if he alone were to die, another lunatic would rise to take his place, issuing orders and wagging a threatening finger.
Merely targeting nuclear facilities, missile depots, drone arsenals, and terrorist training camps is insufficient. What is needed is explicit support for regime change and democracy in Iran and public endorsement of the Iranian people’s national uprising against the mullahs’ destructive theocracy.
Just as Nazi symbols were outlawed in Germany after Hitler’s fall, so too must the grotesque garb and theatrical visage of the mullahs vanish from public life in post-regime Iran. What a glorious moment it will be when the regime founded by Khomeini in a Tehran graveyard is, at last, consigned to the graveyard of history. Iran shall be free, its 86 million citizens restored to normal life, and the world shall breathe a deep sigh of relief.
What a beautiful image it is – when the embassies of Israel and the United States once again raise their flags in free Tehran.
The writer is a counterterrorism analyst and Middle East studies researcher based in Washington, with a particular focus on Iran, Islamic Terrorism, and ethnic conflicts in the region. His latest book is The Black Shabbat, published in the US. erfanfard.com and on X @EQFARD or www.ErfanFard.com.