The Western mind struggles with the idea of the leadership of an entire country being based around committing terror around the world. But that is what Iran’s ruling Ayatollahs have been doing for the last 40+ years.
Their is a light at the end of the tunnel, but we don’t know how long the tunnel is. The majority of the people in Iran are not terror-loving and terror-seeking individuals. Until 1979, Iran was perhaps the most Westernized of all of the countries in the Middle East – outside of Israel. Large companies in America invested heavily in their “expand to-Iran” divisions as opportunities abounded. A rich-Western oriented country in the Middle East that was looking for partners to help it modernize was a magnet for investment. The Shah of Iran may have not been a paragon of virtue, but he was pro-West.
Then, suddenly, the revolution of 1979 turned the clock back – completely. The Ayatollahs took over, hundreds of American hostages were taken, and the entire Middle East has had to deal with the nightmare that Iran has become. The threat is not merely towards Israel and the West, but to the entire Middle East.
The closest the world has become to a regime change in Iran was scuttled by the Obama administration who failed to support the massive uprisings in Iran. It was a real inflexion point that could have changed everything. But Obama chose to ignore the protesters.
Time and again, Benjamin Netanyahu has proven that only Israel is the true leader of searching for freedom in the Middle East. It is a long road, but just as Communist Russia fell apart after more than 70 years of domination, radical Islamic domination in Iran will also fall. But it appears that it will not happen merely through economic pressure. As Nikki Haley said about Hamas’ proxy, Hamas, Israel will probably also have to “finish them.”