This is important information you’ll want to know.
While I frequently talk about Palestinian Arab terrorism and violence, the bigger threat to Israel comes from Iran. Iran is the largest threat because its nuclear ambitions pose an existential threat to Israel, it’s the largest state sponsor of terror, and it is trying to gain control of the Middle East through nefarious means. Iran’s regime must either change its ways or give up its tyrannical rule over its people. In an almost unbelievably shortsighted step, the Obama administration chose to deal with the Iranian threat through appeasement. In the hope of stalling the Iranian nuclear weapons program, the Obama administration gave Iran the means to sponsor even more terror and increase its already expanding influence over the Middle East. These steps frightened America’s allies in the Middle East causing some, like Saudi Arabia, to take harmful steps that brought tragedy throughout the region.
The Trump administration has taken steps to correct the Obama misstep. Far from reactionary and poorly thought out, the Trump administration has methodically taken steps to reverse the effects of the “Iran Deal” while still ensuring that Iran doesn’t reverse its commitments under the deal. In my mind, this is probably the greatest Trump Administration achievement. It has simultaneously reversed America’s commitments to Iran under the deal, while not giving Iran the means to advance its nuclear program. There wasn’t an expert in the world who thought that could happen.
In its next step to stopping Iran’s malicious plans, America reissued the sanctions the Obama administration had reversed against Iran, but gave waivers to specific countries to continue purchasing Iranian oil. These waivers weakened the effect the sanctions had and caused many (myself included) to question the Trump administration’s willingness to take the strong steps necessary to bring Iran to its knees.
Today, the Trump administration took its next steps to bringing the Iranian regime to its knees. The Trump administration announced Monday that all countries that continue to import Iranian oil will be subject to US sanctions. “This decision is intended to bring Iran’s oil exports to zero, denying the regime its principal source of revenue,” the statement from the White House read. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said “the goal remains simple: to deprive the outlaw regime of the funds it had used to destabilize the Middle East for four decades and incentivize Iran to behave like a normal country.” This is exactly the steps we need the Trump administration to take and I’m grateful for them for doing so.