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U.S. Launches New Strikes Against Iran

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Iran

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

Protest

Revolution

While the Iranian government is shooting protesters in the streets by the thousands, where is the hue and cry among our college protesting class? Where is it? Why have they gone so silent?
According to reports coming out of Iran, thousands, perhaps even tens of thousands of Iranians are being killed in the streets by the Iranian regime. The Iranian people are now rising up against the Ayatollah-led regime, their mullah rulers, who have been leading them down a primrose path to both economic and despotic hell for the past 47 years.
Hundreds of thousands of people, apparently overnight, were still in the streets in Iran, braving actual bullets.
For all the people who pat themselves on the back for their bravery online, what actual bravery looks like is walking into the streets, arm in arm, standing up against people with machine guns who are firing live ammunition at you in order to achieve freedom for your people.
A bombshell new <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/iran-protest-death-toll-over-12000-feared-higher-video-bodies-at-morgue/">report</a> from CBS News suggests the Iranian government has murdered somewhere between 12,000 and 20,000 protesters since the ongoing national revolt began.
Meanwhile, there are apparently zero protests on college campuses in favor of the protesters. I have yet to see a major movement of congressional Democrats getting together in solidarity with the Iranian people.
The media coverage until the last couple of days has been scant on what is now a weeks-long, ongoing protest revolt against the regime, which is happening because the Iranian regime is absolutely weak in economic terms. The rial is now trading at a fraction of a penny.
The Iranian economy is running at low ebb because of the maximum sanctions that were placed against the regime by the Trump administration. It is also because of the overwhelming military successes that Israel has experienced since October 7 in cutting off the terror arms of the Iranian regime and of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in places ranging from Iran to Syria to Yemen to Iran itself. That obviously includes the 12-day war that happened last year, in which Iran proved to be a military paper tiger, unable to prevent the Israelis from flying sorties in broad daylight over Tehran and culminating in the American strike against Fordow, the nuclear facility in Iran.
There&#8217;s also a lack of water and power in Iran.
The mullahs, who promised an Islamic utopia, simply delivered an Islamist hell, and the people of Iran are sick of it. They are tired of it.
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This is not the first protest movement in Iran. In 2009, there was a major protest movement that Barack Obama not only ignored, but undercut by negotiating with the Iranian regime, calling them “moderates,” and then trying to bring them into the fold of nations, which, as it turns out, was a horrifyingly bad idea that allowed them to strengthen themselves at the expense of America&#8217;s actual allies in the region.
Then, of course, he signed the 2015 JCPOA, which was designed to allow Iran and the mullahs a pathway to a nuclear bomb. The Trump administration came in, reversed the polarity, and put the pressure on the Iranian regime. Then Joe Biden came in, took his foot off the pedal, and started to talk again about a revived JCPOA.
By October of 2023, the Iranians were helping to spur the October 7 terror attacks in a seven-front terror war against Israel that ended, ironically, with Iran&#8217;s forces being absolutely devastated.
So now people are out in the streets, literally by the millions. And Iran is doing what Iran does best —they turn off the internet for the last several days, no information getting in, no information getting out, and they shoot people in the streets.
At this point, we are talking about a minimum of at least 3000 people who have been murdered on the streets of Iran. The number is probably significantly higher. We have seen pictures emerging of stacks of body bags. We&#8217;ve seen videos emerging of Iranian Revolutionary Guard forces and members of Iranian militias mowing people down.
President Trump is taking a strong position, telling Iranians to keep protesting, take over the institutions, save the names of the killers and abusers.
If the Iranian regime were deposed, that would be a sea change in geopolitics. Iran is a large-scale supplier of oil to China and a large-scale supplier of Shahid drones to Russia. Iran is the chief sponsor of global terrorism on planet Earth, having spread its terror tentacles not only throughout the Middle East, but also into Europe and into Latin America.
If the Iranian regime were to change, that would weaken Hezbollah in Lebanon. You might see an actual decent government with the capacity to destroy Hezbollah. You might see the possibility of an actual, broad Abraham Accord-like agreement between Iran and Israel.
I&#8217;m going to say it for the 100th time: This does not mean that the United States ought to put hundreds of thousands of troops on the ground in Iran to topple the regime. No one is talking about that. What we are talking about is a risk-reward calculation, whereby targeted American action could have a disproportionate effect on the future not only of the Middle East, but on geopolitics as a whole.
Imagine if the Houthis stopped harassing shipping in the Red Sea anymore because their sponsor state, Iran, was gone. Imagine if the Chinese had to be a little bit more careful about their playing around with anti-American forces in the Middle East, because the mullahs weren&#8217;t there to help them out. Imagine if the Russians did not have a gigantic supply of weaponry coming in from Iran.
A lot of people on the horseshoe theory Right are mirroring Ben Rhodes’ and Barack Obama’s foreign policy; many of them are simply dismissing a lot of the numbers coming out of Iran. You might notice that these are the same people perfectly willing to trust Hamas&#8217;s numbers in the Gaza Strip.
The same people who, in specious fashion, were labeling Israel&#8217;s targeted action in the Gaza Strip a genocide, have now gone extraordinarily silent when it comes to Iran literally mowing down protesters in the streets. That’s pretty incredible stuff from our human rights-loving friends.
The silence of the Left in the face of the brutality of the Iranian regime toward an innocent citizenry is staggeringly hypocritical and vile.

Iran map

Iran: Slaughter In The Streets And The Left Is Silent

Ben Shapiro

Donald Trump

Middle East

Murder

Opinion

Protests

In 1946, not too long after the end of World War II, Winston Churchill famously spoke of a “special relationship” between the United Kingdom and the United States — not only as a bond of history and language, but as a partnership grounded in shared principles and moral duty. That same sense of duty must guide us today as we confront the world’s leading state sponsor of terror: the clerical regime in Iran.
Historically, when facing totalitarian regimes, Britain, the US, and other Western powers have placed local dissidents at the center of any discussion about the future of oppressed nations. Yet Iran remains a glaring exception. For reasons that defy logic and morality, successive governments have marginalized the voices of Iranian democrats.
I am one of a growing number of Western politicians on both sides of the Atlantic who believe this should change and to this end, I will speak at the Free Iran Convention in Washington, D.C., on November 15, where more than one thousand Iranian experts, professionals, and academicians from all over the US, will present their vision for a free, democratic Iran.
For nearly half a century, Western policy toward Tehran has prioritized negotiation over accountability, assuming the clerical regime’s grip on power was unshakeable. Many believed Iran’s rulers would never meet the same fate as the Shah — at least not without chaos in the absence of a viable alternative.
That assumption was flawed from the outset. In the immediate aftermath of the 1979 revolution, the forces that helped topple the Shah — chief among them the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) — remained active, popular, and determined to oppose the theocracy that hijacked the revolution’s promise. The regime responded with brutal repression throughout the 1980s, culminating in the horrific 1988 massacre of around 30,000 political prisoners, most of them MEK members and supporters.
This atrocity was meant to eliminate organized opposition once and for all. It failed. The MEK survived and went on to form the backbone of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), a broad coalition advocating regime change and democratic transition. Yet, tragically, the massacre convinced much of the international community that internal resistance had been extinguished — and that engagement with Tehran was the only realistic path forward.
Encouraged by that misperception (echoed by the regime’s protagonists and lobbyists), the regime deepened its repression at home and aggression abroad. It became the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, the nation with the highest per-capita rate of executions, and the only non-nuclear-armed state enriching uranium to 60% purity — just short of weapons-grade.
Ironically, by assuming the regime’s permanence, Western leaders helped create a situation where regime change has become essential for global security and human rights. Some progress is evident: the UK, France, and Germany recently triggered the re-imposition of UN sanctions following Washington’s return to a “maximum pressure” strategy.
But it remains unclear whether today’s policymakers grasp how profoundly their predecessors misread the regime’s vulnerability.
That misunderstanding can no longer be excused. Three nationwide uprisings — in 2018, 2019, and 2022 — have shown the Iranian people’s enduring commitment to democratic change. The unity and persistence of their demands reveal the strength of an organized opposition that, despite deadly crackdowns and decades of dismissal by Western analysts, continues to challenge the regime from within.
The Free Iran Convention in Washington builds on this momentum. It follows major gatherings in Brussels and across Europe, where Iranian youth and dissidents reaffirmed their readiness for a democratic transition. The movement’s supporters will call for a coherent Western policy — one that recognizes the NCRI as a credible alternative and supports the Iranian people’s right to determine their future.
Many of us in public life have already joined this cause. In parliaments on both sides of the Atlantic, lawmakers have endorsed resolutions recognizing the NCRI as a legitimate democratic alternative to the current regime and affirming the Iranian people’s right to establish a secular, non-nuclear republic. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the NCRI, has articulated a ten-point plan as a roadmap for a future democratic republic of Iran. It has gained cross-party support of the majority of members of both the US House of Representatives and the UK House of Commons.
It is time for policymakers to act accordingly. The UK and European Union must designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization, and democratic governments should hold Tehran’s leaders accountable for crimes against humanity. Most importantly, the West must acknowledge the Iranian people’s right to overthrow tyranny and build a democratic future.
Appeasement has never delivered stability. Courage, clarity, and solidarity with the Iranian people just might.
* * *
Rt. Hon. John Bercow was the Speaker of the UK House of Commons from 2009 to 2019.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Protest Against U.S. Attacks On Iran

It’s Time To Challenge Tehran’s Illusion Of Strength With Reality

Democracy

European Union

Great Britain

Radical Islamic Terror

Suspicions are starting to mount about the whereabouts of the leader of Iran&#8217;s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps&#8217; Quds Force (IRGC-QF), a designated terrorist organization, following an Israeli airstrike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah late last month.
Qaani — who replaced Qassem Soleimani after the Trump administration killed Soleimani in a drone strike in January 2020 — has not been seen in public since the September 27 strike, according to the <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/exclusive-qaani-under-guard-and-questioned-iran-probes-nasrallah-killing">Middle East Eye</a>.
Qaani traveled to Syria with other IRGC commanders after the strike on Nasrallah to assess the situation on the ground.
He was reportedly set to attend a meeting of Hezbollah’s Shura Council on October 4 with Nasrallah’s presumed successor, Hashem Safieddine, when he backed out of the meeting at the last second.
Within minutes of Safieddine arriving at the deep underground bunker, a powerful airstrike hit the bunker and demolished everything above and below ground.
Following the strike on Safieddine, contact with Qaani was lost for at least two days, leading to speculation that he was dead or had been injured in the strike.
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amiracist.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1726313279401000&amp;usg=AOvVaw115_qPFFEePDP86-Fvo-Vd">Am I Racist? Is In Theaters NOW — Get Your Tickets Here!</a>
Nearly a dozen sources throughout the Middle East told the publication that suspicions are high with Iran&#8217;s Islamic regime that Israel has penetrated the IRGC at high levels since it has been able to locate and kill top terrorists throughout the region, including Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in July when a bomb was placed into his room at an IRGC compound.
The report claims that Qaani is under &#8220;house arrest&#8221; and his team is under investigation as officials seek to find the source of the Israeli breach into the IRGC.
Sky News Arabia reported that during his interrogation on Thursday, Qaani <a href="https://www.israelhayom.com/2024/10/10/report-quds-force-commander-suffers-heart-attack-during-interrogation-over-ties-with-israel/">suffered</a> a heart attack and was taken to the hospital.
However, a semi-official news agency linked to the IRGC said this week that Qaani was set to soon receive a medal from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
&#8220;Commander Qaani is in perfect health and will receive the Fath medal from the Supreme Leader in the coming days,&#8221; Ebrahim Jabbari, an adviser to Qaani, told Tasnim.

Esmail-Qaani-Iranian-IRGC-Quds-Force-Commander

Mystery Surrounds The Whereabouts Of IRGC Quds Force’s Top Commander Following Israel Airstrike

Global Politics

IRGC

Israel

World

President Joe Biden said in a letter to Congress on Sunday that he was prepared to take additional action in the Middle East against members of Iran&#8217;s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) after the U.S. launched retaliatory strikes against Iranian-backed terrorist groups in Iraq and Syria late last week.
The strikes were conducted after an Iranian-backed terrorist group killed three U.S. soldiers and wounded dozens more in a suicide drone attack on a U.S. base in Jordan.
“U.S. military forces struck more than 85 targets, with numerous aircraft to include long-range bombers flown from United States,” U.S. Central Command said in a statement. “The airstrikes employed more than 125 precision munitions. The facilities that were struck included command and control operations, centers, intelligence centers, rockets, and missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicle storages, and logistics and munition supply chain facilities of militia groups and their IRGC sponsors who facilitated attacks against U.S. and Coalition forces.”
In a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Biden said that he was legally allowed to conduct the strikes without congressional approval &#8220;pursuant to the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (Public Law 107-40).&#8221;
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Toward the end of the letter, Biden said that he would authorize, if necessary, action against the IRGC, which is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization.
&#8220;If necessary, I will direct additional measures, including against the IRGC and IRGC-affiliated personnel and facilities, as appropriate, to address the series of attacks against United States forces and facilities,&#8221; he said.
The letter did not give any details about what additional measures the administration was prepared to take.

A-10 Thunderbolt II reinforcement to Incirlik 39th Air Base Wing

Biden: If ‘Necessary,’ I Will ‘Direct Additional Measures’ Against IRGC Personnel

Executive

Joe Biden

Mike Johnson

The deadly and repressive Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the military right arm of the despotic Iranian theocratic government which has been labeled a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) by the U.S. State Department, is showing signs of cracking from the protests by Iran’s citizenry after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Mini in Iranian custody last September.
The IRGC was established by Ayatollah Khomeini Ruhollah Khomeini in May 1979 after the Islamic Revolution, and has brutally targeted Iran’s own citizens when they protest against the government. But at a meeting on January 3 between the IRGC and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, it was acknowledged not only that some of the IRGC forces had aided protesters, but one member of the Guard had targeted Khameini’s residence with artillery.
“Since the start of the protests, we have had personnel who have defied orders,” one commander, Gholamali Rashidi, <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11880597/Irans-feared-Revolutionary-Guard-tried-BLOW-Ayatollahs-residence-artillery.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly stated</a>, adding, “One incident involved an individual targeting the Supreme Leader’s residence with artillery.”
Some commanders informed the meeting that the bulk of forces they supervised refused to stand against Iranian citizens and rejected orders to shoot at them.
“Based on our reports, it appears that IRGC forces are not in the same situation as last year, particularly with respect to their morale, as there has been a decline,” Abdullah Haji Sadeghi, who represented Khameini, stated, according to <a href="https://iranwire.com/en/politics/114906-exclusive-irgc-commanders-warn-khamenei-about-implosion/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Iran Wire.</a>
“Recently, we have witnessed instances of disruption and aid by armed forces towards civilians,” the deputy commander of the IRGC force in Alborz, Ehsan Khorshidi, admitted.
Mahmoud Mohammadi Shahroudi, the commander in charge of paramilitary Basij seminary students, acknowledged roughly 5,000 members had exited the organization.
When the U.S. designated Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a terrorist group in 2019, it was the first time the U.S. had designated the military branch of a foreign country in this manner.
The Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act stated, “The IRGC, not just the IRGC-QF [the Qods Force, the Guard’s extraterritorial branch], is responsible for implementing Iran’s international program of destabilizing activities, support for acts of international terrorism, and ballistic missile program.”
The law is pursuant to Executive Order 13224, which <a href="https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/hp644.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">aimed</a> at freezing the assets of terrorists and their supporters, and preventing their access to U.S. financial and commercial systems, according to the Treasury Department.
Iran’s Ground Forces, Aerospace Forces, Navy, and the Basij paramilitary are all part of the IRGC; the Revolutionary Guard, an all-conscript army, is estimated to have 150,000 active duty members; a Western think tank <a href="https://csis-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/legacy_files/files/media/csis/pubs/070816_cordesman_report.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">estimated</a> the Basij at 90,000 active members, 300,000 reservists and one million men who could be mobilized.

IRAN-IRAQ-US-ANNIVERSARY

Iran’s Deadly IRGC Showing Cracks After Protests

Celebrations today mark the 41st anniversary of the Islamic revolution in Iran. On this day in 1979, the shah&#8217;s monarchial rule was abruptly quashed, as fundamentalist Shiite clerics seized power under the leadership of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
While President Hassan Rouhani will boast about the regime’s perceived successes, military might, and dominance in his annual anniversary speech today in Tehran, the reality of the Islamic Republic’s 40th year is grim.
Each year around the anniversary, Iranian officials typically unveil technological advancements in their armed forces, nuclear, and space arsenals. On Saturday, Ayatollah Khamenei <a href="https://twitter.com/khamenei_ir/status/1226081823610081280" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/khamenei_ir/status/1226081823610081280&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1581529523479000&amp;usg=AFQjCNF92tKqfv5E6W9UUgkO_sTep8BfUQ">claimed</a> Iran’s air force capabilities, once weak under the Pahlavi dynasty, were thriving under the Islamist mullocracy. Over the weekend, Iran tried and failed to put a satellite into orbit. This failure came after two failed launches last year of the Doosti and Payam satellites and a botched rocket explosion over the summer.
Iran’s nuclear program has faced similar deterioration this year. The 2015 nuclear deal between Iran, the U.S., the U.K., China, Russia, Germany, and France is close to collapse. President Donald Trump withdrew the United States first from the flawed deal in May 2018, insisting any new deal must curb Iran’s ballistic missile program as well as hinder uranium enrichment. Iranian leadership unsurprisingly refused, leading to economic disaster in the country. Last month, Iran declared it will no longer fulfill its uranium enrichment commitment, compelling Germany, France, and Britain to prompt the deal’s dispute resolution mechanism. If international sanctions are indeed reinstated, the worsening economic crisis in Iran will become catastrophic.
Iran also suffered blows to its military and proxy power this past year. On January 3, a U.S. airstrike outside Baghdad, Iraq, killed Iran’s top military commander, Qassem Soleimani. Leader of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps&#8217; Quds Force, Soleimani was a critical player in Iran’s terror regime. President Trump ordered his killing following months of attacks on American troops by Iran proxies in Iraq. In response to Soleimani’s death, Khamenei <a href="https://twitter.com/khamenei_ir/status/1212998634264027136" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/khamenei_ir/status/1212998634264027136&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1581529523479000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEYdHWRB7U2ca3aOkJNu_LNA5I4nA">assured</a> his Twitter followers that “jihad of resistance will continue with more motivation” as Iran <a href="https://twitter.com/khamenei_ir/status/1212991721954578432" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/khamenei_ir/status/1212991721954578432&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1581529523479000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGL2Y7VINtjMcTIyiU5mnXfnKfU9A">must</a> “congratulate Soleimani’s pure soul and condole the Iranian nation on this great martyrdom.”
Hezbollah, Iran’s most successful export, faced protest long before Soleimani’s killing in January. Since October, fed-up demonstrators have taken to the streets of Lebanon and Iraq to voice their grievances against Iran’s infiltration in and influence upon both governments. According to the U.N. special envoy to Iraq, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/21/world/middleeast/Iraq-protests-Iran.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/21/world/middleeast/Iraq-protests-Iran.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1581529523479000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGP5zOmnYYipy_TNN3CpWeOpTVQpQ">over</a> 500 demonstrators have been killed and 19,000 wounded — the majority at the hands of Iranian-backed militias. As the Iranian regime continues to dismiss these protests as inauthentic and foreign-led, their weakening grasp on the Middle East accelerates.
Despite the propaganda Iran’s regime will put forth on today’s anniversary, the world has witnessed its monumental failures. Blows to Tehran’s nuclear arsenal, economic durability, technological development, proxy strength, and military power prove Iran is indeed losing its grip on the Middle East.
 
Maya Carlin is an M.A. candidate in Counter-Terrorism and Homeland Security at IDC Herzliya’s Lauder School of Government in Israel. She is also an Analyst at the Center for Security Policy, located in Washington D.C.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei meets students in Tehran

CARLIN: 40 Years Of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Riddled With Failures

Foreign Policy

Nuclear Weapons

Perhaps the sole silver lining of the otherwise-harrowing capitulation to fundamentalist jihadist evil that was President Barack Obama&#8217;s Iran nuclear deal was the fact that the leading Sunni Arab states — Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Egypt chief among them — began to warm up to the Jewish state of Israel. The enemy of my enemy, as the venerable maxim goes, is indeed my friend. And these Sunni stalwarts have found common cause with Israel in opposing the Islamic Republic of Iran&#8217;s decades-long hegemonic ambitions, which were only augmented by the capitulatory cash influxes provided by the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
To date, however, the thawing of relations has generally taken a clandestine form — mostly on the intelligence and counterintelligence level. But the unveiling yesterday of President Donald Trump&#8217;s &#8220;Deal of the Century&#8221; peace proposal for Israel and the Palestinian-Arabs represents the clearest public sign yet of just how far this thawing has progressed.
It is nothing short of remarkable just how far we have come, when considering the &#8220;Three No&#8217;s&#8221; of the infamous 1967 Khartoum Resolution, decreed in the aftermath of Israel&#8217;s miraculous Six-Day War victory: &#8220;No peace [with Israel],&#8221; &#8220;no recognition [of Israel],&#8221; and &#8220;no negotiations [with Israel].&#8221;
For starters, as The Daily Wire&#8217;s Hank Berrien <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trumps-deal-of-the-century-for-israel-palestinians-a-realistic-plan-with-arab-states-backing-it">reported</a> yesterday, &#8220;Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba of the UAE, Ambassador Abdullah bin Rashid Al Khalifa of Bahrain, and the Ambassador Hunaina al-Mughairy of Oman <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Bahrain-UAE-envoys-come-to-White-House-for-Trump-Deal-of-the-Century-615706">were in the East Room</a> of the White House on Tuesday as Trump announced his plan.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Three great friends of peace &#8211; you, your countries &amp; your leaders are courageous. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for being at the event at the <a href="https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WhiteHouse</a> today &amp; thank you for your encouragement &amp; support! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UAE?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UAE</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Bahrain?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Bahrain</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Oman?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Oman</a> <a href="https://t.co/N3LvtQufvz">pic.twitter.com/N3LvtQufvz</a>
&mdash; Jason D. Greenblatt (@GreenblattJD) <a href="https://twitter.com/GreenblattJD/status/1222227819033518083?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 28, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
It is unprecedented to have such leading representatives from Sunni Arab governments effectively recognizing Israel&#8217;s right, under U.N. Security Council <a href="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-meaning-of-un-security-council-resolution-242">Resolution 242</a>, &#8220;to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force.&#8221; It is even more unprecedented for such Arab governments to effectively recognize this international law right in the context of what is quite clearly, on the underlying merits, the <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/The-Trump-Plan-How-Israel-Should-Respond-615681">most pro-Israel peace plan ever offered</a> by an American president — and one that is offered by a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/why-jerusalem-matters-ben-shapiro">historically pro-Israel American president</a> and a conservative Likud party Israeli prime minister, no less.
Numerous Arab governments, furthermore, have offered public endorsements of Trump&#8217;s plan that invariably refer to it as a welcoming or promising development.
From the <a href="https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&amp;newsid=2027848#2027848">Kingdom of Saudi Arabia</a>, home to the Islamic holy city of Mecca and the centuries-long epicenter of the Sunni Muslim world: &#8220;The kingdom appreciates the efforts of President Trump&#8217;s administration to develop a comprehensive peace plan between the Palestinian and the Israeli sides, and encourages the start of direct peace negotiations between the Palestinian and Israeli sides, under the auspices of the United States, and to resolve any disagreements with aspects of the plan through negotiations.&#8221;
From (<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-al-jazeeras-disgraceful-holocaust-denying-josh-hammer">deeply problematic &#8220;ally&#8221;</a>) <a href="https://news.qna.org.qa/lang/en/w/article/1580250375011598800">Qatar</a>: &#8220;The State of Qatar welcomes all efforts aiming towards a longstanding and just peace in the occupied Palestinian territories. It also appreciates the endeavors of President Trump and the current U.S. administration to find solutions for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, all solutions should be consistent with international law and the relevant U.N. resolutions.&#8221;
From <a href="https://www.facebook.com/1452664425061142/posts/2592875164373390/?d=n">Egypt</a>: &#8220;The Arab Republic of Egypt appreciates the continuous efforts exerted by the U.S. administration to achieve a comprehensive and just settlement of the Palestinian issue, thereby contributing to the stability and security of the Middle East, ending the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.&#8221;
From the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/1021964141227620/posts/2670012913089393/">Kingdom of Morocco</a>: &#8220;The Kingdom of Morocco expresses the wish that a constructive peace process be launched from now on, with a view to a realistic, applicable, equitable and lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian question, satisfying the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, for an independent, viable and sovereign State, with East Jerusalem as its capital, and enabling the peoples of the region to live in dignity, prosperity and stability.&#8221;
Contrast that with the leading 2020 Democratic Party presidential candidates, who have <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/democratic-candidates-censure-trump-peace-plan-warn-against-annexation/">all assailed</a> the plan. Or contrast it with Hamas/Hezbollah-loving Jeremy Corbyn of Britain, who calls it a &#8220;<a href="https://twitter.com/jeremycorbyn/status/1222303875593637891">travesty</a>.&#8221;
The Arab world is desperately trying to move on and finally resolve the Palestinian issue once and for all. But the American and European Left will not let them do so.
Kudos, nonetheless, to the Trump administration and the main actors/former actors there responsible for crafting the plan — including but hardly limited to Jason Greenblatt, Jared Kushner, and Avi Berkowitz — for their work in this very <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/eugene-kontorovich-trump-israeli-palestinian-peace-plan-is-fair-and-just-but-palestinians-wont-compromise">fair and thoughtfully devised</a> peace plan.

Donald Trump at White House with Benjamin Netanyahu

HISTORIC: Arab States Welcome Trump’s Israeli-Palestinian Peace Plan

Anti-Semitism

Barack Obama

Benjamin Netanyahu

Egypt

Islam

Judaism

Palestinians

Qatar

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In its latest annual <a href="http://www.islamophobia.org/reports/228-2018-civil-rights-report-bias-incident-data.html">hate crimes report</a>, the <a href="https://www.adl.org/education/resources/profiles/the-council-on-american-islamic-relations-cair">Council on American-Islamic Relations</a> (CAIR) vilified U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials as the nation’s greatest perpetrators of anti-Muslim discrimination. So, when as many as 60 Iranian and Iranian-American travelers were delayed for hours earlier this month at the U.S.-Canada border, CAIR was quick to accuse the federal agency of living up to its purported reputation. Has the U.S. government decided to make life difficult for Iranians living in America, as CAIR contends? Or are the nonprofit’s actions part of an enduring campaign to subvert U.S. border security?
In response to a January 2 air strike which <a href="https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2020/01/10/opinion/soleimani-iran-tom-cotton.amp.html">killed</a> Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/ntas/alerts/20_0104_ntas_bulletin.pdf">published</a> a bulletin warning that Hezbollah and other Iranian loyalists could carry out homeland-based plots by targeting “critical infrastructure.” New York Governor Andrew Cuomo deployed the national guard to protect public transportation, while <a href="https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-01-03/us-cities-on-alert-after-killing-of-iran-leader-qassem-suleiman">government officials</a> in California, Washington, and Massachusetts ordered increased police patrols or warned citizens to remain extra vigilant.
Meanwhile, the Peace Arch Border Crossing in Blaine, Washington became congested on January 4 after as many as 60 Iranian natives were allegedly selected for additional screening and detained, in some cases, for several hours. The travelers, who were returning from a pop concert in Vancouver, put a <a href="https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.bellinghamherald.com/news/local/article238985213.html">strain</a> on CBP resources as customs agents struggled to keep up with the sudden increase in cross-border traffic. However, CAIR officials explicitly alleged that delays and mistreatment were premised solely on national heritage.
Soon after, CAIR’s Washington chapter issued a <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cair-wa-assisting-iranian-americans-detained-at-us-border-300981286.html">press release</a> accusing CBP officials of treating Iranians and Iranian-Americans to prolonged interrogations at the U.S.–Canada border. “A source at CBP reported that the [DHS] has issued a national order to CBP to ‘report’ and detain anyone with Iranian heritage entering the country who is deemed potentially suspicious or ‘adversarial,’ regardless of citizenship status,” CAIR wrote.
CBP <a href="https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/us-border-protection-denies-reports-that-iranian-americans-were-detained-at-washington-canada-border/281-e276b43b-21a1-46d3-8de7-f1e700b0016a">rejected</a> these allegations. &#8220;Social media posts that CBP is detaining Iranian-Americans and refusing their entry into the U.S. because of their country of origin are false. Reports that DHS/CBP has issued a related directive are also false,” said CBP spokesperson Michael Friel.
So far, CAIR has failed to produce any evidence supporting its discrimination claims. Instead, the nonprofit denigrated CBP personnel based on the testimony of frustrated tourists who experienced delays while crossing an international border during a period of heightened geopolitical tension.
What can’t be known about the recent cross-border controversy, because it falls beyond the public purview, is whether there was specific intelligence from the Terrorist Screening Center that indicated a need to conduct a more robust screening operation at the Peace Arch crossing. It is telling that <a href="https://www.thenorthernlight.com/stories/order-to-detain-iranian-american-travelers-likely-originated-in-blaine-say-lawyers,9173">no other enhanced security measures</a> were enforced at other U.S. entry points around the same time.
Even public knowledge of the threats posed by Shi’ite Islamism suggests that it was credible national security risks, and not uninformed profiling, that guided CBP’s actions. The agency must contend with Hezbollah’s elite external operations unit, known as the Islamic Jihad Organization (IJO), whose members have been <a href="https://thefederalist.com/2020/01/07/iran-has-terrorists-embedded-inside-the-united-states-and-across-our-border/">trained</a> to &#8220;maintain ostensibly normal lives” until they are activated to serve the Iranian regime&#8217;s interests.
<a href="https://thefederalist.com/2020/01/07/iran-has-terrorists-embedded-inside-the-united-states-and-across-our-border/">FBI reports</a> indicate that Canada serves as a staging area for future homeland attacks. Ali Kourani, a Hezbollah sleeper agent <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/hizballah-operative-sentenced-40-years-prison-covert-terrorist-activities-behalf-hizballah-s">convicted</a> in 2019 of planning attacks in the U.S., <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/06/14/hezbollah-isnt-just-in-beirut-its-in-new-york-too-canada-united-states-jfk-toronto-pearson-airports-ali-kourani-iran/">told </a>FBI agents that IJO is “even more active in Canada than they were in the United States.” Kourani’s Iranian handlers discussed the strategic advantages of cultivating familial ties to Canada, so that “it wouldn’t appear suspicious or odd if he were to make travel to Canada with some regularity or frequency.”
Iran is a country that is regularly <a href="https://www.rferl.org/a/u-s-state-department-iran-remains-world-s-worst-state-sponsor-of-terrorism-/30248755.html">cited</a> as a state sponsor of terrorism, with a track <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/06/14/hezbollah-isnt-just-in-beirut-its-in-new-york-too-canada-united-states-jfk-toronto-pearson-airports-ali-kourani-iran/">record</a> of penetrating U.S. borders. For instance, between 1995 and 2000, Lebanese immigrant Mohammed Youssef Hammoud oversaw a vast “<a href="https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/mohamad-youssef-hammoud-sentenced-30-years-terrorism-financing-case">criminal enterprise</a>” in Charlotte, North Carolina, which accumulated millions of dollars in capital intended for Hezbollah leaders in Lebanon.
In 2011, Soleimani’s Quds Force was implicated in a clandestine <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/">plot</a> to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the U.S. and bomb the Saudi embassy in Washington D.C. Then there is Alexei Saab, a New Jersey resident charged in September with a <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/manhattan-us-attorney-announces-indictment-new-jersey-man-terrorist-activities-behalf">nine-count indictment</a> for surveilling targets on behalf of IJO, probing for “soft spots” throughout New York City.
CAIR’s position on screening for terrorists, however, has been to <a href="https://www.cair.com/cair_to_announce_complete_victory_in_constitutional_challenge_to_federal_terror_watchlist">undermine</a> the process wherever possible. Indeed, the organization exerts a great deal of <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cair-asks-federal-court-in-mich-to-prohibit-fbi-border-agents-from-interrogating-muslim-travelers-about-religious-beliefs-and-practices-300858541.html">effort</a> challenging the government’s immigration and border security policies.
In September, CAIR proclaimed “complete victory” in a <a href="https://www.cair.com/cair_to_announce_complete_victory_in_constitutional_challenge_to_federal_terror_watchlist">lawsuit</a> that challenged the constitutionality of the <a href="https://apnews.com/f8abc66af1a64cc7a5f4fba0420cfc54">terrorist watch list</a>, a security protocol that subjects implicated airline passengers and border transients to additional screening. (Fewer than 0.5% of watch list suspects are U.S. citizens or legal residents.) For more than a year, CAIR filed lawsuits and amicus briefs that <a href="https://www.cair.com/fighting_the_unconstitutional_muslim_ban">stalled</a> Trump administration efforts to implement a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/presidential-proclamation-enhancing-vetting-capabilities-processes-detecting-attempted-entry-united-states-terrorists-public-safety-threats/">travel ban</a> affecting visitors from select high-risk countries
CAIR has even directed Muslim Americans who are detained by customs officials to <a href="https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wtsp.com/amp/article/news/politics/muslim-rights-groups-urge-passengers-to-refuse-secondary-questioning/67-395025140">obstruct</a> the screening process whenever possible, perhaps explaining the delays experienced at the Peace Arch Border Crossing. “Whether you wait an hour or four hours, remain silent until they let you out,” advised CAIR-Florida executive director Hassan Shibly.
National-level law enforcement efforts must be led by consulting relevant intelligence <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/all/law-enforcement-guard-iran-retaliation-u-s-after-commander-killed-n1109826">sources</a>. Given the geopolitical context, the enhanced security posture at the U.S.-Canada border can be attributed to due diligence, and not some nefarious desire to pester Iranian-Americans. Yet, CAIR is far too eager to paint American security personnel as aggressors. CBP was merely taking reasonable precautions in the face of escalating hostility from a rogue nation that has spent decades building powerful Islamist infrastructure across North America.
&nbsp;
David Firester is a writer for Islamism in Politics, a project of the <a href="https://www.meforum.org">Middle East Forum</a>. He is the founder and CEO of TRAC Intelligence, LLC, an Adjunct Lecturer at Hunter College, and a former U.S. Army Intelligence Analyst.

Border Wall As House Investigates $400 Million Contract

FIRESTER: CAIR’s Fight To Undermine U.S. Border Security Continues

Border Wall

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It turns out that an Iranian student who was recently denied entry upon his arrival in the U.S. and was subsequently deported has some pretty shady ties, according to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official who <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/iranian-student-whose-deportation-spurred-dem-outcry-has-family-ties-to-irgc-hezbollah-dhs-official">spoke to Fox News</a>. That the deported student has such problematic links — to Iran&#8217;s murderous Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Iranian regime&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-defund-lebanon-and-do-it-yesterday">Lebanon-based Hezbollah proxy</a>, in particular — ought to serve as a wakeup call for the Democratic Party officials, left-wing activists, and open-borders advocates who trotted out the normal hue and cry upon the student&#8217;s denial and deportation.
&#8220;An Iranian student who was denied entry to the United States on arrival and deported this week, amid objections from top Democrats and left-wing activists, has family ties to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and Lebanon-based terror group Hezbollah, a Department of Homeland Security official told Fox News,&#8221; the outlet <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/iranian-student-whose-deportation-spurred-dem-outcry-has-family-ties-to-irgc-hezbollah-dhs-official">reported</a>.
&#8220;Mohammad Shahab Dehghani Hossein was denied entry to the U.S. and detained on Sunday when he arrived on a student visa at Boston Logan International Airport,&#8221; Fox News continued. &#8220;His detention sparked outrage from activists, who flooded the airport demanding his release. It also drew objections from Northeastern University, where [Hossein Abadi] was due to be enrolled, and the American Civil Liberties Union.&#8221;
Some very prominent Democrats, such as 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), responded indignantly. Warren, taking up Hossein Abadi&#8217;s cause, casually accused President Donald Trump&#8217;s administration of &#8220;xenophobia[a].&#8221;
&#8220;Shahab Dehghani is an Iranian student with a valid F1 visa, returning to finish his education,&#8221; Warren tweeted. &#8220;[U.S. Customs and Border Protection] already held him overnight. His deportation must be halted, and we must fight the Trump administration&#8217;s xenophobic policies.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Shahab Dehghani is an Iranian student with a valid F1 visa, returning to finish his education. CBP already held him overnight. His deportation must be halted, and we must fight the Trump administration&#39;s xenophobic policies. <a href="https://t.co/ZCKVo5fwvM">https://t.co/ZCKVo5fwvM</a>
&mdash; Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) <a href="https://twitter.com/ewarren/status/1219457019729588224?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 21, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
A judge in Massachusetts had initially stayed Hossein Abadi&#8217;s deportation, but U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) then promptly executed his deportation. CBP issued a statement on the incident, as <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/01/22/iranian-student-bound-northeastern-removed-us-despite-court-order">reported</a> by Insider Higher Ed.
&#8220;Every applicant for admission is subject to inspection upon arrival in the United States,&#8221; CBP said. &#8220;The issuance of a visa or participation in the visa waiver program does not guarantee entry to the United States. Upon arrival at Logan Airport on Sunday, January 19, [Hossein Abadi] was deemed inadmissible and processed for expedited removal and return to his place of departure. During today’s hearing, the court ruled that the matter is now moot as the subject was never admitted into the United States, the subject is no longer in custody, and the court does not have jurisdiction to order his return.&#8221;
Hossein Abadi had first applied for a U.S. visa in 2018 and &#8220;[h]is visa was granted approximately a week ago,&#8221; Insider Higher Ed reported. But the DHS official who spoke to Fox News told the outlet that &#8220;the case was more complicated than some were letting on, and that there were legitimate reasons for rejecting [Hossein Abadi]&#8221; — in other words, his ties to the IRGC and Hezbollah.
Hezbollah, the Iran-funded and -trained proxy militia that has <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/lebanon-is-gone">all but overrun Lebanon</a>, is uniquely poised to cause immense trouble for Israel. As I explained last month in a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-defund-lebanon-and-do-it-yesterday">Daily Wire op-ed</a> calling for the full defunding of all U.S. taxpayer foreign aid to Lebanon:
<blockquote>Bear in mind that Hezbollah currently maintains scores of Iranian-funded, <a href="https://www.idf.il/en/minisites/hezbollah/hezbollahs-precision-guided-missile-project/">precision-guided missiles</a> currently stationed in southern Lebanon and aimed straight at the hearts of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Israel’s next war — and it is a matter of when, not if — with Hezbollah is going to be a <a href="http://www.thetower.org/article/the-new-hezbollah-israels-next-war-will-be-a-godawful-mess/">long, bloody mess</a>. And foreign aid to Israel aside, the U.S. taxpayer presently also funds the horrifically wrong side of that inevitable war.</blockquote>

Department of Homeland Security

Deported Iranian Student Linked To IRGC And Hezbollah, DHS Says

Iran’s Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, has been doing some impressive bipartisan lobbying. Politicians from across the spectrum, from Former Secretary of State <a href="https://en.radiofarda.com/a/kerry-met-iran-zarif-several-times/29488152.html">John Kerry</a> to Sen. <a href="https://freebeacon.com/politics/mark-levin-rips-into-rand-paul-over-iran/">Rand Paul</a> (R-KY), are all taking their turns to meet with him. Their common goal: Get President Donald Trump to end his “maximum pressure” campaign against the hostile Tehran regime.
Last year, this leftist-libertarian alliance was codified into a new &#8220;non-interventionist&#8221; think tank, the Quincy Institute. On its board is Trita Parsi, a man who has for decades worked behind the scenes — often in tandem with Iranian officials, including Javad Zarif — to weaken America&#8217;s resistance to Iranian aggression and nuclear ambitions.
In the weeks since the killing of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-the-just-and-proper-strike-of-mastermind-iranian-jihadist-qassem-soleimani">terrorist mastermind</a> Qassem Soleimani, agitation by the Iranian regime&#8217;s apologists has reached a crescendo. In response, I asked <a href="https://twitter.com/AdelleNaz">Adelle Nazarian</a>, senior media fellow at the Gold Institute for International Strategy in Washington, D.C. and fellow at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi, India, to tell us more.
What follows is a question-and-answer interview with Nazarian.
Who is Trita Parsi?
Nazarian: Trita Parsi is the Iranian-born founder of the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), a Washington, D.C.-based lobbying group that is <a href="https://freebeacon.com/national-security/congress-seeks-investigation-into-pro-iran-lobby-group-tied-to-tehran-regime/">allegedly the lobbying extension</a> and arm of the Iranian regime. That would be the same Iranian regime rife with corruption, terrorism, and the murder of its own people. Parsi and NIAC’s support for the Iranian regime is <a href="https://twitter.com/AdelleNaz/status/1217693851890126848?s=20">in violation of FARA [Foreign Agents Registration Act ] law</a> and they were instrumental in helping pass the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iran nuclear deal. Parsi is an activist who has <a href="https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2014/03/the_ayatollahs_lobby_on_k_street.html">maintained a close relationship</a> with Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2015-03-31/iran-s-charmer-in-chief-wins-again">Javad Zarif</a> and was a lead advisor to the Obama administration throughout the process of executing the JCPOA. NIAC falsely claims it supports the full spectrum of Iranian interests, but it actually only cares about pushing the regime’s interests. NIAC is at odds with Iran’s Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, his supporters, and any Iranians who do not share the dictatorial vision of the Iranian regime. If Iran’s regime falls, it will be seen as the failure of Trita Parsi.
What is the Quincy Institute?
Nazarian: Trita Parsi is the executive vice president and co-founder of the Quincy Institute, which is funded by both Charles Koch and George Soros. It is also co-founded by Iran deal advocates. This think tank aims to compel American politicians to adopt a non-interventionist foreign policy by actively funneling misinformation and propaganda to the media and, by extension, the American people. The think tank’s board is anti-Israel, with fellows having written books very critical of America’s close alliance with Israel. John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt — both co-authors of “The Israel Lobby&#8221; and fellows at the Quincy Institute — have an issue with the so-called &#8220;Israel lobby,&#8221; but have no issue working with the Iran lobby. While on the surface, the organization presents itself with the noble aim of ending endless wars in the pursuit of international peace, its co-founders — namely Andrew Bacevich, Stephen Wertheim, Eli Clifton, and Suzanne DiMaggio — are Iran deal advocates. The group also boasts Gary Sick as a “distinguished fellow.” In 1980, Mr. Sick infamously and falsely accused officials in Ronald Reagan&#8217;s presidential campaign of making a secret deal with Iran to delay the release of the American hostages until after the election.
What are Iranians and Iranian-Americans saying? 
Nazarian: Iranians and Iranian-Americans know the Quincy Institute pushes misinformation. Parsi’s move from NIAC to the Quincy Institute is an attempt to further his lobbying and propagandizing efforts. Due to funding from Soros and Koch, Parsi has been able to shield his anti-American and pro-Iranian views and actions. Iranians do not want war with America and President Donald Trump’s neutralization of IRGC-Quds Forces Commander Gen. Qassem Soleimani pushed Iran to stop its antagonistic and provocative behavior that was swiftly deteriorating U.S.-Iran relations and leading us to war.
Though Parsi claims to speak on behalf of the full spectrum of Iranian-Americans, <a href="https://twitter.com/AdelleNaz/status/1139620277396987905?s=20">a poll conducted in June</a> shows an overwhelming 85% of participants see NIAC and its affiliates as the “enemy.” Due to President Trump’s decisive actions, the machinations and manipulations of Trita Parsi have been undone. Regardless of the future, it is clear that Trita Parsi is a menace.

Javad Zarif

MITSOTAKIS: Iran Apologists, Left And Right, Have A New Think Tank

John Kerry

Koch Brothers

Rand Paul

During a recent interview with Fox News&#8217; Brian Kilmeade, retired U.S. Navy SEAL Jocko Willink — who was a former commander of the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/navy-seal-jocko-willink-top-lesson-dont-quit-2018-6">most decorated</a> special operations unit of the entire Iraq War — described President Donald Trump&#8217;s recent ordered strike on top Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps–Quds Force general Qassem Soleimani as a &#8220;gamble&#8221; that nonetheless clearly &#8220;paid off&#8221; for the president.
&#8220;Retired Navy SEAL and author Jocko Willink applauded the &#8216;gamble&#8217; taken by President Trump in ordering the killing of top Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, which was followed by anti-regime protests that erupted on the streets of Tehran,&#8221; Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/navy-seal-jocko-willink-trump-iran-soleimani-killing">reported</a>.
“When you look at it from that perspective you could say that this was a brilliant move to kill a person that was an enemy of America and an enemy of the Iranian people,” Willink said on “The Brian Kilmeade Show,&#8221; Fox News wrote.
“Was it a risk to do this operation?&#8221; Willink continued. &#8220;Absolutely. And if you were to poll everyone that had knowledge about what the conflict is like over there, &#8216;Hey should we do this or not?&#8217; There would have been mixed feelings.”
Willink then explained how such operations are always a risk, analogizing to the famous Navy SEAL raid in Pakistan to take down 9/11 mastermind jihadist Osama bin Laden of al-Qaeda.
“It was a risk to do this just like it was a risk when Obama sent SEALS in to go kill [Osama] bin Laden. That was huge risk,” Willink continued, as also reported by Fox News. “He’s going into Pakistan, he didn’t tell Pakistan what we’re doing. There was massive risk. You know the whole building could have been bombed. That’s a massive risk to do that operation. Pulled it off. Bravo. Outstanding.”
“We don’t know what could have happened. Trump took a gamble and did this, and you know what? From what it looks like right now the gamble paid off,” Willink said as he wrapped up his remarks.
In a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-the-just-and-proper-strike-of-mastermind-iranian-jihadist-qassem-soleimani">Daily Wire op-ed</a> published the day after President Trump&#8217;s successfully ordered strike of Soleimani, I wrote approvingly of the &#8220;just and proper strike&#8221; of &#8220;mastermind Iranian jihadist&#8221; Qassem Soleimani:
<blockquote>The world has awoken today a safer and more just place. And the unraveling of former President Barack Obama’s pro-Iran regional Middle East realignment, which began with President Donald Trump’s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-trump-just-shredded-iran-deal-here-are-5-ben-shapiro">thunderous exit</a>from his predecessor’s pro-ayatollah nuclear capitulation, has now reached its logical conclusion.
The Obama Middle East foreign policy legacy is dead. As is the Islamic Republic of Iran’s infamous jihadist mastermind, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-trump-responds-to-u-s-military-killing-2-top-iranian-military-leaders-involved-in-terrorists">Qassem Soleimani</a>.
Good riddance to both. &#8230;
Qassem Soleimani was a monstrous thug. In addition to the hundreds of Americans killed in Iraq via Iranian-supplied roadside IEDs, Soleimani personally oversaw the jihad-led destabilization of all nations within Tehran’s coveted <a href="https://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/2019/09/03/the-shiite-crescent-and-regional-disaster/">“Shiite crescent”</a> of desired regional hegemony. He likely is responsible, on net, for tens of thousands of deaths. He was a relentless and unceasing foe of Western civilization, more broadly, though he held a special disdain for the mullahs’ “Little Satan” of Israel and “Great Satan” of the United States.</blockquote>
As The Daily Wire&#8217;s Emily Zanotti <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ted-cruz-dares-democrats-offers-senate-resolution-praising-soleimani-mission">reported</a> earlier this month, Iran hawk Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) introduced a formal Senate resolution praising the Soleimani strike. &#8220;Senator Ted Cruz wants Democrats to publicly declare their feelings on the Trump Administration’s mission to kill Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani,&#8221; Zanotti wrote.

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