Operation Epic Fury is underway, and the so-called Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei, is dead. Despite the histrionics from the Left and right-wing podcasters who warned about Trump initiating a military attack: there will be no World War 3. The myth of inevitable and uncontrolled escalation has once again been busted. The United States has agency and can decide on its terms when to initiate a military campaign with clearly defined and achievable military and political objectives.

The United States and Israel, together, are carrying out a sophisticated, multi-pronged military campaign. President Trump laid out U.S. objectives. Because the Iranian regime refused to end its ideologically motivated hostilities against the United States and its allies, and would not eliminate its dangerous nuclear missile program, the United States will eliminate the threats posed by the Islamic Republic. Operation Epic Fury will: “raze” the regime’s missile industry, “annihilate” the Iranian navy, hit Iranian nuclear facilities, and “ensure that the region’s terrorist proxies can no longer destabilize the region or the world and attack our forces.”

And while Epic Fury is overwhelming the regime’s ability to respond, Iran’s backers, China and Russia, are not coming to its rescue.

China buys more than 80% of Iranian oil and has been aiding Iran’s efforts to rebuild its air defenses after the United States and Israel’s successful campaign to wipe them out and establish air dominance last summer. Russia has been a longtime partner in arms dealing with Iran. Russian leaders condemned the U.S. attack on Iran, just as they condemned the U.S. operation to arrest the illegal dictator of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro. But in both cases, the Russians were as feeble to help their authoritarian friends as their air defenses were to thwart American special forces.

And although the now-eliminated Khamenei believed he was the leader of the entire Muslim world, Muslim nations that host American forces have condemned Iranian aggression and sided with America. As of now, more than 24 hours since the start of the attack, Iran’s missiles and drones have been smaller in scale than the previous offenses over the last two years, and the United States and Israel have total supremacy of the skies in Iran. President Trump did warn the American people that in this campaign, there is a risk that there may be some casualties in service of this noble mission to protect Americans and to end the reign of Islamist terror.

Over the decades of the Islamic Republic’s iron fist, the regime trained, armed, and funded terrorist proxies throughout the Middle East. Those Islamist proxies have murdered and maimed Americans, thwarted and threatened global shipping, and, in recent years, tried to assassinate Americans, including President Trump and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who served in the first Trump administration and supported the successful operation that eliminated Qassam Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force. And lest we forget, when U.S. forces were searching for Al Qaeda terrorists after their attacks on Americans on September 11, Iran provided Al Qaeda sanctuary.

After the formal confirmation of the Islamist dictator’s death, Trump posted on Truth Social: “This is the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country,” and said Khomeini’s elimination is justice, “not only for the people of Iran, but for all Great Americans” killed or harmed by the regime. Bibi Netanyahu sent the Iranian people the same message: “This is an opportunity, do something. Do not sit with your arms crossed,” he said. “You have to complete this work and you have to bring down and eradicate this regime.”

Under the direction of Khamenei and his loyalists, the regime brutally repressed the Iranian people. Just weeks ago, it slaughtered over 32,000 innocent young people who opposed the regime in defiance of President Trump’s direct order to the regime not to kill protesters, drawing a bright red line. He then encouraged the protesters to persevere in their protests against the regime and issued a promise to the Iranian people that the United States would send help.

Trump has now enforced that red line and, with Netanyahu, is delivering the conditions for the Iranian peoples’ liberation. But the Iranian people must take over control of their own government and their future. Trump made that clear and continues to send that message. The most realistic path forward for a transition government to emerge is through the formation of a coalition of factions within Iran, including those who defect from the Iranian police force, the standing Army, and even the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Trump offered defectors immunity if they were to lay down their arms, a great alternative to executions and civil war.

Over the next few days, the United States and Israel will carry out more attacks, hunting missile launchers and destroying the facilities where new nuclear weapons activity was ongoing. There is uncertainty about the duration of the campaign. It should not be surprising if it ends in a matter of days or a couple of weeks, but only once the will of the remaining regime leaders is broken. Only then can the Iranian people take their country back, and in doing so, bring greater peace to the Middle East and to the detriment of the Islamic Republic’s authoritarian backers and to the benefit of America and its allies.

Rebeccah L. Heinrichs is a senior fellow and director of the Keystone Defense Initiative. She specializes in US national defense policy with a focus on strategic deterrence.

The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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Why A Dead Ayatollah Won’t Lead To World War 3