Over the summer, a lot of you probably heard about Iran and Israel. Tensions were rising between the two nations over Iran’s goal to gain nuclear weapons. Iran is an existential threat to Israel, the Middle East, the United States and many other countries for so many reasons. If Iran ever gains nuclear weapons, you all know who will be affected.
Here is some insight into the government of Iran. Since the Iranian Revolution of 1979, Iran has been controlled by supreme leader, Ali Khamenei. Before 1979, Iran was a flourishing country. It had material wealth, a good economy, and western and secular values. The revolution lacked many customary causes of a revolution. Iran was controlled by the Shah’s at the time, however, there were many political dissidents with the country westernizing. The uprising led by Khamenei wanted to restore the Islamic character to the nation which unfortunately led it to be the state it is today.
Iran is a destructive society with its Islamic extremism and by causing harm to its citizens. Every year, Iran carries out hundreds of executions against its citizens. They are executed for stone throwing, talking against its government, drug related crimes, and so on. They also commit executions against minors even though they signed the Convention on the Rights of a Child. Iran ignores human rights and holds no regards for anyone.
If Iran had a hold of nuclear weapons, Israel would be its first target. Khamenei has called for the death to Israel many times under his supreme rule. Khamenei tweeted, “This barbaric, wolflike & infanticidal regime of #Israel which spares no crime has no cure but to be annihilated. 7/23/14.” Along with his call for destruction to Israel, Iran wants to destroy America. Iran has a famous chant called “Death to America.” Khamenei was the one to tokenize the chant. If Iran had the opportunity, they would destroy both Israel and the United States.
In addition to calling death to Israel and United States, Iran is a designated state sponsor of terrorism within the Middle East. The Iranian government sponsors recognized terrorist organizations including Hamas, Hezbollah, and Palestinian Jihadism. Some of the most notorious attacks Iran is responsible for includes bombing of a Jewish community center which killed people and the 1984 United States Embassy bombing.
The majority of the international community supports Iran’s development of nuclear weapons to help prevent war in the Middle East. However, there will likely be a war if Iran gains nuclear weapons. Iran does not have any positive intentions when they attain nuclear weapons. They are a threat to Israel, the United States, and other western countries. The international community is mistaken on what Iran will do once it gains these weapons. Democracy, western values and individual freedoms are a further threat to citizens of the Middle East and the rest of the world.
This was contributed by CAMERA Fellow and President of UB for Israel, an Emet for Israel supported organization, Andrew Meyer