I’m Iranian – Israel’s attacks give me hope

Over the past few days, well-meaning people who know I’m Iranian have approached me with deep concern in their eyes, asking me how I’m faring. Almost all assume that I must be enraged by Israel’s attacks. That’s why when I tell them I’m fully supportive of Israel’s actions in Iran they look perplexed, and I might say even a bit bruised and offended.

I lived in Iran for the first two decades of my life. I have only known an Iran under the rule of the Mullahs. I have only known an Iran that kills, rapes, and humiliates its women and brutally quashes any dissent. My lifetime has seen, among others, the student protests of 1999 and 2003, the Green Movement of 2009, the economic protests of 2017-2018, the Flight 752 protests, and most recently the Mahsa Amini protests.

This partial list only pertains to my lifetime. The murderous regime of Iran has killed generations upon generations of our people during its reign that will soon reach half a century. While the regime murders en masse during protests, it continuously and gruesomely stifles civilian life by imposing a draconian legal system that veils women, stones them for adultery, lashes them for immodesty, and systematically chains them to medieval family laws and penal codes.

A blatant testament to the thuggery of the Iranian regime is the fact that it has continued to threaten Iranian protestors even as it is getting bombarded. This regime cannot quench its thirst for its citizens’ blood even when its existence is threatened by war.

So far, Israel has carried out targeted and precise military attacks that aim to dismantle the nuclear ambitions of a belligerent regime that has taken its people hostage and destabilized the region. Israel has decided to break a tradition of appeasement with this terrorist regime. Some bemoan the destruction of Iran’s oil and gas refineries; however, they forget that the regime loots the wealth of Iran for its own pockets and its terrorist agenda. While this wealth does not benefit Iranians, its destruction might. Iran’s natural resources have been a curse to its people rather than a blessing, and I cannot mourn the destruction of the regime’s main sources of income.

The targeted attacks in Iran that have seen some of the most despicable members of the IRGC killed are not comparable to the mass civilian casualties that have been growing in Gaza and any comparison between these two operations is completely unwarranted. Israel’s war conduct has been very precise and calculated in Iran and if that changes, my opinion of this war will change accordingly.

While Israel has taken concrete action, the US under Trump is acting timidly and still calling the Mullahs to the negotiating table. Trump has shown again and again that he will only pick a fight with defenseless immigrants and the most vulnerable, as only a cowardly bully would. However, maybe for once, Trump can choose to pick a fight with a real enemy.

There are some indications that Israel may be considering a policy of regime change in Iran. I would argue that regime change is the only policy that would make this war worthwhile. We have seen what half a century of Mullahs’ rule has done to Iran and the region, we don’t have to hazard a guess as to what another half a century would do. If the Mullahs survive these attacks, their victory will only serve to embolden them and make them feel invincible. Terrorism will continue to be the hallmark of the region unless the Iranian regime is dismantled and elections free of terrorist candidates are held.

In the Middle East, we all have our fights with religious fanatics as they are a persistent fixture of our histories, but I genuinely hope that we will overcome Iran’s murderous fanatics with the help of Israel’s targeted operations in Iran and an unequivocal support for regime change.

So, to anyone who cares to ask this Iranian, I say that I’m hopeful. I hope that both Israel and the US see the benefit of regime change in Iran and do not let the Islamic Republic linger for another 50 years. Appeasement with terrorism begets terrorism. It’s time to have peace.