Why the Iranian Revolution Remains a Threat to Global Stability

February 11th marked the 45th anniversary of the Islamic revolution in Iran. It is safe to say that the event, in which the Islamic Republic was established, was one of the most significant negative global events since World War II.

The world has already paid a huge price and is still paying the price for that revolution.

First, the Iranian people have suffered under the regime for forty-five years, particularly women, the Bahais, the Kurds, and the Jewish community, which has shrunk to 8500, a historic low.

Second is the terrorism employed around the globe by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The Jewish community of Argentina paid the highest price for this when 85 people were murdered in a 1994 terrorist bombing hatched by the Iranian regime.

Moreover, the Islamic Republic set the stage, through its combination of extreme Islamist ideology and support for terrorism, for the later dramatic rise of Islamist terror from Al-Qaeda and ISIS. Even though at times they both were foes of Iran, it is hardly a coincidence that such thinking and behavior followed the example of the Islamic Republic of Iran. It is for this and so many other reasons that Tehran is called the leading state sponsor of terrorism in the world.

Third is Iran’s creating surrogates among Shiites in the region to carry out its nefarious policies against Israel, but not only Israel. The most egregious is Hezbollah which has largely taken over Lebanon and is armed with more than 140,000 rockets and missiles aimed at Israel.

On top of that is Iranian surrogate activity in Iraq and in Yemen, as well as non-Shiites who share an Islamist extremist ideology, such as Hamas.

And, of course, none of this is past history. The world today is a much more dangerous place because of the multitude of destabilizing policies of the Islamic Republic. Hamas could never have carried out its massacre of October 7 without Iran’s military, financial and ideological help. How deeply involved, if at all, was Iran in planning the event is still a question, but in any event, its role was a necessary ingredient in making it happen by sustaining and building Hamas’s power in Gaza.

With regard to the Houthis in Yemen, it was a classic case of Iran leaving few fingerprints in its early support of these Shiite revolutionaries, but now it is clear that the attacks on shipping in the Red Sea are directly a product of Iranian influence in its war against the West.

In the case of Hezbollah, the most egregious example of Iranian influence, the current potential for escalation remains at a high level, if nothing else because Israel cannot live with hundreds of thousands of its citizens having evacuated their homes in northern Israel in light of Hezbollah attacks. Either the Lebanese group will move back from the border or Israel will need to right the situation through military force. In any case, Iran has built up Hezbollah with hundreds of thousands of missiles which Israel has to contend with at this time of conflict, and surely so if Israel finds itself in direct conflict with the Islamic Republic.

Which brings us to the most obvious peril coming from Iran, which, on the occasion of the Islamic Republic’s 45th anniversary, deserves much greater attention than the international community is giving it: the development of a nuclear capability. As the issue often takes a backseat to war in the region, more and more reports indicate that Iran is closer to crossing the nuclear threshold.

The consequences for the Middle East would be immense. Israel would find itself with an existential threat as the events of October 7 demonstrate that Islamist extremist ideology can lead to the most barbaric and irrational behavior. There is no guarantee Iran would not use a nuclear weapon against Israel, Israel’s own arsenal notwithstanding.

Moreover, a nuclear Iran could generate a nuclear arms race, particularly among the Gulf States, already fearful of an expansionist Tehran. The consequences for the world are beyond one’s imagination.

In sum, we return to our theme: that this anniversary reminds us of how 1979 changed history for the worst in a dramatic way, for which the region and the world are paying an even higher price today than in the past.

What to do about it should be at the top of the agenda in Western countries, led by the United States.