Iran says it is now engaged in a “full-scale war” with the United States. Iranian President Mahmoud Pezeshkian, who is supposedly one of the more “moderate” figures among Iran’s fanatical jihadist leadership, made the remarks earlier today, and judging by events that unfolded over the weekend, the regime clearly wants to escalate.
In response to heavy United States airstrikes, Iran continued to bombard its Arab-Muslim neighbors like Kuwait, Bahrain, and Jordan with missiles and drones. You may ask. “Why would they attack their fellow Muslims?” It doesn’t make sense on paper, but there are a number of factors to consider.
First off, Iran wants to destroy the economies of these countries, which have friendly relations with America. In the process, they would tank the global economy and drive up oil and gas prices, which they believe would then force the US to stand down.
But there’s another factor where things really escalate. The U.S. has bases in several of these countries, making them ideal targets for the regime.
Over the weekend, we learned that two US soldiers were killed in an Iranian attack on Jordan, another was killed in Iraq, and several more were wounded.
By now, it should be very clear to all involved that Iranian leaders have no intention of agreeing to any sort of credible deal with the United States. For Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), it is all jihad all the time. This is who they are, and this is what they do.
First, Iran broke the ceasefire with repeated attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, and now they are back to killing U.S. troops. Folks, it is long past time to finish the job in Iran, and it appears that President Trump is now leaning in that direction. More U.S. military assets are heading to the region, and over the past nine days, the president has ordered massive airstrikes throughout Iran.
According to U.S. Central Command, “CENTCOM assets targeted Iranian military command centers, air defense and coastal surveillance sites, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and communications networks to further diminish Iran’s ability to attack commercial vessels and civilian mariners transiting the Strait of Hormuz.”
Two big questions going forward are whether the US will start targeting what’s left of Iran’s leadership and whether Israel will rejoin the fight alongside the United States. We know that Europe and NATO have no stomach for the fight, and most of the Arab nations are also MIA despite being bombarded by Iran on a nearly daily basis.
Why are nations so reluctant when right now is a golden opportunity to cast the world’s number one state sponsor of terrorism into the ash heap of history, once and for all?
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, when asked what comes next for Iran, responded: “I don’t think it’ll be good for Iran. Iran’s economy is in shambles. They’re at 300 percent inflation, particularly on life-sustaining goods. They have dwindling revenues to meet even their own payroll. They have food shortages. They have a drought, which we didn’t cause. But they have a gasoline shortage and a fuel shortage. All these problems existed before all of this began. They’ve just gotten worse. They will continue to get worse.”
Rubio continued: “Iran is a rich country. One of the reasons why Iran is in shambles is because every penny that this regime there gets, be it through sanctions relief or through the oil they’re able to get out, they invested in [terror].
They spent billions of dollars supporting militias in Iraq, Hezbollah, and Hamas. They should be spending billions of dollars supporting the people of Iran. They should be spending billions of dollars building their country. But instead, they use it to sponsor terrorism.
I think there’s a growing awareness of that inside of Iran. And I think there’s even a growing awareness of that among some of the people in their government… There’s a tension there. We’ll see how that plays out. I can’t tell you how it’s going to play out. It’s up to them.”
It has always been up to them, but for 47 years, they have chosen terror, mayhem, and war. They are driven by an apocalyptic Islamic End Times ideology. The president realizes this and is planning accordingly.
Secretary Rubio, questioned about whether he sees a “diplomatic off-ramp” with Iran, replied: “It has to be real. It has to be a deal that they’re willing to live by. Iran, a week ago, was supposed to put out a statement saying that the Straits of Hormuz would be open, that they would no longer attack shipping, and instead of doing that, they attacked three ships. I think that was last Friday or Saturday. So, I mean, their behavior has to change in order for ours to change.”
Iran’s strategy now clearly is to broaden the war and make the entire region and the world economy feel the pain. Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels just announced that they are enforcing a blockade on all naval traffic from Saudi Arabia passing through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait—another crucial waterway where some 10 to 12 percent of the world’s trade flows through every day.
Create chaos and force America back to the negotiating table as it calculates the cost of continuing military action, especially with midterm elections right around the corner. That is Iran’s plan. But will it work?
Let’s pray for President Trump, for the administration, and Prime Minister Netanyahu. Big decisions lie ahead for two individuals, whom I have called a pair of modern-day Winston Churchills, in a sea of Chamberlains across the West. Pray that God would give them wisdom.
