For over two decades, the United States has employed every tool short of direct military action to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Sanctions, sabotage, cyberattacks, and diplomatic negotiations all aimed to slow Tehran's relentless march toward becoming a nuclear power. Four different administrations—including Trump's own in 2019—have contemplated striking Iran's nuclear facilities but ultimately pulled back due to the enormous risks involved.
A Knockout Blow
The regime in Tehran survives in the region through three legs of a gruesome stool: terrorism, missiles, and deterrence. First, Iran exports terror throughout the Middle East through its vast network of proxy groups. Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Badr Organization and Kata'ib Hezbollah were all formed to advance Iranian interests in the Middle East. All receive funding and arms from Iran. Meanwhile, the Houthis are less tightly tethered to Tehran than these groups and often strike independently of Iranian orders. The Houthis are more a partner force than an arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Iran's most potent security organization. Second, since the ruinous Iran-Iraq War devastated Tehran’s naval power in the Red Sea, the regime has maintained a vast ballistic missile capability to strike at Israel and U.S. bases in the region. Third, Iran employs its nuclear build capability to serve as a deterrent to Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the U.S. in the Middle East. With the first two legs of the stool already wobbly, Sunday’s strike could serve as a knockout blow to Iran’s ability to bully the region.
Saturday's coordinated assault on Iran's nuclear infrastructure represents the culmination of what may be the most rehearsed, examined, and studied war plan of the last twenty years. Yet President Trump's decision to finally pull the trigger wasn't born from recklessness or impulse—it was the product of a unique convergence of fa
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