The Cost of Not Acting Against Iran

This weekend, dignitaries from around the world gathered in Germany for the Munich Security Conference. While attention is focused on Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Representative Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, thousands around the world held rallies in support of protesters in Iran. These gatherings demonstrate the need for the US to get involved on behalf of the protests. If they don’t, the consequences of inaction could be just as bad.

Over the past couple of months, thousands, if not millions, of Iranians have protested across the country against the Islamic regime. Despite a brutal government crackdown killing thousands, glimmers of hope remain. That is why hundreds of thousands of members of the Iranian diaspora rallied in Munich, Los Angeles, and Toronto over the weekend in solidarity with the protesters and with the symbolic leader of the movement, Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi.

Students of history know that the biggest threat to any regime is the people within its borders. Indeed, the Mullahs who control Iran know this all too well, as it is exactly how they rose to power in 1979. A deal with the United States allows the Islamic regime to reassert control over the population, ensuring the continued survival of its regime. If the external threat of the US is eliminated or postponed, then the government can focus its attention inward.

That may sound like good news for some in the West, but this inward focus is only temporary. The Islamic regime is by its very nature expansionist, viewing the destruction of the West and Israel specifically as a principal goal of divine nature. Once the Mullahs stifle the current wave of protests and eliminate Western sanctions, they will once again pour resources into rebuilding their network of proxies. Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis were all weakened in their conflict with Israel, but a respite gives them time to reconstitute with Iranian help. A deal between the US and Iran would make this possible, leading to future terrorist attacks.