Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger | “Second Thought: US-Israel Initiative” | July 22, 2026
Blaze following successful Iranian attack on US Fifth Fleet naval base in Bahrain in March 2026. Screengrab via Youtube
*Independent of Israel’s existence, the Ayatollah regime’s hostility toward the US is deeply rooted in its 1,400-year-old fanatical, apocalyptic, anti-“infidel” ideology, as is reaffirmed in its Constitution, school curriculum, mosque sermons, official media and daily geo-strategic conduct.
*Notwithstanding US-Israel relations, the overriding ideology of the Ayatollah regime mandates the global exportation of the Islamic Revolution, as a step in the long-term battle to crown the Twelver Shia as the sole, predominant, divinely-ordained religion on earth.
*Nongermane to Israel, the Ayatollah regime is committed – religiously, historically and strategically – to expedite the reappearance of the 12th Shiite Imam, Mohammad al Mahdi, who disappeared in the 10th century. This reappearance is preconditioned upon a victory over the “treacherous Sunni apostates” and “Western infidels,” especially “The Great American Satan,” which requires rivers of blood and martyrdom, supposedly yielding the end of time messianic Shiite deliverance.
*Irrespective of Israel, the ideological, religious and geo-strategic core of the Ayatollah’s Islamic Republic frames the US as the most critical enemy, “The Great American Satan” (Sheytân-e Bozorg), the ultimate source of global temptation, corruption, and imperialistic “infidel” arrogance. The US is regarded as the chief global oppressor and usurper, exploiting Islamic resources, propping up immoral “infidel” (Western and pro-Western) and “apostate” (Sunni) entities, and proliferating a venomously decadent culture. Moreover, the Ayatollah’s Constitution and core ideology mandate the regime to establish “The Axis of Resistance,” in order to bring the US to submission through a perpetual Jihad (Holy War).
*Extraneous to Israel, the Ayatollah regime is driven by an imperialistic, megalomaniacal, worldwide mega-vision, which requires mega-capabilities (conventional, ballistic and nuclear), and is preconditioned upon overcoming and subjugating a mega-hurdle (the USA). The Ayatollah regime views the US as a mega-hurdle in its pursuit of regional hegemony and its historic duty to topple all “treacherous and apostate” Sunni regimes, which happen to be aligned with the US.
*Regardless of Israel’s role in the Middle East and beyond, and despite the US’ critical role (1978/79) in paving the road of the Ayatollah regime to power, the Ayatollah regime seized the US Embassy in Tehran, in November 1979,and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days.
*Unrelated to Israel, since 1980, the Ayatollah regime – jointly with Hezbollah – has entrenched itself in Latin America, which is considered “the soft underbelly” of the US, and a critical segment of “The Axis of Resistance.” The Ayatollah regime has intensified cooperation with drug cartels in Mexico, Columbia, Bolivia and Brazil, supplying them with predator unmanned aerial vehicles and underground tunnel-construction equipment. The regime has established a strategic posture in the lawless tri-border areas of Argentina-Paraguay-Brazil and Chile- Bolivia-Peru, training terrorists, promoting drug trafficking and laundering money.
*Despite the fact that in 1982, the US deployed US Marines to Lebanon, in order to constrain Israel’s offensive on PLO terrorists in Lebanon, the Ayatollah regime and Hezbollah car-bombed (in 1983) the US Embassy and the Marines barracks in Beirut, murdering 270 Americans. The Ayatollah regime and Hezbollah were also involved in the planning and execution of the 1998 car-bombing of the US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, murdering 224 people, including 12 Americans. More than 1,000 Americans have been murdered in the Middle East by the Ayatollah regime and its terror proxies in Iraq, Syria and Jordan.
*Unconnected to Israel, the Ayatollah regime has expanded its network of sleeper terror cells on US soil, as cautioned by the FBI Director in a November 2023 Hearing in the House Committee on Homeland Security: “…As the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism, the Iranians have directly, or by hiring criminals, mounted assassination attempts against dissidents and high ranking current and former US officials, including right here on American soil…. Hezbollah, Iran’s primary strategic partner, has tried to seed operatives, establish infrastructure and engage in spying here domestically… planning future operations in the US….” The 2025 Threat Assessment issued by the FBI and the Homeland Security Department highlighted the Ayatollah’s surrogate network within the US, aiming to intensify fear of Islamic terrorism, while undermining the confidence of Americans in their own government.
*Israel is correctly portrayed by the Ayatollah regime as the most effective US vanguard in “the abode of Islam” – “The Little Satan.” The US is perceived as the strategic global enemy, while Israel is a tactical regional instrument, serving the Oppressive US’ civilizational, religious, and geopolitical war on the Oppressed entities. The Ayatollah regime has concluded that undermining Israel’s strategic posture – through its Hamas, Hezbollah and Houthi proxies, as well as its own ballistic missiles – undermines the US regional and global posture. The Ayatollah’s view of Israel is a derivative of its view of the US, independent of the Palestinian issue and the Arab-Israeli conflict.
*In 2026, the US has an opportunity to correct the misguided 1978/79-2024 US policy – which transformed Iran from “The American Policeman of the Gulf” to a leading global epicenter of anti-US wars, terrorism and drug trafficking – by uprooting the Ayatollah regime.
*The cost of regime change would be dwarfed by the cost of refraining from regime change, highlighted by the emergence of the first ever apocalyptic nuclear power, afflicting humanity with catastrophic cost. Failing to trigger regime-change, would erode the US posture of deterrence, emboldening China in the Pacific, African and Latin American arenas, invigorating Russia in the Baltic Sea and East Europe, and energizing anti-US Islamic terrorism on US soil. It would also intensify existential threats to all pro-US Sunni Arab regimes, induce more wars and terrorism, while discouraging the expansion of the Abraham Accords.
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