{"id":603459,"date":"2024-01-04T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-04T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/irans-day-of-reckoning-is-nearing\/"},"modified":"2024-01-04T15:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-01-04T12:00:00","slug":"irans-day-of-reckoning-is-nearing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/irans-day-of-reckoning-is-nearing\/","title":{"rendered":"#Iran\u2019s day of reckoning is nearing"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>            <iframe title=\"Audio Article\" id=\"instaread_iframe\" name=\"instaread_playlist\" scrolling=\"no\" allow=\"autoplay\" style=\"display:block\" width=\"100%\" height=\"100%\" frameborder=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Iran has been playing a dangerous <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/game\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">game<\/a> of kinetic brinkmanship with the United States since the fall of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. <\/p>\n<p>Beginning with the\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/history.state.gov\/departmenthistory\/short-history\/iraniancrises\">Iran hostage crisis<\/a>,\u00a0wherein 52 American diplomats were held for 444 days in Tehran, it has evolved into the funding of Hamas, Hezbollah and other militia and terrorist groups sponsored by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), such as the Houthis in Yemen.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr1_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Underpinning Iran\u2019s clash with Washington has been Tehran\u2019s decades-long determined pursuit of nuclear weapons. That overarching objective is nearing the goal line. Tehran\u2019s path to\u00a0nuclear breakout\u00a0is now measured in days, not weeks, if and when Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei chooses.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>On Oct. 7, Iran went too far. IRGC support and planning of Hamas\u2019s heinous attack on Israeli civilians has now engulfed the Gaza S<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">trip<\/a> in total war. On Tuesday, elements of that war spread to Lebanon when Israel carried out the strike that purportedly killed\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/2024\/01\/02\/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news-updates\/\">Saleh al-Arouri<\/a>, a senior Hamas official.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Nearly\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/14-kids-under-10-25-people-over-80-up-to-date-breakdown-of-oct-7-victims-we-know-about\/\">1,200 Israelis died<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 and U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria have been\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/liz_friden\/status\/1742298600984477896?s=51&amp;t=PwstGcTB_7SXIyQjkD1a-g\">attacked<\/a>\u00a0by Iranian-backed militias 118 times. Khamenei is in a proxy war with the U.S., and arguably it goes far deeper than that, given Tehran\u2019s growing alignment with Moscow over Russian President Vladimir Putin\u2019s faltering war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>Iran\u2019s day of reckoning, however, is nearing. Israel\u2019s decision to target al-Arouri in Lebanon, where he had fled after the Israeli incursion into Gaza, was likely intended as a kinetic wake-up call by Jerusalem to Khamenei and to Hassan Nasrallah, the Shia cleric head of Hezbollah.<\/p>\n<p>Last August, Nasrallah\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/liveblog_entry\/nasrallah-in-august-pledged-decisive-response-to-any-israeli-assassinations-on-lebanese-soil\/\">declared<\/a>, \u201cAny assassination on Lebanese soil against a Lebanese, Syrian, Iranian or Palestinian will be met with a decisive response. We will not tolerate this, and we will not allow Lebanon to become a new killing field for Israel.\u201d\u200c\u200c Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war cabinet just called his bluff.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Israel\u2019s new unit, known as\u00a0Nili, a Hebrew acronym for \u201cThe Eternity of Israel Will Not Lie,\u201d is now operational. Jerusalem has made it clear that no one who aided and abetted in the Oct. 7\u00a0attacks on Israel will be safe anywhere. That includes not only Mohammed Deif, Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh, Moussa Abu Marzouk and other top Hamas military and political officials, but also their sponsors.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr2_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>The Middle East is now at an inflection point. For decades, Iran has survived as a terrorist regime by playing off of regional interests and benefiting from U.S. domestic politics. First as a check on Saddam Hussein\u2019s Iraq, then later as the poster boy for why neocons were itching to drag the U.S. into another \u201cforever war.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Yet you do not have to be a neocon to grasp that Iran is the cancer infecting the entire Mideast. Tehran in effect funded Oct. 7. The IRGC has turned Shia Hezbollah and southern Lebanon into a loaded weapon aimed at Israel, and propped up President Bashir al-Assad\u2019s murderous regime in Syria.<\/p>\n<p>Khamenei\u2019s machinations have served to undermine ongoing U.S. efforts to normalize diplomatic relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Tehran continues to\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=&amp;ved=2ahUKEwi_w4z1wcGDAxWqrYkEHcuXDmMQFnoECA4QAQ&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.iranintl.com%2Fen%2F202310216193&amp;usg=AOvVaw3k7i9ugi5jHF36K5zoYj_D&amp;opi=89978449\">threaten<\/a>\u00a0key oil shipping lanes by closing the Strait of Hormuz \u2014 a tactic straight out of Iran\u2019s playbook dating back to 1988, which resulted in\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.history.navy.mil\/browse-by-topic\/wars-conflicts-and-operations\/middle-east\/praying-mantis.html\">Operation Praying Mantis<\/a>\u00a0against the Iranian Navy after the USS Samuel B. Roberts hit an Iranian mine, severely injuring 10 U.S. sailors.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr3_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Meanwhile, Khamenei is presently playing the\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2023\/12\/19\/opinion\/biden-does-nothing-as-iran-backed-houthis-humiliate-us\/\">same game<\/a>\u00a0in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and Bab el-Mandeb Strait courtesy of IRGC-backed Houthi rebels operating from northern Yemen. To date, the U.S. response has been minimal,\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2023-12-26\/wider-mideast-war-risk-increases-as-us-strikes-targets-in-iraq?embedded-checkout=true\">feebly described<\/a>\u00a0by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin as \u201cnecessary and proportionate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Iran, to date, has been highly effective in flipping narratives in the Middle East, and a young European and American TikTok-influenced audience is falling for it. Palestinians in Gaza are suffering and dying because Khamenei, likely at\u00a0Putin\u2019s urging,\u00a0ordered Hamas to attack Israel as a distraction to its own accelerating nuclear program. Tens of thousands of Syrians have died because of Iran\u2019s backing of Assad.<\/p>\n<p>In Yemen, more than\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cfr.org\/global-conflict-tracker\/conflict\/war-yemen\">377,000 people<\/a>\u00a0have died directly or indirectly due to Tehran\u2019s proxy war against Riyadh. Ukrainians are dying as a result of Iranian drones. Iraq continues to be marred by deaths as a result of Iran\u2019s meddling. Iran\u2019s human death toll is in the hundreds of thousands, and that does not count the systematic repression and murders of its own people \u2014 men, women and children alike.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr4_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>It is time Washington held Iran to account. Yet because it is a U.S. presidential election year, Khamenei is calculating that he can buy more time for his pursuit of nuclear weapons and efforts to further destabilize the Mideast. Israel\u2019s taking out of al-Arouri should disabuse Tehran of that notion. It was, in effect, the laying down of a gauntlet.<\/p>\n<p>For his part, during a speech on Wednesday marking the fourth anniversary of the death of\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.iranintl.com\/en\/202401024386\">Qasem Soleimani<\/a>, Nasrallah signaled he is maneuvering to keep Hezbollah out of the IDF\u2019s crosshairs. He <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ears to sense Iran\u2019s day of reckoning is coming and he wants to avoid being part of it. The usual bombastic threats and bluster were there, but by the end of the speech his sword remained sheathed.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Wittingly or not, Nasrallah revealed the extent of the web Soleimani and the IRGC had spun across the Middle East on behalf of Iran. Nasrallah credited the former IRGC commander with spawning the \u201cIslamic resistance\u201d movements in Lebanon, Iraq, Gaza, Palestine, Syria and Yemen, and transforming them into an \u201caxis of [Islamic] resistance.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr5_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Iran is indeed the cancer killing the region, and Washington had best be ready with a cure. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"600\" height=\"121\" src=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/11\/op2.png?w=600\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4329764\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/11\/op2.png?resize=600,121 600w, https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/11\/op2.png?resize=300,61 300w, https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/11\/op2.png?resize=50,10 50w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 899px) 100vw, 600px\"><\/figure>\n<p>Israel is likely to keep forcing the issue, widening its attacks against Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Tehran\u2019s nuclear program now represents an existential threat to Jerusalem, and Hezbollah is a key cog in Khamenei\u2019s strategy to deter the IDF from attacking Iran\u2019s nuclear program. Earlier, on Christmas Day, Israel put the IRGC on notice as well, killing\u00a0Seyed Razi Mousavi, one of its key advisors in Syria.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Khamenei\u2019s reckoning is coming. It is only a question of whether Israel or the U.S. delivers it, and in the process saves the Middle East.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr6_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p><em><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MCTothSTL\">Mark Toth<\/a>, an economist and entrepreneur, is a former board member of the World Trade Center, St. Louis.\u00a0Col. (Ret.)\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JESweet2022\">Jonathan Sweet<\/a>served 30 years as a military intelligence officer and led the U.S. European Command Intelligence Engagement Division from 2012 to 2014.<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Copyright 2023 Nexstar <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Media<\/a> Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/opinion\/national-security\/4387789-irans-day-of-reckoning-is-nearing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Iran has been playing a dangerous game of kinetic brinkmanship with the United States since the fall of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. Beginning with the\u00a0Iran hostage crisis,\u00a0wherein 52 American diplomats were held for 444 days in Tehran, it has evolved into the funding of Hamas, Hezbollah and other militia and terrorist groups sponsored by&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":603460,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/01\/GettyImages-1898120675-e1704312380924.jpg?w=1280","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[134344,134343,73798,90482,70984,2184,134351,71525,70241,70289],"class_list":["post-603459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-administration","tag-campaign","tag-defense","tag-house","tag-iran","tag-israel","tag-morning-report","tag-national-security","tag-palestine","tag-senate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=603459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603459\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/603460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=603459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=603459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=603459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}