My witty childhood
friend Aaron Kopolowitz of blessed memory once commented that if you've got
nothing nice to say about somebody, you must be thinking of the Ayatollah Khomeini.
I thought of
Aaron and what he said about the gepaygerter Ayatollah when I spotted a
photo in The New York Post of former president Jimmy Carter looking hospice
frail at 99. Carter and Khomeini go together in my mind.
Ruhollah Khomeini,
from exile, led the Islamist opposition to the Shah of Iran during the
revolution that culminated on February 11, 1979.
The overthrow of the
Shah’s Pahlavi dynasty allowed for the emergence of what is indisputably the
most wicked regime in the Middle East.
Shah made the mistake of crushing secular opponents of his rule, which left the Islamists poised to lead the resistance. When anti-government demonstrations began in October
1977 against the Shah, Jimmy Carter's administration had no good options to
save this vital American ally. US intelligence had been blindsided by the
revolution. The ailing monarch fled Iran on January 16, 1979, leaving behind the
reasonable Shapour Bakhtiar as interim leader. Bakhtiar was assassinated by the
Islamist regime while in French exile on August 6, 1991.
In the event, on February
1, 1979, Khomeini returned from exile in France to a tumultuous welcome. And by
February 11, he was ensconced as leader until he died on June 3, 1989, at age
86. Not only did the people of Iran welcome Khomeini, but in March 1979, they
also overwhelmingly backed the referendum declaring the country an Islamic
Republic.
While the embers
of the revolution still smoldered, PLO leader Yasser Arafat arrived in Tehran
on February 17, 1979, to celebrate the Shah's overthrow with Khomeini. Iran and Israel had close, if unofficial, ties. Most of Israel's oil came from Iran. Meantime,
Arafat had connected with all the contending anti-Shah groups based in Lebanon
(the south of which was then his Fatahland). Eventually, he put most of his
cards on anti-Shah factions loyal to Khomeini. The PLO would later take credit
for suggesting that Iran form the Islamic Revolutionary Guards.
Not
unappreciative, Khomeini turned the Israeli diplomatic mission (one of our
largest anywhere) in Teheran over to the PLO.
The regime began
a series of executions of Jewish community leaders on accusations of Zionist
sympathies, starting with Habib Elghanian.
Khomeini agreed
with Arafat that Israel had to be wiped off the face of the earth. Iran has
never deviated from this position. That is why Teheran opposed the March 1979 Egyptian-Israel
peace treaty and worked to isolate Egypt from the Muslim world.
When, in October
1979, the Shah was admitted into the US for medical treatment, the Muslim
Student Followers of the Imam's Line took over the American Embassy on November
9, 1979. Khomeini promptly blessed the capture. Fifty-three Americans were held
hostage for 444 days from November 4, 1979, until January 20, 1981, and freed just
as Ronald Reagan was about to be inaugurated.
When in 1993, Arafat
himself disingenuously professed to accept the existence of Israel in the Oslo Accords,
Persian Iran's three proxy groups Hamas, Islamic Jihad (both Sunni Palestinian
Arab), and Hezbollah (Shi'ite Lebanese Arab) intensified their jihadist resistance.
Alawite-led Syria, another Iranian satellite, also joined the rejectionist camp.
***
Fast forward to June
2024. Israel, isolated and condemned in the international arena, prepares for
all-out war with Hezbollah. The possibility that Iran will not stand on the
sidelines is real. Iran is a formidable enemy – a massive country with a
population of 88 million. Its major export trading partners are China and Turkey.
Iran's other key allies are Russia and North Korea. Ordinary Iranians may
regret the embrace their elders gave to the Islamists, but there is no freedom
of expression in Iran, and all broadcast media is state-run.
Now, Israel finds
itself fighting a multiple-front war – funded, instigated, and enabled by Iran:
-
Hezbollah-controlled
Lebanon
-
Syria
-
Iraq
(where pro-Iranian militias have a free hand)
-
West
Bank (Iran funds various terror groups besides Hamas)
-
Yemen
(Shi'ite Houties control large parts of the country)
-
Gaza
(Hamas and Islamic Jihad remain dominant)
-
Iran
itself
***
On the threshold
of nuclear weapons, Holocaust-denying, genocide-instigating Iran and its
so-called Axis of Resistance is responsible for untold death and suffering
across the Middle East (and beyond, including fatal attacks against Jewish
targets around the globe).
Iran sees itself
in a zero-sum conflict with the West and Zionism. It is Israel's mortal enemy.
However, Europe does not see itself as being at war with Iran. Iran Air flies
to Paris and London. In February 2024 alone, Europe's trade with Iran was
estimated at €847 million. The US seeks any opportunity to engage with Iran,
most recently holding secret talks last month in Oman. Both the UN General
Assembly and Security Council paid tribute to the memory of Seyyed Ebrahim
Raisi, the Iranian president who, together with his foreign minister, was
killed in a helicopter accident on May 19, 2024. Alas, no one held a
moment of silence for the thousands of Iranians Raisi ordered hanged when he
sat on the regime's Death Commission.
How far will Iran
push its hatred of Israel? Will its Twelvers' eschatological Shi'ism lead it to disregard
rationality by attempting a surprise knockout blow against the Jewish state? Such
a decision may await the demise of the current Supreme Leader, 85-year-old Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei. He is the final decision-maker on issues of war and peace. The Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps and its hyper-terrorist Quds Force branch are loyal
to him.
Iran is the most
significant external strategic threat to Israel, no doubt.
None of its
proxies are mindless puppets, but the mullahs in Teheran provide the essential military,
diplomatic, and logistical wherewithal.
***
Now, let’s cut to
the chase. Iran has somehow been able to bridge the usual divide separating
Turks, Persians, and Arabs, not to mention Shi'ites and Sunnis. We need to ask
ourselves whether any of Israel's policies have contributed to Iran's extraordinary
achievement. What might we be doing to infuriate Muslims in a way that makes
them willing to overlook their historic ethnic and theological differences?
Here's something
to ponder. Israel has ostentatiously changed the status quo on the Temple
Mount. Mohammed Deif cited this in the Hamas declaration of war of October 7,
2023. You can say that the enemy does not need an excuse to strike out. But the
unity among Muslims is unprecedented. What do you think explains it? Or, maybe
you think that on principle that praying, prostrating, and prancing on and
around the Temple Mount – may be schecting a lamb – is a price worth
paying. And the Iran-led united front against Israel will crumble because our
God is bigger than theirs. In other words, our apocalyptic vision will prevail
over theirs.
On the other hand, if you don’t see the world through this sort of messianic prism, you, like me, are left to wonder if we are imprudently uniting our enemies even as we fragment ourselves.
Jerusalem Day, 2024. Prostrating near Temple Mount |
Thank you for this piece, Eliot. I think it's brilliant. One reason is that its historicity at once informs the current, ever-more-perilous state of Israel's foreign affairs and the highly-consequential relevance of its contentious domestic affairs to them. I think your post should be widely read, and will do what little I can to try to make it so.
ReplyDeleteElliot, beautifully written piece and nice shout out to Aaron z"l. The only part I question is does this raise awareness to the rest of the world or does it merely give those who know and understand the ability to further know and understand.
ReplyDeleteVery well said.
ReplyDeletePlease expand further B.I.L.