In 2009, Iran was gripped by nationwide protests following the corrupt and illegitimate election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s theocratic regime engineered Ahmadinejad’s victory over a less-desired candidate via vote-rigging and other forms of manipulation. The public backlash that swept the nation following the election posed a serious threat to the regime’s power. Still, the Obama-Biden Administration – in its blind desire to negotiate a nuclear deal with the regime – opted to quietly support Khamenei and his murderous cronies. The protests, though admirable, were to no avail. Over a decade later, the Biden Administration is now faced with a similar decision. Unfortunately, Biden seems dedicated to making the same mistakes Obama made.
Mahsa Amini, a young Iranian woman, was brutally beaten by Iran’s Morality Police for not wearing her hijab correctly. She died in custody the same day, on September 16th, likely from the wounds inflicted on her by the regime’s thugs (who pathetically claim the 22-year-old died due to a ‘heart attack’). Massive protests across Iran have followed this heinous and condemnable act, led chiefly by Iranian women who have displayed inspirational bravery, resolve, and leadership. Even in the face of a brutal crackdown by the Ayatollah’s regime, during which many more Iranian protesters have been arrested or killed, the protests have only grown. Today they are larger and more widespread than any we have seen since 2009. Especially in light of news regarding the Ayatollah Khamenei’s failing health, this is a critical moment for the fate of the regime and the entire region.
Any responsible American Administration would have made clear their support of these protesters, both in rhetoric and action. This was undoubtedly the approach our Administration took during similar protests across Iran in 2019. We voiced our support, then followed through with action by introducing even more harsh sanctions on the regime than we already had in place. We were relentless in enforcing them. Unfortunately, the Biden Administration has mostly opted for the usual press statements and strong rhetoric, while failing to punish the regime in any meaningful way. In doing so, the Administration is sure to repeat Obama’s failures.
In fact, rather than pursue sanctions and other punitive measures against Iran, the Biden Administration seems committed only to alienating and attacking friends and allies in the region, who are essential to keeping Iran contained. For instance, the National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby informed the press this week that President Biden was going to ‘reevaluate’ the U.S.-Saudi Arabia relationship “right away.” In the Trump Administration, we knew we needed to work with the Saudis to sustain global energy prices and confront jihadist terror threats, in addition to keeping Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. To placate his base, Biden has turned our friends into the Middle East’s bad guy, even as he has given the Iranian regime new life by failing to enforce sanctions.
This has had real consequences across the region and beyond. Where we were able to wipe out 96% of Iran’s foreign exchange reserves and usher in historic stability and peace in the Middle East, Biden has done the opposite. Iran’s export revenues from oil, gas, and related by-products totaled $39 billion in Biden’s first year in office – 77% more than it was during the final year of the Trump Administration. This influx of cash and resources has enabled the regime to crush protesters and dissidents at home, as we are watching happen now. It has enabled the regime to fund Houthi attacks on regional oil infrastructure. It has enabled the Iranian regime to manufacture and sell drones to Russia. Putin is now using those same drones to murder Ukrainian civilians. The latest attack occurred just this week in Kyiv.
The Biden Administration, or rather Obama’s junior varsity players, have failed to learn the lesson we in the Trump Administration understood from day one: Allowing the Iranian regime to prosper only leads to regional and global instability, as well as terrible retribution for those Iranians who wish to live free from the regime’s brutality. If Joe Biden is not held accountable for propping up the Ayatollah and his cronies, that retribution will continue to spread beyond the Iranian people – to the Israelis, the Saudis, and ultimately to the American people.
HD Editor’s Note: Why Is This News Biblically Relevant?
Amir Tsarfati, Founder and President of Behold Israel, commented on the massive protests in Iran in his recent article, “WORLDVIEW w/ Amir Tsarfati: A Ominous Turn Of Events.”
“While their nuclear enrichment is going well, Iran’s iron-grip control on their people is being tested,” he explained. “Not surprisingly, the only two who believed the coroner’s report that the cause of death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died while in custody of the morality police for not fully covering her hair, was ‘underlying disease‘ and not police brutality were the coroner and Ayatollah Khameini – and even they were a bit iffy.”
“As the number of people who are taking to the streets grows, more are losing their lives. The protests have even spread to the nation’s oil workers, who threatened to ‘destroy everything they’ve built’ if the government forces don’t lay down their weapons against the protestors,” Tsarfati described. “Because of the nation’s oil economy, this is a powerful block of individuals who had a huge impact in the fall of the shah’s government back in 1979.”
As former Sec. of State Mike Pompeo stressed, the current US Administrations’ failure to hold the Iranian regime accountable places other nations at risk including Israel.
By tying the hands of Tehran through more severe economic sanctions, the Trump administration was also tying the hand of Iran’s proxy forces which are funded by the regime to inflict terror, attack, and help bring about the destruction of the Jewish state.
Former Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, in a recent interview with FRC President Tony Perkins, warned that the United States is placing itself in a dangerous position by empowering Israel’s largest enemy.
“Nations are recognizing that there is nobody home at the white house, and they can do whatever they want to do,” she stated. “All of the rogue bad actors want to see Israel wiped off the map. They see that we are not here to defend Israel. It’s a highly vulnerable time, and that is why the world is very unsteady.”
“It’s hard to believe. The United States blessed Israel more than any other nation, now we are in a position of cursing Israel more than any other nation because we are literally empowering and enriching Israel’s number one enemy, which serves as an existential threat to their survival,” Bachmann underscored.
The former congress member further warned that the current administration is also dangerously “putting Iran and Russia together.”
“So these two very bad actors are colluding against the best interest of America and Israel, and Joe Biden is empowering them to do it,” she emphasized.
The further development of Iran-Russia ties is especially significant when considering Biblical prophecy. Ezekiel 38-39 details a future war in which Russia, Iran, Turkey, and others will align themselves together and attempt to invade the nation of Israel from the north, with no intervention from the United States in their defense.
“There is a direct link, as the Bible says, between nations that bless Israel and nations that don’t,” she described. “In fact, the Bible is very clear in Joel 3:2 that there is only one criteria upon which nations will be judged, and that is how nations treat Zion, Israel. Nations will be held accountable for that by the Lord. And this is God’s law,” Bachmann asserted.
