Without any exaggeration, from the era of Yitzhak Hofi (1974-1982) at the helm of the Mossad to the tenure of David Barnea (2022-), all Mossad directors – Aharon Yariv, Shabtai Shavit, Meir Dagan, Tamir Pardo, Yossi Cohen, and others – have stated, in both personal and official meetings with the CIA, a single, consistent truth: Israel’s existential threat is the Iranian regime in Tehran.
After 47 years, a Republican president in the White House publicly declared that “regime change in Iran would be the best thing that could happen.”
This is a historic opportunity for the entire Middle East – if there is genuine resolve to contain Islamic terrorism and to end the Shi’ite Islamist caliphate that has destabilized the region. It is an opportunity that was easily squandered during the 12-day war in June 2025, in direct contradiction to Israel’s security doctrine, which mandates the elimination of any existential threat.
The removal of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei could have been a serious and decisive step. For 37 years, he has spared no crime against humanity or against Israel. Shamelessly and brutally, during the nationwide uprising of the Iranian people against his religious despotism in January 2026 alone, at least 40,000 people were massacred – solely to preserve the Shi’ite clerical regime in power.
The elimination of Khamenei – Tehran’s dictator – could have been welcome and liberating news for a turbulent and battered Middle East. At the very least, from June until today, these horrific crimes against humanity inside Iran would not have occurred.
Under Khamenei, especially over the past year, Tehran has accelerated the development of advanced biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons. His sole and explicit mission is their use against Israel.
Trump's failure
Over the past twelve months, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with US President Donald Trump at the White House seven times. Yet Trump appears focused solely on drafting an agreement or deal with Tehran’s dictator. For him, a “JCPOA 2,” mirroring Obama’s legacy, is considered a foreign-policy success. In reality, he has neither believed in nor pursued regime change in Iran.
Even during his meeting with the North Korean dictator, Trump expressed interest in traveling to Tehran. Today, once again, at the Munich Security Conference, Secretary of State Marco Rubio echoed Trump’s desire and enthusiasm for meeting Tehran’s dictator, Ali Khamenei.
Why Trump would accept the humiliation and disgrace of shaking hands and posing for photographs with an Islamist terrorist remains unclear. In his own mind, he is chasing a “deal,” unwilling to accept that such efforts are a waste of time and a mockery – an outright insult to the blood of thousands of Americans and Israelis who were killed, wounded, or maimed by the direct orders of Ali Khamenei and Khomeini.
He is a dictator who has ruled for 37 years, who only last month massacred more than 40,000 people in savage fashion, who has issued death orders against Trump and Netanyahu. Does a shameful, repulsive meeting with a brutal, repressive, murderous cleric have any meaning, value, or legitimacy in human history?
At a time when the clerical regime is bankrupt, despised and isolated, granting it artificial respiration is not a reflection of American values or human rights.
A dictatorship pursuing weapons of mass destruction, ballistic missiles, and non-conventional warheads should face regime change – or at least encouragement toward the collapse of the epicenter of Islamic terrorism. Floating the idea of a Trump-Khamenei meeting at the Munich Security Conference is proof of the lack of seriousness behind the president’s rhetoric on regime change.
In a chaotic Middle East, how is Israel supposed to confront the destabilizing, crisis-manufacturing, war-driving Shi’ite clerical regime in Tehran – alone – when the White House lacks determination?
Do Trump and Rubio truly not understand that a religious fatwa issued by a pathological liar like Ali Khamenei carries no value or credibility whatsoever?
An insult to history and international relations
The logic of US policy should be the defense of Israel and its closest allies in the Gulf and the Middle East. Posing for photos with a regime that has chanted “Death to America” for 47 years and openly calls for Israel’s erasure from the map is nothing but an insult to human history and to every principle of international relations.
Like the North Korean dictator, Khamenei will inevitably humiliate Trump – and no progress will result. What logic can be expected from a regime that has armed 21 terrorist groups across the Middle East against Israel?
In 1979, Saddam Hussein declared, “I will reduce Tel Aviv to rubble with bombs.” Likewise, in 2024-25, Ali Khamenei repeatedly launched missiles at Israel. What difference exists between the Nazi-like mindset of Saddam, Khamenei, and Hitler?
The same White House labeled the Islamic Republic an “Axis of Evil” in 2002. Had the removal of Khamenei not been delayed, the course of Middle Eastern history might have been entirely different.
The Mossad delayed for years in eliminating Yasser Arafat, Hassan Nasrallah, and Imad Mughniyeh – and the devastating consequences were plain to see. The same hesitation occurred when the new head of the Mossad station in Tehran, Eliezer Tsafir, was once asked: “Would the Mossad please kill Khomeini in Paris?” The request was ignored and dismissed. Had it been taken seriously, perhaps this proliferation of poisonous fungi – Islamic terrorism – would not have spread across the Middle East.
The United States left Israel alone during the bombing of nuclear facilities in Syria and Iraq, merely stating, “There is no imminent danger.” Yet Khamenei is an ideologue of death, an architect of endless wars and murders, the builder of a vast terror apparatus – especially after the Abraham Accords – and a principal instigator of the crimes of October 7.
Mossad's achievement in confronting terror
Nonetheless, credit must be given to the Mossad: in 2024-25, it effectively penetrated and dominated Tehran. It was a phenomenal success – one of the most significant covert achievements in Israel’s history in confronting terror and existential threats.
These days, the blood-soaked, isolated, and despised dictator in Tehran may laugh hysterically – much like North Korea – at Trump’s and Washington’s policies. But the reality is that he is hiding like a rat in an underground bunker, terrified of an Israeli or American strike – deceptive, scurrying from one hideout to another, a fake holy man who is, by nature, an oppressor and a killer.
His removal would bring calm to the world.
But Washington’s unserious policies will only make this venomous snake more dangerous. Trump’s excessive desire for deals, agreements, and photographs with Khamenei will earn him no place in history. Courage is required to tell the truth.
Pursuing dialogue with an Islamist terrorist regime – the global epicenter of Shi’ite fundamentalism – is a waste of time and works directly against regional peace and stability, as well as against the interests of the United States and its allies in the Gulf and the broader Middle East. The nerve center of Islamic terrorism will never contribute to the institutionalization of peace and stability. Never.
The author is a Middle East political analyst. His latest book, Tehran’s Dictator, examines the theocratic era of Ali Khamenei (1989-2026). Twitter/X: @EQFard.