The war against the ayatollahs is escalating by the second. Europe and NATO are gradually aligning with the US. The Iranian regime’s main contribution is “the export of chaos,” according to Mark Rutte, NATO’s secretary-general.
An international coalition must now be formed to tackle the root source of chaos – the Islamic Republic. For two decades now, I have been writing about the existential threat to the free world posed by the ayatollahs’ missile program.
The European states were following the Obama Doctrine. The nuclear deal was worthless without enforceable agreements on ballistic missiles and drones.
A nuclear bomb without a means of delivery is worthless. That is why, for now deceased supreme leader Ali Khamenei, the development of ballistic missiles was non-negotiable.
Despite the disastrous consequences of the agreement with North Korea, America and Europe went ahead with a deal with the ayatollahs. That is precisely the cause of the misery we see everywhere now – at the petrol pump, in the hotels of the Gulf states, on the streets of Iran, and so on.
“Yes, but oil prices are too high. Don’t you have any sympathy for us?” I can be brief in my answer to people who say this. My reply is: It’s your own fault.
Israel, the US can't be blamed for high energy prices
How long have we been talking about nuclear energy? How long have we been talking about hydrogen fuel in the Netherlands? You can’t blame other nations for fighting for their freedom and security. You have only yourselves to blame for not having done enough to achieve energy independence. Energy independence is an essential political issue.
It’s not that complicated. Israel faces an existential threat. So, it has every right to defend itself. America does not want an Islamic North Korea that poses a threat to its cities with its ballistic missiles fitted with nuclear warheads.
The third party to this is the Iranian people. They want to reclaim their country from the ayatollahs. On January 8 and January 9, the regime murdered thousands of unarmed civilians with weapons of war.
That is why citizens concluded that they cannot fight this regime with their bare hands. The people hope that the war waged by Israel and the US will weaken the regime sufficiently to enable them to overthrow the terrorist state.
Additionally, more concrete support is needed in the final phase of the struggle. The ground forces in the war against the ayatollahs are the Iranians who are fighting for freedom, equality, and human dignity.
Nowruz, which is Persian for “the new day,” has already begun. This may well be the last Nowruz of the Islamic Republic.
Am I an optimist? Yes, always; those who are optimistic believe in hope, in a better world – or, as German philosopher Martin Heidegger wrote in Being and Time: “Higher than actuality stands possibility.”
Heidegger derived this idea from a biblical warning: “I will come like a thief in the night.” This refers to evil forces embodied in the likes of, in my opinion, Nazism or Islamism, who knowingly ignore the warning signs regarding their behavior from the start.
Addicted to violent crackdowns, despots indeed ignore all public criticism. In 2022, during mass demonstrations centered on the slogan “Woman, Life, Freedom,” Khamenei chose violence over dialogue and retreat.
After Hamas’s October 7 massacre, moreover, Khamenei was in a state of delirium. Intoxicated by violence, he dreamed of the destruction of Israel. The ayatollah believed that it was within reach.
Jews and Iranians stood in the way of his victory. Israelis with an optimistic disposition chose the struggle, chose the possible.
What began on October 7 on the border with Gaza now ends in Tehran. Khamenei is dead. His son, his successor, has been seriously wounded. His commanders are dead; the people celebrated their deaths – the immeasurable joy of the death of evil.
The history of what is possible is full of surprises. “I will come like a thief in the night” is a terrifying warning to all pharaohs. It is also the day on which evil must be held accountable for crimes against humanity.
What is this humanity? It is a human, not an alien being, who bears within themselves the image of God, God’s likeness, and thus the good.
A crime against humanity is, therefore, at a higher level, a crime against the good that is inherent in being human.
For 47 years, the regime of the ayatollahs has committed and continues to commit crimes against humanity, against the good, against being human.
This war began at the request of the Iranian people. Just like the French or the Dutch during World War II, they have concluded that the evil regime can only be overthrown with even greater force.
Naturally, European citizens can now wonder what they can do about this situation. For weeks now, I have been saying what the government can do: the Dutch government must join forces with the three parties – the Iranian people, Israel, and the US to bring the conflict to a conclusion as quickly as possible in the interests of these parties.
But most European governments, the left-wing sections of parliaments and the media – even after an unprecedented massacre of civilians in Iran – are still discussing the legality of this war.
They are contributing to the persistence of this problem. Europeans should be angry with their own governments, not with the people who are fighting for their security and freedom.
The writer is a professor of jurisprudence (legal theory and legal philosophy) at the Faculty of Law, Leiden University.