Richard Goldberg
National Review, Nov. 30, 2023
“Iran’s response to America’s taking its foot off the sanctions pedal was escalation on all fronts.”
Hours before nearly 300,000 Americans gathered on the National Mall to show solidarity with Israel and condemn Hamas terrorism, the Biden administration sent a notification to Capitol Hill that upwards of $10 billion would be made available to Iran, the chief sponsor of that terrorism and the ultimate culprit behind the October 7 massacre.
Israel is surrounded by active terror threats funded and coordinated by Tehran — what the mullahs call their “ring of fire.”
Iran’s Hezbollah subsidiary, with its 150,000 rockets in Lebanon, fires a daily dose of anti-tank guided missiles, rockets, and drones. Iranian-backed terror cells in Judea and Samaria plot daily attacks, forcing Israeli military interdiction. The Houthis in Yemen, owned and operated by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, fire ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones toward Israel and the U.S. military — and most recently seized an Israeli-connected merchant vessel in the Red Sea. An Iranian-tied group in Syria even reportedly launched a drone attack that reached Israel’s southern tip in Eilat.
Meanwhile, Iran’s terror groups in Iraq and Syria wage daily warfare against U.S. forces in both countries, injuring dozens of American troops. A recent attack left a contractor dead.