“Cyrus freed the Jews, and today the Jewish state might free the Persians,” said Prime Minister Netanyahu this week, adding, “Not in the sense that we’re doing it for them… In the end, they have to rise up themselves, but we are creating the conditions. And that’s why it could be consequential.”
According to Netanyahu, 80 percent of Iranians “hate” the ruling regime. He described Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as a “modern Hitler” – and he is right.
Khamenei is an oppressor of his own people, and a genocidal antisemite who wants to wipe Israel off the face of the earth. Negotiating with Hitler didn’t work, and neither will it with Khamenei – at least not in the long term.
For the past ten years, since our founding in Britain, CUFI UK has been sounding the alarm about the threat from the Iranian regime. Through our ‘Operation Mordecai’ campaign, we have persistently warned the UK government of Iran’s threat not only to the State of Israel, but to the entire Western world. There have been numerous successful outcomes to CUFI’s campaign efforts – including the UK’s 2019 decision to ban Hezbollah in its entirety. That group, an Iranian proxy, was masterfully crushed by Israel last year, paving the way for current military action.
But we have now reached a critical juncture. How Britain should support Israel in its fight against Iranian terror is open for discussion – but whether Britain should support Israel against Iran must be non-negotiable.
In the past two years alone, Israel has been invaded by Hamas, attacked by Hezbollah from Lebanon, assaulted by the Houthis from Yemen, and directly targeted by the Iranian regime – even before Israel fired a single weapon in defence. Earlier this month, the IAEA announced for the first time in 20 years that Iran had breached nuclear protocols. It is understood that Iran may be within weeks of developing several nuclear weapons.
As recently as March this year, Khamenei published an infographic outlining his vision for destroying Israel. Iran’s threats are not rhetorical – they must be taken with absolute seriousness.
Iranian leaders have repeatedly called for the annihilation of Israel and the so-called “liberation of Jerusalem.” When Iran develops its missiles, it proudly inscribes them with “Death to Israel” and unveils them publicly.
Iran’s obsession with destroying Israel dates back to 1979, after the Islamic Revolution empowered radical fundamentalists determined to dominate the Middle East. And what starts in Iran rarely stays in Iran. Iran’s hatred of Israel and America has formed the bedrock of its foreign policy ever since. This includes a deep hostility toward the United Kingdom, often expressed in chants and flag burnings during pro-regime demonstrations over the years.
In 2005, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, then president of Iran, closed a speech at the United Nations with a call for the “mighty Lord” to “hasten the emergence” of the Imam Mahdi – a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. In Shia Islam, the Mahdi is the “redeemer” who will return from occultation to unify and empower Muslims. It is upon this ideology that Iran’s rulers dramatically reshaped the nation’s religious and political identity.
One way the UK can support Israel: ban the IRGC
The UK government should immediately ban the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). It is shameful that this has not already happened. The IRGC poses a serious threat to UK citizens – particularly British Jews, UK nationals with ties to Israel, and wider UK interests across the Middle East and Gulf.
The IRGC provides weapons, funding, and training to terrorist groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Houthis. Its Quds Force actively exports Iran’s revolutionary ideology and is openly committed to Israel’s destruction, referring to the Jewish state as a “cancerous tumour” that must be “eradicated.”
We must not allow the Iranian regime and its supporters to dictate British foreign policy. We must not let Israel stand alone.
