When reading the news and listening to debates about the war with Iran, it is nearly impossible to understand what this conflict is truly about.
If you ask most of its supporters, this is a campaign to halt the Islamic Republic’s march toward a nuclear weapon and end its violent repression of a population that overwhelmingly rejects its extremist ideology. Through the lens of its critics, it is a war of choice over oil and power, one that the United States was dragged into by Israel. And, in certain circles, it is framed as an effort to punish Iran for its support of the Palestinian cause.
Yet zoom out, and a very different picture comes into focus. At its core, this is not a geopolitical conflict launched by the U.S. or Israel just over three weeks ago. Rather, it is the continuation of a holy war to export Islamist ideals, weaken the West, and eliminate Israel—a war that has been waged by the Islamic Republic and its proxies for decades.
