Hamas and Iran Have Declared War on the West

When it comes to characterizing the Middle East, we often refer to analyzing what happens there as much like looking through a kaleidoscope . Nothing is what it appears to be on a surface level. One twist, however slight, and the mirrors reveal added dimensions and complexities that pose new diplomatic challenges and threats to U.S. security interests.

The Mideast rarely affords clarity. It is now, though, unambiguously.

Hamas and its sponsor, Iran, effectively declared war against the West on Oct. 7, when Hamas unleashed its terrorist attack against Israel. As President Joe Biden arrives in Israel today, the kaleidoscope seems frozen in place, with Iran’s malevolent reflection staring back at Washington and Jerusalem.

Though it has denied involvement in the attack, there is no question that Iran is at the root of Hamas’s evil, and is responsible for fomenting wider Middle East instability; it supports Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime , Shia militias in Iraq, and Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Diplomacy alone will not stop Iran’s war against the West. “Never again” — a refrain Israelis use in reference to the Holocaust and the 1973 Yom Kippur War — happened again because Iran continues to fund, provide weapons and train Hamas militants. It will keep happening until Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his regime are no longer in power. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli people understand that, but will Biden and his advisers?

Washington must stop mirror-imaging its desired negotiated end state on Tehran, as if it were somehow a shared goal. It is not.

Khamenei is not seeking substantive accommodation with the U.S. in the Mideast. Instead, Iran is waging a war for domination and viewed the White House’s normalization talks between Israel and Saudi Arabia as a direct threat to Tehran’s would-be regional hegemony.

Iran’s Islamic extremism is diametrically opposed to the U.S. and Israeli shared vision of Mideast peace. In pursuing his war against the West, Khamenei is aligning Iran with Russia and China — a shift that is rapidly accelerating through military a nd economic partnering opportunities presented by Russia’s faltering war against Ukraine.

Iran is dangerously nearing the production of enough highly enriched uranium to assemble a nuclear bomb. In March, U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Michael Kurilla testified to Congress that Iran’s breakout is less than two weeks.

Mohammed Deif, Hamas’s military commander, demonstrated the evil that is to come if Washington ignores Iran’s designs. Hamas’s war crimes committed in Kfar Aza , Sderot , and the music festival massacre are evidence enough. So, too, is the “ top secret ” Hamas document obtained by NBC News, detailing “plans to target elementary schools and a youth center in the Israeli kibbutz of Kfar Sa’ad.”

Hamas’s willingness to use Palestinians as human shields also demonstrates the lengths Deif and Khamenei are prepared to go in waging their war. On Tuesday, when the Arab Baptist Hospital in Gaza City was hit by explosions, Hamas blamed Israel, claiming more than 500 people were killed and wounded; Israel denied its forces were behind the strike, blaming a misfired Hamas rocket. About 3,000 people have died in Gaza so far, officials have said .

Israeli casualties also continue to mount. More than 1,400 Israelis are dead, and more than 200 hostages remain captives of Hamas, or may be dead — perhaps as many as 13 are American. And 30 U.S. citizens were murdered by Hamas and Deif’s affiliated terrorist groups.

Biden must give Israel the green light to do what it takes to deter or eliminate the threat posed by Iran and its terrorist allies. Otherwise, Israel could endure a “rinse and repeat” — potentially an attack involving a nuclear or bio weapon. In the Israel Defense Forces’ war against Hamas, the mission is to eradicate Hamas. This is no time for more paralysis because of fear of escalation, as Biden demonstrated with security assistance for Ukraine. Iran must get the message, and a show of force must have follow-through.

Analysts often cast Pearl Harbor and 9/11 as intelligence failures — they were, in part. But they also were a failure by America’s political leaders to accept that Japan and Osama bin Laden, respectively, were intent on waging war against the United States.

Hamas’s multi-domain attack — cyber, air, sea, and land — was reportedly years in the making and, according to the Wall Street Journal, “Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had worked with Hamas since August” and gave the go-ahead for Hamas’s attack during “a meeting in Beirut” on Oct. 2.

Dealing with Tehran is no longer merely Israel’s fight; it is also America’s fight. Though the Biden administration has said “we don’t currently have that information” to directly link Iran to Hamas’s attack, common sense would dictate otherwise.

It is time Washington takes Khamenei at his word. The Iranian mullahs for decades have called the United States “The Great Satan,” including after protests erupted in September 2022 following the death of Mahsa Amini while held by Iran’s “morality police” for allegedly violating the Islamic regime’s strict dress code for women.

Hamas is Israel’s immediate close fight — and likely also Hezbollah in Lebanon— but Iran is Israel’s strategic deep fight, and Tehran’s nuclear weapons facilities are the greatest threat. Though some media outlets have said Biden’s trip to Israel comes amid fears the conflict will widen, in reality the war already has spread given Iran’s unofficial involvement.

The U.S. could take immediate steps, such as placing sanctions on Iranian oil, its funding mechanism for proxy armies. Ordering U.S. troops to prepare for potential deployment , and giving Israel weapons and munitions it needs to go after Iran’s nuclear facilities, at a time of its choosing, might be another. The stated objective, above all, should be to “weaken Iran.”

Iran and Hamas brought their war to the West. In return, Biden must now demonstrate unwavering resolve to see that Khamenei’s and Deif’s aims are defeated by Israel.

Mark Toth (@MCTothSTL ) writes on national security and foreign policy. Previously an economist and entrepreneur, he has worked in banking, insurance, publishing and global commerce. A former board member of the World Trade Center, St. Louis, he has lived in U.S. diplomatic and military communities around the world.

Col. (Ret.) Jonathan Sweet (@JESweet2022 ) served 30 years as a military intelligence officer. His background includes tours of duty with the 101st Airborne Division and the Intelligence and Security Command. He led the U.S. European Command Intelligence Engagement Division from 2012-14.