The Day I Agreed With Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman

“Instead of making accusations against Iran, [Western] countries should blame themselves and answer to public opinion for the measures they have taken against the… war crimes committed by Israel,” repeating a cabal against Israel for how it is conducting the war against the Islamic regime’s Gazan proxy Hamas. He claimed that Western nations should “appreciate Iran’s restraint” towards Israel after its act of war, firing more than 300 cruise and ballistic missiles and suicide drones against Israel, adding that Western countries “should appreciate Iran’s restraint in recent months.”

To be clear, Kanini is a fool, a liar, a propagandist, and a terrorist puppet, only in his position for supporting (or as a full card-carrying member) the Islamic regime, and a pawn to its mullahs. So why do I agree with his four words, “[Western] countries should blame themselves?”

What the world saw this week from the Islamic regime is an emboldened Iran, one still making billions from global trade that had once been shut down and is now thriving. Despite reports of Iran’s rial hitting record lows and the stock market crashing, Western countries have propped up the Iranian economy because of their own selfish and naïve interests, and have continued to release billions of dollars to fund the regime, as the Biden Administration did again in November, following a similar release of billions in what Iranians called the #IranHostageDeal.

Rather than funding the Islamic regime, the Biden administration should be shutting down every means for them to do business, anywhere. Yes, countries like Russia, China, Turkey, and North Korea will bend over backward to prop up the regime because they have no moral base. But that doesn’t mean that the US cannot and should not lead the world against Iran, rather than bow down to the ayatollahs. It certainly means that the Biden Administration should not be sending billions of dollars to fund the regime, for any reason, under any circumstance. None.

Other Western countries seem to trip over one another trying to get their piece of the pie, pumping huge amounts of Euros into the Iranian economy, just so they can make a buck. It’s immoral, albeit not totally surprising, especially coming from Europe. Indeed, western countries should blame themselves for the rise in Islamic terror coming from Iran as the head of the octopus, and through its tentacle proxies in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Gaza, Turkey, and elsewhere. If they had focused on squeezing the Islamic regime rather than emboldening and enabling (funding) it, we would see many fewer threats to the Middle East, to global shipping, and to the rest of the world.

It's hard to imagine why economic interests would drive such an immoral position, as well as one that’s ultimately self-defeating.  Is it possible that even with all of the Iranian regime’s meddling that world leaders don’t see the threat as real? Has the Islamic regime successfully planted enough people in high positions that Western policies are shaped by its moles? Do they not believe that chanting “Death to America” (the Great Satan) is not something they would execute in the wake of the attacks that they and their proxies have carried out on Israel (the Little Satan)?

Western nations are not the only ones to blame, but we should hold the West to a higher standard. They are not banana republics and should have a moral backbone with policies that support that, especially considering the direct and immediate threat in and emanating from Iran. As “the” world body, the UN is also to blame. By passing more anti-Israel resolutions in any given year than against ALL the terrorist states of the world, together, the UN long ago lost its moral rudder. It is governed by much of the dreck of the world from whom we have low to no expectations.

However, one would not be crazy to think that perhaps the UN would seek to enforce resolutions that it passes if only to actually try to preserve a bit of world peace in little ways if not its own integrity. There are countless examples where the UN is a failure, but as it relates to Iran and its proxies, all one has to do is look at UN resolution 1701 from 2006, an agreement that was part of ending what’s known as the Second Lebanon War.

When passed, Resolution 1701 was meant to prevent Hezbollah from re-arming and being a threat to Israel. Hezbollah was prevented from being present south of the Litani River.  However, as quickly as the ink dried, Hezbollah made a mockery of it. The UN and world powers allowed that to happen. Despite nearly two decades of Israel attacking Hezbollah-Syrian-Iranian targets and supply routes in what it called the “war between the wars,” Israel is now on the verge of the second bookend of the “wars.” The blame is on the Western world which allowed this to happen, and the UN which never fails to make a mockery of itself.  

Far from not being a threat to Israel, or preventing it from re-arming Hezbollah is estimated to have between 150,000-350,000 rockets and long-range, precision, GPS-guided missiles that can hit most of Israel, regardless of how far north of the Litani River they are located. How brazen for the Western countries to call upon Israel to show restraint, when all the arming of the Islamic regime’s proxies, and Iran building its nuclear facilities as well, has been right under their noses.  They make it seem like just because Israel has been forced to develop state-of-the-art defensive systems, it's OK for these Islamic terrorist states and entities to threaten Israel to begin with. It is not.

As the leader of the free world, the US has a special responsibility. In the case of Iran and fighting Islamic terror, it also has special culpability. Now, deep into an election season, the Biden Administration finds itself worried about losing Michigan and Minnesota, outposts of the Hamas wing of the Democratic party, a more centrist voice from Robert Kennedy especially relating to Israel, even rumbling among American Jews who typically vote for the Democratic party, some of whom are saying that their votes cannot be taken for granted because of Biden’s wavering on Israel and pandering to the terrorists in his party.  

The outcome of a war in, or with, Iran and its proxies will also logically increase the price of gas, another political hot potato around which the Biden administration has had to deal with for most of its term. A spike in gas prices this summer would be bad for votes, so it's not impossible that the administration is doing everything possible to hold Israel back from a proper and needed response to Iran, at the risk of losing even more votes. But the price of gas is insignificant to the actual cost of the Western countries' guilt in propping up the Islamic regime.

All this politicking and immoral behavior has a cost too. The question is whether the West wants to be guilty of enabling it to be held hostage by the Islamic regime forever, or ought to stand up and shut it down once and for all.

Photo credit: ©GettyImages/Oleksii Liskonih

The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of CrosswalkHeadlines.

 Jonathan Feldstein was born and educated in the U.S. and immigrated to Israel in 2004. He is married and the father of six. Throughout his life and career, he has been blessed by the calling to fellowship with Christian supporters of Israel and shares experiences of living as an Orthodox Jew in Israel. He writes regularly for a variety of prominent Christian and conservative websites and is the host of Inspiration from Zion, a popular webinar series and podcast. He can be reached at firstpersonisrael@gmail.com.