Iran’s post-strike escalation confirms just how potentially destructive the regime’s intended next phase of war would have been had it not been preempted by the United States and Israel.
The U.S.-Israeli joint military operation against Iran is a classic lawful exercise of the inherent right of self-defense.
As Federal Judge George B. Daniels found in his 2011 ruling in the Havlish case, Iran had been waging war against the United States for more than 30 years (now almost 47 years). He held Iran responsible for the terrorist attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, which led to the deaths of 2,977 people. The aggression has been continued by the Iranian regime directly or through proxies to date, as detailed here.
Tangible preparations for the current phase of Iran’s war of aggression included naval deployments by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps in the Strait of Hormuz; production and deployment of enhanced offensive ballistic missiles and attack drones; hardening of nuclear facilities (such as Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan); activating its proxy Hezbollah; joint exercises with Russia; and swarm attack rehearsals. Moreover, there was the Iranian regime’s illegal offensive nuclear-weapons program (that violates the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty), including at Isfahan and other secret sites, which was at the acute stage of imminent breakout.
These tangible preparations demonstrated capability and readiness for a new phase of war escalation, consistent with its aggressive intentions broadcast to the United States.
