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It is early days, but there is now real hope for the people of Iran.

After nearly 50 years of diabolical Islamist terror and tyranny, it seems we are now witnessing the liberation of the Iranian people. What previous US leaders could not – would not – do, President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu have achieved: they have taken out the evil dictator, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, along with a number of top leaders. Netanyahu said 40 of them were eradicated.

Trump offered this optimistic assessment about what might follow this combined assault on the Iranian leadership:

Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead… We are hearing that many of their IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps], Military, and other Security and Police Forces, no longer want to fight, and are looking for Immunity from us… Hopefully, the IRGC and Police will peacefully merge with the Iranian Patriots, and work together as a unit to bring back the Country to the Greatness it deserves.

Of course, we have to wait and see how things will pan out. But what was done in the first 24 hours of “Operation Epic Fury” was another first-class job of precision targeting of evil rulers and murderers, something the Trump administration has been doing a great job of.

Iranians Celebrate

Trump told the Iranian people to take matters into their own hands and let a new future for the nation of 90 million people unfold. And images are already coming out of Tehran of people dancing in the streets, and of Iranians tearing down statues of Ayatollah Khamenei. It seems that the Iranians are already starting to take back their country.

Who might be the new leader of the nation is unclear. Will it be the son of the former Shah of Iran who has been living in the US since 1979? Or will someone from the old guard emerge to take the country in a new direction? Regime change always has its risks, and we will need to see what takes place in the days and weeks ahead.

The important point is this: the hated dictator of Iran now seems to be history. Yes, the days ahead may not be smooth, but hopefully a much brighter future awaits the long-suffering Iranian people. At the very least, we need to pray for them and their future.

Moving from tyranny to freedom is seldom smooth and easy. But after this horrible reign of terror, there is now hope of some fresh air and a new beginning. So conservatives, for the most part, are now rejoicing, while the progressive left is spitting chips and shedding crocodile tears.

Some isolationist conservatives have said Trump has sold them out. But Trump was never an isolationist, if that means not giving a rip about what is happening around the world and how it impacts the United States. He has already cut eight peace deals involving international conflicts.

And with the thugs ruling Iran, he spent plenty of time trying to negotiate, insisting that nuclear weapons for Iran were a no-go zone. Jaw-jaw is always better than war-war, as the saying goes. But when it became clear that the Iranian leadership had no intention of negotiating in good faith, then Trump took action. The Iranian people are so glad he did.

Global Reactions and the Road Forward

President Trump said this in part on Truth Social:

Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead. This is not only Justice for the people of Iran, but for all Great Americans, and those people from many Countries throughout the World, that have been killed or mutilated by Khamenei and his gang of bloodthirsty THUGS. He was unable to avoid our Intelligence and Highly Sophisticated Tracking Systems and, working closely with Israel, there was not a thing he, or the other leaders that have been killed along with him, could do. This is the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country.

Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi said:

The assistance that the President of the United States had promised to the brave people of Iran has now arrived. This is a humanitarian intervention, and its target is the Islamic Republic, its apparatus of repression, and its machinery of killing—not the country and great nation of Iran. However, despite the arrival of this assistance, the final victory will still be achieved by us. It is we, the people of Iran, who will finish this task in this final battle. The time to return to the streets is approaching…

The US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, said this on X: “This has been our day. All day—sirens & we do the ‘shelter shuffle’. But there is something worse than dodging Iranian missiles & that is having Iran scream “Death to America” for 47 years. Donald Trump is saying ‘Enough!’ I’m proud of our POTUS!”

War Secretary Pete Hegseth said the US military operation, ordered by President Donald Trump, was the “most lethal, most complex, and most-precision aerial operation in history.” And he also said this: “For almost fifty years, Iran has targeted and killed Americans, always seeking the world’s most powerful weapons to further their radical cause. Last night, unlike any previous president, President Trump began dealing with this cancer.”

Democrat Senator John Fetterman, resisting the fury of his own party, said this: “Operation Epic Fury. President Trump has been willing to do what’s right and necessary to produce real peace in the region. God bless the United States, our great military, and Israel.”

Ben Shapiro tweeted this: “President Trump is the most courageous commander in chief in modern American history…What he just did is the bravest move by a President of the United States of my lifetime.”

Eric Metaxas made this statement: “It took us 47 years. But we did it. I remember when the Islamist regime took our people as hostages. They’ve destroyed the lives of the good people of Iran for 47 years. Today, their evil leader is dead. I thank God for President Trump. GOD BLESS AMERICA.”

Franklin Graham said: “Thank you, President Trump, for giving the Iranian people a chance to be free. Pray for him and for all those in our military who are risking their lives to protect America and bring freedom to the Iranian people. This regime has been killing Americans for years, and we haven’t had a president who had the guts to take them on. Thank you, Mr President, for standing up to bring this evil empire to an end.”

Tennessee congressman Tim Burchett reminded us of life under this monstrous tyrant: “They hung kids for tweets. They cut women’s eyes out for wearing makeup. They threw gay folks off of buildings. They murdered Americans. Who will grieve for this dirtbag?”

James Woods put it this way: “Trump, Rubio, Hegseth. Whoever could have imagined the United States, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Israel could have joined together to end the worst terrorist regime of the modern era? A stunning diplomatic, military, humanitarian achievement. All we needed was a new President.”

Commentator James Morrow quipped: “Condolences to Ilhan Omar, Zohran Mamdani, and the editorial board of the New York Times.”

Tommy Robinson rightly remarked: “It’s a good day for freedom. It’s a good day for the Iranian people. God bless the USA.”

I have to agree with Brigitte Gabriel on this: “President Trump deserves a Nobel Peace Prize for this!”

Dr Maalouf, a Lebanese American scholar and commentator, put it this way: “Iranian women are celebrating. Not a single hijab in sight. This is the main difference between Iran and Syria, Iraq or Afghanistan. Unlike those countries, where the population is extremist, it’s the complete opposite in Iran. The Islamic regime never represented them.”

Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott remarked: “If, as seems likely, the Ayatollahs’ Islamist regime is at an end, Bibi Netanyahu and Donald Trump have done the world a great favour. May this be a new beginning for the long-suffering people of Iran – and for a world that has lived under the threat of apocalyptic Islamism.”

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said this: “We know the Iranian regime has been a destabilising force through its ballistic nuclear programs, support for armed proxies and brutal acts of violence and intimidation. … No one would mourn the passing of Ayatollah Khamenei.”

Australian columnist and commentator Rita Panahi, whose family is Iranian, said this: “After 47 years of Islamist tyranny, Iran is on the verge of being free. MIGA!” And again: “Thank you, President Trump. Iranian women are celebrating the dictator’s death. If you’re against this, you’re cooked. There’s no hope for you.”

Lyle Shelton of Family First said: “The man who funded the Islamic terrorists who raped, murdered & kidnapped innocent people on October 7, inspiring two years of ‘pro-Palestinian’ protests in Australia from the Opera House to the Bridge to Bondi to Town Hall, is dead. Let’s hope and pray radical Islam, which inspires too many people living in Australia, dies with him.”

Many others could be quoted here. It is a good day indeed, but what comes next is crucial. As already mentioned, the one thing we can now all do is keep this situation in our prayers, keep the Iranian people in our prayers, and pray that a new and better future for Iran in particular and the Middle East in general becomes reality.

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Republished with thanks to CultureWatch. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.