The current US and Israeli operations against Iran are just as they are a response to Iran’s 47-year aggression and support of global terrorist violence, Francis X. Maier writes.
The Iranian regime’s hatred and aggression towards the West is driven by an intense and systemic zealotry. “One doesn’t ‘make a deal’, a deal that’s sincere and lasting, with psychotics,” he says.
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History’s Pro Tips on Iran
By Francis X. Maier, as published by First Things on 24 March 2026
Nothing in human experience compares to the wars of the last 120 years. Their scope has grown as the world has shrunk. The international laws governing conduct in war have too often failed. Technology advances, and along with it war’s lethality and devastation. So, war is bad. No one wants another war. Or rather, almost no one. More on that shortly. In the meantime, the question before us is whether the current US and Israeli operations against Iran qualify as just. It’s a debatable matter. I believe they are. I understand the opposite view. But I also find it unpersuasive. Here’s why.
The United States and Israel didn’t start the current conflict. It’s merely the latest phase in a war that began in earnest forty-seven years ago; a methodical war of aggression pursued by Iran to erase Israel as a nation and defeat the United States as the world’s “Great Satan.” The Tehran regime now supports a global network of terrorist violence. In the process, since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the same regime has murdered or sponsored the murder of scores of thousands of people, including many of its own citizens, the vast majority innocent of any wrongdoing.
It would be easy but inadequate to excuse today’s Iranian policies as vengeance for the 1953 Mossadegh Affair. In that year, at the height of the Cold War, Britain’s MI6 and the American CIA overthrew Iran’s democratically elected prime minister, Mohammed Mossadegh. In his place, they secured the pro-Western Reza Shah Pahlavi in power. For Britain, the goal was maintaining its control over Iranian oil. For the United States, the coup sought to prevent any Iranian drift toward the Soviet Union and any internal threat from Iran’s Tudeh (communist) Party. In the end, Mossadegh was imprisoned for three years and then held under house arrest for the remainder of his life. Several hundred pro- and anti-Mossadegh rioters died in the ensuing street violence.
So much for the past. The hatred animating today’s Islamic regime is far more intense, systematic and expansive than mere revenge for an event more than seventy years ago. Mossadegh died in 1967. The 1979 revolution sidelined and repressed Mossadegh’s secular, nationalist allies and his memory is treated with deep ambivalence. In practice, Tehran reviles anything non-Muslim. Its “tolerance” for internal, legally recognised minorities, including Catholics and other Christians, is little more than theatre. It amounts to a kind of slow strangulation with distrust and oppressive constraints. The regime especially loathes what it sees as a godless West with its arrogance, licentious comforts and obscene wealth. It has the same brutal zealotry, the same puritanical extremism, the same easy use of deceit, as the homicidal ideologies that preceded it in the last century.
Tehran has repeatedly lied in negotiations about its nuclear programme. It continues to pursue nuclear weapons. This, despite years of pleading and pressure from the international community. It ignores both sanctions and financial enticements. It has built an immense missile and drone capability, putting Europe and eventually the United States within range. It uses cluster weapons – banned by international law – against civilian populations. And if current military efforts against Iran prove anything, it’s the impressive scope and depth of the regime’s war preparations, the dispersal and hardening of key infrastructure and the survival of many leadership cadres despite massive damage. A reasonable peace assuring mutual security has never been, and is not even now, on Tehran’s agenda. One doesn’t “make a deal,” a deal that’s sincere and lasting, with psychotics. Religious and political fanatics don’t stop. They won’t, because they can’t. Thus, the best one can hope for when dealing with mentally diseased zealots is preventing them from hurting others.
So, do the current combat operations qualify as morally legitimate means to that end? Again, the matter is debatable. The answer is complicated by at least two factors. First, US and Israeli motives and goals finally diverge. For Israel, the Tehran regime is a proximate, enduring, existential threat that ultimately needs to be eliminated. For the United States, regime change would be a happy byproduct. But that’s not the purpose of the current operations. The goal is the destruction or heavy degradation of Iran’s nuclear weapon efforts, missile production capacity and ability to sustain the violence of its proxies and terror networks.
The second factor is the nature of Donald Trump and his critics. Trump is a decisive, eccentric, unnerving leader prone to ugly narcissistic overstatement; a disruptor for both good and ill. Half the time, he should just stay silent. But that doesn’t automatically invalidate his actions. He has a morally grounded, highly competent secretary of state in Marco Rubio, an experienced, respected former senator who makes a strong case for the need and the legality of the ongoing Iran effort based on both the 1973 War Powers Resolution and the Constitution.
As for Trump’s critics: However credible their worries about the Iran operation may be – and there’s plenty to worry about – too many of them lost the moral high ground years ago. For the past decade, starting the night Trump was elected in 2016, his enemies inside and beyond the Democratic Party, including much of the mainstream corporate media, have worked to both undermine his presidency and destroy him personally with impeachment, civil litigation, (dubious) criminal indictments and convictions, hysteria about “fascism,” lies like Russiagate, lockstep congressional obstruction and rumours. And it continues today; this, after four years of Democratic presidencies overseeing a disastrous border collapse and twelve years of failure to constrain Iran – as the current conflict amply proves.
Christian faith obligates us to rule our actions with justice and prudence. It does not mandate inaction, stupidity or naivete in defending ourselves and others. One of the iconic moments from the last century is burned into the brain of anyone alert to the lessons of history. It’s the 1938 newsreel clip of Britain’s prime minister, Neville Chamberlain, waving a piece of paper as the guarantee of “peace for our time.” His miraculous document is a copy of the Munich Agreement with the Third Reich.
We know how that story ends. We might profitably remember it today.
About the Author
Francis X. Maier is a senior fellow in Catholic studies at the Ethics and Public Policy Centre. He is the author of ‘True Confessions: Voices of Faith from a Life in the Church’.
Featured image: Protesters in support of Iran and Palestinians in Gaza hold flags and placards during a demonstration against the actions of Israel and the United States in Sydney on 22 June 2025. Source: Hindustan Times
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Categories: Breaking News, World News
Americans don’t want a war with this country, but they should think about revising their Koran for the Persians of that country, and for Israel.
OK Francis stop lying. You are boring but what can we aspect from a catholic.
No one knows you better than the Magi priesthood. You know those whom you burned alive by the thousands in Central Europe. Yes we are still here.
The underlying philosophy that justified Catholics killing and torturing people is still the same, it has not changed. The ONLY reason they are not doing it as much right now is they don’t have the power.
Nice try, Francis. War is evil. Self-defense is a virtue, but when self-defense is twisted to mean anything the aggressor chooses, this is evil dressed in the cloak of virtue. This war, and most are twisted stories that benefit only rich bankers. The Chamberlain example is flawed because Hitler was funded by the big banks and Churchill was as game for war as was Hitler. Not buying it Francis.
This war is most certainly justified. When an enemy threatens over and over to destroy you, you would do well to pay attention and eliminate the threat. Only an idiot ignore the warnings.
The west is led by a bunch of religiously fanatics, liars, hypocrites, thieves, paedophiles, torturers, sadists, rapists, mass murderers, war criminals…, but the problem are other countries led by “bad actors” ???
And, by the way, all these “bad actors” happen to have resources that the west wants to steal.
Other “bad actors” that have already been bribed or blackmailed into giving everything to western corporations are not that “bad” after all.
This article is complete BS.
Is this Francis Meier an evangelical zionist brainwashed by the Schofield bible?
The other side, the Muslims are not much better.
Note that they always preach “be subject to the powers that be” because they are “ordained of God”. But it is ONLY their own imperialist power that is “ordained of God”. All the rest of the powers of this world are evil and should be destroyed!
Sorry, but they can’t have it both ways. If the U.S. with its murder, mayhem and destruction is ordained of God, so is Iran. If Iran must be destroyed, so must the U.S. for the same reasons. If refusal to submit to the U.S. is rebellion against God, refusal to submit to Iran is also.
Christian Zionists are totally hypocritical.
Always good to read your comments.
As a Christian, what exactly is your belief in the Lord’s Personal Return in glory-pre-millenial, a-millennial, or post-millennial? Pre-tribulational or post-tribulational?
Before even considering these questions, Jesus is clear on one point – be on the alert, be ready. If they have to know when something is going to happen it shows they are not ready. More importantly though, the underlying attitude is one of avoiding suffering. This is the opposite of what we see in the scriptures.
America doesn’t want to wipe other nations off the map or “drive them into the sea.” Only the mad hatters of Islam think like that. Islam is a disease created to gain influence over others by Mohammed to do his mass murdering to gain power. A false prophet of a false god.
You described Islam perfectly. It’s exceedingly evil.
I always struggle to buy the ‘USA needs to attack a far less developed Middle Eastern country because that country is a threat to it’. Really?
And then why does USA continually attack Middle Eastern countries, rather than attack North Korea? The search engine tells me that “North Korea has significantly more nuclear weapons and developed technology than Iran”.
The middle eastern countries have oil though, dunno if that’s to do with it…
It is human and groups.
Human groups have been attacking and killing each other for “stuff” since Day 1.
so much BS. the US attacks oil rich countries because we are determined to exploit their resources. Religion is the least of it.
How many times does Iran have to chant ,”death to America” before people like yourself get it? Do you not hear them? They boldly proclaim they will use a nuclear bomb against America as soon as they get them. Damn, how thick are you?
Without the petrodollar America / Israel and their corrupt bankers aren’t relevant, that is why they continue to perpetuate evil endless wars.
Israel doesn’t start wars with their hateful Muslim neighbors. They just finish them.
I was glad he mentioned the CIA/MI6 coup to get Mossadegh out but then he just says “so much for the past”: that’s it, the past has been dealt with. Not important or relevant apparently.
The rest of his slightly frothing-at-the-mouth hate-chat goes on to make mostly pro-Israel/anti-Iran claims that are completely unfounded in any way whatsoever. Apparently actually bombing another country and assassinating its leaders or commanders is NOT an act of war, it’s the others who are the baddies, they support a terrorist violence network type thing that is all a bit too nebulous to describe in any detail but our completely-trustable intelligence agencies say it’s true so it must be.
Basically this war-loving Christian is justifying the attacks by his beloved-can-do-no-wrong Israel and USA by using the “we’ve got nukes, but you’re not allowed to have them” jiustification, commonly known as the playground-bully defence or the “they hate our way of life and freedon and christian values” defense, also known as the stupid defense, summed up with the common refrain “we bomb them, steal their stuff, ovethrow/murder their leaders, and yet they still hate us, what is wrong with these psychopaths ?”.
Ending the Pro-USSR backed Iranian ruler in 1953 was a worthy goal. I commend the CIA and MI6 actions to re-install the former, though very ill, Prime Minister in Operation Ajax.
The key motive was to protect British oil interests in Iran after Mosaddegh nationalized the country’s oil industry. Theft of British property did not sit well.
Ending the Islamic theocracy 47 years later, today, is also a worthy goal by the USA. The oppressed Iranian people danced in the streets.
Islam is a violent genocidal suicide cult pretending to be a religion. Only a needed reformation of Islam, removing the violent underpinnings against the so called INFIDELS of the world, will save it’s millions of adherents yearning for freedom and peace.
IRAN’S PLAN FOR AMERICA
https://x.com/1109Patricia/status/2035278064267964423?s=20
Indeed, the Iranian leadership is psychotic. They only agree to a deal to buy time to regroup. If President Trump fails to complete dissolving this murderous regime they will come back with renewed ferfor at the first opportunity. Nothing will stop them but a complete annihilation of the government.
The Messiah will return when Iran have turned Israel into Gaza.