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Source: https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-819236
The West Needs to Choose the Defeat of Evil in the Middle East
(Jerusalem Post) Ivan Lewis - The removal of the threat posed by the Iranian regime has to become a strategic priority, as it poses an existential threat not only to Israel and the Gulf states but the wider world. The clock is ticking if we are to prevent a non-conventional world war that has the potential to wreak destruction on much of the civilized world. If the U.S. and NATO fail to take the necessary steps and the Iranian regime continues with its nuclear program, Israel will take whatever action is necessary to protect its own security. It will do so with the overt support of Arab allies and the covert support of other Arab countries that know a nuclear Iran will seek not only to destroy Israel but also take over the Arab world in order to impose its theological dogma. A better way forward would be for the West to give the Iranians a final ultimatum on ending its nuclear program and sponsorship of global terrorism, backed up by a timeline to the toughest of sanctions. The 80% of the Iranian people who despise the regime need to know the West will no longer go "soft" on the regime and that when the time comes they will have our support to build a new Iran. It is the Iranian regime that has the power to end both the war in Gaza and prevent a full-scale military conflict in Lebanon. They choose not to do so. It is perverse that the International Criminal Court is considering issuing arrest warrants for Israel's leaders. It is the leaders of Iran who should be facing such sanctions. The writer served as the UK minister for the Middle East, 2009-2010, and as an MP, 1997 to 2019.