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Revenge Is a Central Pillar of Iranian Foreign Policy
(Wall Street Journal) Reuel Marc Gerecht and Ray Takeyh - In Middle Eastern societies, seeking revenge is an acceptable way for men to cope with grief and wounded pride from the violent loss of loved ones. Since 1979 this approach has also been an important part of Iran's foreign policy. The export of the revolution, the assassination of antiregime expatriates, and terrorism against foreign enemies are means to get even for the injuries, real or imagined, the West has inflicted on Iran and Islam. The search for a diplomatic solution to the Iran war is unlikely to succeed because such a denouement wouldn't satisfy a vengeance-seeking Iranian elite. Mohammad Zolghadr, an adviser to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and a former senior commander in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, recently warned: "Our fighters will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until the criminal Trump and the bloodthirsty Netanyahu are brought down from power, and this is the first stage of the Iranian people's revenge." The two American-Israeli wars have killed many in Iran's leadership, including Mr. Khamenei's father and predecessor as supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, along with the younger Mr. Khamenei's wife and one of his children. For years, internal Iranian propaganda depicted an Islamic Republic too strong and too well-armed for its foes to attack. Even with the regime's wartime endurance, the loss of face remains. Israel's continuing threat to target Iranian VIPs may be the only credible deterrence left against reinvigorated Iranian terrorism. Mr. Gerecht is a resident scholar at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Mr. Takeyh is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.