Destruction and war will never solve Iran’s problems

The military action taken by the US against Qassem Soleimani — the most powerful terrorist in the Middle East and mastermind of the Iranian strategy of establishing a proxy network of militias in Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen to secure Iran’s sphere of influence in the region — was a major step toward tearing down the ideology of expansionism at the core of the mullahs’ regime in Tehran.

The killing of Soleimani was long overdue, and it was a dilemma faced by three US administrations as they observed a dangerous terrorist moving freely around the region and acting overtly against the US and other allies. One could argue over whether Soleimani should, in fact, be viewed as a leader of a foreign country: To many he was a terrorist committing atrocities all around the region while feeling invulnerable under the protection of Iran.

On Friday, President Donald Trump took decisive action and stood up against the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism by targeting a killer who was responsible for the murders of thousands of people in the Middle East and beyond, including Americans, since the establishment of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force in 1980. In the moment of his arrival to Baghdad, Soleimani was finalizing plans for imminent major attacks against US diplomatic premises in the Iraqi capital. In its statement announcing Soleimani’s killing, the US Department of Defense described its action as “defensive,” as it was preventing carnage and saving lives.

The action taken by the US government was truly a case of self-defense under international law and deserves international support — especially since no nation on Earth should accept Iran having an extraterritorial army of terrorists intervening in Bosnia, Argentina, Yemen, Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon. This is the right time for the community of nations to come together and put an end to the Iranian concept of the Islamic “Axis of Resistance,” which has created a network of terror from the Sunni Hamas and Daesh to Shiite Hezbollah, the Houthis and extremist militias in Iraq.

In Yemen, the Quds Force, under Soleimani’s leadership, orchestrated a coup d’état by the Houthis against the country’s legitimate government, enabling them to launch missiles that have resulted in the deaths of dozens of people in Yemen and around the region. In 2015, Soleimani himself was proud to say that a fourth Arab capital had fallen under Iran’s control. Prior to this event, Soleimani was instrumental in the creation of the Lebanese Hezbollah; financing, equipping and training a force that today conducts terrorist activities in Lebanon and against neighboring countries. In Yemen, Hezbollah is not hiding its military presence as it leads the Houthis’ operations against the Yemeni people.

This is the right time to put an end to the Iranian concept of the Islamic ‘Axis of Resistance’

Khaled Hussein Alyemany

Today, the Quds Force is providing missiles and other advanced weaponry — such as drones, speedboats and advanced explosives — as well as training terrorist organizations throughout the Middle East, including the Lebanese Hezbollah, Kata’ib Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hamas, the Taliban and the Houthis, who use these Iranian weapons to target and kill innocent people. In Yemen alone, hundreds of thousands of sophisticated Iranian-made landmines continue to kill and maim thousands of people, according to the UN.

The full list of destabilizing activities orchestrated by the Quds Force on behalf of the Iranian regime could fill countless pages, providing cause for legal indictment. Such an extraterritorial military force, specialized in unconventional warfare and military intelligence, which reports directly to the supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is a grave violation of international law. The Iranian concept of expansionism is based on instigating and enabling non-state actors to advance Tehran’s agenda in the region, proving that the Islamic Republic is a state sponsor of terrorism. Many countries, including the US, Canada, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, have designated the Quds Force as a terrorist organization.

The Quds Force’s latest malign activities went as far as attacking tankers in the Gulf of Oman, shooting down a US drone, and bombing Saudi oil facilities. Misled and assuming immunity, the Iranian regime figured it was able to establish a deterrent in the region. The recent attack on the US Embassy premises in Baghdad was the maximum expression of arrogance, especially through the public show of strength projected by Soleimani, who was seemingly immune to threats as he moved between Damascus, Beirut and Baghdad, projecting Iran’s power and bringing destruction with him wherever he landed.

The decision to put a stop to Iran’s malign activities is not a call for war, but instead a step toward bringing Iran to the negotiating table in order for the region’s nations to collectively agree on how to best live together in peace. Time and time again, the international community has clearly attempted to communicate to Tehran that it is time to have peaceful talks on how to move forward, and that its violent approach of destruction and war will never be the solution to Iran’s problems or bring stability to the region.

• Khaled Hussein Alyemany is a former foreign minister of Yemen.