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3. A Top Priority: Ending the War Games

This is referred to as "playing with fire." Or, in more academic terms, an act of unfathomable recklessness—one marked by reprehensible indifference and a cynical disregard for third-party populations, who are manipulated and sacrificed to serve entirely foreign interests.

Imam Khamenei might want to review the significant reference work by Sheikh Naim Qassem on Hezbollah, in which he offers a truly remarkable and detailed explanation of the foundations of the wilayat al-faqih regime (established by Khomeini). This regime led the "Party of God" (and, by extension, other Iranian proxies) to pledge unconditional allegiance—on religious grounds—to the Supreme Leader (the wali al-faqih) in all strategic matters, including decisions related to war and peace.

It is an insult to human intelligence to have been led to believe that 75 years after the outbreak of the Israeli-Arab conflict, the Houthis of Yemen—a marginalized and impoverished people—suddenly found the resolve to fight against Israel and the Western world of their own accord. They are said to have suddenly gained significant financial, technological, and logistical resources, enabling them to acquire ballistic missiles and threaten commercial traffic in the Red Sea! Who exactly are they trying to deceive?

This kind of surreal cynicism, reaching the height of deception, once again played out over the past weekend on the Lebanese scene. In true form as followers of their Iranian ideological mentors, Hezbollah’s leaders tried to make us believe they had no involvement in the rocket fire launched at northern Israel, just hours (pure coincidence, of course…) after remarks made by Prime Minister Nawaf Salam in an interview with the al-Arabiya satellite channel. Salam had stated that the "army-people-resistance" tripartite formula (oh, so cherished by Hezbollah) was now outdated and that the decision of war and peace rested solely in the hands of the Lebanese state, which must hold the exclusive right to legitimate violence.

Just like Imam Khamenei, who hides behind the laughable pretense of the "independence" of the "resistance" groups—an illusion that, incidentally, reveals weakness and anxiety in response to President Donald Trump’s firm stance—Hezbollah regularly hides behind "the people" or, more recently, the tribes of Hermel to avoid taking responsibility for its military actions. Similarly, last Saturday, it attempted to portray itself as innocent following the latest rocket fire against Israel. This tactic, however, fools no one, as the escalation over the past weekend provides yet another clear indication of the Iranian camp's blatant intent to escalate tensions further.

The mullah regime and its proxies have recently intensified their defiance, consistently disregarding the overwhelming military, technological, logistical, and political superiority they face. The weak, and ultimately unsuccessful, rocket fire on Saturday was followed by extensive Israeli airstrikes on several villages in southern Lebanon and the Beqaa. Likewise, the few missiles launched by the Houthis in recent days towards Israel and vessels in the Red Sea triggered large-scale airstrikes by the US military targeting dozens of positions and key sites in Yemen.

This dual military escalation—following the violent attempted coup in Syria—is accompanied by a political escalation, evident in the relentless and aggressive campaign against Foreign Minister Joe Raggi. He is being criticized—with cynical absurdity—for taking a firm sovereigntist stance. Yet, his position merely echoes the content of the ministerial declaration, the president’s inaugural address, and the prime minister’s recent interview. However, targeting the foreign minister is far easier than challenging the president or prime minister directly.

Given the current regional and international power dynamics, it is undoubtedly time for the mullahs in Tehran and their Iranian proxies to stop their war games. Their hollow ideological rhetoric and futile, self-destructive actions will never allow them to bridge the massive technological, military, and economic divide that sets them apart from the rest of the world…