The Iranian regime exploited Europe's desire for diplomatic rapprochement in the 1990s. It engaged in peace talks while simultaneously carrying out assassinations on European soil, viewing the dialogue not as a path to peace but as political cover that provided impunity for its crimes.

The ruling elite has inverted from 80% ideologues at the revolution's start to 80% charlatans today. Expedience and financial gain, not revolutionary zeal, now bind the regime's core. This ideological hollowness makes the regime more brittle than its rhetoric suggests.

Prominent Western left-wing intellectuals were initially supportive of Ayatollah Khomeini. They were drawn to his anti-imperialist rhetoric about "the disinherited of the earth," mistakenly projecting their own ideals onto him and predicting he would usher in a "humane" form of governance.

Harris argues that any credible critique of military action against Iran must begin by acknowledging the theocratic regime's fundamental evil and the suffering it inflicts. Critics who skip this step and frame it as an attack on a normal sovereign country are operating under a "delusional" moral framework.

With its credibility destroyed by bloodshed, the Iranian regime's only remaining leverage over some citizens is the fear of a chaotic power vacuum. The prospect of a full-blown civil war may convince some to tolerate the current oppression over the alternative of total state collapse.

Despite a long history of documented terrorism, Iran has successfully manipulated global opinion by consistently erasing its past crimes from public memory. This allows the regime to present itself as a blank slate or a victim, entering diplomatic negotiations from a position of perceived innocence.

Western assumptions of a liberal Iranian populace ready to overthrow the regime are flawed. While dissent is widespread, decades of repression have eliminated any organized political opposition. This, combined with a hardcore 10-20% base of support, makes the regime surprisingly durable.

Ayatollah Khamenei believes that any attempt at reform, like Gorbachev's in the USSR, would accelerate the regime's collapse rather than prolong it. This formative experience informs his rigid refusal to cede ground on core principles like the mandatory hijab, ensuring a brutal response to dissent.

The 47-year rule of the Islamic Republic has had a paradoxical effect. The oppressive theocracy has led to a population that is now arguably the most secular in the Middle East and, despite its anti-American government, one of the most pro-American populations in the region, desperate to separate mosque and state.