Opinion: Iran's crisis is a test of US moral leadership

"Right now, as you read this, Iranian protesters are facing live ammunition in Tehran's streets. Women risk execution for removing their hijabs. Some 12,000 to 20,000 people are feared dead from the protest crackdown. The regime is vulnerable, weakened by strikes on its nuclear program, facing economic collapse, confronting a population that has repeatedly chosen death over submission. The window to support regime change is open. But it's closing fast."

"Now, facing the moment of decision, there's troubling hesitation. This isn't just another foreign policy challenge: It's a binary test of whether American leadership still possesses the will to act on its stated principles. Fail here, and we confirm that international relations have lost their moral compass entirely. Harvard's Joseph Nye taught that foreign policy morality requires integrating intentions, means and consequences. Good intentions without adequate implementation produce catastrophic outcomes."

"The Iranian regime is a 47-year totalitarian theocracy that has terrorized its population, sponsored terrorism from Hezbollah to Hamas to the Houthis, supplied drones to Russia for killing Ukrainian civilians and pursued nuclear weapons while declaring itself America's mortal enemy. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has ordered protesters put in their place. The judiciary announced all participants will be tried for moharebeh enmity against God a capital offense."

Iranian protesters face live ammunition in Tehran, and women risk execution for removing hijabs. Some 12,000 to 20,000 people are feared dead from the protest crackdown. The regime is vulnerable, weakened by strikes on its nuclear program, facing economic collapse, and confronting a population that repeatedly chooses death over submission. The window to support regime change is open but rapidly closing. The Trump administration made commitments to the Iranian people, but hesitation now imperils those promises. Foreign-policy morality requires aligning intentions, means, and consequences; stated intentions without adequate implementation can produce catastrophic outcomes. Theocratic leaders have criminalized protest with capital charges.

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