In the early hours of Friday, June 13, Israel decided to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities and ballistic missile arsenal.

The Ayatollahs’ regime represents an existential threat to Israel because, for decades, it has advanced its nuclear weapons programme and ballistic missile project, while simultaneously vowing to annihilate the Jewish State.

Iran is the main destabiliser in the Middle East and beyond, as well as the largest financier of global terrorism. It has created the “Axis of Evil”, which includes terrorist organisations such as Hezbollah (Lebanon), the Houthis (Yemen), and Hamas (Gaza), and has funded and armed these organisations for the purpose of attacking Israel.

This is the same regime that kidnapped American diplomats in 1979. The same regime that founded and armed the terrorist organisation Hezbollah in 1981, the group that seized Lebanon, carried out five attacks in Paris in 1985, and terrorised the region for decades. It is the same regime responsible for the attacks on the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires in 1992 and the AMIA, headquarters of the Argentine Jewish community, in 1994. It is the same regime that has sent agents to assassinate its opponents in Berlin, London, and Paris. The same regime that represses its citizens, executing homosexuals and women simply for walking down the street without a hijab.

Israel has been warning for years about the danger of Iran’s nuclear programme, emphasising that it cannot afford to live with a country in possession of a nuclear weapon that has constantly threatened it.

For many years, the Ayatollahs have been hiding the military elements of their nuclear programme. They systematically deceived the international community, claiming their programme is for civilian purposes. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) acknowledged this as a lie for the first time last Thursday, denouncing Iran’s violation of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) inspection.

In recent months, following the elimination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and the weakening of the Axis of Evil, Iran has accelerated its nuclear programme towards the development of its first atomic bomb. It managed to accumulate enough enriched uranium for nine bombs the size of the one dropped on Hiroshima and was on the verge of beginning construction of the nuclear warhead, a critical step in completing a nuclear weapon.

At the same time, it significantly increased production of its arsenal of ballistic missiles, which would serve as the means to deliver the bomb, also putting countries in Europe and other parts of the world at risk.

To prevent Iran from carrying out its dangerous plan, which would be a disaster for the entire world, Israel was forced to take action. The moment of truth had arrived.

If Israel manages to sufficiently degrade the Ayatollahs’ nuclear project and ballistic missile arsenal, the world will be a safer place. The extremist forces in the region would suffer a significant defeat, while the region would enjoy greater stability.

This scenario could open new opportunities for peace and progress for Israel and its neighbours, and for the entire Middle East.

Raslan Abu Rukun is Israel’s ambassador to Jamaica.

Raslan Abu Rukuna