By Shahram Mirzaei

Only four decades ago, on April 18, 1983, Iran destroyed the US embassy in Beirut through its Lebanese terrorist proxy, Hezbollah. This attack was a turning point in jihadist aggression that still regularly affects the free world today.

Before the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Islamic terrorism was not well organized. Mohammad Reza Shah, Iran’s last monarch, laid the groundwork for the rapid growth and spread of Islamic terrorism by severely suppressing progressive and liberal forces in the country.

With liberal and progressive forces weakened, Islamic terrorist forces led by the cleric Ruhollah Khomeini seized control of the Iranian government in 1979 in a massive coup against the inhumane Pahlavi Dynasty. With Iran’s resources at their disposal, Islamists were able to establish terrorist organizations in countries across the Middle East.

The attack on the American embassy and the suicide bombing on the headquarters of the US Marine barracks in Beirut on October 23, 1983, was a major turning point in how Islamists carry out terrorist operations. 241 US soldiers, 58 French soldiers, and six civilians were killed in the attack on the barracks. The culprits were affiliated with Iran.

These attacks ushered in an age of unending Islamic terrorism. But who is responsible for this........

© Eurasia Review