The multi-front war of annihilation that the Islamic Republic of Iran and its regional proxies wage against Israel is one dimension of Tehran’s war against the West. To understand the challenges Israel faces, to comprehend the impact on U.S. interests in the region and beyond, and to respond effectively, U.S. diplomats must grasp the Iran-led Islamists’ convictions. This the Biden administration has failed to do.

On Oct. 4, for the first time in five years, Imam Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of Iran, spoke at Friday prayers in Tehran. Tens of thousands of worshippers heard in person the sermons, which state TV broadcast to the nation. The imam’s preaching reflected the revolutionary beliefs that inspired Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s 1979 overthrow of the Shah’s regime, establishment of an Islamist theocracy, and rule until his 1989 death.

Khamenei portrayed “the usurping Zionist regime” as the inveterate enemy of not only the Palestinian, Iranian, Lebanese, Iraqi, Egyptian, Syrian, and Yemeni nations but also of “all Islamic countries and nations.” He proclaimed that Palestinian attacks on Israel, “including Operation Al-Aqsa Flood” – Iran-backed Hamas’ name for the Oct. 7, 2023, massacres – “were internationally legal, logical, correct moves.” And he stressed that the “entire Islamic ummah” (community of Muslim believers) must seek Israel’s destruction.

Non-Muslims would benefit because “every blow to the Zionist regime by any individual or group is not only a service to the entire region but to all of humanity.” That also pits America against not only Islam but all humanity since Israel – “[t]his malicious regime,” in Khamenei’s words – “is rootless, fallacious, and unstable, and it has only managed to stand on its feet with difficulty with U.S. support.”

Iran-backed Hezbollah’s aims coincide with those of Iran. In a 1985 open letter presenting its goals and principles, the “Party of God” – the literal meaning of “Hezbollah” – underscored Muslim unity in response to the United States, which “is the reason for all our catastrophes and the source of all malice.” In the near term, Hezbollah envisaged Israel’s “final obliteration from existence and the liberation of venerable Jerusalem from the talons of occupation.”

Hamas’ 1988 covenant affirms, in full agreement with Iran’s Supreme Leader and Hezbollah, that Islam mandates Israel’s destruction. Hamas – an acronym that means “fervor” or “zeal” in Arabic and stands for “Islamic Resistance Movement” – “strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine.” It regards Zionists as “invaders.” It holds that “Jihad is its path and death for the sake of........

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