Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) National President Morton A. Klein released the following statement:

Today’s missile strike by the Islamic Republic of Iran on the American air base in Qatar is yet another chapter in Tehran’s decades-long campaign against the United States, Iran’s so-called “Great Satan.”  Iran’s attacks on Americans, now spanning 46 years, began in 1979 when Iran’s revolutionary regime took 52 American hostage at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. 

Since then, Iran and its proxies have been responsible for numerous deadly attacks against Americans, including the 1983 bombing that killed 241 U.S. Marines in Beirut, the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing, the U.S.S. Cole bombing and the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Africa. In both Iraq and Afghanistan, Iran and its affiliated militias have been responsible for the deaths of thousands of U.S. service members. Furthermore, Iran collaborated with Al-Qaeda in the September 11 attacks; Iran and its proxies helped plan, fund and provide training for this most deadly terror attack ever on the American homeland.

Iran has also developed long-range ballistic missiles capable of reaching the U.S. mainland, and its pursuit of nuclear weapons raises grave concerns about their potential use.

Nevertheless, the fact that Iran warned Qatar ahead of their attack, enabling Qatar and America to prepare and avoid any casualties, indicates Iran is petrified of a serious U.S. response to a true Iranian attack. 

This latest strike must be understood as part of the Iranian regime’s broader ideological and religious war, an effort by Iran’s Islamic leaders to advance their messianic vision that murdering Americans will hasten the Mahdi’s arrival and the creation of a global Islamic Caliphate. This theology is a major reason why diplomacy and concessions have consistently failed to curb Iran’s aggression. 

The missile launches we see today, targeting American forces in the Middle East – and that one day may target the U.S. homeland – are in part the legacy of prior dangerous and horrific American policy decisions. The Obama and Biden administrations’ lifting of sanctions gave Iran billions of dollars to intentionally strengthen the Islamic Republic of Iran to expand and enrich its terror proxy network and to advance its nuclear program and ballistic weaponry. President Obama repeatedly stated he wanted the Islamic terrorist regime of Iran to be a “regional power” even though he knew their goal was to murder Jews and Christians and destroy America and Israel. At weekly Iranian rallies led by the Mullahs they would chant, “First the Saturday people, next the Sunday people,” after chanting “Death to America, the Great Satan; Death to Israel, the little Satan.”