The Iranian regime is rapidly pursuing acquiring nuclear weapons. This breakout must be prevented. Iran’s regime poses a danger at least as dangerous as Hitler’s if he had possessed them. Given the Iranian leadership’s ideological extremism, combined with its strategic ambitions and regional influence, the potential for regional and global instability that could result cannot be overstated. Allowing Iran to obtain nuclear weapons will simply increase the risk of a Middle Eastern nuclear arms race and devastating global conflicts.

Unlike Hitler’s regime, which was state-centric, the Iranian regime prefers extensive influence over non-state actors and militant groups. Iran has established and maintained militia and terror groups across the region and beyond, to significantly expand its reach. Its network of proxies and allies will, in all likelihood, use these nuclear capabilities in asymmetric warfare on Iran’s behalf. Presumably to hide behind “plausible deniability,” Iran’s regime does not seem particularly shy about arming these militias abroad with advanced weaponry.

Iran is already supplying terror groups — Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Houthis — with ballistic missiles. Why wouldn’t it equip these groups with nuclear weapons as well?

Iran’s regime has made no secret of its desire to annihilate Israel (“Death to Israel!”) on the way to annihilating the United States (“Death to America!“). The mullahs doubtless just see Israel as standing in the way.

From Iran’s perspective, Israel, smaller than New Jersey, is, as former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani indicated, a “one-bomb” country:

“[T]he employment of even one atomic bomb inside Israel will wipe it off the face of the earth, but [such a bomb] would only do damage to the Islamic World.”

Consider the scenario where not just Iran’s proxies, but other allies of Iran — such as Venezuela or Cuba — are equipped with nuclear weapons.

Does anyone imagine if Hamas had possessed nuclear weapons when they sent a “huge barrage of rockets” and bulldozed their way into Israel on October 7, 2023, that they would have hesitated to use them?

The proliferation of nuclear weapons poses an existential threat not only to Israel but, of course, creates a broader, more unpredictable global security crisis.

Moreover, unlike Hitler, the Iranian regime possesses advanced ballistic missile technology, capable of reaching long-range targets with precision. On April 13, Iran launched more than 300 missiles and drones at Israel. Iran’s missiles might soon be equipped with nuclear warheads, enabling Iran to reach any country across the globe — in Europe, Latin America or the United States.

The Iranian regime, fervently dedicated to exporting its Islamist revolution so that everyone might share in this gift, is committed to establishing a single Islamist community worldwide. “We shall export our revolution to the whole world,” the leader of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, stated. “Until the cry ‘There is no god but Allah’ resounds over the whole world, there will be a struggle;” and, “Establishing the Islamic State worldwide belongs to the great goals of the revolution.”

Iran’s constitution, outlining its dedication to perpetuating the revolution domestically and internationally, also enshrines this mission. It states:

“With due attention to the Islamic content of the Iranian Revolution, which has been a movement aimed at the triumph of all the mustad’affun over the mustakbirun, the Constitution provides the necessary basis for ensuring the continuation of the Revolution at home and abroad. In particular, in the development of international relations, the Constitution will strive with other Islamic and popular movements to prepare the way for the formation of a single world community…”

Immediate action is needed to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, even if it necessitates preemptive strikes on its nuclear facilities and research centers. It is an intervention that should have been undertaken many years ago, but was unfortunately thwarted by the Obama administration. Any further delay can only lead to catastrophic consequences for international stability.

Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a business strategist and advisor, Harvard-educated scholar, political scientist, board member of Harvard International Review, and president of the International American Council on the Middle East. He has authored several books on Islam and US Foreign Policy. He can be reached at Dr.Rafizadeh@Post.Harvard.Edu