Iran's Threats and Support for Armed Groups in the Middle East

If you think about what we're saying here, what the Iranian system, the Iranian regime is basically arguing is, unless we get what we want, not only will we blow up ships, but we will destroy the energy infrastructure of our neighbors in the entire region. Just think about that,

because I think we skip over that like that's some sort of normal behavior. That's not normal behavior.

That's not-- But we are there to help protect against it.

Um, but just imagine if Iran had a nuclear weapon.

Imagine if Iran had a nuclear weapon. Imagine if Iran had weapons of mass destruction of any kind, be they chemical, biological, or nuclear, all three. Imagine if they had that.

What would they threaten their neighbors with then?

Then they wouldn't be threatening to blow up pipelines.

Then they'd be threatening to kill tens, if not hundreds of thousands of people.

That's who we're dealing with. So I think the fact that you even have to ask that question is a reminder of the nature of the regime that we're dealing with in Tehran that's been waging war not just against the United States, but against its neighbors in the region since nineteen seventy-nine, exporting their

revolution. And so the next time that a Houthi strike reaches into Saudi territory, it's a reminder that the Houthis would not have the weaponry they have now were it not for Iranian support. And the next time that Iranian Shia-backed militias in Iraq either threaten the nation state of Iraq or threaten the

neighbors, it's a reminder that Iran has been a destabilizing force against their neighbors and Iraq all of these years.

The next time that an Iranian missile, you know, strikes a target in Bahrain or in Kuwait or anywhere else in the region, it's a reminder of the threat that these people pose. By the way, the next time Hezbollah fires a bunch of rockets and invites aggression coming back in their direction from Lebanon,

not to mention threaten the Lebanese state, it's a reminder that Hezbollah would not exist, much less have the capabilities it has now to threaten its neighbors and launch rockets and missiles, were it not for Iranian support.