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The Ayatollah is dead. What that translates to – in lives saved, in human rights abuses avoided, in arbitrary detentions and torture prevented – is incalculable. Since the start of the Islamic Republic, there have been over 1,000 Americans killed in Iranian attacks, with thousands more wounded. In just the last 4 years, over 80,000 Iranians have been arrested, with allegations of significant torture including indefinite solitary confinement, beatings, molestation, rape, and electric shocks. While it is difficult to say precisely how many Iranians have been killed by the leadership of the Islamic Republic since 1979, over 30,000 have been killed in the 2026 protests alone.
This, of course, does not include the people around the world who have been killed or harmed by Iranian technology. The Latvian Ambassador to the UN recently estimated Iranian technology is responsible for thousands of innocent civilian deaths in Ukraine alone. The national security, economic, and physical cost of the Ayatollah’s brutal regime has been felt around the world, which is precisely why some foreign leaders – though traditionally cautious of international intervention – have voiced their support for America and Israel’s joint operation.
Yes, what comes next is critically important. Removing the Ayatollah, like removing Maduro in Venezuela, is just one step in a long journey to freedom. There is no guarantee it will be successful, and what America’s full commitment to that journey is remains to be fully seen. We ourselves have already suffered significant loss, with the deaths of at least six American servicemembers and others critically injured over the course of the last few days. But the journey to freedom for the Iranian people has started, and with it a journey to greater security for the United States and the world. May God bless our servicemembers, their families, and all the freedom-loving citizens of the world.
-Carrie Filipetti, Executive Director of the Vandenberg Coalition
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