Iran and the Axis of Resistance, Trump-Netanyahu's Next Target

TEL AVIV, MONDAY — Iran and the Axis of Resistance will be the target of destruction by the United States and Israel after the Hamas resistance in the Gaza Strip. The US and Israel plan to end Iran's potential possession of nuclear weapons.

The new Syrian regime under Hayat Tahrir al-Shams (HTS), which is trying to approach several countries, is also not underestimated. The US and Israel continue to see them as a destabilizing force.

This was conveyed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio when the two met in Jerusalem, Sunday (2/16/2025) local time. This is Rubio's first visit to Israel after being appointed as foreign minister.

“We agree that the ayatollahs should not have nuclear weapons. We also agree that Iran’s aggression in the region must stop,” Netanyahu said, adding that Israeli-U.S. cooperation under President Donald Trump would “finish the job.”

Netanyahu did not elaborate on what he meant by “finishing the job” in Iran, whether that meant eliminating Iran altogether or simply stripping it of its nuclear capabilities.

In recent years, Iran has been trying to increase its nuclear development capabilities. Western countries say Iran continues to try to develop its nuclear weapons capabilities, although the Iranian government denies this. Iran states that the nuclear capabilities developed are for civilian purposes and are aimed at peace.

However, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) during its inspection found otherwise. The latest findings of the IAEA inspection team in Iran, according to IAEA Chief Rafael Grossi, estimate that Iran is capable of having around 250 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent in the coming weeks. The IAEA believes that Iran is in the process of increasing its production of uranium enriched to 60 percent by seven times.

According to IAEA benchmarks, if further enriched to 90 percent, the material is enough to produce six nuclear bombs.

Rubio considers Iran's nuclear power to be a threat to Israel's existence. He called Iran the single biggest source of instability in the region.

“Behind every resistance group, every act of violence, every activity that causes instability, and everything that threatens the peace of the millions of people who call the region (the Middle East) home, is Iran,” he said.

Rubio specifically mentioned ayatollah, the highest title of Shia cleric, currently held by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his government as a source of instability in the region.

Rubio said the sources of instability must be addressed. He vowed the U.S. would never give Iran the ability to develop a nuclear weapon. “That will never happen. The president has made that clear,” Rubio said.

Rubio and Netanyahu have not confirmed that they will attack Iran's nuclear facilities. However, two US media, namely The Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal, on Thursday (2/13/2025), citing US intelligence revealed that Israel will likely attack the Fordow and Natanz nuclear facilities in the first six months of 2025.

The report refers to two potential attack options. US involvement in the attack would include support in the form of aerial refueling, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

If an attack does occur, it would be the opposite of what Trump wants. Trump appears to want maximum pressure to produce a deal rather than destruction.

“I want a non-nuclear deal with Iran. I would rather have that than bombing them,” Trump told the New York Post on Friday. “If we make a deal, Israel won’t bomb them.”

Responding to Trump's statement, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who is known to be moderate, stated that if their nuclear facilities are destroyed, Iran will build more of the same facilities. "If you destroy a hundred (nuclear facilities), our children will build a thousand," he said.

Iran's existence as a sponsor of the Axis of Resistance is also one of the reasons the US weakens Iran. Rubio believes Iran is behind the existence of Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, violence in the Palestinian West Bank, and the destabilization of Syria.

“I think it’s important to always emphasize that whether we’re talking about Hamas, Hezbollah, the violence in the West Bank, the destabilization of Syria, the militias in Iraq, or any of these other issues, there’s one common theme behind it all: Iran,” Rubio said.

Rubio has been cautious on Syria, which is now controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, given his former ties to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Al Qaeda, although he has since broken away.

"While the fall of (Bashar) Assad is certainly promising and important, if Syria replaces one destabilizing force with another, that is not a positive development," Rubio said.

Syria has long been seen as a connecting route between Iran and resistance groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Palestine. Located at a crossroads in the Middle East, Syria is a key geographic link that allows Iran to move weapons and other supplies into Lebanon.

In January, the Israeli military confirmed it had struck a missile manufacturing site in the Masyaf area of Syria, believed to be funded by Iran. The operation was carried out in September 2024. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 27 people were killed in the attack.

The Israeli military (IDF) said in a statement that the underground manufacturing plant was an assembly line designed to produce precision-guided missiles and long-range rockets, not only for Hezbollah but also for Iran's proxies in the region.

Smith Alhadad, advisor to the Indonesian Society for Middle East Studies, said Friday (2/14/2025) that the restrictions on Iran's nuclear program by the US and Israel were because the two countries did not want other countries to have similar nuclear capabilities. "If Iran has supremacy because of its nuclear, Israel's value is nonexistent," he said. (AP/AFP/Reuters)