The air still crackled with the aftermath of Operation Epic Fury. The Supreme Leader was gone, his key commanders eliminated – a decisive blow after forty-seven years of a regime holding the world in its grip. As a veteran Air Force pilot, the precision and resolve of the strike were deeply satisfying.
But decades of experience had taught a harsh truth: bombs alone cannot win a war, especially not against a foe like Iran. The IRGC, despite suffering devastating losses, continued to launch missiles, vowing retaliation. Khamenei’s regime, built on layers of redundancy and ruthless control, was far from broken. Eliminating the head hadn’t killed the beast, and a ground war requiring two hundred thousand troops was unthinkable.
The solution, however, wasn’t waiting over the horizon. It was already unfolding on the ground, a story largely untold. Just five days before our missiles struck, a small force – roughly 250 fighters from the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran – had breached the outer defenses of the heavily fortified Motahari Complex, the very target we later hit.
They faced eight thousand defenders, engaging in hours of fierce combat. They disabled surveillance systems from within Khamenei’s own compound, aided by insiders within the regime’s inner circle. Over a hundred were killed or captured, but the rest withdrew, ready to fight again. This wasn’t a fleeting skirmish; it was a demonstration of deeply rooted resistance.
What happened on Pasteur Street couldn’t be fabricated. Breaching such a heavily guarded compound demanded years of intelligence gathering, a robust organizational structure, and a population willing to risk everything to provide shelter and support. The regime could eliminate the fighters, but it couldn’t erase the fact that they had struck at the heart of Tehran before our first bomb fell.
The attacks didn’t stop there. MEK units assaulted an IRGC garrison near Tehran, inflicting significant casualties. Resistance Units targeted the regime’s judiciary and intelligence buildings in Isfahan. While our pilots struck from thirty thousand feet, these fighters were battling in the streets, a force no cruise missile could replicate.
I first encountered this movement years ago, while stationed in Iraq. The MEK provided critical intelligence about Tehran’s destabilizing activities, saving American lives – a debt that went unpaid. Later, I met with MEK members in Albania and with Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, in Paris.
Rajavi’s Ten-Point Plan isn’t a radical manifesto; it’s a blueprint for a free and democratic Iran, echoing the principles of our own Founding Fathers: separation of church and state, free elections, gender equality, and the abolition of the death penalty. It envisions a non-nuclear Iran, committed to peace and stability.
As our bombs fell, Rajavi’s immediate concern wasn’t power, but the protection of civilians. She announced the NCRI’s provisional government, prepared for decades, declaring a simple truth: “Iran is not its regime. Iran is its people.” This wasn’t a plea for American intervention; it was a declaration of self-determination.
Some suggest placing the son of the deposed Shah, Reza Pahlavi, in power. But he lacks a genuine organization within Iran, his social media presence largely artificial. Installing him would require a massive military occupation. He represents a dependency, not a solution.
The MEK, however, reached Pasteur Street without a single American dollar, weapon, or soldier. They are a genuine asset, forged in decades of struggle and sacrifice. The United States doesn’t need to occupy Iranian soil. Recognizing the National Council of Resistance of Iran and Rajavi’s provisional government would send a powerful signal.
It’s time to abandon forty years of manufactured demonization, fueled by the very regime our bombs are now dismantling. Our military action alone is insufficient without a partner on the ground. And that partner exists, having already paid a terrible price – one hundred and twenty thousand lives – for the future of Iran.
President Roosevelt’s words resonate now more than ever. The true credit belongs to those in the arena, those fighting for the same values President Trump invoked when he told the Iranian people: “The hour of your freedom is at hand.” This isn’t just a viable path forward; it’s the only one that truly works.
