The Patriot Post® · Reflections on 9/11 and Iran

It is of utmost importance to remember and reflect on the evil attack on innocent Americans that occurred on September 11, 2001. It is especially important to tell what happened to young Americans too, as they have no frame of reference for the enormity of the attack and how it changed America.

On the 25th anniversary of that terrorist attack on America, it is also necessary, for our future safety and well-being, that we also connect this horrible historical atrocity to an even longer-standing animosity toward America from the other branch of radical Islam, the current leadership of Iran.

The radical Shiite terrorist regime in Iran is just as bad or worse than the terrorist cultists who followed Osama bin Laden and attacked on 9/11/2001. This article will explore part of our history with the two forms of radical Islam and make the case that Iran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons must be permanently destroyed. If radical Islam would not hesitate to kill 3,000 innocent civilians going about their business, they will not hesitate to kill millions if they could. In their belief system, we are a pestilence to be destroyed.

The two principal strains of militant Islamist hostility are the Shiite revolutionary model created by the overthrow of the Shah in Iran in 1979 and Sunni jihadism, of which bin Laden and his al-Qaida followers are the most prominent example. Since the Shah’s removal, Iran has used its Revolutionary Guard, Hezbollah, Iraqi militias, the Houthis, and other proxies to kill Americans and to harm us and our interests all over the world. They have killed thousands in the process. Sunni jihadism’s biggest attack by far was 9/11, but they have orchestrated attacks before and since and remain dedicated to the overthrow of the U.S. and the West. For example, the attack on the USS Cole in 2000 that killed 17 American sailors was conducted by bin Laden’s terrorists. Both radical strains of Islam have treated the U.S. as a principal adversary, and both have killed large numbers of Americans.

When the Shah of Iran was overthrown in a bloody coup 47 years ago, radical Shiite Islamists took control, subjugating millions of Iranians to extremist rule. Thousands were murdered in the overthrow, and the population was enslaved to a radical version of Islam practiced by those who orchestrated the coup. From the outset, the new regime in Iran had a deep hatred of America and everything we stand for, including our past support and friendship with the Shah.

In 1976-1977, I was a student at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. About 30 of my classmates were young naval officers from Iran, the best and brightest from their Navy. It was a prestigious honor for those officers to be selected to attend our Navy’s Postgraduate School. Some time after the overthrow of the Shah in 1979, I was told by a senior naval officer that probably most officers I had studied with had been murdered by radicals in the overthrow of the Shah. Those not murdered outright either escaped to another country or had to change their identity and try to get lost in the population.

Since the overthrow of the Shah, the leaders of Iran have displayed an intense hatred for America and everything we stand for. The phrase “Death to America” has been an official and recurrent slogan used by the Islamic Republic since the start. There is ample video evidence showing that in Iran’s parliament and at other prominent government events, the proceedings are highlighted by lengthy chants of “Death to America!” An example is the opening of their Parliament in 2018, which started with the burning of the American flag followed by the “Death to America” chant. Think of that! It is the policy of Iran that America die.

The former leader, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, defended the practice in 2015, saying that “Death to America” was backed by “reason and wisdom.” The slogan is ubiquitous in Iran, being used in Friday prayers, school assemblies, government-sponsored displays, and billboards. It is safe to say that for nearly half a century, hostility towards the U.S. has been institutionalized in the Islamic Republic of Iran and that Iranians or their proxies have killed countless Americans. In 2019, the State Department declassified reports that documented that Iran caused 608 American deaths in Iraq alone. Other well-documented Iranian-backed or executed operations included:

• Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
• Marine barracks, Beirut, October 1983 — 241 Americans killed by Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed terrorist group.
• U.S. Embassy Annex, Beirut, September 1984 — two Americans killed by Hezbollah.
• TWA Flight 847, Saudi Arabia, 1985 — Navy Seabee Diver Robert Stethem murdered by Hezbollah.
• Khobar Towers, Saudi Arabia, 1996 — 19 American Airmen killed by Saudi Hezbollah.
• Tower 22, Jordan, January 2024 — three Army soldiers killed in an attack by Iranian-backed militia.

Since the overthrow of the Shah in 1979, Iran and its terrorist proxies have killed over 1,000 Americans, including 18 who have now been killed in Operation Epic Fury. Iranian radicals have been consistent for 47 years with their “Death to America” ideology. What better way of fulfilling their dream than nuclear weapons deployed against us should they ever get them?

The two different forms of radical Islam have been killing Americans for decades. The biggest and most shocking was, of course, the attacks on 9/11 by Osama bin Laden’s operatives that took the lives of almost 3,000 Americans on that day alone. The federal September 11th Victim Compensation Fund says deaths from 9/11-related illnesses have far surpassed the number killed in the attacks themselves. As of August 2026, the Fund had issued compensation determinations in more than 6,200 deceased-person cases. Cancer, chronic respiratory disease, cardiovascular illness, and the long-term consequences of psychological trauma continue to add to a death toll that did not stop on September 11, 2001. Deaths attributable to 9/11 will continue to mount as the years go on. The emotional scars of the survivors will not finally be eased until the death of the last survivor.

You may ask, why are we now in yet another conflict in the Middle East, this time a campaign we are waging against one of those Islamic radical foes, the Islamic Republic of Iran? It is simple. Iran’s leaders want all of us dead, and they are seeking the means to achieve that result. The leaders of Iran mean it. They want America to die. They intend to develop nuclear weapons. Once they develop nukes, they plan to use them against America. Our best intelligence estimates show that even though we have bombed their nuclear sites repeatedly with our most advanced weaponry, the Iranians have gone back to their earlier work of developing long-range missiles and developing the ability to build nuclear bombs and warheads. If the radical sect of Shiite Islamists stays in charge of Iran, they will continue to want us to die, and the best way to achieve that goal is for them to develop nukes and to attack the U.S. with their nuclear weapons.

Experts believe even if they cannot master missile technology enough to directly threaten us, they can easily develop a cruder nuclear bomb that would be delivered to the U.S. by covert means. If they could kill every American, they would be completely at ease with doing that. If they do not directly attack the U.S., they surely would attack our allies in the region, such as Israel or Saudi Arabia. If Iran develops nuclear weapons and does not attack either the U.S. or our allies, when it joins the nuclear club, it will become much stronger and harder to deal with in the future. The balance of power in the Middle East would be forever changed with Iran having nuclear weapons.

Think back on how 9/11 affected you, even if you were not directly involved. It changed America and our entire approach to security and the safety of air travel. We continue to this day to use a “terrorist inspired” homeland security mindset with TSA, the Department of Homeland Security, and dozens of other federal entities that are an outgrowth of the 9/11 attacks. Imagine the scene if Iran develops a nuclear bomb, smuggles it into the U.S., and sets it off in Washington, DC, or New York, or Los Angeles, or anywhere. Millions would die. The nation would be thrown into horrendous turmoil and stress. A single nuke would not destroy America. But it would be a shock a hundred times more severe than the attacks on 9/11.

We must deny Iran the ability to develop and deliver a nuclear weapon to our shores. Our very way of life depends on it. We must support President Donald Trump’s policy of denying Iran the use of nuclear weapons by whatever means necessary.