Stop Letting Iran Hide Behind its Proxies and Strike Them Head-on

With U.S. strikes against Iran-linked targets on Feb. 2, President Biden attempted to fulfill his vow to “hold all those responsible to account” for a Jan. 28 drone attack on a U.S. outpost in Jordan by Iran-backed militia that killed three U.S. service members and injured at least 40 more.

But the United States has been trying to stop Iran’s metastasizing aggression for three months without success. This is because its strikes — including those on Feb. 2 — largely have allowed Iran to hide behind its proxies.

If the U.S. hopes to deter Iran from endangering — and killing — more Americans, the United States needs a strategy that addresses the source of the problem by striking Iran directly to degrade the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) military capabilities, economic interests, and ability to transfer weapons, training, and direct military assistance to proxies.

Read the full op-ed in The Hill.