Iran’s war with the US and Israel started not in 2026 but in 1979 – and has never stopped.
By Jonathan Feldstein
If you were to think that the current war against the Islamic Republic of Iran has been going on for just the past three weeks, you would be mistaken. The war started in November 1979 when “students” attacked and hijacked the United States embassy in Tehran, taking 52 hostages for 444 days. This act of war has been reiterated daily for nearly 17,000 days, with Islamic Republic’s war cries against the United States, what they call “the Great Satan” every day since with their chanting of “Death to America”.
One might think they don’t really mean it, that maybe it just rhymes in Farsi like cheerleaders at a high school football game, encouraging their team. One would be wrong.
Their launch last week of a missile that can reach 4000 kilometers is an indication of bigger aims than “just” to eradicate Israel (“the Little Satan”),or infiltrate radical Islam across the world. One would also be mistaken to think of the Iranian threat through the prism or how they want to see the world, rather than how the world – and the Islamic threat – really is.
As I have been stranded in the United States for three weeks, unable to get home to Israel, I have used my time conducting dozens of media interviews and briefings to share a personal perspective and the truth of what’s actually happening and why this war is not only just, but necessary.
One briefing and broad-based conversation was in response to a wide array of countless questions from people all over the world, looking for accurate information.
For the past three weeks Israel and many Gulf Arab states have been under intense, nonstop bombardment from the Islamic Republic and its proxies. Missiles, rockets, drones, cluster bombs — dozens at a time — send millions of Israelis to bomb shelters night after night. Yes, there is fear, and stress. There have been casualties, many injuries, and widespread destruction. Yet even in the midst of this, Israelis remain remarkably resilient. Even hopeful. Marking this, the same week as my conversation, Israel was ranked among the top ten happiest countries in the world—eighth in 2025 — despite years of conflict and war. Happiness is a consequence of the shared purpose among Israelis, unity albeit among times of friction, and an unshakable belief that we are fighting a just and necessary war. Yes, there’s suffering but an awareness that God has our back.
I wish all Americans had the same sense of unity and purpose. A sense of community amid widespread differences.
This war is not merely Israel’s fight; it is a war of good versus evil, and it is very much in America’s interest. For nearly half a century, every day that the Islamic Republic has indoctrinated people to chant “Death to America” as they plot toward a nuclear weapon (with enough enriched uranium as of three weeks ago to make 11 nuclear bombs) is a day Americans are threatened. Iran’s proxies — Hezbollah, the Houthis, Hamas and others — threaten global shipping, target civilians, and seek to destroy the Judeo-Christian values that undermine Western civilization. The current escalation is the bitter fruit of decades of appeasement, including billions funneled to Tehran under previous administrations. Today, fuel prices spike worldwide not only because of the conflict but because the free world allowed, enabled, and even funded this terrorist “superpower” to grow unchecked.
What we are witnessing, however, is extraordinary. Israel and America, with remarkable intelligence cooperation, military might, and coordination, has systematically dismantled much of Iran’s missile infrastructure and taken out high-ranking IRGC and Basij leaders. Precision strikes have crippled the machinery of oppression that has brutalized 90 million Iranians for decades. I see God’s hand in this — poking the eye of a regime built on vengeance and false gods. I am no prophet, but the destruction of terror infrastructure feels providential, a modern echo of the plagues that humbled Egypt, the superpower of its day, and liberated the Jewish people 3500 years ago. In the prophecy of Jeremiah 49:34–39, it speaks of God breaking the bow of Elam (ancient Iran) and scattering its people yet ultimately establishing His throne there. We may be living the early chapters of that prophecy!
As we begin Nisan — the first month in the biblical calendar and the season of Passover — we remember redemption from slavery under an evil superpower that worshiped idols. Egypt’s gods were powerless; Pharaoh’s army drowned. Today, the Islamic Republic’s proxies rain death on civilians, yet Israel endures. Our children sleep in bomb shelters, schools remain closed, reservists are repeatedly called up, and families live under constant stress. Parents juggle work-from-home, childcare, and fear with trying to keep things “normal.” We normalize the abnormal because we have no alternative.
This is a war that must be won decisively — no more kicking the can down the road. Regime change in Iran is essential, for Israel’s security, for the United States as we celebrate 250 years of independence, and for Western civilization, as well as for the liberation of millions of Iranians who deserve freedom. I pray for Reza Pahlavi’s return, for a restoration a free, democratic, productive Iran, and for the birth of “Cyrus Accords” that echo the spirit of the ancient Persian king who enabled the Jewish return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple.
Many ask what they can do. First, pray — unceasingly. Prayer is God’s currency; it costs nothing and multiplies. Second, advocate for truth in a world drowning in lies. Challenge misinformation on social media, in churches, in conversations. Third, support those on the front lines — soldiers, families, at-risk youth. Finally, come to Israel when you can. Meet the people, walk the land, taste its fruit.
As Passover approaches, we recall that redemption rarely arrives overnight. It took forty years in the desert, countless miracles, and unwavering faith. Some lost faith and rebelled. We are human with all the frailties that embodies. Today Israelis stand together — Jews, Christians, Druze, Bedouin Arabs, all targeted alike —united in purpose. America and Israel share these values as well as the threats, and common purpose. We must remain united. And victorious.
About the writer:
Jonathan Feldstein - President of the US based non-profit Genesis123 Foundation whose mission is to build bridges between Jews and Christians – is a freelance writer whose articles appear in The Jerusalem Post, Times of Israel, Townhall, NorthJersey.com, Algemeiner Journal, The Jewish Press, major Christian websites and more.
While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves. LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).
