We Must Act Now to Prevent the Next Attack by Iran | Opinion

Iran’s aerial assault on Israel involved some 320 attack drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles. It was the act of a regime fully committed to annihilating the Jewish State.
It will not be the last—unless we act now.
This weekend’s brazen attack was the latest in a decades-long genocidal campaign against Israel and the Jewish people. It should leave no doubt for the international community that stopping Iran’s aggression requires immediate action.
The U.S. cannot continue to allow Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian to come and go as he pleases and be treated like any other diplomat. Just yesterday, he was allowed to enter the United States for the United Nations Security Council meeting on Gaza.
A truck is carrying Iranian-made Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) past Iranian flags during a military parade marking the anniversary of Iran’s Army Day in Tehran, Iran, on April 17. A truck is carrying Iranian-made Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) past Iranian flags during a military parade marking the anniversary of Iran’s Army Day in Tehran, Iran, on April 17. Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Amir-Abdollahian represents a nation that just attacked a U.S. ally—an attack that American servicemembers risked their lives to defend against. He does not deserve to set foot on American soil.
While the U.S. has agreed to issue visas to foreign diplomats who are traveling to New York on UN business, there are exceptions for terrorism, security, and foreign policy—last exercised when Amir-Abdollahian’s predecessor Mohammad Javad Zarif was denied entry in 2020. Iran’s missile salvo constitutes a direct threat to U.S. national security, which is more than enough reason to bar Amir-Abdollahian from the country.
But Iran doesn’t just use its substantial arsenal to attack Israel—it sends the same missiles and suicide drones used in this weekend’s attack to Russia, whose military uses them in daily terrorist attacks against Ukrainian civilians.
Iran also supplies the Houthis in Yemen with military equipment, including rifles and missiles, which the Houthis use to enact their genocidal slogan: “Allah Is the Greatest, Death to America, Death to Israel, A Curse Upon the Jews, Victory to Islam.” The Houthis have turned the Red Sea into yet another theater for terrorism, attacking merchant ships and U.S. Navy vessels alike.
Iran knows exactly how its proxies intend to use the weaponry it supplies, making the regime complicit in these attacks. The world must hold it responsible. United Nations missile sanctions against Iran lapsed last October, and they must be swiftly restored.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) controls proxies like the Houthis, Hezbollah, and Iraqi Shi’ite militias, all of which participated in the attack on Israel. These groups threaten the U.S. and our allies across the Middle East, using European soil for money laundering and to stage attacks.
The United States designated the IRGC as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 2019, limiting its ability to access American markets. Despite uncovering IRGC-led spying and assassination plots in Germany and France, the European Union has yet to follow suit. Now is the time for the EU to correct this and root out malign IRGC activity from the European continent.
The EU also makes a specious distinction between the political and military wings of Hezbollah, a U.S.-recognized terrorist group that has launched hundreds of rockets against Israel since Oct. 7, displacing tens of thousands of Israelis. There is no distinction—both are committed to killing as many Israelis as they can and ending the state of Israel. The EU needs to acknowledge this reality and designate the entire organization as the terrorist group it is.
This weekend’s attack on Israel put Iran’s violent mission on display for the entire world. The threat Iran poses to global security is undeniable and requires a global response.
While these steps may not prevent all future Iranian aggression, they are an important first step in sending a clear message that Iran will be held accountable—whether it acts through proxies or in its own name.
The mask is off. It’s time for the world to look Iran in the eyes and say, “no more.”
Ted Deutch, a former congressman from Florida who Chaired the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, is CEO of the American Jewish Committee (AJC).
The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own.