Former Vice President Mike Pence on Monday praised the attack on Iran by U.S. and Israeli forces, calling President Donald Trump's actions a "logical and just response to a decadeslong campaign of bloodshed against Americans and our allies."
The death of Iran's Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was deserved, Pence added, as "he chose violence."
"And now he has reaped what he sowed," Pence wrote in an opinion piece published in the Washington Examiner.
The mission in Iran must succeed, as the mullahs won't go quietly, Pence said.
"They will cling to power with all the desperate cruelty they have shown for decades," he said. "The president and Congress must continue to provide our military with the resources, clarity of mission, and unified support necessary to achieve lasting victory over the terrorist regime in Tehran."
U.S. and Israeli forces on Saturday launched Operation Epic Fury, striking targets to "dismantle the Iranian regime's security apparatus, prioritizing locations that posed an imminent threat," according to U.S. Central Command.
The operation followed "exhaustive diplomatic efforts and comes after 47 years of Iranian aggression — including attacks on U.S. citizens, sponsorship of global terrorism, and brutal oppression of its own people," the Trump administration said in a release.
Khamenei, 86, was killed in the attacks. His regime, said Pence, "facilitated the deaths of hundreds of Americans in the Middle East and plotted the assassination of senior American officials, even placing a bounty on the president himself."
The way to preserve peace now is "not by wishful thinking, but by American strength," he added.
"If this moment marks the beginning of the end of Iran's long darkness, it will not be because America sought conflict. It will be because America refused to ignore evil," Pence said.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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