A group of prominent Conservative American evangelical leaders urged U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons “by all means necessary” and to aid the Iranian people in their efforts towards regime change.
The move comes as the American leader weighs getting involved in Israel’s military action against Iran by deploying B-2 stealth bombers to drop its 30,000-pound bunker-busting bomb to penetrate the Iranian nuclear site at Fordow, which is built deep underground.
“The regime ruling Iran today is an illegitimate theocracy that oppresses its own people and threatens Christians, Jews and other believers throughout the Middle East,” said Sam Brownback, a former Republican senator and governor of Kansas, and currently ambassador of the Change Iran Coalition, which initiated the public campaign. “This authoritarian dictatorship denies basic human rights to Iranians and serves as the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism.”
The coalition said that “the time for half measures is over,” and directly urged America to work toward regime change, and prevent the Islamic Republic from attaining a nuclear weapon “by all means necessary.”
“We call on our elected leaders to take bold action now, before it’s too late,” the group said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel is not attempting to topple the Iranian government. He added, however, that he wouldn’t be surprised if that happened as a result of the ongoing Israeli airstrikes since June 13, as the Islamic Republic seems very weak.
“America must not repeat the mistakes of the past—when we failed to support Iran’s Green Movement and remained largely silent during the women-led uprisings,” said Susan Michael, director of the American Christian Leaders for Israel, an alliance of more than 3,000 Christian leaders representing tens of millions Christian supporters of Israel in the United States. It is a signatory to the call to action.
The move aims to serve as a counterweight to the isolationist voices within the Republican Party who have been strongly opposed to American involvement in foreign wars.
“Christians across America, who form the backbone of the Republican Party, are rallying together to call on President Trump to support Israel and join the charge against the Iranian nuclear threat,” said Josh Reinstein, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Israel Allies Foundation, which spearheads faith-based diplomacy.
“This could be President Trump’s finest hour—a moment to make history by joining forces with Israel and finally putting an end to the greatest danger facing the free world today,” he said.