Iran is preparing for the day after an Israeli strike, US should too - opinion

As we recently learned, Iran’s nuclear program is merely weeks away from being able to produce enough fissile material for its first fully functional nuclear bomb. This disturbing news must have put Jerusalem and Washington on high alert.

For years, Iran’s leaders have been open about their desire to wipe Israel off the map, and they may soon have the means to do it. While Israel has vowed to prevent the Iranian regime from attaining the world’s deadliest weapon through diplomacy and sanctions, reports indicate it has also been preparing to carry out a last-ditch military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities. Aware of Israel’s determination to stymie its nuclear ambitions, Iran has prepared for the day after such a strike.

Just last month, details emerged that Tehran has been “mapping” Diaspora Jewish communities for future retaliatory assassination campaigns in case Israel were to execute such an attack.

In addition, a new report released last week by the Zachor Legal Institute and endorsed by StandWithUs and 19 other US-based nonprofits reveals that Iran’s regime might also be behind the anonymous “Mapping Project” website targeting strategic US security institutions, military facilities and Jewish NGOs in Massachusetts.

When it was launched in June 2022, the Mapping Project was widely and justifiably condemned for placing considerable emphasis on Jewish institutions in need of “dismantling.” But as time went by, and the project continued to make noise on social media and garner new allies like the Iranian-aligned JISR Collective and regime-backed PressTV, it became increasingly clear that the map’s true purpose was geared not only towards the American-Jewish community but also American institutions more broadly.

That notion was strengthened even further upon analyzing the Mapping Project website. It was found that 298 of the roughly 500 entities mapped on the site were US military bases, police stations, the FBI and Homeland Security offices. In contrast, only several dozen entities were primarily Jewish in nature.

Rebekah Koffler, a former US Defense Intelligence Agency analyst, explained that elements of the Mapping Project “are consistent with the tradecraft of Iranian intelligence tradecraft and Iran’s declared policy to target US persons.”

Historical precedent also points to Iranian involvement, as the regime has long mapped and executed terrorist attacks against Jews and American targets.

As recently as March 2023, the Jerusalem Post revealed that Hezbollah, a US-designated terrorist group and Iranian proxy, created a “kill list” of Israeli embassies, consulates, companies, local synagogues, and Jewish NGOs operating in Germany. Likewise, over the last year alone, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former National Security Advisor John Bolton, and prominent Iranian dissident Masih Alinejad were all the targets of assassination plots on US soil orchestrated by the Iranian regime.

Other countries have also suffered from international terror schemes orchestrated by Iran. This includes the United Kingdom, which has allegedly seen at least 15 attempted kidnappings and assassinations in recent years of British citizens determined by Tehran to be threats. Perhaps Iran’s most infamous and deadly international terror plot was the 1994 bombing of the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA), a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, where 85 people were murdered.

These anecdotes illustrate the lengths to which the Iranian regime will go to further its overlapping anti-American, anti-Western, and antisemitic agenda – an agenda that is front and center within the Mapping Project, which argues that “The US Army and the US military broadly exist to enforce the United States’ hegemonic and unilateral control over global affairs” and spreads conspiracy theories about “Zionist leaders and NGOs.” There is a real concern that the purpose of the Mapping Project is to assist and enable the targeting of Americans and American institutions by terror operatives, whether they work for Iran directly or simply share the Iranian regime’s animus for these targets. 

The Ayatollahs in Tehran have described Israel as the small Satan, and the United States as the big one. They don’t hide their eagerness to destroy Israel before turning their sights towards the US. The findings in our new in-depth report about the Mapping Project should serve as a wake-up call for the FBI, Department of Justice, and other American security agencies regarding the threat of Iranian plots targeting the American homeland.  

The Iranian regime is preparing for the day after a potential Israeli strike on its nuclear facilities. And so should the US government.

Roz Rothstein is the co-founder and CEO of StandWithUs, and Marc Greendorfer is the co-founder and President of Zachor Legal Institute.