MIKE POMPEO: Operation Epic Fury is righteous — and regime change must follow

After decades of terrorism, the Ayatollah's regime faces joint military action as America supports Iranian people's fight for freedom.

Mike Pompeo serves as a contributor at FOX News Channel. Previously, he served in the Trump administration as the sixth director of the Central Intelligence Agency and the 70th U.S. secretary of state. He formerly represented Kansas’ 4th Congressional District.

President Trump understands this, and has called on the Iranian people to take advantage of this unique chance to take back their country: "The hour of your freedom is at hand… For many years, you have asked for America’s help, but you never got it… Now you have a president who is giving you what you want." It’s difficult to understate the historic implications of that statement — a move that is as strategically necessary as it is morally appropriate. It affirms the central truth that there will be no chance for peace or stability in the region until the Ayatollah and his entire rotten regime are gone for good, and the Iranian people are given the chance to determine their own future.

We have nearly five decades of experience to confirm that the Islamic Republic is an entirely irredeemable governing entity. Terrorism, oppression and vicious hatred of America, Israel and the West are part of its DNA; and its fundamentalist, millenarian vision is incompatible with peaceful coexistence with the civilized world. America — and the world — will never be safe if this regime survives in any form.