Iran and the "Axis of Evil"
Feb 4, 2002

MARINA DEL REY, CA--President Bush's inclusion of Iran in his "axis of evil" is being debated around the world, but not at the Ayn Rand Institute (ARI), said Yaron Brook, executive director of the Institute.

ARI has been a lone voice in the wilderness on the need to target Iran for its terrorist activities. Last October, in ads placed in the New York Times and the Washington Post, Dr. Leonard Peikoff, founder of the Ayn Rand Institute, argued that Afghanistan is not the important target. Iran is; a conviction shared by few others. Finally, the Bush administration has confirmed the threat from Iran.

"Most of the Mideast," said Dr. Peikoff in his article, "is ruled by thugs who would be paralyzed by an American victory over any of their neighbors. Iran, by contrast, is the only country there ruled by zealots dedicated not to material gain (such as more wealth or territory), but to the triumph by any means, however violent, of the Muslim fundamentalist movement they brought to life. That is why Iran manufactures the most terrorists."

"According to a State Department report of 1999," added Dr. Peikoff, "Iran is 'the most active state sponsor of terrorism,' training and arming groups from all over the Mideast, including Islamic Jihad, Hamas, and Hezbollah." As evidence of Iran's continuing secret terrorist activities, Dr. Brook cited the recent Israeli capture of a shipload of weapons from Iran to the terrorist PLO.

"The United States," said Dr. Brook, "should encourage and actively assist the pro-freedom fighters in Iran to launch a revolution that will expel every terrorist-supporting official in their government. But if they are unable to do this, the United States will have to bring its military power to bear on Iran."

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Dr. Yaron Brook is available for interviews. To interview Dr. Brook or book him for your show, please e-mail media@aynrandcenter.org

For more articles by Yaron Brook, and his bio, click here.