The uranium enrichment plant at Fordow was known as the jewel in the crown of Ali Khamenei, Iran's "supreme leader." It would have been more accurate to call it the dagger in the ayatollah's cloak, or maybe the bomb in the terrorist's backpack.
It was one ingredient in a decades-long strategic cocktail: Cook up terrorist proxies to kill and die for you and your goals; place them in a "ring of fire" around Israel; obtain a nuclear weapons capability; stir or shake vigorously.
All this and more grew out of the revolution that erupted in Iran in 1979. Its objective was not to make Iran great again but to restore Islamic power and preeminence in the Middle East and far beyond.
For more than a thousand years, much of the world was dominated by Islamic caliphates. The last of them was based in Istanbul, a city once called Constantinople – a great Christian capital until 1453 when it was conquered by Sultan Mehmed II leading an Ottoman army.
Centuries later, the Ottoman Empire and Caliphate chose the wrong side in World War I. By 1922, it all collapsed.
From the ashes arose Turkey, a nation-state straddling the West and the Middle East. For more than 20 years, Turkey has been ruled by Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Once seen as moderate and pro-Western, he is today neo-Ottoman and Islamist.
Six years after the fall of the Ottomans, Hassan al-Banna, an Egyptian scholar, founded the Muslim Brotherhood. Its mission: the re-establishment of a new and mightier caliphate.
As a young man, Mr. Khamenei studied the Muslim Brotherhood. He even translated the writings of Sayyid Qutb, a leading thinker of the Egyptian branch, an advocate of revolution and jihad against the West.
But enough history. Let's talk about the fast-moving events taking place right now.
Last week, President Trump demonstrated both vision and courage. It's being said that he deceived Mr. Khamenei. But he did so by telling the truth – the last thing the 86-year-old jihadi expected.
Mr. Trump gave him 60 days to agree to a diplomatic solution. On the 61st day, Israel began striking military targets in Iran.
As expected, missiles were soon fired and drones launched from Iran at military and civilian targets in Israel. The Israelis knew this was the price they'd have to pay.
Israel's advanced air-defense systems, augmented by significant American support, prevented most – but by no means all – Iranian drones and ballistic missiles from reaching their intended victims.
Last Thursday, Mr. Trump said he'd decide "within two weeks whether to go or not to go." On Saturday, he went.
He utilized B-2s, also known as Stealth Bombers, to drop Massive Ordnance Penetrators on Fordow.
Only the U.S. has such sophisticated planes along with the 30,000-pound steel-encased MOPs which dig deep into the ground before exploding.
Why did he make this tough and fateful decision which so many people predicted he wouldn't because TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out)?
As far back as his first administration, he recognized how dangerous it would be to let the world's leading sponsor of terrorism, a regime that for 46 years has vowed "Death to America!" and "Death to Israel!" acquire the world's most destructive weapons.
Other presidents vowed that Iran's rulers would not be permitted to have nukes. But other presidents took no serious steps to stop them.
Indeed, President Obama's Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action gave the mullahs a smooth path to the doors of the nuclear-weapons club. The deal left a vast nuclear infrastructure in place and imposed only temporary restrictions, most of which would lift overtime.
One of the JCPOA's "sunset clauses," set to soon expire, would have allowed Iran to use advanced centrifuges capable of enriching uranium to weapons grade in a matter of weeks. The regime would even have been permitted to continue developing nuclear warheads and delivery systems.
Of course, there were coherent arguments against Mr. Trump going kinetic. For example, it is plausible that agents of Tehran entered the U.S. during the Biden open-border years and have set up sleeper cells that are even now preparing to carry out terrorist attacks.
It was also possible that the MOPs would fail to function as designed. Though wouldn't we want to know that?
And while there was little chance of the B-2s being shot down – they're not called Stealth Bombers for nothing, and the Israelis destroyed most if not all of Tehran's air defenses – wars are always uncertain endeavors.
Against these arguments, President Trump may have contemplated the risks of inaction. What would be required, over the decades ahead, to contain a nuclear-armed regime committed to jihad, and increasingly allied with the anti-American dictators in Beijing, Moscow, and Pyongyang?
Viewed in this light, defanging Ayatollah Khamenei is unmistakably an America-First and Make-America-Great-Again policy.
Had President Trump decided not to act, I'm convinced the Israelis had a plan to at least degrade Fordow. It's likely that such a plan would have been high risk, and it probably wouldn't have set back Tehran's nuclear program for very long.
On Monday night, Mr. Trump announced a ceasefire. Maybe it will hold, maybe not. Even if it does, expect Mr. Khamenei to attempt to – you should excuse the expression – build back better.
If so, both the U.S. and Israel have the means to bomb back better. Their current leaders have demonstrated that they also have the will.
It is useful, from time to time, to remind one's enemies of that.