"Look Where We Are Now"... A Fiery Lecture by Morgan Ortagus in Washington!

U.S. envoy Morgan Ortagus delivered a lecture at the Middle East Forum in the capital Washington, during which she addressed developments in U.S. policy in the Middle East in recent years, and the security challenges related to Iran and its allies in the region.

Below is the full text of the speech, translated into Arabic:

For years, the Middle East Forum has published valuable research and analyses on the Middle East, which have helped policymakers advance U.S. national security interests and better understand our friends and allies, as well as our adversaries and enemies.

It is wonderful to be with you today.

I am proud to have worked on President Trump's Middle East policy across his two administrations, and to have served in the U.S. government, in both military and civilian capacities, for nearly twenty years.

And contrary to what you might read in the New York Times, President Trump's Middle East policy — including over the past months — has been highly successful, and it is a policy that every American should be proud of.

Let us look at where the Middle East was two and a half years ago:

- Shortly before that, 1,200 Israelis and peaceful civilians had been killed by Hamas.

- And 251 innocent people, including about ten Americans, were held hostage by Hamas.

- Hezbollah was raining rockets on Israel, and had 140,000 rockets and missiles in its arsenal.

- Iran had just received $6 billion as a ransom payment from the Biden administration, the largest in U.S. history, while the regime was enriching uranium to 84% and had enough to make 9 bombs, with the ability to reach that within weeks or days.

- The Houthis were attacking maritime navigation and closing the Red Sea.

- Our Arab partners were strengthening their ties with Tehran and condemning Israel on a daily basis.

How did we get here? And how did we allow our enemies to gain all this power, surround our friends with so much fire, and reach the brink of possessing nuclear weapons?

The answer is the "culture of fear," a culture that prevailed across both Democratic and Republican administrations alike.

It began when we allowed Iran to detain our diplomats and failed to punish the mullahs. It continued when Hezbollah bombed the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut and we withdrew. It persisted for a decade in Iraq, where Qasem Soleimani killed more than 600 Americans without retaliation, because confronting enemies was considered "escalation."

And so we stood idly by while our enemies killed more Americans with impunity, sent them money, and pretended we were paying off old debts.

It was easy; we deferred difficult decisions to future leaders and bought peace by appeasing our enemies.

This culture allowed North Korea to possess nuclear weapons, and China to advance by ignoring cheating and theft. And it could have led to Iran acquiring nuclear weapons if we remained afraid to act.

There is another path: the path of courage.

Look where we are today.

Thanks to President Trump and America's strong allies, Hamas has been eliminated, and all hostages have returned home, although we mourn those who returned too late.

- Noa Argamani is alive, Edan Alexander is alive, and 168 other hostages are alive.

- Yahya Sinwar? Dead.

- Ismail Haniyeh? Dead.

- The rest of Hamas's military leaders? Dead.

- Hassan Nasrallah? Dead.

- Hezbollah leaders? Dead.

- Their replacements? Dead. Then the replacements of their replacements? Dead.

- The head of the regime, Ali Khamenei? Dead.

- National Security Advisor Ali Shamkhani? Dead.

- Hossein Salami, commander of the Revolutionary Guard? Dead.

- Fifty other senior Iranian officials, both civilian and military? Dead.

We could go on for a long time…

- Surviving Hezbollah members are in hiding. And they are unlikely to multiply!

- Three years ago, Lebanon was a platform for launching rockets against Israel; today, the first public diplomatic meetings between Lebanon and Israel have been held. We are moving toward peace gradually.

- The Houthis have been weakened, and the Red Sea is open to international navigation.

- The majority of Iran's military power has been destroyed or severely damaged, including its missile infrastructure and drones.

- In less than 40 days, what Iran built over more than 40 years was destroyed.

This is the result of courage, but it is not without cost: 13 Americans were killed during this operation. We transformed Iran from a major regional power into the weakest military force in the region.

Now, instead of military power, the regime relies on propaganda. Their propaganda budget is six times larger than their diplomacy budget, reflecting the regime's priorities.

Iranians have also lost millions of jobs, the currency has sharply declined, and the economic situation has deteriorated significantly.

Every day the U.S. oil embargo continues, Iran loses hundreds of millions of dollars, which used to fund the activities of the Revolutionary Guard and its allies.

Iran can no longer support its allies in the region, and there are reports of delayed salaries and increasing desertions.

The Iranian rial has collapsed, inflation is extremely high, and the situation is getting worse.

War is not easy, but it is the "cost of courage."

This future will not come from fear but from courage.

"Do not fear," as the Bible says: "Do not fear, for I am with you."

It would have been politically easy to declare victory and retreat, but leadership chose to continue.

National security is not a popularity contest.

We are fighting a state sponsor of terrorism, and we are winning.