Don’t Leave the Iran War Half-Won

The Dark Lord is so close. If he can just squeeze this one out he prevail against the Axis of Evil...sorry the DNC. Every morning he wakes up, "I will destroy the Woke Rebel Alliance. The Force is very strong."

Don’t Leave the Iran War Half-Won

It is time to finish the job in Iran and seek peace from a position of maximum strength.

By Mark Penn and Andrew Stein

May 22, 2026 4:39 pm ET

Mr. President, finish the job in Iran and free the world from this hideous regime. Your bold action—something no other president has done—has pushed the ayatollahs to the brink. Now is the time to finish them off, end their control of the Strait of Hormuz, and end their support of global terrorism.

Iran has no borders with the U.S., yet the regime has waged war on us since day 1 of its rule. In 1979 it seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and held dozens of Americans hostage for 444 days. Its proxies killed hundreds of U.S. troops in Beirut in 1983 and Iraq after 2003. It has repeatedly attacked and vowed to destroy Israel, even though the Jewish state is 1,000 miles away and the Persians have had good relations with Jews going back thousands of years.

The Iran war isn’t unpopular. The state of the economy is unpopular, and it was almost as unpopular before the war, when 53% saw the economy going in the wrong direction. In the last Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll, 54% of voters say the strikes on Iran are justified. Two-thirds believe this is an evil regime that doesn’t have the support of its own people. MAGA voters overwhelmingly support the strikes.

To the extent that Democrats oppose the war, they have been spun up by their leaders in a deliberate attempt to turn the conflict into a partisan issue. Much has been made of declines in Israel’s favorable/unfavorable rating, but no one reports that Iran’s rating is 60 points worse. By 3 to 1 Americans support Israel and the U.S. over Iran in this fight. That includes almost every swing voter needed to win the midterm elections.

Mr. President, win the war and you win your presidency. Oil prices will recede. China will retreat because you control their oil. The economy will soar and provide a clear path for the midterms.

If you lose the war, your presidency is in big trouble. It would be a repeat of the kind of defeatism that led Joe Biden to turn Afghanistan over to the Taliban. The future of nearly 100 million Iranians hangs in the balance. Most important, an emboldened Iran would become an even bigger threat to global peace and stability.

There is no credit in history for waging half a war. As long as this regime believes it can control the world economy by charging tolls for international waterways, its threat grows bigger—even if its uranium is stuck underground.

So far the ayatollahs have kept no promises, made no meaningful peace offers, and thumbed their noses at America and at you. It is time to finish the job, get full control of the strait, and seek peace from a position of maximum strength.

Mr. Penn was a pollster and adviser to Bill and Hillary Clinton, 1995-2008. He is chairman of the Harris Poll and CEO of Stagwell Inc. Mr. Stein served as New York City Council president, 1986-93.