Iranian-born scholar warns regime was an 'aggressively patient threat waiting to pounce' on America
Madison Colombo
Wed, March 11, 2026 at 11:24 AM CDT
3 min read
Anti-war activists in the U.S. protested military strikes against Iran, while an Iranian exile warned Americans of the regime's threat.
Anti-war activists gathered in cities across the U.S. to condemn military strikes against the Iranian regime. One Iranian scholar, however, says the protesters have it wrong and is warning Americans not to fall for what she calls a dangerous narrative.
The U.S. and Israel launched Operation Epic Fury after nuclear negotiations with Tehran failed, which President Donald Trump cited as justification for the military campaign. While critics described the mission as a "war of choice," Iranian-American scholar Nazee Moinian argued the strikes constituted an act of self-defense.
"I want the American people to understand that if it was not an imminent threat, it was a solidly, aggressively patient threat waiting to pounce at any moment to do great damage to American interests," Moinian said of Iran on "The Fox News Rundown" podcast.
In the hours after the first strikes on Iran, demonstrations were held across the country in places like Times Square and outside the White House to protest the military action.
A demonstrator shouts anti-war slogans while participating in a protest near the White House in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 28. Protesters, some carrying Iranian and American flags, gathered to voice opposition to a joint U.S.-Israeli military operation targeting Iran's leadership. (Getty Images)
Moinian, an associate fellow at the Middle East Institute who fled Iran following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, pushed back against media outlets portraying the conflict as "another endless war."
"They framed that as a war of choice. It is a war choice, but whose choice? It's not our choice. Iran was given so many exit ramps," Moinian told Fox News Radio's Tonya J. Powers on Friday.
She pointed to major protest movements in 1999, 2009 and 2022, during which Iranian authorities used force to suppress demonstrators.
"This is a justified war to safeguard the American people."
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