The Iowa State Daily’s March 5 editorial’s claim that “Bringing Iran back to the table will … alleviate international tensions in the region and hopefully create lasting peace” amounts to naïve wishful thinking. A looming U.S.- Iran bad deal threatens Israel’s very existence and endangers the Middle East and the entire world.

Iran continues its aggressive efforts of decades to achieve hegemony over the entire Middle East, as evidenced by its power grabs in Iraq, Syria and Yemen. Likewise, Iran controls Gaza and Lebanon through its proxies of Hamas and Hezbollah. A deal between the U.S. and Iran, which would strengthen Iran by eliminating economic sanctions and pave the way for its manufacture and stockpiling of nuclear weapons within a decade, is a sure recipe for a critically dangerous and unstable Middle East.

Currently backed by Iran, Shiite militias are sewing chaos in Iraq, Assad is slaughtering Syrians, Iran-backed Houthis have seized control of Yemen, threatening the strategic straits of Hormuz, thus giving Iran greater control over the world’s oil supply. Consequently, several Arab countries have voiced their concern and indicated that they too would be forced to go nuclear. Moreover, Iran has a long history of exporting terrorism to the entire world, which resulted in the death of hundreds of Americans.

Internally, Iran imprisons and executes political dissidents and gays and lesbians, and treats women as second-class citizens.

Netanyahu’s address to Congress was both essential and timely. He has ensured that the glaring faults in a looming U.S.-Iran deal are known in advance to all. His speech leaves no room for future distortions, opposing interpretations or misunderstandings. Hopefully, Netanyahu’s address will help prevent a deal that threatens a second Holocaust and creates a Middle East and a world far more dangerous and unstable than it already is.