The Ayatollah’s Endgame: Iran's Blueprint for a Global Caliphate

Why the United States Remains the Ultimate Target and Obstacle in Iran’s Global Jihad Doctrine

Over the weekend, Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, a preemptive strike on the Islamic Republic of Iran’s nuclear facilities, sparking a full-scale war. Iran retaliated with missile and drone attacks on Israeli cities. At the heart of this conflict lies Iran’s goal to establish a global Islamic caliphate, with the United States viewed as the "Great Satan" and the primary obstacle to this vision. As the war escalates, it’s critical to understand the ideological beliefs that drive Iran’s actions and its ongoing confrontation with the West.

The Islamic Republic’s founding vision, authored and enforced by the first Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, is not simply a matter of regional ambition or religious revival. It is a sweeping, ideological project with a singular endgame: the destruction of West namely the United States through global jihad and the establishment of a global Islamic caliphate under Sharia law. This doctrine, rooted in Khomeini’s own writings and fatwas, continues to animate Tehran’s actions that the fight isn’t over until the caliphate is established whether it takes 2 or 2000 years.

Iranian Parliament Members Burn American Flag and shout, “Death to America.” Credit: MehrzadBBC on X

America as The “Great Satan” and the War of Theology

Khomeini’s worldview is unambiguous in its hostility toward America. He did not merely frame the U.S. as a political adversary, but as the embodiment of evil itself: “The United States is responsible for all the corruption and vice in the world.” The revolutionary slogan “Death to America” (Marg bar Amrika), which Khomeini insisted was “not hollow,” remains a central rallying cry in Iranian society and governance to this day.

For Khomeini, America is the “Great Satan,” the chief obstacle to the Islamic order, and the defeat of the U.S. is a religious imperative, not just a strategic goal. In his book, ‘Islamic Government’, Khomeini argued that Muslims everywhere must reject Westernization and embrace the struggle to impose Sharia globally—a struggle he described as “war until victory”, with the United States are the ultimate obstacle and target.

Israel: The Proxy and the First Target

Within this blueprint, Israel is solely a proxy of America, a “nucleus of evil” and a “cancerous tumor” to be eradicated from the region as a prerequisite for eradicating the U.S. from the world. Khomeini’s fatwas and public statements called for the “liberation” of Jerusalem and the removal of Israel from Islamic lands, urging Muslims worldwide to join the fight.

Iran’s constitution enshrines support for “liberation movements” against Israel, and the regime has operationalized this through the funding and arming of proxy groups like Hezbollah and Hamas. These groups have been responsible for attacks on Israeli and American targets, as well as civilians across the region.

Iran’s First Supreme Leader Arriving in Iran after his views established the Islamic Revolution and Regime Dictatorship. Credit: Public domain.

Fatwas, Sharia, and the Politics of Religious Law

What makes Khomeini’s endgame even more alarming is that it is not merely political strategy, but religious law. His fatwas, Islamic legal decrees, mandate the pursuit of a global caliphate as a religious obligation. Those who fail to work toward this goal are, in the regime’s eyes, not just political dissenters but apostates and enemies of God. The following laws and fatwas would be the new laws under this global caliphate.

Khomeini’s fatwas also codify practices that are deeply at odds with international human rights standards. Amputation of both hands for theft, flogging, and even stoning to death are prescribed punishments in Iran’s penal code, and are still carried out today. Non-Muslims, including Christians, are declared “unclean as feces, urine and dogs,” and are systematically marginalized in Iranian society and law until today.

Exporting Revolution and the Threat to Global Security

Khomeini’s laws and vision was never limited to Iran’s borders from day one. “We shall export our revolution to the whole world. Until the cry ‘There is no god but Allah’ resounds over the whole world, there will be struggle,” he declared.

In support of this goal, Iran’s leadership and Qud’s Force has built and funded a vast network of proxy militias and terrorist groups including, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, to export Tehran’s vision and extend its reach on the way to the caliphate. The regime’s support for these groups has resulted in hundreds of attacks on American troops and civilians, Israel, as well as on international shipping and infrastructure.

A Strategic Look at Iran’s Goals

The Ayatollah’s endgame is not a matter of speculation or propaganda. It is a doctrine spelled out in Iranian religious law, enforced by violence, and pursued with unwavering resolve. The Iranian regime’s leaders believe that, with Allah’s help, whether in two or two-thousand years, the Islamic caliphate will one day rule the entire world. With these global ambitions, the stakes for the United States and its allies have never been higher.