Iran’s Regime Still Looks Likely to Survive Protests But Has No Answers for Public Anger
Iran is once again on fire.
Protests have broken out in every one of Iran’s 31 provinces, and thousands of protesters have reportedly been killed and many more arrested.
This, of course, is not the first time that the Islamic Republic has faced mass protests. Since the Green Movement protests in 2009 that erupted after reformists accused then-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of stealing the elections, Iranians have come out to the streets regularly, often to be crushed with deadly force by state security forces, while the world does nothing to help.
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“The regime has never appeared weaker,” said Michael Makovsky, CEO of the Jewish Institute for National Security of America. “Israel, and the US, humiliated the regime in the 12-day war. Imagine — Israel achieved air supremacy within 48 hours, meaning for 10 days [Israeli Air Force] planes flew over Tehran with impunity.”
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Even without attacking, Trump could declare that toppling the Iranian regime is the official US policy, even if this won’t be done by American troops.
He can also move more naval assets to the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf, choking Iran’s ability to export oil to China. “This would embolden the Iranian people, who would see it as a strong show of support for them against the regime,” said Makovsky. “It might convince some Iranian officials and those supporting and defending it to change sides.”
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Read the full article in the Times of Israel.