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Source: https://www.theatlantic.com/international/2026/03/trump-goal-iran/686356/
Instead of Regime Change in Iran, Try Regime Weakening
(Atlantic) Dennis Ross - Instead of changing Iran's regime, the U.S. should fatally weaken it. Tehran is counting on the cost of this war exceeding Trump's willingness to fight it. If Iran's regime survives, it will be even more determined to rebuild and wreak vengeance, at least in the short term. Toppling the regime demands breaking up the forces that suppress Iranians, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the notorious Basij militia. The Pentagon's air campaign aims to weaken these groups, but it's unclear whether this will be enough to undermine the forces that prop up the regime. If the goal instead is enfeebling the Islamic Republic so the Iranian public could overwhelm it, the way forward includes continuing to attack Iran's weapons stockpiles and production facilities to render the Islamic Republic incapable of threatening its neighbors for a long time to come. The U.S. and Israeli intelligence communities have the insight necessary for effective surgical strikes. Destroying much of Iran's ability to project power and attacking the security forces that suppress the Iranian public will surely hasten the regime's collapse. When the regime's foot soldiers suffer the same relentless strikes, water and electricity shortages, and plummeting currency as the rest of the country, they may be less inclined to spill blood and risk their own lives to prop up the Islamic Republic. The writer is a former chief U.S. Middle East peace negotiator.