4 h. ago Easy regime change in Tehran is a nice idea. But look to history: it’s a near

No one doubts the malignity of the Iranian government, but if we forget the tragedies of interventions past, we’ll make the same mistakesOn the eve of the 1991 Gulf war, a TV reporter asked the US commander Norman Schwarzkopf if he would topple Iraq’s Saddam Hussein. Stormin’ Norman replied with a memorable succinctness: “Easy say. Hard do.”Schwarzkopf knew what he was talking about. The general was a lifelong student of the Middle East region – he spent some of his childhood years in Tehran – and of military history. Indeed his successful ground-war strategy for Saddam’s defeat in Kuwait was consciously modelled on the flanking tactics used to such devastating effect by the Carthaginian commander Hannibal to defeat the Romans at Cannae in 216BC.Martin Kettle is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Politics

5 h. ago Iran’s exiled royal calls for regime change — but few are listening

For now, citizens’ disillusionment with the Islamic republic is superseded by anger towards Israel

Politics

6 h. ago An implosion, a collapse or a transition: what would regime change in Iran look like?

Some western leaders have welcomed the idea of the toppling of Iran’s supreme leader, but no planning has been made for the aftermath if it happensAt the G7 in Canada, differences within Europe about the wisdom of regime change in Iran could not have been more stark.The French president, Emmanuel Macron, warned against toppling a government “when you have no idea what comes next”. Insisting that he had no time for the Iranian government, Macron argued that it was for the people of Iran to choose their rulers. Continue reading...

Politics

42 h. ago Netanyahu speaks of regime change in Iran. But it’s not the same as regime destruction

Israeli president has no interest in Iran’s future beyond weakening and destabilising a regional rival Middle East crisis – live updatesOn Sunday, in an interview with Fox News, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, pontificated on a theme he has become increasingly attached to in recent years: that Israel under his leadership would not simply attempt to dismantle Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes through military attack, but in the process usher in regime change in Tehran.The government in Tehran, he said, was “very weak”, adding that given the opportunity, “80% of the people would throw these theological thugs out”. Continue reading...

Politics

42 h. ago Netanyahu speaks of regime change in Iran; what he means is regime destruction

Israeli prime minister has no interest in Iran’s future beyond weakening and destabilising a regional rivalMiddle East crisis – live updatesOn Sunday, in an interview with Fox News, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, pontificated on a theme he has become increasingly attached to in recent years: that Israel under his leadership would not simply attempt to dismantle Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes through military attack, but in the process usher in regime change in Tehran.The government in Tehran, he said, was “very weak”, adding that given the opportunity, “80% of the people would throw these theological thugs out”. Continue reading...

Politics

50 h. ago The Iranian people were starting to win their battle for liberty and prosperity. Then Israel attacked | Esfandyar Batmanghelidj

Something was shifting in Iran, but now missiles and the return of foreign interference may tear up the green shoots of progressMissiles follow trajectories. So do countries. And over the past few days, Israel’s attacks have dramatically changed Iran’s trajectory.Some believe that Iran was already on a downward spiral and that Israel’s actions will simply accelerate the descent. In an op-ed published on Monday, several of Iran’s most prominent civil society figures, including Nobel peace prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, declared that the “only credible path to safeguard [Iran] and its people is the resignation of the current leadership”. In this view, the war could be construed as a deliverance – Israeli officials are openly suggesting that their operations could lead to regime change in Iran. But if Iran’s decline was already precipitous, why are ordinary Iranians terrified by the outbreak of war? Why have they not welcomed Benjamin Netanyahu as the saviour he imagines himself to b...

Events

3 d. ago Trump in Iran crisis: MAGA descends into mutiny as Israel threatens to take out Ayatollah in regime change plot

Donald Trump is teetering on the brink of an all-out Iran crisis amid MAGA fury over his 'complicity' in Israel's strikes. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Politics

4 d. ago Israel’s stated aim is the destruction of Iran’s nuclear weapons – but the real goal is regime change in Tehran

Israel’s real aim in Iran is regime change - and that suits the West just fine, writes World Affairs Editor Sam Kiley

Events