With the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over the weekend and construction of a new White House on the horizon, Iranian resistance leaders and U.S. lawmakers alike have warned that Iran could do the same with U.S. support. The United States has begun to express hope that it will overthrow its own leadership in this way.
“We now have a real opportunity for regime change. That's the only way to stop nuclear weapons,” former U.S. Ambassador for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback told the Senate Committee on Iran on Fox News Digital on Wednesday. spoke.
“It's not now or never, it's now or never,” he said of Iran's progress in enriching uranium to a level close to nuclear-capable.
A bipartisan group of senators has spoken out in support of Iran's overthrow of Ayatollah Hamein, both through a return to former President Trump's “maximum pressure” campaign through sanctions and support for the Iranian resistance movement. This was an element that was missing during the first Trump administration.
Khameini has ruled Iran for 35 years.
The rise and fall of Bashar and Asma Assad
A bipartisan group of senators spoke in support of overthrowing Ayameini in Iran. (Iranian Leader Press Room/Document/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“We have an obligation to stand together with our allies to ensure an end to this regime's oppression,” said Sen. Cory Booker (D.N.J.) at the event, hosted by the Iranian American Community Organization. ” he said.
“Iran is only projecting its weakness,” said Senator Jeanne Shaheen (DN.H). “Now is the time to think about how we can invest more in the core values we all share: democracy, human rights, and justice for all.”
“I have long been prepared to unequivocally demand regime change in Iran,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
That was a stronger message than is often heard these days in Washington, D.C., where there is little appetite for further engagement in the Middle East.
“The Ayatollah will fall, the mullahs will fall, there will be free and democratic elections in Iran. Change is coming and it will come soon,” the Texas Republican predicted.
He added: “We will return to a policy of maximum pressure and cut off resources from this cruel regime in every direction possible. We will shut down nuclear research facilities and we will cut off oil as well.”
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“There is a cottage industry in Washington that advances the goals and objectives of this administration,” said Mark Ginsburg, a former U.S. ambassador to Morocco. “You saw Democratic senators here saying, 'We don't support this. We can make it happen with a bipartisan effort.'”
The Biden administration has announced sanctions waivers for Iran in hopes of future nuclear negotiations, and has shown no interest in cooperating to overthrow the Ayatollah. Biden on Wednesday renewed sanctions waivers that allow Iran to receive $10 billion in energy payments from Iraq.
And in October, when asked if he wanted to see change in Iran's ruling regime, President Trump told Iranian-American producer Patrick Bet David, “We don't want to be fully involved in all of that.'' We can't. We can't run it ourselves. Let's face it.”
Mariam Rajavi, the incoming president of Iran's main resistance organization, the Iranian National Council of Resistance, has claimed that Iranians are preparing an organized uprising. (NCRI)
Senator Ted Cruz predicted that “the Ayatollah will fall, the mullahs will fall, and there will be free and democratic elections in Iran.''
He also said, “I hope that Iran will be very successful. The only thing is that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons.”
But Brownback, who was appointed by President Trump, argued that the United States must engage in regime change by supporting Iranian opposition.
”“I think we need to support the rebels inside Iran politically. Provide them with equipment, provide them with intelligence…The regime is not going to just walk away. We have to force them out. No.”
And Iranian observers believe the fall of the Assad regime, which had strong support from Iran and its Hezbollah proxy, is the perfect opportunity to do so.
“The seismic shift in the Syrian government…should mean to the Iranian people that change is indeed possible in the Middle East,” said Gen. James Jones, former White House national security adviser and Supreme Allied Commander in Europe. said.
“The regime change is already causing tectonic shifts in the geography,” he continued. “Appeasement does not work. The Iranian regime does not make subtle adjustments.”
Maryam Rajavi is the incoming president of the Iranian National Council of Resistance, Iran's main resistance organization.
“A deeply dissatisfied and angry population is preparing for an organized uprising, along with the resistance forces, which are part of the Free Forces and the main force for change in Iran,” he said during a panel discussion.
Rajavi and his political group have developed a 10-point plan for regime change that calls for the restoration of Iran's government on the basis of separation of church and state, gender equality, the abolition of the death penalty and denuclearization.
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“Our goal is not to seize power, but to return power to its rightful owners, the Iranian people and their votes.”
Unlike during the first Trump administration, Iran now faces military attacks on other fronts through Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. It is unclear whether this weakening of its position means it will bow to U.S. pressure or attack even harder. But one thing is clear: U.S. support for regime change will significantly escalate tensions between Washington and Tehran, with unknown consequences.
