Glad to see him recognize that, whatever the fault of the Iranian regime, the
Zionist evil is the most barbarousby far.
C
On Wednesday, March 4, 2026 at 09:37:16 PM EST, Steven L. Robinson via
groups.io <[email protected]> wrote:
What is Trump’s objective in Iran? By Gilbert Achcar –March 3, 2026 As we
predicted a week ago, and in light of the Iranian regime’s continued
intransigence—its refusal to commit to ending uranium enrichment and to
negotiate limits on its ballistic missile programme—it faced “the risk of a
military strike that could create a situation threatening the entire regime,
and which might ultimately lead to Khamenei’s removal from power in one way or
another.” We concluded that the impending US strike was “planned to target Ali
Khamenei specifically, along with the heads of the hardliners in the Iranian
regime, in the hope that their removal would pave the way for Tehran’s
submission to Washington’s desiderata.” (“A Game of Chicken Between Washington
and Tehran?” [in Arabic], Al-Quds Al-Arabi, 24 February 2026). We also
explained how Donald Trump’s approach to Iran falls within the framework of the
strategy he successfully implemented in Venezuela, which focuses on “changing
the regime’s behaviour” rather than “changing the regime” itself, as the George
W. Bush administration sought to do by invading Iraq in 2003 (see “US: an
old-new imperial doctrine”, Le Monde diplomatique, February 2026). A
significant difference between Venezuela and Iran, however, is that Washington
had connections with key figures within the Venezuelan regime and believed they
would comply with its demands once subjected to intense pressure and after the
removal of their president, Nicolás Maduro, through his abduction. In Iran, by
contrast, the regime exercises far tighter control and oversight over its
leading figures, making the risk of any of them reaching a behind-the-scenes
accommodation with Washington far lower. Moreover, kidnapping the Supreme
Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran was not a feasible option, and
eliminating him alone would in any case have been insufficient to alter the
regime’s trajectory. For this reason, the American operation against Iran is
far larger and more complex than the one that targeted Venezuela. What, then,
is the Trump administration’s objective in Iran? It bears repeating that it is
not “regime change,” despite the insistence of those who fail to grasp the vast
difference between that policy—as exemplified by the occupation of Iraq—and
large-scale military operations. The current onslaught is not accompanied by
any intention to occupy Iran (even assuming such an occupation were possible,
given that it would require a military effort more akin to the Korean and
Vietnam Wars than to the occupation of a much-weakened Iraq in 2003—something
the US administration is neither politically capable of nor willing to
undertake). Everything Trump has done thus far appears consistent with the
approach described above, even to the point of reassuring the backbone of the
Iranian regime—the Revolutionary Guard Corps—that he guarantees them “total
immunity” if they halt the war and submit to Washington’s will. Full at:
https://gilbert-achcar.net/trumps-objective-in-iran
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