Israel-Iran War News: US President Donald Trump says strikes on Iran were intended to eliminate the threat, but how he expects the conflict to end remains unclear.
After the first round of strikes on Saturday killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Trump initially called on Iranians to rise up against their government. But he said shortly after that the war launched on Israel’s side was not aimed at regime change.
The Pentagon called the military operation launched by Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “epic fury.” Trump warned that the conflict could last four weeks or longer, and threatened more devastating strikes against Iran, a country of about 90 million people, where hundreds have already been reported killed.
Facing criticism for a lack of a clear strategy, Trump and his senior aides on Monday outlined four main goals for the war, all focused on military objectives. These include destroying Iran’s naval and military capabilities, ending Tehran’s support for regional militant groups, and preventing the country from developing a nuclear weapon.
Matthew Kroenig, vice president of the Atlantic Council, said Trump may have already achieved many of his goals, including killing a leader long seen as an adversary of the United States. He added that the administration seems keen to avoid a long-term conflict such as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“I think they could go home at almost any time and declare this project a success,” Kroenig said. “I think the strategy is more about what they want to avoid than what exactly they want to achieve.”
Nigar Mortazavi, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, said Iran may resist any quick ceasefire, believing it needs to respond forcefully to deter future attacks.
“The ultimate goal for them is to make sure that this hurts enough and that it hurts enough for the United States and Israel as well as the neighbors,” she said.
For Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, weakening Iran’s military capabilities appears to be a central goal. Israel has previously carried out repeated strikes in Syria to weaken its long-time adversaries.
Netanyahu also launched a major attack on Gaza following the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, a group backed by the Iranian leadership.
In contrast to previous US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq – which were often framed as efforts to promote democracy – US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the current conflict with Iran is “not a democracy-building exercise” and will not involve “stupid rules of engagement.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Washington “would love” to see the Iranian people overthrow their government, but stressed that regime change was not the official goal of the war.
Some analysts say the real goal may be to weaken the Iranian government from within. Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute, described Trump’s approach as seeking “not regime change, but the collapse of the system from within.”
“The hope is that this will weaken Iran’s capabilities or the state’s repressive capabilities as much as possible,” he said.
Parsi added that from Israel’s perspective, further weakening Iran – even to the point of state collapse – would reduce Tehran’s influence in the region.
Meanwhile, Reza Pahlavi, the son of the former pro-Western shah of Iran who was ousted in the 1979 Islamic Revolution, expressed confidence that the clerical leadership might eventually fall, and called on Iranians to rise up when the moment is right.
Max Boot, a military historian at the Council on Foreign Relations, said Trump’s goals appear deliberately vague, especially regarding whether the war is aimed at changing Iran’s government or simply its behavior.
“I think he’s basically keeping it vague so he can claim it was a big victory no matter what,” Butt said.
“He will plead innocence no matter what.”
