with The fall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria Over the weekend, with a new White House on the horizon, Iranian resistance leaders and American lawmakers alike began to express their hope that Iran would topple its leadership in a similar way, with U.S. help.
“There is a real opportunity for regime change right now,” Sam Brownback, a former US ambassador for international religious freedom, told Fox News Digital at a Senate committee on Iran on Wednesday. “This is the only way you can stop nuclear weapons.”
He said: “It is not just a matter of now or never, but of now or nuclear weapons,” at a time when Iran is enriching uranium to levels close to nuclear capacity.
A bipartisan group of senators spoke in favor of overthrowing the Iranian government Ayatollah Ali Khameini – Whether by returning to former President Trump's “maximum pressure” campaign through sanctions or supporting the Iranian resistance movement – a part that was missing during the first Trump administration.
Khamenei has ruled Iran for 35 years.
The rise and fall of Bashar and Asma al-Assad
A bipartisan group of senators spoke of their support for the ouster of Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. (Iranian Leader Press Office/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“We have an obligation to stand shoulder to shoulder with allies to ensure that this regime’s oppression ends,” Democratic Senator Cory Booker said at the event hosted by the Iranian American Communities Organization.
Senator Jeanne Shaheen said: “Iran is showing nothing but weakness.” “Now is the time to reflect on how we can invest more in the core values we all share: democracy, human rights and justice for all.”
“I have, for a long time, been willing to unequivocally call for regime change in Iran,” said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.
It was a stronger message than has been heard recently in Washington, D.C., circles, where there has been little appetite for further engagement on the issue. The Middle East.
The Texas Republican predicted, “The Ayatollah will fall, the mullahs will fall, and we will see free and democratic elections in Iran. Change is coming, and it will come very soon.”
He added: “We will return to a policy of maximum pressure, and we will cut off the harsh regime's resources from every possible direction – we will close its nuclear research facilities, and we will cut off its oil.”
Mark Ginsburg, the former US ambassador to Morocco, said, “There is a cottage industry in Washington promoting the goals and objectives of this regime.” “You've seen Democratic senators here telling you, 'We don't believe this. We can make this a bipartisan effort.'
The Biden administration has issued sanctions waivers on Iran in hopes of future nuclear negotiations, and has expressed no interest in helping oust the Ayatollah. Biden on Wednesday renewed a sanctions waiver that gives Iran access to $10 billion in payments for energy from Iraq.
When asked if he would like to see Iran change its regime, Trump told Iranian-American producer Patrick Beth David in October: “We can't get fully involved in all of that. We can't manage ourselves, let's face it.”
Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, Iran's main resistance group, has claimed that Iranians are preparing for an organized uprising. (National Center of Resistance of Iran)
Senator Ted Cruz predicted that “the Ayatollah will fall, the mullahs will fall, and we will see free and democratic elections in Iran.”
He added: “I would like to see Iran very successful. The only thing is that they cannot have a nuclear weapon.”
But Brownback, a Trump appointee, insisted that the United States should engage in regime change by supporting the Iranian opposition.
““I think we need to support the opposition politically inside Iran,” he said. “Equip them, give them information…the system won't just walk away. You have to force them out.”
Iran watchers believe the fall of Assad, who was heavily supported by Iran and Hezbollah, is the ideal moment to do so.
“The radical shift in the Syrian government… should mean to the Iranian people that change is actually possible in the Middle East,” said General James Jones, former White House national security adviser and supreme commander of coalition forces in Europe.
He continued: “The change in administration has already caused radical shifts in geographical alliances.” “Appeasement does not work. The Iranian regime does not make any difference.”
Maryam Rajavi is the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, the main resistance group in Iran.
“The people, who are extremely dissatisfied and angry, along with the resistance units, which form part of the Freedom Army and the main force for change in Iran, are preparing for an organized uprising,” she told the committee.
Rajavi and her political group have a 10-point plan for regime change that calls for rebuilding an Iranian government based on the separation of church and state, gender equality, abolition of the death penalty, and nuclear disarmament.
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He added, “Our goal is not to seize power, but to return it to its rightful owners, the Iranian people and their votes.”
Unlike the first Trump administration, Iran now faces military attacks on other fronts through its proxies Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. It is unclear whether this weak position will prompt them to yield to American pressure or launch more attacks. But one thing is clear: US support for regime change would amount to a massive escalation of tensions between Washington and Tehran with unknown consequences.
