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US-Israeli strikes ‘unlikely’ to prompt regime change in Iran, says professor

A professor specializing on the Middle East says regime change is “unlikely” after U.S.-Israeli airstrikes were launched against Iran on Saturday.

Sina Azodi, of The George Washington University, told WTOP that “a lot of people are hopeful, but you’re talking about a regime that was born into a revolution.”

The joint strike efforts have led to the deaths of high-ranking Iranian officials, including Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei.

“It survived many political assassinations in its early years,” Azodi said in an interview with WTOP’s Sarah Jacobs. “At the same time, it was fighting a total war with Iraq from 1980 to 1988. So it’s quite resilient, that’s one issue we have to keep in mind.”

Listen to the full interview:

With Khamenei dead, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said a new supreme leader will be chosen in “one or two days.”

President Donald Trump has made it clear he wants a regime change in Iran. A senior White House official said “new potential leadership” in Iran has suggested they are open to talks with the U.S.

The U.S.-Israeli airstrikes continued Sunday and have led to multiple attacks on several countries in the region, with bombs dropping and killing more than 200 people since the start of the strikes, according to Iranian leaders.

Iran fired retaliatory strikes at Israel and toward U.S. military installations around Gulf Arab states. In Dubai, three U.S. service members were killed, marking the first known American casualties from the conflict. Five service members were injured.

Tensions between the U.S., Israel and Iran have remained ongoing for decades, since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. Conflict has largely centered around Iran’s nuclear enrichment program as global leaders grow concerned with the possibility of Tehran securing nuclear-grade weapons.

US bombs Iranian military sites, then downs missiles Tehran fired at troops in Kuwait

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United States said Monday that it bombed radar and drone sites in Iran after Tehran shot down an American drone over the weekend. Iran then said it targeted American soldiers in Kuwait with missiles, which the U.S. says it shot down. The nominal ceasefire between Iran and the U.S. has been repeatedly tested with back-and-forth attacks, though officials from both countries are still trying to negotiate an end to the war. It’s not clear how close they are to a deal — and there is always the risk that an attack could derail those talks. Fighting has also been escalating between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, despite their nominal ceasefire, and that has increasingly threatened the emerging deal to extend the Iran war ceasefire. On Monday afternoon U.S. President Donald Trump said Israel and Hezbollah had agreed to dial back their fighting after he held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and communicated with Hezbollah through mediators. Moments later, though, Israel said it had detected missile launches from Lebanon and warned Israelis in part of northern Israel to take cover in protected spaces.
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