Leaders of Iran

President Trump has repeatedly suggested that any new leaders of Iran who don't meet his approval won't last long. Does this mean that they will be assassinated like their recent leaders? 

What future leaders of Iran would be more acceptable to the US? One possible candidate is Narges Mohammadi, a longtime human rights activist who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023. She has been in and out of Iranian prisons since 1998 for criticizing the Iranian government, belonging to banned organizations, supporting human rights and various other charges.

Perhaps if President Trump could secure a deal for her release, she could emerge as a leader for reform and change within Iran. Trump might be willing to help her if she turns over her Nobel Peace Prize to him. But he already has one anyway from someone else so that might not be enough of an incentive for him.

Another possible future leader of Iran is Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian lawyer and former judge who has also been a longtime advocate for human rights. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003. She would not be able to offer her prize to Trump for any favors because it may have been taken by Iran's Revolutionary Guard in 2009. She has not been in Iran since that time due to various threats against her and her associates for her alleged anti-government activities.

So, what leaders in Iran will the US have to deal with right now? Mojtada Khanenei succeeded his father, Ali Khamenei as Grand Ayatollah of Iran after the latter was killed in a bombing attack in March. Iran's new leader will probably pursue the same policies as his father. More despotism through nepotism. If someone killed your father, would you be considering ways to surrender to your enemy? No, revenge is probably more on his mind. 

The Trump administration claims that it can overthrow the government of Iran, but this could probably not be done without a ground force invasion like which was done over 20 years ago in Iraq. Any US occupation of Iran might also involve hundreds of billions of dollars in American aid needed to rebuild the country after the war and get that flow of oil moving out again.

Getting into a war is a lot easier than ending it successfully. Iran was in a war with Iraq for several years during the 1980's and it did not lead to regime change on either side. 

President Trump may not realize what he has gotten us into. He claims he is doing this to keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons, but we've heard this before. Did we find WMD in Iraq? No! Will we find WMD in Iran? No! The same lie, but now in a different country. 

We are paying the cost for this already with higher gas prices. You can thank our president for those. Until we find a diplomatic solution for this situation, this war may go on for years.