The reason why the Trump administration failed to bring about a regime change in Iran is, as I said from the very beginning, that Iranians like their regime and are not interested in changing it. The only two ways towards a regime change are:
1. The people massively hate and despise the existing system (Ukraine 2013).
2. Somebody from the outside bombs the country into dust and rapes the entire population (Germany 1945).
The idea that the Iranians dislike their regime is a Western projection. In the two scenarios outlined above, regime change happens because the existing regime loses legitimacy in the eyes of the population. You cannot rule without the consent of the ruled. Once the majority of the population thinks that the regime is ridiculous and believes none of the regime’s ideology, the regime falls apart (USSR, 1991). You don’t even need to nudge it for it to fall apart. None of this happened in Iran.
There is an old saying: where there is nothing you can do, there should be nothing that you want. There is nothing we can do for Iranians or in Iran. It’s time to learn the lesson, close this chapter, and move on.
Clarissa's Blog 
“people massively hate and despise the existing system”
Not enough on its own. There also has to be a section/faction of the system ready to throw in its lot with the people.
Polish people massively hated and despised the existing system in 1981 and it didn’t help. In 1989, a section of the ruling class had also come were ready to help the people dismantle it.
Ukraine in 2013 had help from the ruling class (for lack of a better word).
Belarus in 2109 didn’t.
Not the only reason for the different outcomes but a big factor.
Iran hasn’t had that yet and Trump’s Non-excellent Iran Adventure probably solidified the system and guarenteed no change for the foreseeable future…
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I agree, but it starts with the people. It’s true that when the popular discontent is profound enough, there will arise a group really incapable of taking power in the name of this discontent. In Iran, there is no indication that even the initial stages of that process are reached. It saddens me that time and again the administration is failing to take into consideration cultural differences and the regional realities. The mentality that sees everybody as replaceable and identical to everybody else is on full view.
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