The American-Israeli war against Iran launched in late February 2026 included an unusually ambitious objective. Beyond degrading Iran’s nuclear and missile capabilities, Israel and the United States devised a plan to topple the regime in Iran. According to media reports, this effort military pressure could lead to the collapse of the Islamic Republic, an influence operation aimed at the global Iranian public, an understanding of sorts the Kurds would create an internal threat to the regime, and an effort to recruit former Iranian President Ahmadinejad to take power.
