After holding off on an attack a fortnight ago, President Trump is reportedly moving toward a “decisive option” to remove Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei from power. The arrival of the USS Abraham Lincoln strike group suggests that a “detailed battle plan” has finally been approved. The Iranian government is bracing for a strike that will no longer focus on the “shattered” nuclear program, but on the head of the state itself.
The U.S. administration remains divided, but the scale of the Iranian crackdown—with thousands dead—has tilted the balance toward intervention. The Iranian government is bracing for a strike that will use “firepower” to protect Israel from reprisals while simultaneously dismantling the clerical leadership in Tehran. This “decapitation” strike is the ultimate goal of the current Mediterranean deployment.
In Tehran, the foreign ministry has warned that “insecurity will befall everyone” if the Supreme Leader is targeted. This threat of regional chaos is the regime’s only defense against Trump’s “decisive option.” However, the Iranian stock market’s record fall suggests that the public believes the U.S. is finally ready to call the regime’s bluff and bring the “street protests” to a successful conclusion.
